Seems that Sen. Orrin “I’ll kill you and burn your computer, vile filesharer!” Hatch is getting a little worried about the RIAA’s subpoena fetish.
Hatch says he agrees with many of the concerns raised in a Tuesday committee hearing by William Barr, general counsel of Verizon Communications. The ISP has fought subpoenas from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as the music labels sought out copyright violations. After losing two court rulings, Verizon handed over the names of four customers accused of heavy song swapping over peer-to-peer networks.
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“We need both of your ideas on how to solve this, because much of what (Barr) says I agree with,” he told RIAA and Verizon representatives. “But the RIAA should not have to put up with wholesale pirating of its content.”
Both sides have good points, and Congress should be able to come up with a compromise solution to protect copyrights, Hatch added.
“I have no doubt that (the DMCA) is not perfect,” Hatch said. “On the other hand, I think we may be able to resolve some of these problems in a way that would be mutually beneficial.”
It’s a step in the right direction. Maybe something good will come out of the Brianna LaHara incident. Joanne McNeil, from whom I got the above link, has some more info on Brianna and some thoughts about the RIAA’s future.
Since we both know professional musicians, we both know that the RIAA is not looking out for the artists but the record companies. The artist do not make more than a few cents on a CD. In fact, most of the money is profit for the record company.
Let’s put it this way, I wouldn’t be sitting next to a Grammy award winning precussionist in my office if the artists were given the money they deserve for their efforts provided the cost of the CDs remain the same. I’m not in favor of stealing services, but going after a 12 year old girl is going over the line.