Consumerist's readers have voted the RIAA the worst company in the world. The RIAA narrowly beat out Halliburton in the finals.
It's important to note that one of the RIAA's functions is to take the heat off its member-companies, and here's an example where it works in spades. The RIAA isn't the worst company in the world: Sony-BMG, Warner Music, EMI and Universal Music are the worst companies in the world. Focusing on the RIAA lets those firms — who fund and direct the RIAA's efforts — off the hook.
Link, Wikipedia list of RIAA member labels
(Thanks, Jeff!)
Update:
Consumerist's Meghann Marco sez, "We thought
you might be interested in our follow-up post, Faces of the RIAA. We felt the same way about RIAA winning the contest, so we tried to
put a face on each of the major members. Why should Steve Jobs get all
the press?"