Vinyl... cassette... CD... and now Digital Rights Management. In the here/now, this is more about format and the rights of corporations, but I agree that it sets a very ugly precedent.
I think it will simply fall back to some form of allowing the pre-internet record labels to regain control of the formatting/licensing of artists' work.
But what pisses me off as a middle aged musician is that I'm now in a position to create and distribute music via available tech, without expecting anything in return other than that someone out there digs the stuff and I can hear about it. Record labels don't care about content - they care about formatting/packaging/distribution and the resultant profits, which the RIAA lost out on by not keeping up with technology.
RIAA action = the result of the record industries' addiction to growth, and a temper tantrum thrown by a dying industry that might indeed fuck up free speech.
For those who haven't, be sure to hit the "conference call" link in the article Rikter8 posted, and visit
Defective By Design's website.