RIAA declares music piracy "contained"

If we're to believe RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol's take on the current state of digital piracy, it would appear that enough consumers have been swayed by the music industry's carrot-and-stick approach of cheap songs and highly-publicized lawsuits that illegal downloading, although not eliminated, has finally been "contained." Even though physical album sales are still declining, Bainwol claims that the rapid growth of legal digital downloads -- up 77% in the past year -- balance out the loss, proving that iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, and the like are offering compelling services that have encouraged folks to give up their lives of crime. Bainwol certainly paints a rosy picture here, and while we'd love to imagine that our fellow Netizens have suddenly and inexplicably developed a group conscience, what seems much more likely is that higher bandwidth and the advent of the torrent have simply turned former music pirates from the RIAA's nightmare into the MPAA's.

[ken @ Jun 13th 2006 10:21AM]

Now that is funny, contained? have you seen the amount of bit torrent users out their!

[Seamus Bartlett @ Jun 13th 2006 10:24AM]

Oh, RIAA, so naive.

I find it more likely that those who have been downloading albums via bittorrent may have been ever so slightly swayed, but will probably always download music until they pay off their student loans.

Though, I wonder if a similar increase in legal downloads will happen when video and movie files become more prominent through legal downloads...nah.

[Timothy @ Jun 13th 2006 10:25AM]

I think the RIAA is giving up the lawsuit game and this is their way of backing off without admitting they're idiots.

[James @ Jun 13th 2006 10:25AM]

I have to agree, simply hilarious!

[ken @ Jun 13th 2006 10:30AM]

I dont think they are backing off, they have hit a lot of the bigger pirates. The lawsuits are not going to stop, they probably will just start to dwindle, but still hit the big fish.

[Quadraspaz @ Jun 13th 2006 10:40AM]

Bit Torrent has been estimated to be consuming ONE THIRD of the entire internet's bandwidth. Another site (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/06/23/guardian_bogus_p2p/) says for every DRM download there are 16 P2P swaps. So I guess the question to be put to the RIAA's statement is:

"Isn't that bollocks?"

[apt34 @ Jun 13th 2006 10:46AM]

I really still don't care what they say, but "piracy" has led me to buy many albums from bands I discovered via these methods... many of my friends also have similar experiences

downloaded music = lost sales my arse

And I guess the fact that so many people just throw themselves on $.99 compressed crappy copies of tracks will cause the advent of true online music purchasing to be thrown out the window? (meaning uncompressed, loseless copies of songs for the fair price of $.99, which is basically equivalent to a CD which provides loseless music.)

Why so many people rip themselves off is still beyond me, but whatever.

[RazorElite @ Jun 13th 2006 10:52AM]

RIAA is retarded. Everyone knows that already.

[jcg @ Jun 13th 2006 11:03AM]

Let's hope that they stop whining about piracy now that piracy is "containted".

/me fires up bittorent

[2she @ Jun 13th 2006 11:12AM]

They sure did an awesome job of containing everyone i know :)

[Patrick @ Jun 13th 2006 11:12AM]

Ok, everyone, listen up!
*puts finger to lips*
SHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

[Scott Rubin @ Jun 13th 2006 11:13AM]

I hate the RIAA as much as the next man, but I honestly haven't pirate music from US record companies in years. Thanks to podcasts, creative commons and free culture I haven't had a desire to get any RIAA music in years. I already acquired all the old music back in the golden age of p2p. In fact, the only music I really download now is foreign music not available legally in the US. Congratulations RIAA. You've defeated piracy by making your product indesirable.

[Spud @ Jun 13th 2006 11:15AM]

This "declaration" by the RIAA is just about the same as Bush's declaration that combat operations in Iraq were over.

[fahmi @ Jun 13th 2006 11:15AM]

rejoice everyone! that means RIAA wont actively pursue downloaders anymore. it's true when people says ignorance is a bliss.

[NeoteriX @ Jun 13th 2006 11:17AM]

Yea seriously, let's give the the RIAA more ideas.

[Chris @ Jun 13th 2006 11:21AM]

Purhaps they realise their strategy is the wrong one and they are just saving face while they plan to attempt a new strategy. Wishful thinking?

[Chris @ Jun 13th 2006 11:21AM]

Perhaps music has gotten SO crappy that pirates won't even touch it.

[ChillyWilly @ Jun 13th 2006 11:27AM]

"Mission Accomp... uh... Contained!"

[Burl @ Jun 13th 2006 11:35AM]

Go to www.allofmp3.com and save some loot. You can get CD's for a dollar and a half. They were featured on CNN becasue the RIAA is pissed at this site check it out. Not trying to spam just spread the wealth

[allmodcons @ Jun 13th 2006 11:38AM]

They mean "contained" to anyone with a computer and an internet connection.

[David @ Jun 13th 2006 11:46AM]

Now that they've won their battle over the pirates, maybe they can do something about fixing the music business.

[Johnny @ Jun 13th 2006 12:18PM]

Now that the RIAA thinks they've got it contained (which they can't honestly believe), maybe they'll focus on getting record labels to put out better music.

@apt34: people (like me) "rip themselves off" becuase they don't notice a difference between listening to a cd and listening to a compressed AAC/MP3. Is there a difference? Sure, a small one; but hardly enough to call the compressed format crap. And with the money I'm saving by downloading an album for $10 instead of buying a cd for $15, I can get even more music. Also, your reasoning that P2P downloads don't have an negative economic effect on music sales because you actually buy some of the music you discover is laughable. Seriously. And don't even try to argue it.

[JL @ Jun 13th 2006 12:44PM]

Does that mean that they will stop complaining about lost revenue?

[Jazzay @ Jun 13th 2006 12:58PM]

Johny, good for you man, really, you'll save a ton of money.

Lucky duck.

[Pai @ Jun 13th 2006 1:00PM]

RIAA to declare victory in Iraq too.

[Jazzay @ Jun 13th 2006 1:00PM]

And by that I mean you won't be dragged into buying thousands of dollars of equipment to enjoy your music. For people like me, I can hear digital noise at 128kbps mp3 (wouldnt know about AAC) and 192kbps still doesnt sound nearly as lively and open as lossless.

Oh, and the last 5 CDs I've bought were under 10 dollars, full albums, with wonderful album art and lyric booklets :)

[chenry @ Jun 13th 2006 1:10PM]

I think that's pretty accurate, since I started buying music off iTMS but I pirate DVDs like a mofo.

[Chris @ Jun 13th 2006 1:28PM]

Johnny, it is possible that your eardrums can't tell the difference between 128K AAC or a 320K AiFF or looseless format, but chances are you can. But you can't tell with your current audio equipment. The best your sound system the more noticeable it will be. Fora visual comparison imagine watching an old sitcom on an HDTV.

"Audiophiles" bitch about Apple's ITMS, but the fact is, it wasn't designed for them. At least not right now, anyway. MP3 compression is pretty old, but it's still around because of it's ubiquitousness. Apple's AAC is much newer and has much better compression. A 128K AAC is equiv. to 192K MP3. This is a level that most people are okay with. If you *borrow* music from P2P, 192K MP3 is a lot rarer than 128K MP3 files. Also, Most people who rip CDs usually don't use higher than 128 or 192Kbps.

Apple can't afford to offer a lossless format right now. Apple Loseless compression reduces a song about 40% of it's size (an 800MB album witll be reduced to about 500MB) The downloads would be much more expensive, longer and the space required per song would 10x as much.

The same goes ITMS video at 320x240 resolution. If you want to watch at High Defintion (compare with 320Kbps audio) then you don't use iTunes.

[Johnny @ Jun 13th 2006 1:32PM]

I hate it when people make a joke and I don't get it, especially when they're making fun of me. Oh, well. You're right, I wasn't dragged into spending thousands of dollars on computer equipment, 'cause you know, I already had a computer, so...

If you're getting cd's for under 10 bucks including shipping and everything, I'm down with that. Point me in the right direction.

[Johnny @ Jun 13th 2006 1:34PM]

Exactly, Chris. Good points. I was responding to Jazzay.

[Ben @ Jun 13th 2006 2:26PM]

Chris, that is a remarkably unfair comparison...i was just reading an article that compared our degree of sensitivity of sound and our degree of sensitivity of vision...and they're far different.

[Jazzay @ Jun 13th 2006 2:53PM]

Oh, sorry, I wasnt meaning to make fun of you if it sounded like that.

Amazon.com has a ton of great CDs for great prices, tons of independant artists, too.

CDBaby.com also has 5dollar sales for its many independant artists.

The thousands of dollars in equipment I was talking about is what Chris had mentioned with the good sound equipment, with ipod ibuds or most stock headphones there isnt going to be a difference between 128, 192 and wav, and the drivers arent precise enough to make the digital noise in lossy compression, which is probably a very good thing. If you were to try some "real" headphones like high end shures or etys (amoung others) then you probably wouldnt want to go back to the tinny sound of standard computer speakers. I dont mean it as an insult, though, its just a matter of opinion.

[Jazzay @ Jun 13th 2006 2:59PM]

Ugh, I really ought to start making sure that everything I want to say is in one post, but oh well.

The 'thousands of dollars' is hyperbole for the most part, it can get up there, but for a hundred I have Shure E2c which sound great, completely enveloping, only bad part is that theyre precise enough to play digital noise, which ruins some acoustic music, but if 128 AAC is as good as 192mp3 it should be all right. Since you already have a computer with all your music, a good soundcard with an optical out is only 30 or so bucks for stereo, my current setup is an optical cable from my computer to a Sony Stereo thats worth maybe 3 or 400 these days, and 4 Klipsch bookshelf speakers set up in pairs of two so they dont distort when turned up :) I'm pretty happy with it, so yea, you can definitely enjoy greater sound without spending thousands, but it still takes some money to get past stock sound. Cheerio!

[Atreyu @ Jun 13th 2006 4:41PM]

I spent quite a bit of money at allofmp3 a while back (I *can* ABX 128kbps MP3s and prefer higher bitrates). I rationalized that the transactions are occurring on servers physically located in Russia, where unlicenced music sales are legal.

Well, I finally got to the point last year where I no longer felt ok exploiting this moral loophole (after all, *I'm* fully half of each transaction, and I'm *not* in Russia!).

But I still didn't have the cash to buy every album I thought (based on previews) I might like... I hate risking even $10 on a CD I might not love.

So I've adopted a "piracy-lite" lifestyle. I made a list of all my (pirated) favorite albums. Then I joined the good-ol' BMG music club & fulfilled the "buy 1 get 12 free" commitment with albums from my list. (Yep, BMG's still around... the 12for1 promo works out to just over $4 a CD, when you add S/H). The moment I got my last CDs I cancelled my BMG membership and joined yourmusic.com, a BMG affiliate that sells all CDs for $5.99 shipped. I buy at least 1 CD a month from them... their shipping's not the fastest, but I don't care... I already have the music!

Since then BMG has offered me another 12-for-1 deal to rejoin... I'm doing that again, and will cancel again after I'm done.

Albums not available at BMG I get used on Amazon, or pay-per-song at any music store out there... I archive the purchased songs, but use either pirated versions or DRM-circumvented versions on my iPod. Point is, I'm slowly paying via legal channels for the music I love. The RIAA would have a fit over my little scheme, but it's good enough for me!

[Johnny @ Jun 13th 2006 4:57PM]

@Jazzay: Ok, I get it now. Thanks for explaining. The only speakers I have that are able to produce a high enough quality sound are Klipsch floor standing speakers and bookshelf surrounds for my home theater. They're killer, but I don't play music in there. Not even that much on my home computer. Just in my car (stock speakers), or with Sony earbuds ($50), or a portable dock w/ speakers at work. Thanks for the links.

[Frankenstein Black @ Jun 13th 2006 5:14PM]

"ixshnay on the downloadyay"

[mpeng @ Jun 13th 2006 5:58PM]

I don't understand. the bay is back up. I just checked it and it seems to have the usual stuff that people say isn't that great, but download anyways...

[Mike Johnson @ Jun 13th 2006 7:01PM]

'I don't understand. the bay is back up. I just checked it and it seems to have the usual stuff that people say isn't that great, but download anyways..."

I'm not sure I understand what you are getting at, so forgive me if I'm incorrect. The Pirate Bay was backup 3 or 4 days after the (illegal) raid. As for people saying it isn't that great, I agree. I love their setup, but they don't have as much new stuff as mininova.org. Since my TiVo broke, I've been using them to get TV Shows I've missed. This just isn't possible with thepiratebay.org.

[GhostDoggy @ Jun 14th 2006 8:44AM]

Yeah, its contained within the known universe. Aliens, you are on notice. lol

[neuman @ Jun 15th 2006 2:45PM]

There's a way better media pirate logo available here.

http://www.cafepress.com/mediapirate

[andy chris @ Jun 17th 2006 2:38PM]

I sometimes visit your blog and read articles.
Recently I checked CNET download.com and found 'Windows P2P Extension Pack'.
After the installation, walla! NOW YOUR Windows Explorer is your file sharing application!,
What else would you need more?
No registration, No log on, No spyware, bundle whatever the headache NO MORE!
This program gives pure file sharing experience!
This is the future of P2P application for Windows users!
This type of p2p program will apprear more and more and eventually RIAA will surrender sooner or later...

[demologik @ Jun 22nd 2006 4:38AM]

you guys are fusking idiots.. when MULTIPLE users on here start claiming that they are now downloading via BIT TORRENT sites.. YOU ARE FURTHER PUTTING TORRENTS AT RISK OF BEING WATCHED.. and therefore, SHUT DOWN COMPLETELY!! .. fucking noobs. shut yer fusking mouths already.. Stop advertising.. just because you think you're fusking invincible..

[Bill @ Jul 10th 2006 8:55AM]

The RIAA has bigger fish to try and fry, with their pending litigation with Sirius and XM satellite radio services. They are finally realizing that they can't very well get blood from turnips so they are going to start hitting huge corporations that are not buying into their personal agenda. Come on, suing someone because they have a device that can buffer music that the subscriber has already purchased?

And I have to concur with demologik, stop boasting about how you can obtain your music. That's how this all got started in the first place. If people had kept their mouth shut about Napster over a decade ago, we could still be enjoying the ability to sample before we bought the crap the major music industry produces. However, a few kids found Napster, thought it was cool and told everyone and his brother. Now we have to deal with the RIAA and their idiocity on almost a daily basis, griping about every little thing just so they can attempt to fat their pockets.