Open Letter to the Music Industry

I own over 300 CDs, 300 tapes, and over 800 LPs. I will NEVER buy any copy protected CDs. In seeking to protect your revenue stream you have assaulted your customers basic, legally protected 'Fair Use' rights. You have attacked the symptoms, just to avoid dealing with the root cause...your industry is based on lies and an economic structure that has gotten out of hand.

This has never been about protecting copyright. It has always been about money, the money you steal from copyright holders to protect your companies financial racket. In 1984 when CDs were young, we were all told that the reason you were charging $4-$8 more for CDs than LPs was because they were so new, and that prices would come down when CDs became more common. Well, it never happened, because you got attached to the teat. You got fat and happy, and figured that the stupid cows you call consumers, could never do anything about it.

Guess what, the consumer has woken up. The lies have come back to haunt you. In order to attack the file sharing problem you have decided to attack all of your customers. You have decided to make our lives difficult for the privilege of owning your product. I pump out my music in MP3 format. I have ripped all of the music in my house and plan on streaming my collection through my stereo system. If I want, I will burn CDs and use them in my portable CD player. I will migrate my LPs to digital, since many will never get there at your hands.

I bought the product, and I WILL use it as I see fit. I don't need new music. I have over 16 days worth of MP3 music. I can survive and never spend another dime with the Music Industry...can you?

Michael Jardeen