Another internet startup has run afoul of the giants of the music industry. TechCrunch reports that Imeem which provides a widget to allow users to stream their music is being sued by Warner for copyright infringement. Last month, we posted about Pandora potentially being shut down. Yesterday, I got an email saying that because I was in Canada, I would no longer be able to get their music stream.
I don't pretend to understand all the issues involved here, but if you are a regular web user, you know that the RIAA is the most hated organization in America. Consumerist ran a poll and the RIAA beat out Halliburton for the Worst Company in America 2007 award. As Michael Arrington says on the TechCrunch article:
"I hope that someday soon the labels and RIAA begin to understand that services like Imeem and Pandora are providing free marketing for their products, not stealing their intellectual property."
So if you run one of these companies, and you are passionate about it and believe what you are doing is OK, why not move the operation to somewhere that you can't be touched? On-line casino and betting houses did it. Sure the US tried to shut them down by making US banks block credit card transactions, but these streaming companies aren't anywhere in the same league dollar wise. Besides, there is a big world outside of the US and while many of your customers may be in the US, that can change with marketing.
I'll tell you if I were running one of these companies and I had a solid business plan with some financial backing, I'd be on a world tour right now trying to figure out which countries have the technical infrastructure, bandwidth and a government that won't snivel like a beaten mule if the RIAA and their henchmen come calling. Hint: Most Caribbean islands and they are a few hours by plane from the US and further afield, there are places in SE Asia that would love to get these types of operations. I'm not suggesting they would move everyone there but let's see: New York OR Costa Rica in February hmm......
By the way, The Savvy Boomer has some experience in running an offshore internet service and loves warm countries. Give me a call if you need some advice or better yet, an on-site manager. Overhead is very low as you can see by the shot of my office below.
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