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1.  

   

   Anonymous Coward, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 6:55am

   
   

   It bears repeating that as industry associations (aka, lobbyists) neither the MPAA nor the RIAA are plaintiffs in lawsuits against P2P file sharers. Those lawsuits are brought by various member companies of these two organizations. If fingers are to be pointed, they should be pointed at the companies bringing these suits, and not at the industry associations/organizations.

    

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2.  

   

   Joe, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 6:56am

   
   

   Even the musicians themselves are starting to see the stupidity of the RIAA approach. Check out what Nine Inch Nails is doing with their latest album, brilliant!
   http://lawvibe.com/how-musicians-are-causing-copyright-law-controversy/

    

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3.  

   

   Joe, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 7:02am

   
   

   Re:

   I'm not sure your point is historically correct:
   http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/6774.cfm
   
   Secondly, the identity of the named plaintiff is meaningless. What matters is who financed and orchestrated the litigation. Does anyone really believe it was NOT the industry associations?

    

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4.  

   

   Matt, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 7:26am

   
   

   lobbying laws

   I wish I remembered the name of that lobbying law that legalized anti-competitive lobbying. That's the root of all this crap.
   
   Maybe soon people will realize that lobbying in general = stupid/waste.

    

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5.  

   

   Anonymous Coward, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 7:28am

   
   

   Re: Re:

   I believe the following quote from the linked article contradicts your comment:
   
   "Major Hollywood movie studios have filed another round of lawsuits against file sharers it alleges to have distributed copyrighted movies over the Internet."
   
   As has even been noted by Mr. Beckerman, an attorney who is holding the movie and music studios' feet to the fire, that the true parties bringing suit are the studios themselves, and that the terms "RIAA" and "MPAA" are being merely used as a shorthand notation...and not to suggest they are the ones bringing these lawsuits.

    

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6.  

   

   Osno, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 7:30am

   
   

   You're being to optimistic, Mike. This will only be used to show how piracy is destroying the entertainment industry, as if MPAA or RIAA had anything to do with entertainment (other than the few amusing spectrials we'll see in the future).

    

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7.  

   

   Man from Atlanta, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 7:45am

   
   

   companies are finally realizing

   Nothing. They are following the herd and reducing overhead, most likely because either everyone else is doing it, or now is simply a convenient time to do so. There are no tea leaves here to read, and certainly no principled shift in direction.

    

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8.  

   

   Paul Erb, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 7:46am

   
   

   Maginot Line

   MPAA and RIAA are not at fault, but they are fighting the last war. Distribution channels, not production, govern how entertainment business works, and the democratization and crowdsourcing of media mean the studios and their associations are a dinosaur lumbering across a hostile landscape.

    

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9.  

   

   Shawn, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 7:49am

   
   

   Finally

   Lay-offs that dont make me feel bad for anyone.

    

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10.  

    

    Anonymous Coward, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 7:54am

    
    

    Re:

    That's a fairly old article; Year Zero is no longer NIN's latest album. Check out Ghosts and The Slip, it's pretty good stuff.

     

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11.  

    

    Anonymous Coward, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 7:56am

    
    

    Re: Finally

    I feel bad for the ones who are now jobless. The *AAs may be scummy entities, but they're still made up by regular people, especially at the level these layoffs likely happened. A fish rots from the head, and the head's still there.

     

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12.  

    

    Anonymous Coward, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 8:28am

    
    

    Re: Re: Finally

    "I feel bad for the ones who are now jobless. The *AAs may be scummy entities, but they're still made up by regular people, especially at the level these layoffs likely happened. A fish rots from the head, and the head's still there."
    
    People need to take more responsibility regarding where they work and what they do. If you made your income from one of these organizations and have been laid off - then you got what you deserved in my opinion. Next time care a little more about what kind of organization your dedicating your time and skills too.

     

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13.  

    

    Anonymous Coward, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 8:43am

    
    

    Re: Re: Re: Finally

    While I generally agree with you, I tend to have more compassion than that. Regardless of if you think they were morally wrong to accept a job from such an entity, it's still a family that's out on hard times now.

     

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14.  

    

    ehrichweiss, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 8:53am

    
    

    Re: Re: Re:

    Doesn't contradict his comment at all. The studios are "the true parties bringing suit"; that in no way conflicts with the MaFIAA's financing the investigation and promoting litigation. Think of the MaFIAA as a sleazy private investigator and the movie/record industries as their bosses. You wouldn't list the PI on any court documents but you may use their staff as expert witnesses.

     

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15.  

    

    ehrichweiss, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 9:06am

    
    

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Finally

    Screw 'em. Seriously. I didn't feel bad for Steve Irwin when he was killed doing what he chose to do(hell, we all tuned in every week to see if he WOULD get killed...admit it, you did too) so I have no problem laughing at them as they realize they should have thought more about the consequences of their actions. It'd be like feeling sorry for some Wall Street investor who lost their shirt in the economy; I don't care if his 12 year old daughter has to blow the local college football team to help make ends meet. This is a hard lesson for them, sure, but now is their chance to learn from it even though I expect that most will not.

     

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16.  

    

    Phail, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 9:08am

    
    

    Even their own artists have had enough of these idiots.
    
    http://www.musictank.co.uk/

     

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17.  

    

    me, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 9:25am

    
    

    hello karma

    Bottom line.....
    
    Failed business model, evil motives... crap economy.....
    No sympathy is deserved...
    
    let both models fail and die, and then build something new that works..... fuck 'em

     

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18.  

    

    Anonymous Coward, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 9:28am

    
    

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Finally

    I don't care
    
    And, as I noted above, that's the difference between you and me. I, too, hope they learn their lesson, but I still feel bad for them.

     

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19.  

    

    Anonymous Coward, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 9:35am

    
    

    fuck'em

     

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20.  

    

    Anonymous Coward, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 9:35am

    
    

    fuck'em

     

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21.  

    

    Anonymous Coward, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 10:17am

    
    

    fuck'em

     

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22.  

    

    Rob, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 10:24am

    
    

    Layoff

    As I have stated many times before. I and most of your average people have no lost love for "destroying the entertainment industry" If you buy any item and it is bad you can return it. If you go to a Bruce Willis movie that he was paid $15M to make and sucks, until right on the ticket there is a money back return if the movie is a piece of crap. I do not really have any issue with anyone downloading anything. While 90% of the bands are releasing CDs with maybe two decent songs at the most and still charging $13 for the CD, I have no issue with anyone who downloads that piece of crap because they should not be getting paid for it any way.

     

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23.  

    

    Silver, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 10:33am

    
    

    Ha, let them die.

     

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24.  

    

    hegemon13, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 11:01am

    
    

    Re:

    Actually, that's not quite right. They are brought forth by the *AA on behalf of the studio/label. The *AA is doing the legwork, even though the studios/labels are officially the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Plus, the original John Doe suits are filed by the *AA. Once they discover the identity, that case is withdrawn, and a new case is filed, which is Studio/Label vs. Identified Victim.
    
    Don't fool yourself, the strategy and it's implementation are the *AA's baby.

     

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25.  

    

    Anonymous Coward, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 11:33am

    
    

    How pathetic of a human being are you when you enjoy seeing others fail? Think before you respond.

     

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26.  

    

    lx, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 11:41am

    
    

    Re: lobbying laws

    That law would probably be the US Constitution - the right to lobby congress is one of the many rights granted under the Constitution. As bad as lobbying may seem in some circumstances, it is not a right you should be so willing to give up as it does have its pluses (ie the ACLU lobbying congress for civil liberties).
    
    The problem with the RIAA/MPAA and government is not with the lobbying, it's with politicians grabbing for power in a private arena - the real root of all this crap is the government putting its nose where it doesn't belong (but this all really has nothing to do with this post).

     

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27.  

    

    chickenshit, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 11:44am

    
    

    awee how fucking sad. I guess they will have to DL their music now too. Soulseek FTW!

     

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28.  

    

    me, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 12:58pm

    
    

    Re: not the people, the model

    How pathetic are you to favor a parasitic monopoly who would and bankrupt college kids and little old ladies.
    
    Unrepentant am I, let the industry die.

     

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29.  

    

    Anonymous Coward, Mar 13th, 2009 @ 1:34pm

    
    

    normally i hate seeing layoffs but....
    
    
    hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...made my day.

     

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