If Everybody Gets Footloose, the Terrorists Win

Over at Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow passes on a rumor that the Recording Industry of America is asking YouTube to purge videos of snot-nosed kids singing and dancing to copyrighted material. Again, just a rumor, and Doctorow puts it into the context of other sites being hit with letters "from the RIAA" that were as forged as the 100 "Paypal Account Verify!" emails you got while reading this paragraph.

This rumor's still believable, because YouTube has cracked down on the order of TV networks who didn't like seeing their hit shows' clips go viral without any advertising revenue headed back to them. And if the RIAA gets involved, this is the rare circumstance in which I'd support them. The clear purpose of YouTube is to provide videos and live footage of great bands like, let's say, Genesis. Yet the first time I searched for rare video of the legendary progressive rock powerhouse, I found a clip uploaded by some punk kid talking about his love for "Invisible Touch" and all of the song's complex themes that most listeners overlook. If the record industry wants to shut down that kind of content, sign me up.

UPDATE: I don't want anyone to get the impression I'm dumping on Genesis. If that makes my stab at ironic humor even more confusing, my apologies.