This is an impressive exercise in issue-dodging on the part of the RIAA’s Cary Sherman:
The “Digital Freedom” campaign claims that the entertainment industry’s goal is to “outlaw new digital technology and devices.” This kind of knowingly false and incendiary rhetoric is designed to distort the issue and thwart solutions by demonizing us. The fact is, we are not only music fans, but technology fans, too. We celebrate advances in technology and recognize the importance of finding new ways to deliver content.
Instead of redefining fair use to promote a short-term free-for-all, let’s embrace the existing concept to allow for long-term growth of technology, while valuing and protecting the content it carries. That benefits us all.
Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems to me that this is an example of “outlawing new digital technology and devices”–in this case, satellite radios with record functionality. Yet, Sherman manages to write more than 800 words without even mentioning satellite radios. In fact, I don’t think he mentions any of the policy debates that have occurred since the Grokster decision. It’s as if the RIAA just laid off all of its lawyers and lobbyists in the summer of 2005, and for some reason, that darned CEA just keeps picking on them for no apparent reason.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
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