Hilary Rosen - Lobbyist For The Recording Industry

Lobbyist For The Recording Industry

Rosen was with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) from 1987 to 2003 and served first as President and then Chair and CEO from 1998 to 2003. She presided over the RIAA during the period of when the rise of the Internet notably conflicted with the established Recording Industry interests. She was paid to lobby the US Legislature and was a regular presence on behalf of the her employers in the Recording Industry at a time against proponents of file-sharing and new Internet technologies. During her tenure the RIAA filed lawsuits against early peer-to-peer file-sharing communities including Napster, Audiogalaxy and Grokster. The organization lobbied the US Congress to pass controversial legislation supporting Recording Industry interests, such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Record Rental Act, and numerous trade treaties (see Societal views on intellectual property). Despite the RIAA's aggressive tactics, online file-swapping has continued to grow. Industry critics, including those within the Association, have begun to question the effectiveness of the campaign. Indeed, many believe that the RIAA's activities alienated consumers and some popular artists from the very music industry the RIAA is supposed to protect. Rosen has expressed her agreement with this assertion.

The RIAA, under Rosen, attempted to lobby for strict digital copyright protection, including copy protected CDs and DRM-enabled media formats for personal computers. Copy-protected CDs were widely rejected by consumers for a variety of technological and political issues. Rosen's RIAA advanced a legal and public relations campaign to limit the digital file swapping of copyrighted music.

In 2002, Rosen began to argue that the Recording Industry should begin even more aggressive tactics aimed at individual citizens engaged in filesharing. The content industry, already facing a anti-copyright backlash opted against Rosen's approach.

Speaking in 2007, Rosen said

"It's pretty well known that I was impatient with the pace of the industry's embrace of online distribution of music. There's no substitute for speed when times are dire. The record companies had valid reasons for their caution, but that caution let the situation get out of hand."