For the past decade, the battle between consumers and the RIAA raged. Consumers wanted the right to use music they purchased however or on whatever they desired. The RIAA rejected this notion, and sued customers that digitally traded copies of albums. The RIAA shunned its consumers, and polluted their product with digital rights management (DRM), preventing customers from using their music how they wanted. While this battle raged, most bands sat quietly on the sidelines or cheered on the RIAA (see Metallica).
Those days may be over.