Hating Hilary: Wired Talks To RIAA Chair - P2P-Zone

Marius · 28-01-03, 12:32 PM

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1...ic=&topic_set=

Hating Hilary

By Matt Bai

Hilary Rosen paces the creaking oak floor of the Oxford Union debate hall, eyeing the empty pews the way a Roman gladiator might have surveyed the Colosseum. Rosen is the chair of the Recording Industry Association of America, and in a few hours she'll be standing here in a black formal gown, getting ripped to pieces. Along with several other industry executives, she's charged with defending the proposition: "This house believes that the free-music mentality is a threat to the future of music."

Richard Ballard
Hilary Rosen in the Washinton, DC, office of the Recording Industry Association of America.
Of course, the students of "this house" believe nothing of the sort. "I myself have about 900 megabytes of music on my computer," Dave Watson, the union's president, tells me before the debate. "You'd be hard-pressed to find a group of students who've never downloaded music. You can't stop them, as long as it's free."
In Wired News
Rosen Waves Bye to RIAA
Hilary Rosen, the music industry's foremost lobbyist and the chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, announces that she will resign at the end of the year.

"Are you nervous?" I ask Rosen. She's checking out the two doors students will exit through to cast their votes - one for "ayes" and another for "noes." She looks a little hurt by the suggestion. "I just want to win," she says.

Most people in Rosen's place would consider themselves lucky just to make it out alive. Reviled by college kids, music fans, and more than a few recording artists for the RIAA's role in forcing the shutdown of Napster, Rosen is seen as the embodiment of a venal corporate culture hurtling toward obsolescence. It seems she'll stop at nothing to frighten those who share music online instead of buying it in a store - hacking into networks, threatening universities and businesses, sending out subpoenas to unmask music-swappers. Some Hilary haters have protested her speeches and urged others to mail her excrement. On a scale of odiousness, devotees of the Web site Whatsbetter?com rated Rosen just below Illinois Nazis but better than Michael Bolton (and way above pedophile priests). On the more serious side, death threats once prompted Rosen to travel with security. "People take their free music seriously," Rosen says wryly.

By the time darkness falls over Oxford's Gothic towers, the debate hall is packed with hundreds of students. Rosen delivers her opening statement, a characteristically passionate indictment of file-sharing. In order for artists to record music, she says, they - and record labels - have to make money. And in order for them to make money, people have to stop helping themselves to copyrighted music whenever the mood strikes. That, plain and simple, is stealing.

Over occasional hisses and boos, Rosen asks the students to raise their hands if they've ever downloaded music. Two-thirds do. She asks them to lower their hands if they are buying less music these days. About half oblige. Then she asks the remaining students to lower their hands if they are buying more music. Few do. "That's because it's all rubbish!" someone shouts from the audience. By now there's such confusion that many students look at one another quizzically and jerk their hands up and down...
===============
Full artcle at above URL

Marius

brute_force · 07-02-03, 11:05 AM

from the wired.com article:

I've never seen such a flattering picture of Hilary before. She ought to be grateful that the same people who are clever enough to download mp3s on their computers also can make her look like an attractive woman, with the right software!

theknife · 08-02-03, 12:19 PM

i never knew she was gay

Eagle · 10-02-03, 07:54 AM

did someone say that Rilary Hosen looks attractive?

No...

Mazer · 28-02-03, 06:52 PM

Overall, not a bad article. Sometimes the same old arguments sound fresh when they're presented from a different point of view, and Matt Bai seems to have accomplished that. The article did change my opinion of Rosen, it's clear to me now that she's playing the victim rather than the victor in this battle. She chose to fight for the wrong side and now she wants sympathy. Too bad it doesn't work that way, America doesn't pity crybabies anymore.

28-01-03, 12:32 PM	#1
Marius Registered User Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 58	Hating Hilary: Wired Talks To RIAA Chair http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1...ic=&topic_set= Hating Hilary By Matt Bai Hilary Rosen paces the creaking oak floor of the Oxford Union debate hall, eyeing the empty pews the way a Roman gladiator might have surveyed the Colosseum. Rosen is the chair of the Recording Industry Association of America, and in a few hours she'll be standing here in a black formal gown, getting ripped to pieces. Along with several other industry executives, she's charged with defending the proposition: "This house believes that the free-music mentality is a threat to the future of music." Richard Ballard Hilary Rosen in the Washinton, DC, office of the Recording Industry Association of America. Of course, the students of "this house" believe nothing of the sort. "I myself have about 900 megabytes of music on my computer," Dave Watson, the union's president, tells me before the debate. "You'd be hard-pressed to find a group of students who've never downloaded music. You can't stop them, as long as it's free." In Wired News Rosen Waves Bye to RIAA Hilary Rosen, the music industry's foremost lobbyist and the chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, announces that she will resign at the end of the year. "Are you nervous?" I ask Rosen. She's checking out the two doors students will exit through to cast their votes - one for "ayes" and another for "noes." She looks a little hurt by the suggestion. "I just want to win," she says. Most people in Rosen's place would consider themselves lucky just to make it out alive. Reviled by college kids, music fans, and more than a few recording artists for the RIAA's role in forcing the shutdown of Napster, Rosen is seen as the embodiment of a venal corporate culture hurtling toward obsolescence. It seems she'll stop at nothing to frighten those who share music online instead of buying it in a store - hacking into networks, threatening universities and businesses, sending out subpoenas to unmask music-swappers. Some Hilary haters have protested her speeches and urged others to mail her excrement. On a scale of odiousness, devotees of the Web site Whatsbetter?com rated Rosen just below Illinois Nazis but better than Michael Bolton (and way above pedophile priests). On the more serious side, death threats once prompted Rosen to travel with security. "People take their free music seriously," Rosen says wryly. By the time darkness falls over Oxford's Gothic towers, the debate hall is packed with hundreds of students. Rosen delivers her opening statement, a characteristically passionate indictment of file-sharing. In order for artists to record music, she says, they - and record labels - have to make money. And in order for them to make money, people have to stop helping themselves to copyrighted music whenever the mood strikes. That, plain and simple, is stealing. Over occasional hisses and boos, Rosen asks the students to raise their hands if they've ever downloaded music. Two-thirds do. She asks them to lower their hands if they are buying less music these days. About half oblige. Then she asks the remaining students to lower their hands if they are buying more music. Few do. "That's because it's all rubbish!" someone shouts from the audience. By now there's such confusion that many students look at one another quizzically and jerk their hands up and down... =============== Full artcle at above URL Marius

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07-02-03, 11:05 AM	#2
brute_force 31337 Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 59	from the wired.com article: I've never seen such a flattering picture of Hilary before. She ought to be grateful that the same people who are clever enough to download mp3s on their computers also can make her look like an attractive woman, with the right software!

08-02-03, 12:19 PM	#3
theknife my name is Ranking Fullstop Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Promontorium Tremendum Posts: 4,391	i never knew she was gay

10-02-03, 07:54 AM	#4
Eagle RIAA - Raping Independent Artists of America Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 20	did someone say that Rilary Hosen looks attractive? No...

28-02-03, 06:52 PM	#5
Mazer Earthbound misfit Join Date: May 2001 Location: Moses Lake, Washington Posts: 2,563	Overall, not a bad article. Sometimes the same old arguments sound fresh when they're presented from a different point of view, and Matt Bai seems to have accomplished that. The article did change my opinion of Rosen, it's clear to me now that she's playing the victim rather than the victor in this battle. She chose to fight for the wrong side and now she wants sympathy. Too bad it doesn't work that way, America doesn't pity crybabies anymore.