RIAA asks US to strike Russia

Found on The Inquirer on Sunday, 25 December 2005
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The Recording Industry of America (RIAA) is leaning on the US Senate to take tough action against Russia over music and software piracy in that country.

The RIAA wants Russia to know that unless it submits to its demands to stop acting as a safe haven for pirates then there is no chance of it getting decent trading conditions with the US.

RIAA chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol said that the U.S.-Russia relationship must be built upon a mutual understanding of shared obligations and the application of the rule of law.

"The effective protection of American intellectual property has been sorely lacking in Russia. We must not enter into political arrangements with countries ill-prepared to adequately protect our greatest economic assets," Bainwol said.

That's the whole point: different countries, different laws. I know it's hard for some in the US to understand that there are different countries; and in contrary to popular belief, US law is not the law of the world. Let's just be happy that the industry doesn't have access to the red buttons.