I'll stop downloading illegally when you stop ripping off artists

Jammie Thomas broke the law. She downloaded music that she didn't pay for and allowed others to access it via Kazaa.

But I can't blame her.

The RIAA won its case last week against Thomas, who was sued for downloading 24 music files illegally. Thomas alleges in her testimony her IP address was spoofed, and she downloaded nothing. I'm no Internet wizard and don't know if that can actually happen, but it does seem far-fetched. Either way, Thomas is proceeding with an appeal.

Personally, I think the RIAA is responsible for the lack of progress in the digital media market. They're too busy suing people who download illegally instead of strategizing how they are going to move away from the outdated CD-format. After the trial was over, Michael Hegg, a juror in Thomas' trial, said in an interview the jury wanted to send a message to everyone that downloading was illegal by charging Thomas a hefty fine of $220,000. Well, here's the truth: People are still downloading music illegally at this very second and they won't stop.

RIAA lawsuits produce no real winners. Yes, the industry gets its money and whether they distribute that back to artists is questionable, but they end up alienating consumers. People say it all the time, "I'll buy the album if I can listen to it first." So we download music, it may be crappy or it may be good and whether we decide to buy the album or not, the crappy music remains on our hard drives or iPods taking up crappy space. Notice how it's major labels doing all the suing because they know no one wants to buy their artists' crappy music.

Maybe the RIAA is upset the indie labels and artists are the only ones benefitting from file-sharing and downloading. Indie artists may not make much when it comes to album sales, but they rake money in other ways such as touring and merch sales. That's why major label artists have to stick to their make-a-hit formula and monotony prevails on radio. They are trying to capitalize without doing any of the work. Things have changed and the industry just needs to get with it.

I'll go download some crappy music now and wait for the RIAA to call.