Dear ( Us Representative)
My name is ; I’m a 33 yr old professional who works at a fine museum in Houston, Texas. I’m writing to you today in response to your comments about P2P file sharing and the Internet. I believe that P2P (peer to peer) is the best thing to ever come along! You believe that everyone is stealing on the Internet. Well, you’re wrong. Lets go over this in detail: First, I compare the recording industry A.K.A as the RIAA to the mob and drug dealers, continually charging ever-higher prices for very little content. Let me give you an example, Back in 1986 when a new song came out, I could go down to my local record shop and get a 45 for 1.89! This was a great deal. I have a very large 45 collection! I would record my 45 on a cassette and listen to it in my truck. Also I would allow my friends to make a copy on a cassette for themselves. Today you have to buy a whole CD to get one damn song, and CD’s now run about 18.00!!! Or MORE!!! This is a total rip-off! And CD Singles have mostly disappeared!
The RIAA gets away with false advertising… How you ask? Here’s a typical example: I hear a new song on the radio, I love it, so I go to the store and buy the CD, Bring it home and play it and the song is different than what is played on the radio! Anywhere else in the consumer world this would be considered BAIT AND SWITCH practices! I compare this to buying a Titanic DVD and enclosed is Men In Black! And Yeah, Right I can take the CD back for a refund: HaHaHa laughs the sales clerk!
The RIAA Also is only interested in money plain and simple. Yet they whine on the news that they are loosing money with all the “artists” standing next to them agreeing. And these “artists” consist of half naked teenage whores who corrupt our nations teenage girls. And lets not forget the VIOLENCE & WEAPONS and DRUG USE promoting “rap artists” and SATAN WORSHIPING Metal Bands. I don’t care if these “artists” are “loosing” any money, it sure as hell don’t look like it to me!! Ever see the show on MTV called “CRIBS”? These “artists” that promote the aforementioned bad things are living it up in mansions that rival BILL GATES! (Someone who actually earned his fortune) So I don’t want to hear stupid Britney Spears or Metallica whine about ANYTHING! They (the riaa) don’t care what is put out on the American public, as long as the cash keeps pouring in!
The RIAA wants to control every move we make with our music, right now they’re trying to ‘lock up’ CD’s so we cannot make MP3’s, If they do this it will increase public backlash. They are the ones who have tried to stop CDR’s, DAT, Double Cassette Decks and any other form of “freedom” with music. The average American will keep buying music with a small majority downloading “for free”.
The RIAA is trying to start an online download music site, but they have the music so ‘locked up’ that it is totally worthless.
If we cannot have control of how we can use our music, such as save it, transfer it; use it in multiple devices then it is a total waste of time. Does the RIAA go to everyone’s house to make sure no one is recording off the radio? It’s like the RIAA telling us back in the 80’s that we cannot record our records onto cassettes to listen to in our walkmans! (They most likely fought that too!) If I want to make an MP3 with my CD’s and copy it into whatever device I want to enjoy it in, I WILL! If I want to share my music with who ever, be it my friends on KaZaA or my neighbor next door, I WILL. If I want to make backups of backups of backups of a CD, I WILL.
Let’s talk about what you said about people stealing movies, have you ever downloaded one of those movies and watched it? It is a video shot right off the screen; it has a very lousy picture and crummy sound! They are no threat to Hollywood! Have you even TRIED to copy a DVD? All that crap going around in e-mail is a lousy utility that will copy a DVD to VCD format, which is of very crummy quality & sound! I have a large DVD collection and would never use that crap as a replacement for quality store bought DVD movies.
Unlike music, you get your money’s worth when you buy a DVD Video!!! Even if the DVD Set costs 60.00 you get your money’s worth!!! Tell the MPAA to stop hyperventilating; everyone in the American public is not rushing off to get shoddy, crappy-copied DVD’s.
Lastly, let’s talk about P2P file sharing such as Napster and KaZaA; they are the best things to ever come out of the Internet. Back in 1999 when Napster first started, I heard all about it and gave it a try. Wow, I can digitally record my music into a non-physical-never-wear-out format!!! Using my RealJukebox Plus, I recorded ALL my CD’s into my computer and made custom playlists and made custom CD’s to listen to in the truck!! I started using Napter to share all the songs I bought with online friends, just like I did back in 1986 when I bought a new record, I would let my friends bring over their cassettes and make a copy! And they would let me copy theirs!
Are you aware of the following influences of Napster & KaZaA? Everyone wants to be a subscriber to DSL & Cable/RoadRunner? The fact that ALL computers now come with CD Burners? Did you know at the time of the Napster shutdown, most people with DSL & Cable/RoadRunner cancelled subscriptions!
Thanks to the Ideas of Napster & KaZaA it is now possible to have EVERY song you ever liked in a device the size of a Nintendo Game Boy! And you never have to fumble with lousy CD’s and have to nearly have a wreck trying to change a CD while driving ever again! No more crummy scratched discs, no more damn skipping when you hit a bump!
Another great thing about Napster & KaZaA, My wife and I were visiting a tourist attraction over the weekend and heard the song “The Rainbow Connection” sung by Kermit The Frog playing over the sound system in the lobby and I thought, I’d like to hear that song again, so I typed it in on KaZaA and poof! There it is! J
If I did it the “RIAA Way” I’d have to go to the store on a wild goose chase and find that it is most likely not available or have to somehow special order it at a sky high price and wait weeks for it, Oh, and a note on this, I would’ve NEVER bought this song, like many others I’ve downloaded ANYWAY!!! So, No harm has been done either way!!
I used Napster to download all the songs that I had on my 45’s so I can now have them in MP3! Going out and re-buying all those songs like the RIAA would have it would be pure stupidity!!! Also, I’ve been able to download songs from people that are willing to share with the world that are no longer available, or unable to purchase. Also, I’ve been able to download the CORRECT version of songs that I THOUGHT I was buying when I bought the damn CD in the first place!!!
After the RIAA successfully DESTROYED Napster, I fired off a letter to them saying for all their greed, trying to stop the MP3 format, (like all the others they fought, like the DOUBLE CASSETTE DECK, the DAT, The Fact That CD Recorders Could’ve Come Out Many Years Earlier) And the fact that the RIAA is trying to lock up CD’s so we cannot make MP3’s to use as we want, The fact that the RIAA is coercing consumer electronics companies to not manufacture or support MP3 products! And the other things I mentioned in this letter, I and my family and friends will NEVER, EVER BUY ANOTHER MUSIC CD FOR AS LONG AS WE LIVE. And we’re spreading the word to others to do the same! So, if a fight is what they want, that’s what they will get. And, for every MP3 site they shut down, dozens more will appear! J
Now, Let’s talk about KaZaA! This is a wonderful multi-sharing site, I can share home videos, pictures and anything I’d like, A few weeks ago I missed the Simpsons season finale, I was upset, but I knew someone would’ve recorded it and has it available! I found it and downloaded it and enjoyed it and NO ONE is loosing money over that. Also, I found a song that I have been looking for years for! I just typed it in, and poof, it appeared because someone out there was nice enough to share it with the world J
So, the bottom line is that most people will still continue to buy CD’s & DVD’s. Every time I go to the mall, the CD shop is always full of people. So no harm is done here. And you have to understand that there will ALWAYS be a small group of people who will try to get ANYTHING for free, that is the way it will always be, So GET OVER IT!
So, I say that if you do not like KaZaA or Napster or any other P2P file-sharing network, don’t use it, and DON’T RUIN IT FOR THE REST OF US!
So, If you choose to continue to fight P2P File Sharing, Don’t you EVER buy a MP3 Player, Record a T.V. show from T.V., Download ANYTHING from ANY site from the Internet, Check out a book from the library, Borrow a DVD, CD or a Nintendo/Playstation game from Anyone, family or friends! Because that is basically the same thing!! Sharing!
Myself, My family & friends will never, ever vote for any political leader of ANY type regardless of political party that fights or tries to stop P2P file sharing. This mutual feeling is spreading, so BEWARE. And as far as I’m concerned, The RIAA & Hillary Rosen can SHOVE IT.
Sincerely,
…and yet, no matter how you phrase it, you’re still trying to come up with a way to justify your theft.
-Psi Cop
Wow.
I hope you didn’t send that anywhere.
I only buy Used CD’s now. I looked into the so-called “legal sites”
If you decide to be an RIAA Sucker and buy music online, here’s what you get:
1 . Music in a totally locked up format that you cannot do $hit with.
2. Cancel your sky high monthly subscription, and POOF you loose your music
3. You cannot save or transfer to another deviceor computer!! Good 'ol hell sent DRM!
4. Just like cellphones are a ripoff, If you don’t download music one month or so, YOU STILL PAY!!!
And you call ME a thief. I’ll keep on downloading and buying used, thankyou 
I sent it to every US representative to opposed Napster/file sharing… Never got a response though…
Shocker. :rolleyes:
While I agree with you on some points, most will never respond or give you the time of day because you openly admitted to sharing music with your friends, and vice-versa. There is too much attitude in that letter as well, more then any representative would care to stand anyway.
Copyright infringement !=, always has !=, and always will != theft. If you must use inane metaphors, call it trespass. If I break into a movie theatre and watch a movie without paying, I haven’t stolen…You know what? You’ve doubtless heard the arguments and the metaphors before. I won’t bother.
I’m shocked.
I sincerely hope that you’re never the spokesperson for any cause I agree with. Your letter is wildly incoherent, unfocused, lacking in logic, and pretty clearly based on some false assumptions.
Yes, I was a little rough in the letter, And I had to speak my mind with my true feelings on this subject! Some may find it positive/negative/rude, but oh well 
Thank goodness this is the USA and we have Freedom Of Speech! ( at least I think we do )
You have evey right to disagree with me, Now go on out to the store and pay your 18.99 plus tax for one song.
We do.
And they have the right not to read your letter… 
Um. Regardless of the merits (or otherwise) of your case, I’d suggest that you’re unlikely to be taken seriously, given the hyperbole!, RANDOM OUTRBREAKS OF CAPITALS, and multiple exclamation marks!!! in your letter, all of which say to the average legislator, “Here is a crank letter, just drop it straight in the bin.”
Spell check wouldn’t hurt, either.
All CD’s (including Speakerboxx/The Love Below, which is a double CD) are now on sale for $11.99 at Circuit City !!!
My suggestion - take a nice Benzodiazepine, and listen to your home made CD’s in peace. You are way too tense, and me thinks that such a letter might bring unwanted attention to you and your hard drive.
And you can tell I disagree with you because…?
Actually, you can’t. I can’t stand the RIAA, and am anticipating with glee the day they either come to their senses or die. It can’t come soon enough.
None of that changes the fact that your letter is terrible. It’s one of the worst arguments I’ve ever seen. Go ahead, post it in Great Debates, and watch what happens.
The English language called. It would like its dignity back.
Moving this to The BBQ Pit, where it will no doubt get all the attention it so richly deserves.
Excellent call, Czarcasm!
You sir, are an idiot. A moron. A maladjusted dunderhead in the first degree. The dearth of intelligence in your writing is equalled only by a retarded lamellibranch.
Excellent start. Personal communication with an elected representative is a cornerstone of representative democracy.
Based on this writing, I am assuming that you mop up the vomit left by schoolchildren after viewing the screech owl pellet exhibit? I sincerely hope that you meant thirteen and not thirty three. The only excuse that you might possibly have for being this immature and stupi is if you were dropped on your head as a baby.
It’s good to have beliefs. Is it at all possible, however, that penicillin, or the incandescent filament were “tthe best things to ever come along?”
While your U.S. Representative may feel that P2P file sharing networks are tantamount to thievery, I highly doubt he suspects that all internet users are stealing something at any given moment.
What the everloving sputum hocking clusterfuck are you talking about? Examples, perchance?
Well, I can still get a 45 for $1.89 at my local vinyl shop. I was born in 1987.
The copying you did was illegal. Singles are very common. Do not start a sentence with a conjunction. For those following at home, now would be a good time to take your .45 and put it in your mouth.
Buy the single.
Those motherfucking capitalists! Always trying to make money and stupid shit like that.
Rather than pay for your half naked teenage whore responsible for the wholesale corruption of the good Christian values this country is founded upon, you’d rather download them for free off the internet?
As opposed to violence and weapons promoting country artists? Or the Jesus’ cocksucking “Christian” bands?
It starts with an “i” and ends with a “y.” Ten points for our viewers at home.
So let me get this straight: you are incensed because the RIAA wishes to prevent copyright violation of their intellectual property? Goddamn motherfucking sons of bitches!
Then you will pay your $100000 legal fees and settlements.
See above.
Your point is? On your head, perhaps?
Oh. Here I was thinking that it was the instantaneous global exchange of information. :smack:
<<Insert gurgling noises>>
Ah, yes. If you did it the legal way, you’d have to actually participate in a working economic model and recognize that you can’t have everything that you want the second you want it.
Pure stupidity. Now we’re getting somewhere.
Really sticking it to the man here, aren’t we?
Yes, I’d love nothing more. I’m having a psychic orgasm just thinking about the possibility.
Yes, anytime someone can exploit a vulnerability to steal something, they will.
It would probably be best if you didn’t vote at all. In fact, please commit hari kari for the benefit of the world the next time you pull your head out of your ass to listen to a new song.
Telling your elected representative to shove his worldview up his ass is not a good way to get results, just FYI.
Listen you pathetic twit, you snivelling maggot. You can’t have every little whim of yours fulfilled for free all of the time. You sicken and disgust me.
Take some fucking responsibility for your actions.
I agree that the RIAA is stupid, and that downloading is a viable business model, but you plumb the depths of respulsive inanity in your childish whinging about what you want. You are like a hamfisted two year old banging on the grocery cart for some iced oatmeal cookies.
Fuck you, you halfbrained nitwit. You couldn’t debate properly if someone else did it for you. You are the weakest link. Goodbye.
Damn. I was gonna come in here and tear up the OP, but I think Ilsa beat me to it.
Just as a point of fact, Sonic 1992, can you name one Satanic heavy metal band being promoted these days?
Sonic 1992, you do realize that you are the reason the RIAA went after Napster to start with, right? Theiving bastard!
And what is this $18.99 for one song shit??
First, where the hell do you shop???
Second, might there not be another song on that CD that’s worth a listen?