Music piracy costs - bogus?

Methinks the RIAA and friends protest too much ...

A report from the Texas-based Institute for Policy Innovation says worldwide piracy of sound recordings is costing the U.S. economy $12.5 billion a year. Those costs ... include 71,060 jobs that should have been created but weren't ... The proportion of lost sales that falls to the U.S. recording industry: $3.7 billion.

Quick, someone suggest to the RIAA that they join the real world and start to "think outside the box." Who knows, maybe someone in their ranks might even get the idea to reset their priority focus on delivering music that people want to hear rather than on just hauling wheelbarrows of cash to the bank. Of course, I'm not suggesting it's a likely possibility...

"Piracy harms not only the owners of intellectual property but also U.S. consumers and taxpayers," said study author Stephen E. Siwek. "Moreover, the impact of music piracy appears to be intensifying."

Well, all I can say is they might as well get used to it.

Full article here.