The RIAA have proven to not only be ignorant of music itself and completely inept at handling evolving business and technology trends, but now they’ve turned a PR nightmate into a PR disaster (or vice versa – depending on which is worse (they went from bad to worse)). That’s right, they’ve decided to go after a 12-year-old girl for the horrendous crime of not paying millionaires for something they don’t own. Little “Biggie Brianna” thought everything she downloaded was legal, as her mother had paid KaZaA for use of their service. But ignorance is no excuse, and with weary heads the record execs will drag this girl into a courtroom to set an example that such hard criminals must be stopped as early as possible. The poor RIAA has the unenviable task of informing Brianna that she is no better than a crack whore that just shot her pimp in order to steal his money for drugs. When will this younger generation learn that listening to music is against the law, and the RIAA is there for our protection to make sure we don’t hear any talented artists who might help us find joy in life.
Honestly, I would kill for a soundbite of her quote – “I got really scared. My stomach is all turning.” I would post that all over the place and share it like crazy over every P2P network in the world. As my co-worker Jim pointed out, “If only she had used the word ‘tummy’.” That indeed would have been icing on the cake.
‘It’s about time they stop focusing on losing battles like finding talented artists, and go back to their profit-seeking roots. Bully for them.
When a giant like this finds it worth its time to go after a 12-year-old, I’m hoping someone takes notice. A lot of someones. Hopefully, in “amking an example” of her, they’ll be making more of an example of themselves.
err… that should be “making an example.” Go me.