Changes Is Good

Only one of the statements in the headline is true and its not the one with Dogs or pathological liars. The Register and TechDirt are running a stories on the Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA) getting sued by the innocent and hardworking software developers at Limewire. Yes thats right, that Limewire. The one with all the great music and software uploaded and distributed by your fellow Americans and yours to plunder without payment to anyone.

The P2P application developers seem to be worried about the $30 million bucks eDonkey ponied up to the Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA) earlier this month and so the good folks at Limewire have gone on the offensive. Their counter suit against the Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA) helpfully points out that the Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA) is a cartel that has done all it can to squash innovation and sue anyone that speeds the crumbling of their decades old business model. Here a quote:

19. Over the years, the music industry has largely profited, not directly from the ownership of copyrights, but by controlling the sale and distribution of the physical products (i.e., records. audio cassettes and CDs). Recent developments in technology changed all that Physical records and CDs are no longer essential for consumers to own or play copyrighted audio content and likewise, the traditional roles of manufacturing, selling and distributing physical products at retail locations or through the mail, are no longer necessary for consumers to receive copyrighted audio content. Instead, consumers can now purchase music with ease over the Internet by picking and choosing individual songs, instead of a whole album or CD, while sitting at home on their computer.

Thats only counter claim 19 it goes on for 6 more like this. The next section, entitled Plaintiffs’ Illegal and Anticompetitive Activities In The Market of Online Distribution of Music, goes on for another 10 long paragraphs detailing the naughty behavior of a dying industry. Now I’m no lawyer but someone how I dont think this is gonna pass the sniff test of the well greased wheels of the American copyright regime. Read the full counter suit yourself here.