Just in time for annual Talk Like a Pirate Day, I got this disturbing note from someone who read my "How to Stop Music Piracy" blog:
I recently found an area manager of a store selling illegally produced CDs, mostly dance club mixes by Hex Hector and people like that. He offered ten songs per CD. He makes a lots of money selling these illegally copied CDs. I told him he should not be selling CDs that are copies. He laughed and said no one cares. He had a catalog of 100s of CDs that he offered customers. Is there anywhere to report this or is it true that no one cares?
I replied, "Wow. That's sad. You might try contacting your Better Business Bureau or local Consumer Action office. I suppose the RIAA would be interested too, as well as the local police."
According to my correspondent, here's what happened next:
I contacted the Better Business Bureau. They said that music piracy was not a complaint they handled. I then called the consumer affair office. They thought it wasn't a big deal. As a matter of fact, the guy on the line said he had considered selling MP3 players with music already downloaded on them for a higher price and making a profit. The RIAA does take complaints, but I don't think they really do anything about it. I have yet to see them stop him.
I really don't think there are consequences for this. This guy has a catalog of 100s of illegally produced CDs that he sells with copyrighted music on them and no one seems to care. It is sad, isn't it? I did send an email to Hex Hector, whose music he has stolen. He has many Hex Hector songs on the CDs he sells. I will see if he responds. At this point, I am just curious as to whether someone does care about intellectual property rights.
Music technology guru Craig Anderton astutely points out that simply calling thieves "pirates" is part of the problem, because it glamorizes the process. When we finally have international Talk Like a Music Thief Day, I think the piracy battle will be hopelessly lost. Or are we there already?
Categories
Audio
Comments (2)
Read More Entries by David Battino.
The RIAA won't do anything about someone who is profiting by music piracy but insists on attempting to strike fear into people who want to loan a song to a friend? That seems a little bit ridiculous.
I'm not condoning any music piracy, but most of the people grabbing songs online would never have paid for them. Seems to me to make sense to target transactions where a user (thief) was willing to pay, that's where they are actually losing out on legitimate sales.
I'm not surprised the RIAA doesn't care. They only go after those who don't have the resources to fight back. This guy appears to.