YouTube, Google videos latest targets of RIAA

Found on Ars Technica on Thursday, 15 June 2006
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If you spend any significant amount of time browsing around YouTube, you'll notice a surprising number of videos consisting of people busting a move to popular music.

That has led to a recent spate of cease-and-desist notices from the music trade group directed at some users of YouTube. Despite the fact that the recordings are generally of poor quality-especially where the audio is concerned-the RIAA is moving to rid the Internet of the scourge of amateur Solid Gold dancers.

Typically, when the RIAA engages in some sort of enforcement action, it claims that the infringing activities are causing it a demonstrable financial loss. It's hard to see how the RIAA is suffering in any way from the presence of the videos. In fact, the argument could be made that the RIAA is actually benefiting from the videos, much like viral marketing.

It's just their usual whining about everything. If the RIAA at some point had something like a credibility, it lost them long ago. Seriously, who pays attention to them anymore? Everytime they are in the news it's just another example of how to ruin a business.