Piracy Havens? – .Music Answers RIAA Concerns, Requires Accounts To Be Verified Like Twitter

Mid-January, the RIAA screamed "Flame On!" and decried the .music initiative – one that hasn't even officially launched – as potential piracy havens, or the enemy.

The trade group challenged ICANN to ensure that, if approved, this top-level domain won't be used to promote piracy. In an attempt to quell the awakened beast, Constantine Roussos, a longtime .music champion and founder, has made it so only verified music community members can register a .music domain.

This way, the .music top-level domain will be used in a safe and responsible manner. "The .music domain will be exclusive only to authentic music community members that can be verified through .music-accredited Community Member Organizations," Roussos said in a statement. One Hypebot community member challenged Roussos last month – that by "insisting that only those who are part of a CMO can register a .music domain"  he is "excluding small bands and music bloggers who have no need to associate with any CMOs." To which Roussos answered, "We will not allow the exclusion of legitimate small bands or music bloggers. The policies for small bands and music bloggers will be incorporated."

Roussos continues, saying that they have also been "policies surrounding .music fan websites." He ensures that there will be "a process will be in place to validate themselves and register a .music domain." It looks like the RIAA can cool their jets for now, as maybe they've attempted to torch the .music initiative too soon.