https://groups.google.com/a/mysociety.org/forum/#!msg/mysoci...
To people who think like rms, these rules are very helpful, but I think many people will get the impression that he is being very rude by having a long document with his preferences.
If you don't know what you're doing, you won't treat the other party seriously. This is a strong signal to the other party that you don't know what you're doing and SHOULD be avoided.
If -however- you do know what you're doing, then you take the other party seriously even when you come across such demands because (as shawn-furyan said):
> Those sort of riders are a sentinel to signal that the venue read the contract carefully... If they caught the brown M&M's thing, they probably got all the stuff about rigging safety, so you don't have to grill them on those things. Otherwise, you'd better double check.
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/david-lee-roth-van-halen-brow...
This applies to RMS -- when he's on the road, he's often at the mercy of the event organizer for transportation and lodging arrangements (either directly or indirectly by them providing information). If they mess up, he's in real trouble.