Sep.29.2005 :: Scooter Discusses P2P With US Senator Dianne Feinstein On Capital Hill

September 29, 2005-Washington, DC: On the heels of performing at this past weekend's massive anti-war rally in the Nation's Capital, independent artist and activist Scooter Scudieri (www.firstrockstar.com) (DCIA member) attended yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing - Protecting Copyright and Innovation in a Post Grokster World.

Scudieri's written testimony was again made an official part of the Congressional Record. After the hearing, US Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a member of the Committee, made time to talk with Scooter about his concerns regarding independent artists and P2P.

"I was very moved by Senator Feinstein's concern for the protection of copyright holders. I was honored to speak with her and offer my opinion of the situations that the Grokster ruling has created," said Scooter. He continues, "As an independent artist who is a copyright creator as well as owner, it was important to me that the P2P systems created in the future are not closed to independents. The new music industry consists of two elements: the musician and the fan. We now have a level playing field. I also wanted to address a possible reason for the increase in illegal downloads since the Grokster ruling which seemed to be an important issue to the Senator." Scudieri recounts his talking points with Senator Feinstein: "It is well-publicized that record companies have had unfair practices in their dealings with artists. It's my opinion that the kids don't think they are stealing from the artists when they download unlicensed music from the Internet - they believe the artist has already been "screwed" by the record company. They see it as stealing from "the man" or big business. Does it make it right? No. The constant re- packaging of music for consumers is having a backlash effect. How many times do you have to buy a Beatles album? You bought the first one- it got scratched and skipped- so you bought the 8 Track- but it cut songs in the middle of play - so you bought the cassette tape - but it unraveled in your car's tape deck- so you bought the CD- but it was conveniently manufactured in "mono"- so you bought the "stereo" version of the CD and it got scratched and oxidized - so now you are left spending .99cents per track for an album you already paid for five times. Greed began the dismantle of the record companies. Now music lovers have the chance to preview a song and say - hey I don't want this garbage for $20. P2P represents tremendous opportunities - if copyright owners and users can agree on protecting copyright and innovation while keeping a level playing field for independent artists and major record companies- well then, what a great day it will be."

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