The RIAA - The More Things Change...

It is becoming an age old debate, the mp3. Till this day, I still get in debates about this rather silly invention. This includes the other day when I got into a heated debate with a co-worker about the morality of downloading a copyright mp3. That debate reminded me of few years ago.

The year is 2003. The RIAA has announced an aggressive campaign where they would sue many invdividuals who download the mp3. This included Brianna LaHara, a 12 year old girl. How did they acquire this information? By violating the one basic right we are supposedly granted in America fromt he day we were born, our privacy.

Although the entire situation "went away," till this day, I can only imagine what the RIAA possibly had up their collective sleeve if they actually respond to this PR nightmare they had courted up until that point. If it was anything like thier bumbling campaign to eliminate piracy, there would have been a line of people ten miles long, just waiting to kiss their self-serving carcasses goodbye.

So I decided it was time to do the cliché thing. It was time to fire off the following letter to my senator, Dick Durbin, in commendation. He had questioned the situation himself, and it was time to show my support.

"Greetings,

My name is Kalaab, and I am a proud citizen of the great state of Illinois. This letter is to Senator Durbin, in applause to his succinctly-worded confrontation with the Recording Industry Association of America's Carey Sherman in regards to the legal proceedings concerning 12-year-old Brianna LaHara. I am pleased to see that my state's senator isn't afraid to stand up against this ludicrous prosecution, and I proudly stand beside Senator Durbin in his ridicule of the RIAA's ridiculous and monopolistic escapades.

Also, I would like to request that Senator Durbin continue fighting for his proud and loyal citizens in the battle against monopolistic tyranny. As the elected voice of our noble state, he has thus far acknowledged and promoted the voice of reason against the RIAA, and I strongly urge him to continue doing so for the sake of the basic freedoms entitled to the citizens of this nation.

In conclusion, I would like to thank all those in support of our state's administration (including Senator Durbin) that oppose the unbelievable breach of privacy that the RIAA has been committing on a daily basis for several years, and I am proud to live in a state in which the elected representatives will not bow to tyranny and be placed in the pocket of an Orwellian organization bent on invading the privacy and persecuting the innocent.

Thank you for your time, and please feel free to reply.

Best Regards,

Kalaab"

The strange thing is that the battle between the RIAA and the filesharers continues to persist.  Just remember, don't let the RIAA, MPAA, or any of these organizations with "intellectual copyrights" bully you and violate your rights.

This is The Pick, saying Don't Tread On Me.