Betting on signal against backlash

I wonder what the RIAA expects to loose in sales over the kind of bad PR that sueing 12 year-old school girls and 71 year-old grandfathers generates. As a business, surely they must have done a proper risk analysis before pressing forward with this type of extreme action.

And as a business, they must have decided that the the signal of rounding up "sharing criminals" will be worth more than the backlash of outraged consumers. I'm not so sure that it will.

What I am sure about, though, is that this is instilling the next generation of music buyers with an obligation to rebel. The RIAA becomes big brother and defying that becomes cool.

And what's the big five to do if their carefully deviced market introductions of polished artists is labelled un-cool? Their gambling with their ace marketing card instead of listening to market demands.

Change is painful.

UPDATE: In This is piracy, Jeppe sheds light on the allure of being a victim. Corporations in software, music, and publishing loves to play the victim and the Danish minister of culture encourages it.