Sailing The High Seas Of CD Piracy & Frivolous RIAA Lawsuits

I think there ought to be a law passed against frivolous lawsuits set in motion by giant corporations and associations who go after the little guy (us consumers) when trying to recoup losses for those who don’t realize they are truly ripping off an industry, when in fact those same industries are ripping off the consumer.

Take the Record Industry Association of America for example (RIAA); they are one of the biggest abusers of the frivolous lawsuits to ever be used against the American public.

Yes, we all know by now that individuals are burning CDs (like countless and nameless friends of mine do), downloading music via the Internet and exchanging music files amongst folks throughout the world, but is that so wrong? Is that so wrong, in light of the fact that the music industry bigwigs have been ripping off consumers for the past several decades with such high prices affixed to audio cassettes, vinyl and compact discs?

Yes, those prices are so high, that the mere thought of making a choice whether to eat or whether to buy that hot new sound, along with that dazzling artwork cover always comes into play. How sad.

One of several problems consumers have with retailers is where to go when it comes to looking for a bargain, that there seems to be no price control. Any shop can sell a brand new CD for as low as 15 dollars and as high as 23 dollars per disk, double the price if it’s a two-disc set and even more if it’s a collector’s box set.

I rarely buy CDs these days, but if I do, it’s usually an artist of considerable talent and not some crap leftover from the bygone era of terrible marketing. However, back to the question at hand; why does the RIAA charge so much for a CD? If you visit the RIAA's official website, they avoid the question completely and attempt to explain it by telling the reader that all their expenses of producing “the product,” such as recording studio time, promotional tours & giveaway CDS and CD artwork all shoot the price of a CD sky-high.

What they fail to tell the reader, however, is that all these costs are part of a regular budget for the selected artist. They choose to not tell you what an actual CD costs, as they claim not to keep official records of such things, but let’s break down the cost. An actual CD when burned costs less than a dollar. If you have a decent color printer, printing the front and back sides will set you back roughly another 12 cents.

These extra costs the RIAA speak of are nothing more than a fictitious cover for the astronomical prices they are charged for producing a CD. They know they overcharge, for if they really wanted to get rid of all the excess fat within a budget, all a record label needs to do is cut the artists budget in half; you know, things like giving away less promotional CDs, using a cheaper studio to produce an album, subcontract out the CD pressing and labeling.

Want to eliminate the middleman completely? Make radio stations pay for CDs; don’t make under-the-table deals with giant retail chains like Barnes & Noble, Borders Books & Music or Tower Records to give consumers an extra 10 percent off a CD. Above all, make retail chains PAY for promo copies.

But back to the frivolous lawsuits; it seems kind of useless that the RIAA is going after the consumers, when they really need to go after the companies who produce blank media (blank audio cassettes, CD-Rs & CD-WRs) and the companies that produce the computers with CD and DVD-burning capabilities; these are the real theives who are making a real killing, a real dent in the piracy field. And while they’re at it, they ought to sue the inventor of the Internet for fraud, emotional duress and deceit.

Companies especially making a killing on blank media include Sony & Phillips, both music labels, however distant they seem in the record industry totem pole. I mean, going after a consumer and suing them for ripping off artists (as if Sir Paul McCartney, Britney Spears or Tom Petty really needed the money), is a lot like a cop who has pulled over a driver for going 10 miles over the speeding limit. And of course, while the cop has the individual driver pulled over, at least 50 more individuals will go speeding past them!

Go music pirates! Long live the individual consumer who chooses to fly their freak flag and buck the system that the RIAA has set into motion to rip off the universal music-buying public. Yes sir! These are the true freedom fighters of the world!