ding dong, the bitch is dead

Looks like we'll have to find somebody new to revile and burn in effigy whenever someone talks about music and the Internet. Hilary Rosen has announced that she's stepping down at the end of 2003 as the CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America.

To be honest, I haven't really thought about whether this means anything. Realistically, the chances that the RIAA will bring in someone who recognizes that the business models of the major record labels are hopelessly outdated are in that narrow band between slim and none. From the industry side, it's not likely that anything will change, as Hilary's tenure has defined any softening of the majors' position as being pro-piracy. So, at the end of the day, this is non-news, but there's this weird sense of satisfaction that she's going to be gone. With the battle still raging, it gives you some sense that she knows she can't win.

Except maybe she can. I haven't really read much on this Microsoft announcement regarding Digital Rights Management on CDs, but it could be significant. Of course, it will be cracked, but that would wind up in direct violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act's bit about circumventing copy-protection, subsequently making piracy much more prosecutable. Pretty soon, we're going to need a definitive ruling on what constitutes "fair use," otherwise the whole thing's going to go to hell.