and the times, they are a-changin'

As MacObserver so eloquently put it, Ding Dong, The Witch Is Almost Dead. RIAA pitbull Hilary Rosen is due to step down at the end of the year, according to the Washington Post.

What could this mean to the future of corporate bullying and strongarming? Can the RIAA find another pitbull to rise to the occasion? Will it make any effect at all? Are the doomsayers correct in singing their funeral dirge?

I was discussing related things with this lovely lady via email over the last day or so, and I mentioned something there that I believe is worth repeating here.

When the Web Standards Project was born, I have to admit I was skeptical that anyone could convince the proprietary-mad software makers that supporting standards in their browsers instead of making up additional tags for their software would work. Why would these companies ever listen to the public?

And yet here we stand in 2003 with great strides being made in all browsers toward a very standard-compliant future. No single browser has it perfect, yet, but they're trying. They get it! They really, really get it!

I can't help but think that perhaps what the music industry (and Hollywood) really needs is another group like the Web Standards Project. A group that will help to: promote the creation of a new way of doing business, educate these industries as to what their market really wants and needs, and serve as a united force to combat the pitbulls. Doc and Dan Gillmor (among many others I could list here) would be naturals at this kind of education and advocacy.

posted on 2003.01.23 at 01:32 PM