RIAA Admits 'Stream-ripping' Is Not a Problem
WASHINGTON, July 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Digital Freedom
Campaign today responded to a statement made by Recording Industry
Association of America Senior Vice President of Government Relations, Mitch
Glazier in a recent edition of Technology Daily, noting that
"stream-ripping," an unrelated issue to the current Internet radio royalty
rate debates, was not necessarily a problem.
Mr. Glazier, addressing the logic behind a sudden effort by the
recording industry to require webcasters to adopt anti-'stream-ripping'
technology was asked whether stream-ripping was even a problem, stated,
"why wait until it is a big problem to start addressing it? There are
available technologies in the marketplace to address this issue." The
'stream-ripping' issue is not relevant to the Internet royalty rate
decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in March, and was not mentioned in
the CRB ruling.
"The music industry's top lobbyist is calling for the implementation of
a burdensome, costly, and completely unnecessary technology by webcasters
who play and promote the artists the RIAA claims to represent. He then
admits that the issue is "not a big problem," said Jennifer Stoltz, a
spokesperson for the Digital Freedom Campaign. "For the RIAA to try to
impose unrealistic and wholly unnecessary technical mandates on an
innovative and vibrant industry as part of larger, unrelated negotiations
process is baffling.
"The specific issue at hand is not commercial piracy, but rather fair
use of legally recorded music for personal use, which is perfectly legal,"
Stoltz continued. "Requiring webcasters to implement mandatory digital
rights management technologies to prevent any personal recording of
Internet radio streams is an imposition on both webcasters and consumers.
It is a costly solution without even a hint of a problem. There is no
evidence whatsoever that stream-ripping or commercial piracy from Internet
radio is an issue, and the RIAA and SoundExchange should proceed with the
ongoing negotiations with webcasters without demanding provisions that
would further harm and inconvenience Internet radio listeners."
The Digital Freedom Campaign supports the fair compensation of artists
for their work, but also believes the imposition of unsustainable fees on
internet broadcasters will hurt innovators, music fans, and independent and
non- mainstream musicians. The moratorium on the imposition of new fees on
Internet broadcasters while negotiations toward a resolution are underway
is positive for the industry as a whole. That said, the DFC is extremely
concerned by reports that, as part of the "compromise," SoundExchange has
demanded that all internet radio stations implement mandatory digital
rights management technologies. No evidence has been produced to justify
this extraordinary imposition on consumers, and is unfortunate that as the
record industry is moving away from DRM that frustrates digital music
buyers, SoundExchange is attempting to foist new DRM mandates on digital
radio listeners.
The Digital Freedom Campaign fights for consumer rights in a digital
age that enables literally anyone and everyone to be a creator, an
innovator or an artist -- to produce music, to create cutting-edge videos
and photos, and to share their creative work. Digital technology empowers
individuals to enjoy these new works when, where, and how they want, and to
participate in the artistic process. These are basic freedoms that must be
protected and nurtured. The Digital Freedom campaign is dedicated to
defending the rights of students, artists, innovators, and consumers to
create and make lawful use of new technologies and lawfully acquired
content free of unreasonable government restrictions and without fear of
costly and abusive lawsuits.
For more information about the Digital Freedom campaign, please visit
us at http://www.digitalfreedom.org.
SOURCE Digital Freedom
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Related links:
http://www.digitalfreedom.org/
CONTACT:
Jennifer Stoltz, +1-202-448-3145,
jstoltz@qorvis.com, for Digital Freedom
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