If you operate an unlicensed MP3 site, you are violating copyright law. Uploading music on the Internet doesn't hurt anybody. In fact, it's promotional and free advertising. It's up to the artist and copyright owner to decide how their music will be heard, distributed and promoted. Furthermore, about 15 percent of record sales support all new and emerging artists who are being recorded.
Fewer sales mean less money for new music, and, to an emerging artist, every new sale counts.
The RIAA is not a government agency, nor is it associated with any government agency. A key mission of the RIAA is to protect the intellectual property rights of artists and record companies. The RIAA wants to make the MP3 format illegal. The RIAA does not, however, support unlicensed MP3 sites that violate artist's rights. The RIAA wants to censor the Internet.