| October
2007
CNET
Response and Posting
Thank you, RIAA.
I know my viewpoint on this subject swims upstream for your readers.
I do think it is healthy for people to consider both sides of this
argument, however. I hope you do, too.
We in the copyright industries, and we as users of legitimate copyrighted
works, as well, owe a debt of gratitude to the RIAA for its efforts
to combat piracy over the past decade.
As a small graphic arts content development company that employs
artists, designers, photographers, cartoonists, digitizers, writers,
and programmers, we know what a society without adequate copyright
protection looks like. If you want to know, just travel to Russia,
China, or Brazil and take a close look. It will likely make you
sick.
I hear you scream when the RIAA goes after a single mother in Duluth
who thumbs her nose at recording artists and their protected works.
You say "go after the organizations and the bigger companies".
So here, the RIAA listens to you and goes after a select group of
universities where infringement runs rampant and a rogue organization
(usenet.com) that profits from stolen property or a routine basis,
and what do you do? Complain again.
Have you ever considered what living in a country without adequate
copyright protection would really be like? What choice do these
willful infringers give the RIAA, or other copyright organizations,
for that matter. They simply refuse to stop stealing until they
see uniformed officers with legal paperwork in their hands at their
door.
Do you realize that copyrighted works are one of the few rights
granted to each U.S. citizen in our Constitution that still carries
a significant economic value ... and garners respect from those
countries who still envy the basic freedoms and protections we have
in this country?
Thanks, RIAA. We realize that in order to combat this piracy epidemic
you cannot be selective in who you target. Copyright infringers
("pirates") need to be punished regardless of their economic,
political, or social status. That is the ONLY way any enforcement
activity will have the deterrent component that is so badly needed
to win the war against willful pirates.
Thanks for listening.
George P.Riddick, III
Chairman/CEO
Imageline, Inc.
griddick@imageline2.com
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