The RIAA.

The Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA, represents over 1,600 record labels in the United States, including the "Big 4": EMI, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group. It was originally founded in 1952 to create a standard of equalization in recordings. Today it is known as one of the major opponents of music piracy. Funding for the group is attained through member record labels.

The RIAA website has a fairly simple layout, with most information available on or near the home page. Featured sections include a mission statement, several pages of statistics, a press release feed, a monthly newsletter, and, interestingly, pages specifically for students, parents, and educators. The site gives a feel of being more of a press release than a source of active information; the lack of any sort of blog implies that the RIAA feels no need to keep visitors up to date on any happenings, and the newsletter seems to be more concerned with new albums and sales certifications (gold albums, etc.)

In addition, the RIAA does not seem to be concerned with hearing from visitors, either: I could find no email address mentioned at all, for either questions or feedback. Even the "Become a Member" section supplied only a mailbox address.

In concluding, the RIAA website was a bit disappointing, especially considering their reputation of policing online music downloads. The site seemed more like a PR release than a good information source, and what information was given seemed both condescending and biased. Although the group is a major figure in the debate over music piracy, it is clear that their focus is on legal action rather than digital action, or to put it another way, action upon the internet rather than through it.