Have you been, like most reasonable people, amazed and astounded at all of the music industry lawsuits in the U.S.? Did you find them a trifle unfair? Did you, for example, think that it was absurd that a single mother in Minnesota was ordered to pay $222,000 for 24 'illegal' songs on her hard drive? Apparently you ain't seen nothing yet. Hugh McGuire found a Washington Post article this morning that indicates the RIAA is now going after personal use.
"In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer."
Just to be clear, according to the RIAA it is illegal for you to take a CD that you've legally purchased and copy it to your computer or ipod. 2008 may very well mark the end of the traditional music industry but the industry keeps making it harder to have any sympathy. The old music industry chose to take what was perhaps the greatest economic opportunity in entertainment history, the ability to sell and distribute music online, worldwide, with no physical inventory and turned it into what will likely be their epitaph instead.
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