The
terrified boy lay fetal on the floor
in a state of shock, as tear gas filled
the room. “Stay on the ground,”
a gruff voice shouted. Tommy was turned
on to his stomach. One of the men kneeled
on Tommy’s back as another held
a gun to his head, and yet another placed
handcuffs on him. Two others were
smashing his monitor and confiscating
his hard drive. He was blindfolded,
thrown into the back of a paddy wagon,
an taken to the RIAA Holding Center.
Faux-Newz was able to intercept the
team and the boy at the RIAA Processing
Center and get a few comments.
“Where am I? What’s going
on?” asked Tommy when we approached
him. “I’m thirsty.
I want my mommy. My wrists hurt.”
He was then hustled into the building
which is off limits to the press.
This situation is just one of many,
in the RIAA’s bold new campaign
to rid the nation of illegal music file
sharing. So far, they have conducted
34 successful raids across the U.S.
and have confiscated over 50 hard drives
and over 300 “burned” CDs.
Despite public outcry against what many
call the use of “excessive force”
by the RIAA, a spokesman for the record
industry is satisfied with their progress.
“These individuals need to understand
the seriousness of copyright infringement.
I believe the RIAA has made a positive
step forward in protecting artists like
Metallica, Vanilla Ice, and U2.”
The number of Kazaa users has dropped
53% since June, and is expected to drop
even more severely as the frequency
of raids grows. However, in a recent
poll, over 6 million file sharers say
that they are undeterred.
Written
by Faux-Newz Staff Writer
Russell Paika
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