Same old song and dance: in seeking to defend their traditional way of doing business, the record companies might be choking off the sort of allies they will someday need. (Observations and Opinions).(Brief Article)

Video Business, May, 2002 by Sweeting, Paul

By most counts, the past week was a good one for the Recording Industry Association of America. It began with the final death throes of Napster, the record companies' arch-nemesis, after Bertelsmann withdrew its offer to acquire the file-trading service and sent it spiraling into liquidation.

Although file-trading remains a serious problem for the music industry, the death of Napster represents at least a symbolic victory for copyright owners. On a more practical front, Congress made it clear that it would not interfere with the Librarian of Congress' plan to institute a new royalty scheme for Web-based radio stations favored by the RIAA but strongly opposed by many Web broadcasters. Unlike royalty-free, over-the-air broadcasters, Web radio...

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