Bad things afoot: The RIAA has convened a secret meeting to plan out draconian new technical and legal restrictions on what you and I can do with music, in order to secure their own profits. Present was a rogues' gallery of hardliners, including Hilary Rosen, Jack Valenti, Sony's Steve "we will block Napster on your computer and at your ISP" Heckler, Universal's Edgar "anonymity must be abolished" Bronfman, and Senator Fritz Hollings, sponsor of the SSSCA. And what treats have they in store for us? Copy-prevention mechanisms in all hard disks and sound cards, copy-restricted audio CDs (AOL Time Warner is following Universal's lead on this; looks like I won't be getting the next New Order album in that case), all backed up with ever-more draconian laws.

We'll leave the last, chilling word to Sony Music Entertainment's Steve Heckler: "Once consumers can no longer get free music, they will have to buy the music in the formats we choose to put out."

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