This committee takes place in 2000, right (before) The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) won a lawsuit against the popular peer to peer piracy site Napster that resulted in the US government demanding Napster shut down its servers on the grounds of unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material. This lit the world of music on fire, inspiring multiple copycat sites similar to napster to crop up all over the place. Millions of Americans were downloading illegal Mp3s in protest to the recording industries’ stubbornness and greed, an action that ultimately hurt the artists and created an internal struggle for a better solution which resulted in what we have arrived at today. You guys are expected to lead the debate, bring new ideas to the table, and find unique, creative ways of resolving the issues within the committee. Due to the specialized nature of the committee I don’t expect everyone to know each and every facet of the committee; Thus I will try to do my best to make sure no delegate feels directionless and ensure expectations are clear. I am looking forward to the creative solutions you guys will come up with, as well as the madness that will unfold within the backrooms of this committee. I really hope you guys have as much fun participating as I did planning and researching. I cannot wait to see you in January.
