Recording Industry Association of America
Formation	1952
Type	Technical standards, licensing and royalties
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Location	United States
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer	Cary Sherman
Website	riaa.com

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors, which the RIAA say "create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legally sold recorded music in the United States."^[1] RIAA has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.^[2][3]

The RIAA was formed in 1952^[4] primarily to administer the RIAA equalization curve,^{[citation needed]} a technical standard of frequency response applied to vinyl records during recording. The RIAA participates in the collective rights management of sound recording. The association is also responsible for certifying Gold and Platinum albums and singles in the USA.

The RIAA lists its goals as:^[1]

1. to protect intellectual property rights and the First Amendment rights of artists;
2. to perform research about the music industry;
3. to monitor and review relevant laws, regulations and policies;

Company structure and sales[link]

Cary Sherman has been the RIAA's chairman and CEO since 2011. Sherman joined the RIAA as its general counsel in 1997 and became president of the board of directors in 2001, serving in that position until being made chairman and CEO.

Mitch Glazier has been the RIAA's senior executive vice president since 2011. He served as executive vice president for public policy and industry relations from 2000 to 2011.

The past RIAA chairman and CEO is the Mitch Bainwol, who served from 2003 to 2011. He left in 2011 to become president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

The board of directors consists of 26 members of the board, drawn mostly from the big four members of the RIAA.^[5] The board is currently made up of:

• Cary Sherman - RIAA
• Colin Finkelstein - EMI Recorded Music
• Bill Hearn - EMI Christian Music Group
• Deirdre McDonald - Sony Music Entertainment
• Terry Hemmings - Provident Music Group/Sony Music Entertainment
• Kevin Kelleher - Sony Music Entertainment
• Thomas Hesse - Sony Music Entertainment
• Julie Swidler - Sony Music Entertainment
• Luke Wood - Interscope Records
• Jeff Harleston - Universal Music Group
• Zach Horowitz - Universal Music Group
• Mel Lewinter - Universal Motown Republic Group
• Craig Kallman - The Atlantic Group
• Paul Robinson Warner Music Group
• Bob Cavallo - Buena Vista Music
• Glen Barros - Concord Music Group
• Mike Curb - Curb Records
• Michael Koch^{[disambiguation needed ]} - Entertainment One U.S.
• Tom Silverman - Tommy Boy Entertainment
• Steve Bartels - Island Records

The RIAA represents over 1,600 member labels, which are private corporate entities such as record labels and distributors, and collectively create and distribute about 90% of recorded music sold in the United States. The largest and most influential of the members are the "Big Four" that include:

• EMI
• Sony Music Entertainment
• Universal Music Group
• Warner Music Group

The RIAA reports that total retail value of recordings sold by their members was $10.4 billion^[6] at the end of 2007, a decline from $14.6 billion in 1999.

Sales certification[link]

The RIAA operates an award program for albums that sell a large number of copies.^[7] The program originally began in 1958, with a Gold Award for singles and albums that reach 1,000,000 in sales. The criteria was changed in 1975 to the number of copies sold, with albums selling 500,000 copies awarded the Gold Award. In 1976, a Platinum Award was added for one million sales. In 1989 it changed again with a "Gold Award" for singles that reach 500,000 in sales and a "Platinum Award" for singles that reach 1,000,000 in sales, and in 1999 a Diamond Award for ten million sales.^[8] The awards are open to both RIAA members and non-members.^[9]

Since 2000,^[10] the RIAA also operates a similar program for Spanish language music sales, called Los Premios de Oro y De Platino. Currently, a Disco De Oro (Gold) is awarded for 50,000 units and a Disco De Platino is awarded for 100,000 units, with Album Multi-Platino at 200,000.^[11] To be eligible for this award, sound recordings must contain more than 50% Spanish language content.^[10]

"Digital" sales certification[link]

In 2004, the RIAA added a branch of certification for what it calls "digital" recordings, meaning roughly "recordings transferred to the recipient over a network" (such as those sold via the iTunes Store), and excluding other obviously-digital media such as those on CD, DAT, or MiniDisc. In 2006, "digital ringtones" were added to this branch of certification. As of 2007^[update], the certification criteria for these recordings are as follows:

• Silver: 100,000 copies
• Gold: 500,000 copies
• Platinum: 1,000,000 copies
• Multi-Platinum: 2,000,000 copies
• Diamond: 10,000,000 copies

Video Longform certification[link]

Along with albums, digital albums, and singles there is another classification of music release called "Video Longform." This release format includes DVD and VHS releases, and certain live albums and compilation albums. The certification criteria is slightly different from other styles.^[12]

• Gold: 50,000
• Platinum: 100,000

Efforts against infringement of members' copyrights[link]

Efforts against file sharing[link]

The RIAA opposes unauthorized sharing of its music. Studies conducted since the association began its campaign against peer-to-peer file-sharing have concluded that losses incurred per download range from negligible^[13][14] to substantial.^[15]

The association has commenced high profile lawsuits against file sharing service providers. It has also commenced a series of lawsuits against individuals suspected of file sharing, notably college students and parents of file sharing children. It is accused of employing techniques such as peer-to-peer "decoying" and "spoofing" to combat file sharing.^[16][17]

As of late 2008 they have announced they will stop their lawsuits,^[18] and instead are attempting to work with ISPs who will use a three-strike warning system for file sharing, and upon the third strike will cut off Internet service all together.^[19] However as of 2009 no major ISPs have announced they are part of the plan, and Verizon has publicly denied any involvement with this plan.^[20]

Selection of defendants[link]

The RIAA names defendants based on ISP identification of the subscriber associated with an IP address,^[21] and as such do not know any additional information about a person before they sue. After an Internet subscriber's identity is discovered, but before an individual lawsuit is filed, the subscriber is typically offered an opportunity to settle. The standard settlement is a payment to the RIAA and an agreement not to engage in file-sharing of music and is usually on par with statutory damages of $750 per work, with the RIAA choosing the number of works it deems "reasonable." For cases that do not settle at this amount, the RIAA has gone to trial, seeking statutory damages from the jury, written into The Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 as between $750 and $30,000 per work or $750 and $150,000 per work if "willful." In the case RIAA v. Tenenbaum, the jury awarded the RIAA $22,500 per song shared by Joel Tenenbaum resulting in a judgment of $675,000 for the shared 30 tracks (this was later reduced to $67,500 by the judge) and in the case RIAA v. Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the jury awarded $80,000 per song, or $1.92 million for 24 tracks^[22][23] (this award was later reduced by the judge to $54,000,^[24] though the final amount of damages has not been determined).

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Citizen oppose the ability of the RIAA and other companies to "strip Internet users of anonymity without allowing them to challenge the order in court."^[25][26]

The RIAA's methods of identifying individual users had, in some rare cases, led to the issuing of subpoena to a recently deceased 83-year-old woman,^[27] an elderly computer novice,^[28] and a family reportedly without any computer at all.^[29]

Settlement programs[link]

In February 2007 the RIAA began sending letters accusing Internet users of sharing files and directing them to web site P2PLAWSUITS.COM, where they can make "discount" settlements payable by credit card.^[30] The letters go on to say that anyone not settling will have lawsuits brought against them. Typical settlements are between $3,000 and $12,000. This new strategy was formed because the RIAA's legal fees were cutting into the income from settlements.^[31] In 2008, RIAA sued 19-year-old Ciara Sauro for allegedly sharing ten songs online.^[32]

The RIAA also launched an "early settlement program" directed to ISPs and to colleges and universities, urging them to pass along letters to subscribers and students offering early settlements, prior to the disclosure of their identities. The settlement letters urged ISPs to preserve evidence for the benefit of the RIAA and invited the students and subscribers to visit an RIAA website for the purpose of entering into a "discount settlement" payable by credit card.^[33] By March 2007, the focus had shifted from ISPs to colleges and universities.^[31][34][35]

In October 1998, the Recording Industry Association of America filed a lawsuit in the Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco claiming the Diamond Multimedia Rio PMP300 player violated the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act. The Rio PMP300 was significant because it was the second portable consumer MP3 digital audio player released on the market. The three judge panel ruled in favor of Diamond, paving the way for the development of the portable digital player market.^[36]

In 2003, the RIAA sued college student developers of LAN search engines Phynd and Flatlan, describing them as "a sophisticated network designed to enable widespread music thievery."^[37][38][39]

In September 2003, the RIAA filed suit in civil court against several private individuals who had shared large numbers of files with Kazaa. Most of these suits were settled with monetary payments averaging $3,000. Kazaa publisher Sharman Networks responded with a lawsuit against the RIAA, alleging that the terms of use of the network were violated and that unauthorized client software was used in the investigation to track down the individual file sharers (such as Kazaa Lite). An effort to throw out this suit was denied in January 2004, however, that suit was settled in 2006. Sharman Networks agreed to a global settlement of litigation brought against it by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI), and the RIAA. The creators of the popular Kazaa file-sharing network will pay $115 million to the RIAA, unspecified future amounts to the MPAA and the software industry, and install filters on its networks to prevent users from sharing copyrighted works on its network. ^[40] Michael L. Williams 15:31, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

RIAA has also filed suit in 2006 to enjoin digital XM Satellite Radio from enabling its subscribers from playing songs it has recorded from its satellite broadcasts.^[41] It is also suing several Internet radio stations.^[42]

On October 12, 2007, the RIAA sued Usenet.com seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the company from "aiding, encouraging, enabling, inducing, causing, materially contributing to, or otherwise facilitating" copyright infringement. This suit, the first that the RIAA has filed against a Usenet provider, has added another branch to the RIAA's rapidly expanding fight to curb the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials. Unlike many of the RIAA's previous lawsuits, this suit is filed against the provider of a service who has no direct means of removing infringing content. The RIAA's argument relies heavily on the fact the Usenet.com, the only defendant that has been named currently, promoted their service with slogans and phrases that strongly suggested that the service could be used to obtain free music.

On April 28, 2008, RIAA member labels sued Project Playlist, a web music search site, claiming that the majority of the sound recordings in the site's index of links are infringing. Project Playlist's website denies that any of the music is hosted on Project Playlist's own servers.^[43]

On June 30, 2009, The Recording Industry Association of America prevailed in its fight against Usenet.com, in a decision, that the U.S. District Judge Harold Baer of the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of the music industry on all its main arguments: that Usenet.com is guilty of direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement. In addition, and perhaps most important for future cases, Baer said that Usenet.com can't claim protection under the Sony Betamax decision. That ruling states, companies can't be held liable for contributory infringement if the device they create is "capable of significant non-infringing uses."^[44] Furthermore, the parties are now headed to federal court for damage assessments and awards, which could amount to many, many millions of dollars for the music industry. ^[45]

On October 26, 2010, RIAA members won a case against LimeWire, a P2P file sharing network, for illegal distribution of copyrighted works.^[46] On October 29, in retaliation, riaa.org was taken offline via denial-of-service attack executed by members of Operation Payback and Anonymous.^[47]

The "work made for hire" controversy[link]

In 1999, Mitch Glazier, a Congressional staff attorney, inserted, without public notice or comment, substantive language into the final markup of a "technical corrections" section of copyright legislation, classifying many music recordings as "works made for hire," thereby stripping artists of their copyright interests and transferring those interests to their record labels.^[48][49] Shortly afterwards, Glazier was hired as Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Legislative Counsel for the RIAA, which vigorously defended the change when it came to light.^[50] The battle over the disputed provision led to the formation of the Recording Artists' Coalition, which successfully lobbied for repeal of the change.^[51][52]

See also[link]

	Music portal
	United States portal

• Center for Copyright Information
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
• Global music industry market share data
• Intellectual Property trade groups
• International Intellectual Property Alliance IIPA
• List of RIAA member labels
• Music Canada CRIA
• Parental Advisory

References[link]

External links[link]

• RIAA official website

Kim Dotcom
Kim Dotcom in 1996
Born	Kim Schmitz (1974-01-21) January 21, 1974 (age 38) Kiel, Germany
Residence	New Zealand; Hong Kong
Nationality	German
Other names	Kimble, Kim Tim Jim Vestor
Citizenship	Germany, Finland
Education	secondary modern school / junior high school[1]
Occupation	CIO CEO (2005–2011)
Years active	2005–2012
Organization	Megaupload Ltd.
Known for	Founder of Megaupload.com and sister websites
Home town	Kiel, Germany
Height	6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m)
Weight	285 pounds (129 kg)[2]
Criminal charge	Computer fraud; insider trading; embezzlement; possession of stolen goods; abuse of titles
Criminal penalty	Multiple suspended detentions
Criminal status	Convicted, probation served
Spouse	Mona
Children	5[3][4][5]

Kim Dotcom, born Kim Schmitz^[6] on January 21, 1974,^[7] also known as Kimble^[8] and Kim Tim Jim Vestor,^[9] is a German-Finnish^[10] businessman who rose to prominence during the dot-com bubble and was convicted of insider trading and embezzlement in its aftermath.^[11] He is also known as the founder of Megaupload and its associated websites.^[11][12][13] He legally changed his surname to Dotcom circa 2005.^[14] On January 20, 2012, the New Zealand Police placed him in custody under the charges of criminal copyright infringement in relation to his Megaupload Web site.

Early career[link]

As a teenager, Dotcom became known in his native Germany for claims to have cracked corporate PBX systems in the United States, and tried to parlay it into a career in data security.^[15] That effort led to his arrest on charges of using and selling stolen calling card numbers.^[16][17] In 1994, Dotcom founded a computer security company called DataProtect.^[18] In 1999, DataProtect and IVM engineering presented the "Megacar", a Brabus-tuned Mercedes-Benz S-Class W220 which, among other features, had a Windows NT server, a 17.3" SGI flat panel display and combined 16 GSM modules to provide mobile broadband Internet access.^[19]

In 1998, Dotcom was convicted of computer fraud and handling stolen goods, and sentenced to two years of prison on probation.^[20] According to a report by News & Record, he had traded stolen calling card numbers he bought from hackers in the United States.^[21] He achieved early notoriety by being the subject of an advanced-for-its-time flash animation video called Kimble Special Agent.^[22] The name is a reference to Richard Kimble, the main character of the television series The Fugitive.^[23]

Dotcom later sold 80% of the shares of DataProtect to TÜV Rheinland in 2000, during the dot-com bubble. The former went bankrupt at the time of the subsequent market crash in 2001.^[24][25]

He is known for his large frame, as he is 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall and weighs more than 130 kilograms (290 lb).^[26]

Insider trading and embezzlement[link]

In 2001, Dotcom purchased €375,000 worth of shares of the nearly bankrupt company LetsBuyIt.com and subsequently announced his intention to invest €50 million in the company.^[27] Unknown to others, Dotcom did not have the funds available to invest, although the announcement caused the share value of LetsBuyIt.com to jump by nearly 300%.^[28] Dotcom sold his shares a few days later for €1.568 million.^[27]

Dotcom had also arranged and obtained an unsecured loan of €280,000 from Monkey AG, a company for which Dotcom had served as Chairman of the Board. The funds were to be paid to Kimvestor AG. As a result, both Monkey and Kimvestor went bankrupt. Dotcom expressed remorse, stating that he had been "dazzled" and had not recognized that he would be unable to repay the loans.^[29]

In January 2002, Dotcom was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, deported to Germany, and subsequently sentenced to a probationary sentence of one year and eight months, and a €100,000 fine, the largest insider-trading case in Germany at the time.^[30] Dotcom also pleaded guilty to embezzlement in November 2003 and received a two-year probation sentence.^[31]

Megaupload and related companies[link]

Megaupload.com

Megaupload Limited businesses[link]

On March 21, 2005, Dotcom founded Megaupload Limited, a Hong Kong-based file hosting and sharing business that eventually became the 13th most popular site on the internet^[32] with over 150 employees, US$175 million revenues,^[33] 50 million visitors daily,^[32] and estimated to be responsible at its peak for 4% of all internet traffic.^[32][34]

The Megaupload business' domain names were seized and the sites shut down by the U.S. Justice Department on January 19, 2012, following their indictment and arrests of the owners for allegedly operating as an organization dedicated to copyright infringement.^[35]

Civil litigation and controversies[link]

He was sued for copyright infringement as owner of Megaupload.^[36] A settlement was later filed.^[37]

In December 2011, Dotcom's Megaworld (owner of Megaupload, Megavideo, Megalive and more) released its "Megaupload Song" promotional music video, which featured Kanye West, will.i.am, Jamie Foxx, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Alicia Keys, Chris Brown and more lauding the service. Universal Music Group (UMG) responded by using the DMCA takedown process to have the clip removed from YouTube and other sites. Dotcom accused UMG of sending "illegitimate takedown notices", since UMG did not own the song in question, and Megaupload went on to file a lawsuit against UMG.^[13][38][39] A statement released by UMG claimed that a special arrangement exists between UMG and YouTube which allows UMG to take down any videos featuring their artists, regardless of copyright status.^[40] This claim was later explicitly denied by YouTube,^[41] which has since reinstated the video.^[42]

2012 arrest in New Zealand and seizure of Megaupload's websites[link]

On January 5, 2012,^[43] indictments were filed in the United States against Dotcom on criminal copyright infringement charges along with Július Benčko and 5 other associates. On January 20, 2012, Kim Dotcom, Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk were arrested in Coatesville, Auckland, New Zealand, by New Zealand Police, following an armed raid on Dotcom's house. New Zealand authorities were cooperating with the United States' FBI and Justice Department, Hong Kong Customs and the Hong Kong Department of Justice, the Netherlands Police Agency and the Public Prosecutor's Office for Serious Fraud and Environmental Crime in Rotterdam, London's Metropolitan Police Service, Germany’s Bundeskriminalamt and the German Public Prosecutors, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Department of Justice in the investigation preceding the arrests.^[44][45]

According to Dotcom's defense, the police operation against Megaupload was unnecessarily grandiose: "... armed officers arrived in helicopters and dropped into the Dotcom mansion courtyard."^[46]

On January 25, 2012 (NZ local time) Dotcom was initially refused bail due to alleged risks of fleeing to Germany,^[47][48] but was granted bail on February 22.^[49]

On February 6, Dotcom invited New Zealand journalist John Campbell of Campbell Live to visit his Coatesville property and inspect the damage done by police. According to head of security, Wayne Tempero "... the force was incredible ... Had they simply asked us we would have opened the door to any room they wanted to enter." He said Mr. Dotcom seemed shocked by the police action. "I remember him saying "copyright infringement" and shook his head, like he's going "what the hell?". We weren't building bombs in the cellar, we didn't have a meth lab bigger than the South Island here. This was a normal family house.".^[50]

On February 22, Kim Dotcom was released on bail under the condition that he remain within 80 km of his Coatesville residence and is barred from Internet access. Bail was granted after considering his flight risk and seizure of assets. Judge Dawson stated Dotcom has “every reason to stay to be with his family and fight to keep his assets.” The condition of bail came with a successful additional measure brought by the US Government to prevent Kim Dotcom's access to the Internet. Despite concerns about the interaction between Kim Dotcom and his legal team, Judge Dawson sided with the US government because Kim Dotcom "(has) the ability to use it for wrong purposes."^[51]

On March 1, Kim Dotcom gave his first interview to New Zealand media after his arrest to John Campbell of Campbell Live.^[52] He explained the close ties of his case to that of Viacom vs. YouTube; in which the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) shielded YouTube from the infringement of its users and described his surprise when he was arrested without trial or a hearing.^[53] Kim Dotcom also provided some of the aspects of his defense. Dotcom explains that the Megaupload was responsible for 800 files being transferred every second and that it would be impossible to police all that traffic. In addition, the US has privacy laws, such as Electronic Communication Privacy Act, which prohibits the administrators from looking into the accounts of the users.

On March 4, he released his diary detailing his first week since being out of prison and expressed his concerns that wife, Mona Dotcom, may be targeted by the US Authorities.^[54]

Other activities[link]

Dotcom has taken part in the Gumball 3000 international road rally on several occasions, winning in 2001 in his Mercedes Brabus SV12 Megacar. He also competed in 2004. In a 2004 interview on Belgian Television, he claimed that in Morocco a car was blocking him and "he had to bump him off the road. Nothing happened to him". He claims he subsequently found out it was the Chief of Police in a "civil" car.^[55]

Before his arrest, Dotcom was the world's number one-ranked Modern Warfare 3 player. The game has more than 15 million online players.^[56] On January 23, 2012 he lost the position and dropped to number two.^[57]

Since 2001, Dotcom has received media coverage as a founder of a Hong Kong based investing company called Trendax. The company claimed to use artificial intelligence to maximize investment return and Dotcom tried to find investors for a hedge fund managed by the company.^[58] According to media reports Dotcom never had a proper license to start the fund, though no fraud was suspected.^[59]

In 2010, Dotcom leased a NZ$30M mansion at Coatesville, near Auckland, owned by Richard and Ruth Bradley, the British founders of Chrisco, and considered the most expensive house in the country. He had an arrangement to buy the mansion when the lease expired,^[60] but the New Zealand Government declined his application to buy the land on the basis that he did not meet the "good character" test.^[61] Dotcom was granted permanent residency in New Zealand in 2010.^[12][62]

An investigative piece found Dotcom in Hong Kong business records with the new name "Kim Tim Jim Vestor", allegedly bearing a Finnish passport, and acting as director of several "Mega-" companies, among them Megaupload Ltd. and Megarotic Ltd.^[11] According to Megaupload spokesperson B. Lam, Kim is one of many shareholders at Mega and not involved in most day-to-day business decisions.^[11]

Kim Dotcom has spoken out against his negative portrayal in the media, claiming to be a reformed character and a legitimate businessman who has been unfairly demonized by United States authorities and industry trade groups such as the RIAA and MPAA. He contends that the services offered by his Megaupload site were not significantly different from those of comparable services such as Rapidshare or YouTube, and he has just been used as a scapegoat because of his hacker past. Dotcom is also keen to point out his charitable works, including funding the fireworks display for New Year 2011 in Auckland,^[63] and donating large amounts of money to the relief fund following the devastating 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, and explains that his property purchases in New Zealand were approved by several other government Ministers before being vetoed at the last minute by Justice Minister Simon Power, after the United States Department of Justice secretly asked his department for help with their investigation of Dotcom.^[64][65]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Register: Bin Laden hack-meister in defacement, financial debacles
• The Register: YIHAT founder Kimble/Schmitz arrested
• The Register: Kimble arrested for insider trading
• The Register: Hoaxster hacker discovers infinite-wealth algorithm
• Inside Megaupload's Megamind: Kim Dotcom's Playboy Bunnies, Russian Nuclear
• 3 News: Following the latest on Kim Dotcom / Schmitz
• TV3 On Demand: Kim Dotcom / Schmitz first exclusive TV interview after his arrest in New Zealand