Someone else seems to have noticed the similarity of the RIAA to the mafia in extorting money from those who can least afford to defend themselves for publicity purposes.
http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2007/03/15/Columns/Jared.Goldberg.Riaa.The.Music.Mafia-2776633.shtmlThe mere fact that certain corporations and organizations that are morally no different than members of the mafia consider themselves legitimate clearly demonstrates the hypocrisy.
The Recording Industry Association of America has thus devolved from a fairly innocuous organization to the latest incarnation of the mob.
Using the courts, the RIAA has tried to force file-sharing sites back into Pandora's box. Much like the mafia, the RIAA decided intimidation was the best policy. Employing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 - itself a stricter manifestation of the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty - the RIAA has sued thousands and is planning to sue many more.
No one has been immune to the lawsuits. Children, the elderly, college students and even dead people are among the RIAA's victims. Larry Scantlebury - the defendant in Warner Bros. v. Scantlebury and a former-Ypsilanti resident - died before his case was heard. Instead of dropping the lawsuit, the RIAA asked for a 60-day stay so his family could mourn before they were deposed.
Its nice to see more folks are willing to call extortion, and blackmail by the RIAA what it is, wrong and unjustified.
