What the Hell is the Matter With You People?

Internet Theft
    In the past I have been vocal on the abuses of P2P file sharing and pirated music. Now the problem has become exponentially worse. You, the thieving hordes of the World Wide Web, have crossed from sharing and “swapping” audio files to sharing information. Hundreds upon hundreds of personal websites, known as “blogs,” are sprouting up across the Internet; and these blogs are quite often based solely on the promulgation of current events and news stories — stories, quite often, copied directly from such esteemed news organs as CNN, MSNBC, and The Onion.

Napster All Over Again
    Haven’t we been through this before? Haven’t you learned that this file sharing is illegal and injurious? But no; go to your average website message board and you’ll find “thread” after “thread” of nothing but news stories taken directly from CNN’s home page. Thousands of people every hour save these stories and e-mail them to their friends. I’m sorry, but this is wrong. You can not steal CNN’s intellectual property and then fashion yourself as town crier. Newsmakers do not create news just so you can steal the information for free.

    I urge you to protect the rights of the newsmakers. If not, then the news will be the province of criminals.

A message from
Hilary B Rosen
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Recording Industry Association of America