She should have just stolen them from a record store…

A Minnesota woman was recently fined $220,000 for sharing two CD’s worth of songs on Kazaa.

If she had just walked into a record store and stolen two CD’s, she probably wouldn’t even be on probation, let alone out the price of a home, plus attorney’s fees. The article I link above is from cNET, and in it, there is a very good discussion on the current state of copyright law. The most salient point is one that says that the punishment should fit the crime.

How does sharing two CD’s make a $220,000 fine acceptable? Why not give the alleged file sharer six months of probation and fine her the price of the CD’s? Why not give her a course on copyright law? As the author points out above, the punishment should indeed fit the crime. Showcase trials with big money attached to them aren’t a warning to the 18-34 demographic to desist in file sharing. Instead, it’s a clear message that the music industry is out of touch with their market. They are making up for their lost CD sales by suing their customers…a despicable move that serves only to further distance themselves from their target audience.

The RIAA is out of control.

Amazon (and Apple) are offering DRM-free options for music downloads. A few labels have made their music available through these services, so at least some of the organizations within the RIAA are finally getting it through their collectively thick skulls that if they deliver their content in the way that the market demands it, they’ll drive sales. My current best choice for music is a downloadable, fee-per-song, DRM free source that is compatible with multiple players and formats. If I happen to pay for a DRM-encrusted song, my first action is to remove the DRM (my right, because I then own the product) so that I can listen to it wherever, whenever.

I personally have a dual hope. The first is that Apple and Amazon fleece the RIAA out of their large profits. The second is that the growth of the internet and the blogosphere allows artists to be more independent–they shouldn’t have to rely on a record label to reach their niche market.