Tuesday, March 06, 2007

If it walks like a duck ...

... and talks like the RIAA, it probably is extortion.  It's about time that word got associated with the recording industry's latest tactic.  Wikipedia's entry is most interesting, including such tidbits as:

  • "the simple four words "pay up or else" are sufficient ..."
  • "...may also be committed as a federal crime across a computer system ..."
  • "the message only has to be sent ... to commit the crime ..."
Sounds interestingly familiar, doesn't it?  Even more interesting is it appears to be completely legal for the RIAA, which is a private entity (not a wing of the government).