Apple + RIAA = The Music Tyranny

Recently Apple announced it's sale of 5 billion songs on iTunes. That news makes Apple the largest music retailer in US. It is a major victory for Apple and for RIAA. A lot of people around the world are celebrating this huge ordeal. But to me it's an awful news.

The success of Apple and it's ability to sell over 5 billion songs on iTunes is a result of countless negotiations between Apple and various record labels. The outcome of the negotiations gives both the RIAA and Apple a way to form a music tyranny. Now, some of you might argue that iTunes lets people buy music for cheap. It also helps save the music industry. There are two major flaws in this argument and both are related to DRM. DRM or Digital Rights Management is a way that Apple and other major music providers "sell" you music. I rather prefer the word "lease music". When you "buy" a song on iTunes, you're not really buying it. Rather you're acquiring a license to listen to that song. Even worse, that license can be taken away from you anytime. You can't send that song anywhere you like it to be (sure miss the old CD days). And it's subject to humongous copyright laws that makes you pay much more for what you get. When I buy something I like to own it, I like to share it. Since when is it okay to not be able to own something you buy? Since when is it wrong to do whatever the hell I want with the things I own?

So you may wonder where does RIAA come into this whole picture. If iTunes wasn't half as successful as it is, the record labels would be forced to think of alternative ways of selling music. Am I wrong in saying that Apple is the root of all evil. Because of these capitalistic agreements that RIAA has with such music retailers, allows them to exploit our privacy and serve litigation letters to colleges and other organizations. The reason RIAA is successful in doing so is because of the funding from the record labels and companies like Apple. If each and everyone who has been served with such a letter decides to fight back, the music tyranny would collapse. That would be day when the music industry would be forced to care about it's consumers and rethink the way to sell music in a more affordable and efficient way.

It's high time we stop supporting DRM and put an end to the abuse which comes with it. Instead of feeding the monster, we need to cut it off as soon as possible. That will take more that just you and me, it will need for "us" to make an effort. And untill we do that the tyrants will continue to fill their banks.