So there's been a bunch of noise this morning about the Warner's proposed music tax.
The RIAA is shaking down ISPs, and I have a feeling that ISPs aren't going to put up a fight. Essentially, the RIAA is proposing that ISPs pay a fee for every subscriber they have, and in return they promise not to sue. Kinda sounds like extortion to me. And the rub? ISPs will just pass the fee along to us, even if you don't partake in the activity of downloading music, legally or otherwise. To paraphrase a quote I saw somewhere earlier "It's like charging a cigarette tax to non-smokers."
I also agree with Michael Arrington's observation about the artificial inflation of the industry (from $10 Billion to $20 Billion) and how it will effectively stall innovation. What would motivate the record labels to find new artists and foster their creativity if they know that twice as much money is coming in, when they haven't done anything to earn it, and when they know it will keep coming in whether their next release goes platinum or is a steaming pile.