We’ve known for years that the RIAA acts like a bunch of hypocritical bullies with nothing better to do than pick on the helpless. But wow. The latest report about how the lobbying organisation is now bullying small music sites that not only have zero revenue but also pay licensing fees is just pathetic.
In the span of a single week, Torrent Freak found out that the RIAA is targeting not one but two very quaint-sounding radio archives. Last week, it was a 20-year-old fan site called ReelRadio that streams historical radio shows in the RIAA’s crosshairs. Now, Torrent Freak says that a vinyl-to-tape-to-digital mixtape archives is also receiving threats. Both sites pay thousands of dollars in licensing fees, but the RIAA says it’s not enough and is threatening to shut them down.
These are small, pretty hard-to-hate websites, and that’s kind of the point. It seems like when the RIAA’s not pirating its own content, it gets a thrill out of bullying vintage radio nerds. The really sad thing is that we would expect nothing better from them after so many years of picking on the little guy. [Torrent Freak]