January 23, 2003
Slashdot is a buzz this morning with the reported news (New York Times, requires registration) that the often vilified Hilary Rosen, C.E.O. of the Recording Industry of America (RIAA), is resigning at the end of the year. The RIAA website confirmed the news.

Although Rosen cited personal reasons for leaving the Recording Industry Association of America, many music lovers and consumers (and technophiles) hoped the moved signaled a change in the scorched earth policies that have been the hallmark of Rosen's tenure.

The New York Times Associated Press article contains this understatement of the new year: "Rosen's departure comes as the organization sought to soften its image among Internet consumers, many of whom viewed the RIAA -- and Rosen personally -- with antipathy over incessant pressure for crackdowns on sharing digital music over the Internet."

The Times article also quotes Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., a leading advocate of consumer rights to copyright works, who said it was too early to tell whether Rosen's departure would fundamentally change the industry's stance toward the Internet.

"I do not think that she has been a spiritual champion of the industry embracing the Internet as a distribution medium," Boucher said. ``I think the industry clearly needs to do that. It's the only way that the industry has to compete with peer-to-peer file-sharing services like Kazaa."

The WIZARD, fkap is pleased to see this resignation. We continue to believe that, more than any other single person, Rosen has done more to harm both the music industry and the development of new, profitable technologies. Let's hope this is the beginning of a new era at the RIAA.