Quote:
Originally Posted by Alisa
I think this is what the RIAA et al have really wanted all along. They've been leaning on the ISPs to play cop which they understandably don't want to do. It's nigh on impossible to be effective and the target's constantly moving. A fee is easier. It's a pretty common trick to get a buy-in by giving someone the illusion of a choice when only one choice is viable. However, aside from the fairness issue you raise, I really doubt the distribution of the money will end up being fair to the artists and smaller content providers, either.
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One of the sites that the RIAA spent a lot of legal fees going after in the 1990s was the original MP3.com - which sold works and gave free samples out for indie and foreign artists not marketed in the west. The RIAA eventually lost.
The problem that the RIAA faced then and is facing more than ever now is sites and concepts that bypass them in the business model. Artists can and have cut out the middle man. I have several albums I bought through that site that are still favorites. Most of them still don't work with the big labels.
I often buy from artists directly - most recently purchasing Laura Dare's
Boyhood Shadows album.
Once artists are selling direct then the big players face downward price competition from artists who don't have to share a cut with the big publishers.
This exact same dynamic is now being played out with print.