Almost as amusing is watching the RIAA flailing around trying to find a way to stop file sharing is the ridiculous rhetoric that some web sites use to describe the RIAA’s tactics. For example, here’s Cory Doctorow on an advisory for parents that the RIAA released about file sharing (emphasis added),
The RIAA is sending out advisories to press-contacts at various media outlets about their “Are Your Kids Breaking the Law When They Log On?” campaign, which aims to scare parents into spanking their kids for file-sharing, and comes across as red-scare-era propaganda. It’s funny: Hollywood fought the Red Scare and McCarthyism tooth and nail, but today, they’re more than happy to appropriate its rhetoric and tactics.
Yes, the RIAA advisory notes that 83 percent of teens believe illegally downloading music is morally acceptable and give parents advice like,
SET HOUSE RULES AND SPELL OUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF NON COMPLIANCE. As you consider the potential consequences of illegal file swapping and the danger to your computer you can limit access to illegal sites through parental control software like Cybersitter or NetNanny or through parental controls in AOL or MSN. You can take away Internet privileges for a set amount of time if you feel your child is not obeying the rules.
Oh the horror. How will the Union ever withstand such a shocking outburst of intolerance and McCarthyism?
The only scare tactics here are Cory’s ridiculous overreach in referencing McCarthyism (it’s exactly this sort of thing that helps content companies sell things like the DMCA to Congress and the wider public. It just helps prove the RIAA’s case that those wanting to find a more reasonable solution to the copyright issue are fanatics).
You can read the full text of the RIAA advisory here on Cory’s site.