My last post linked to an IEEE article that illustrated the kind of technological damage that the RIAA and MPAA are (and are trying) to inflict on the rest of us, in a desperate attempt to preserve their existing business models. The good news is, the internet itself is going to make that quest very, very difficult. Consider AllofMP3, a music site out of Russia. There's an NYT story on it this morning, which points out what the RIAA sees:

Music industry officials say AllofMP3 is a large-scale commercial piracy site.

"It is totally unprecedented to have a pirate site operating so openly for so long," said Neil Turkewitz, executive vice president of the Recording Industry Association of America, which is based in Washington.

The reality is, it's legal in Russia right now, and they accept standard credit card payments - which makes it accessible to anyone with net connectivity. The RIAA can't touch it, because it's out of their reach. That's where things are headed, unless the RIAA removes their collective head from their posterior lobes. They can either let us buy music (etc) on reasonable terms, allowing us to move that music around on our own devices - or they can watch as we do it ourselves, using offshore sites in jurisdictions that don't care.

You think the RIAA will shut all of these sites down? Sure, sure - just like various governments have managed to shut down money shielding in various countries. If governments can't stop the flow of huge piles of cash outside of their tax systems, I doubt that the RIAA will be able to stop the flow of MP3s.

They really have two choices: Be part of the game, and adjust their business models, or watch as the game happens without them.