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Considering the fact that the very reason that the RIAA exists is because of the government (collusion/anti-trust laws prevent labels from working together dire

by ethank 15y ago

Considering the fact that the very reason that the RIAA exists is because of the government (collusion/anti-trust laws prevent labels from working together directly on things like pricing) and as a lobby organization, this doesn't seem that revelatory. The whole point of trade associations (MPAA, RIAA, IFPI, ESA, CRIA, AJA, BSA, etc) is to avoid collusion while protecting the interest of associated members. I had a lot of things I had to be aware of when working with other labels. All these tests, etc. SOX compliance also added another wrinkle. In the case of those mentioned, usually these members are associated with intellectual property and representing copywrited works.

_delirium 15y ago
The whole point of trade associations (MPAA, RIAA, IFPI, ESA, CRIA, AJA, BSA, etc) is to avoid collusion while protecting the interest of associated members. They vary in just how much they really have that aim, though. In some cases they really are organized as a way of protecting collective interests (e.g. the interests of the whole sector) without crossing over into collusion; with other organizations, it comes closer to attempting to collude without being caught. For example, is the purpose of the organization to expand the pie for music sales in general, or is the purpose to keep up profit margins by reducing competition among its members? The RIAA in particular has been caught doing that on numerous occasions. It's lost cases over pretty overt things like price-fixing, and I wouldn't be surprised if it does a lot of less overt things as well (various kinds of signaling and informal agreements to structure operations and campaigns in mutually beneficial ways). Professional organizations that represent a sector, like the IEEE or ACM, seem to have a somewhat "cleaner" record on really promoting the sector rather than mainly aiming at reducing intra-sector competition.
- ethank 15y ago
  Re RIAA: I agree. I'm no fan. But what I said was that the point of trade organizations was to ensure collective rights while avoiding collusion. That is the POINT, that isn't what they always do. Sometimes they just hide collusion under the guise of avoiding it: hence lobbying. Also any time you have an organization speaking for many, there are never any "clean" records. IEEE, IETF, ACM all have had their controversies.

by ethank 15y ago

_delirium 15y ago

The whole point of trade associations (MPAA, RIAA, IFPI, ESA, CRIA, AJA, BSA, etc) is to avoid collusion while protecting the interest of associated members. They vary in just how much they really have that aim, though. In some cases they really are organized as a way of protecting collective interests (e.g. the interests of the whole sector) without crossing over into collusion; with other organizations, it comes closer to attempting to collude without being caught. For example, is the purpose of the organization to expand the pie for music sales in general, or is the purpose to keep up profit margins by reducing competition among its members? The RIAA in particular has been caught doing that on numerous occasions. It's lost cases over pretty overt things like price-fixing, and I wouldn't be surprised if it does a lot of less overt things as well (various kinds of signaling and informal agreements to structure operations and campaigns in mutually beneficial ways). Professional organizations that represent a sector, like the IEEE or ACM, seem to have a somewhat "cleaner" record on really promoting the sector rather than mainly aiming at reducing intra-sector competition.

ethank 15y ago
Re RIAA: I agree. I'm no fan. But what I said was that the point of trade organizations was to ensure collective rights while avoiding collusion. That is the POINT, that isn't what they always do. Sometimes they just hide collusion under the guise of avoiding it: hence lobbying. Also any time you have an organization speaking for many, there are never any "clean" records. IEEE, IETF, ACM all have had their controversies.