Perhaps I'm biased because I'm a writer myself, but I think they're a little bit more excusable than the RIAA. Writers have an ancient history: as a group they are further behind the times than any other, and their world is extremely closed-door and high-barrier. Because of that, their love and joy has dwindled, decade by decade, and they haven't noticed that the people who are making their craft more loved are the people who are embracing the future (Billy Collins, former poet laureate, for instance).
The effect is that you have something akin to a group of old, uninformed, frightened people, who are all very bright but very ignorant regarding some things, and some of those people think technology means books have to die, and if that was the case then they'd be right in that something powerful and valuable was being lost. So I understand why they're so fearful, even if I wish they could comprehend how things have been moving forward.
Since when is ignorance an excuse to inflict harm?
The established players seek to maintain the status quo in which they exist as "established." This leads them to fight change. I for one, hope they lose that fight, but it's only because I'm not one of those established in this fight, so I will benefit from progressive methods to access media.
It's also worth mentioning that you'll find very few undiscovered/unpublished writers that would have a problem with someone buying their book and listening to it on a Kindle.
Since when is ignorance an excuse to inflict harm?
They see it as protecting themselves. They inflict harm in the process, but they don't see it as that, and that's why I feel sympathy for them: they don't entirely understand what's going on.
The established players seek to maintain the status quo in which they exist as "established." This leads them to fight change.
They think that the physical form of the book is an important part of literature. I agree with them, but unlike them I think the book is stronger and more lasting than they think. If the book was in danger, then I don't care what solution was being proposed, I would fight to keep the novel afloat for as long as possible. It's too valuable to risk losing.
It's also worth mentioning that you'll find very few undiscovered/unpublished writers that would have a problem with someone buying their book and listening to it on a Kindle.
Most of those writers aren't as dedicated as the published one. A few are, and they're the people who are worth reaching out to, but writing takes an incredible amount of dedication. It attracts an odd bunch of people.
The effect is that you have something akin to a group of old, uninformed, frightened people, who are all very bright but very ignorant regarding some things, and some of those people think technology means books have to die, and if that was the case then they'd be right in that something powerful and valuable was being lost. So I understand why they're so fearful, even if I wish they could comprehend how things have been moving forward.