Maybe the only surprise over the chairman of the Recording Industry Association of America and a top executive of peer-to-peer network KaZaA's parent company showing clashing views before a Senate hearing September 30 is that anyone should have been surprised.
"The decision to enforce our rights against egregious infringers was taken only after suffering years of mounting harm and trying all other avenues," said new RIAA chairman Mitch Bainwol to the Senate Government Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation, in his first known public appearance and presentation since becoming the trade group's chairman. Bainwol reiterated that P2P file swapping is "the root cause" of the estimated 26-31 percent in recorded music sales the past three years.
Music piracy, Bainwol told the hearing, is "astronomical…on the Internet. Computer users illegally download more than 2.6 billion copyrighted files every month."
Not so fast, said Sharman Networks executive vice president Alan Morris, who told the hearing the music industry is behaving irresponsibly at best. The RIAA's recent and controversial subpoena and litigation campaign against actual or suspected file swappers "can only be considered a backward step in a market that is growing with rapid momentum.
"Today, as with the VCR in the early 1980s, a new technology has emerged that affords consumer a way to acquire and enjoy content," Morris continued. "This way is better, faster, cheaper and more convenient than the existing retail channels. However, the entertainment industry chooses not to capitalize on this new technology -- because they are not yet in position to control distribution in this channel."
According to published reports, the Senators hearing the testimony also heard from at least one consumer who said she'd been treated with a too-heavy hand by the RIAA, in prying a $2,500 settlement from her because she and others downloaded music to her computer.
"I am angry with the RIAA for their unfairness in handling these lawsuits," said Lorraine Sullivan. "I resent being unfairly targeted and having to choose between paying a settlement I can barely afford or to deal with the worry and stress of litigation with the possible outcome of being held personally responsible for a couple of hundred thousand or millions of dollars in damages."
But Motion Picture Association of America president Jack Valenti testified in support of the anti-piracy crackdowns, the reports continued, even the subpoenas and litigation, saying between 400,000 and 600,000 films had been "illegally abducted every day" on the Internet, adding he expects that to increase in exponents as the technology further develops.
