“Fair use” and “RIAA” are words that rarely appear together. I am my university's registered DMCA agent. So I appreciate intellectual property rights and the flagrant disregard (or ignorance) some have towards those rights. I also own the rights to intellectual property I have created. And I appreciate fair use and how it is threatened today. On February 27 in Congress Reps. Boucher [D-VA] and Doolittle [R-CA] introduced the FAIR USE Act of 2007 and the following day the RIAA announced that it is starting a campaign to inform college students that it is readying lawsuits against them charging them with illegal fire sharing and downloading. These are not necessarily in conflict with one another. Nevertheless, at some point the RIAA needs to ask itself how long it can keep its thumb in the dike before it recognizes that it needs to find a new business model that will work for it, for the artists and others it represents, and for consumers who are quick to recognize the opportunities new technologies offer.

Reps. Boucher and Doolittle have introduced this same bill in vain in earlier Congresses. Let's hope that their colleagues see the wisdom of their proposal. After all, in every Congressional district there are more music consumers among the voters than there are individuals who make their living from the RIAA's eroding business model. Tell your representative what is wise and what is fair and urge them to cosponsor the FAIR USE Act.