Why Hilary Rosen is really leaving RIAA
The most famous lobbyist of the music industry is leaving by year’s end to devote more time to her children. Touching. Maybe Hilary Rosen can even think about the children of average families and about the taxes she helped bring about on schools and libraries and consumers–in the form of harsher copyright laws. Meanwhile, if nothing else, we know of one household where the use of .MP3s will be very carefully supervised.
The TeleRead take: Lobbyists and PR people are disposable. Family responsibilities may even be the main reason for Ms. Rosen’s resignation from the Recording Industry Association of America, but as a recent Wired article shows, Ms. Rosen turned herself into a tempting punching bag for outraged Net activists, librarians, you name it. It’s time for the music biz to move on to a less hated figure. Be interesting to see how long until Ms. Rosen resurfaces in another industry. Perhaps the asbestos business? Of course, the fantasy here is that she ends up like one of those former cancer-stick-pushers who did anti-smoking commercials. “And now, speaking for America’s libraries and the need for fair use….” Hey, if Rosen doesn’t want the job, maybe ex-child advocate Pat Schroeder of the publishers association can repent and oblige.
But back to Hilary. She earlier was known for helping to start “Rock the Vote” to engage young people in the political process. My hunch is that at RIAA her effect on the RTV cause was mixed in certain ways. On one hand, the naked purchase of Congress by the copyright interests, via campaign donations, has helped energized some of the young to vote. And on the other hand? Many more millions may eventually be thinking, if they haven’t already: “Why bother?”
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