I think you will liks [url=http://www.sulaco.org/mp3/download/riaa.gif]this poster[url].

Some random thoughts about RIAA, MPAA, their twisting the law and what to do:

One would expect entertainmet electronics industry to collectively stand against RIAA monopolistic behaviour in court. The problem is, some of them (like Sony, Phillips) are stradling the fence, having interest in both selling you their cool (MP3 or otherwise) gadgets and charging you whenever you buy a CD, listen to it, copy it for car use, lend it, drink a glass of water or fart. Perhaps somebody in business should anyway try and organize an industry association promoting 'fair use' interpretation of copyright laws, in court if neccessary. If RIAA sees enough money on opponet side, thay will be softer...

Another example is MPAA and its delibereate missleading the courts and media (an euphemism for lying) about purpose of DVD reginal coding. Sometimes they simply say it is there to prevent piracy, and I have seen supposedly technically savy media buy it, however absurd it is. Their main line is that enebles them staged release of new titles to various markets. Their is a grain of truth in that, but then why are re-releases of classics or titles that get simultneous global release also region-coded? Simply: it is a device to enable them price fixing in spite of global Internet commerce: DVD's are much more expensive in Europe than in USA; in India they are cheapest. Of course, this practice is explicitly forbidden by the rules of WTO, but USA observe them only when convenient. Some goverment don't want to be bullied like that: in Switzerland or New Zealand, for example, it is illegal to sell region-coded DVD players. What does MPAA do about that? Nothing; they know who is right here, and just hope the practice wil not spread. (This reminds me: I'll have a drink over the weekend with an old friend of mine, a newly elected MP. Time for some legislatine initiative )

Cheers!

P.S. I am tired of fixing my typos. Please bear with me (and them). What was that about dyslexics?


Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green