[IP] WORTH READING better version Letter to the Post-Gazette by Roger Dannenberg
Begin forwarded message:
From: Anne Watzman <aw16@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: May 3, 2005 12:21:09 PM EDT
To: aw16@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Letter to the Post-Gazette by Roger Dannenberg
Music stealing all around
Cary Sherman's opinion piece on Sunday, "Mellifluous Discord:
Universities' High-Speed Internet2 Used by Students to Pilfer Music,"
was as one-sided and illogical as the whole Recording Industry
Association of America he represents, as president.
Sherman suggests that universities should remind users of "the
necessity of responsible use of network resources." In my computer
science class at Carnegie Mellon, "Introduction to Computer Music," I
spend a little time doing just that. I teach students how,
historically, the major recording labels have dominated the recording
industry, refusing to record some of America's greatest artists,
including Louis Armstrong. (His first recordings were manufactured by
a former piano company in Indiana, which was sued by the major labels
of the day for patent infringement.) Mr. Sherman, is this an example
of "a climate where creativity is valued" that you are seeking?
My students also learn how the broadcasting industry, dominated by
NBC and CBS, ignored recording technology until the NBC monopoly was
broken up by the FCC. The innovations in magnetic recording for
broadcast introduced by the struggling ABC were a major step forward,
enabling the modern recording industry and even modern computer
technology. Mr. Sherman, was the monopolistic suppression of
innovation the "responsible use of network resources" you are seeking?
Mr. Sherman, you say that stealing "is not OK," and yet I have
musician friends who cannot get RIAA members to pay them the
royalties they are due. While you are asking universities to address
your problems, please don't forget that you too can be a "powerful
leader in curbing theft of copyright materials on campus." If you'll
stop your members from stealing from my friends, and then study some
history, maybe I can help you.
ROGER DANNENBERG
Squirrel Hill
Anne Watzman, Director
Media Relations, School of Computer Science
412-268-3830
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