The RIAA, MPAA, DoJ Coalition
p2pnet.net News View:- Exactly how close is the relationship between Hollywood and various elements of various administrations, America’s in particular because it’s home to the entertainment industry?
That a monstrous amount of underhand dealing goes on, that people are having their pockets packed and/or are stacking up credits for future redemption, that Nods and Winks rather than fair dealing are currency and that it’s SOP to say one thing when you mean another, are givens.
That’s business. And that’s politics.
But the US Department of Justice and different US law agencies seem to be working with unusual diligence on matters which bear more directly on the profitability of the major movie studios and record label cartel than on serving and protecting US citizens.
What’s more, they seem to be using their power and influence to get agencies in other countries to do the same.
The most recent example of the latter is the FBI’s involvement in the Independent Media Center (IMC). IMC servers are managed by a Texas firm, and according to the FBI, subpoenas were issued for certain IMC hardware at the request of Italian and Swiss authorities. As a direct result, more then 20 IMC news sites went offline.
In the meanwhile, “if Attorney General John Ashcroft has his way, next year Congress will approve legislation that criminalizes the possession of counterfeit goods with the intention of selling or trafficking them and amend the copyright statute to make attempted piracy a crime whether or not an individual is successful,” says Variety, going on to quote Ashcroft’s deputy chief of staff David Israelite as saying his boss, “recognizes that intellectual property theft endangers our country’s economic and national security”.
He didn’t explain what Hollywood copyrights have to do with America’s national security.
But Israelite is chairman of the Intellectual Property Task Force and as such, is the man directly behind the force’s “very deliberate enforcement agenda,” announced yesterday.
“After an 11 a.m. press conference with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, Ashcroft will meet privately with studio execs and Motion Picture Assn. of America topper Dan Glickman to discuss the initiative,” says the story, continuing:
“Last week Israelite previewed the announcement during a conference call with Recording Industry Assn. of America chieftain Mitch Bainwol and several music label execs.”
Maybe he’s going to appoint Glickman, and the RIAA’s chief spinster Cary Sherman, as well as chieftain Bainwol, as task force members with special reference to national security issues.
And while he’s at it, how about [fill in the blank space ___________________]
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See:-
went offline – Some Indymedia sites back, p2pnet, October 13, 2004
criminalizes – Ashcroft’s Army, Variety, October 11, 2004
deliberate enforcement – DoJ backs PDEA and PIRATE bills, p2pnet, October 13, 2004
October 14th, 2004 at 2:01 am
Lets also not forget that the RIAA recently hired ATF agent Bradley Buckles to head its anti-P2P division.
The message to law enforcement officials should be clear: do the Entertainment Industry’s bidding and you might get offered a dream job when you retire from government work.