Saturday, March 03, 2007

RIAA wanted to shut down the Internet back in 1994

Telling. This organization is truly dinosaur-ish. Their tactics are detrimental not only to the innovative power of the United States but I would argue detrimental to their own future. I think history has shown us over and over again that attempts to stop the impact technical evolution on one's industry backfire and lead to industry decline.
Question: What online service did the RIAA claim should be shut down because it has no legal use, and is primarily used to share illegal files?

Answer: The World Wide Web (circa 1994)

Few people remember this, but in the early days of the web, the RIAA proposed shutting down the web. That's right; if the RIAA had its way in the early 1990's, the web as we know it would cease to exist.

The RIAA claimed in the early 1990's that the primary purpose of the web was for students to pirate music.
RIAA started complaining about how the web was used for sharing illegal files, and they argued that since the web had no legal commercial use, it should be shut down.

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