Editorial
 

Music Industry Reaches New Heights Of Audacity
Marc Freedman, President and CEO

The death throes of a dinosaur are not a pretty sight. In the
face of civil disobedience (Napster and its ilk) the recording
industry resorted to the full power of their monopoly. They
pursued litigation with a vengeance, and will continue.
Regardless of your position, that clearly is their right.

But they didn’t stop there. With money and power comes political
success. There’s been little public debate and weak opposition
from the technology industry. The entertainment industry bought
favorable legislation (DMCA, Consumer Broadband Act).

There’s more. For their next act they seek to twist the law for
their own ends to invade your PC and network (US Rep. Berman bill).

Still not done. They now want a Justice Department that can
hardly cope with worldwide terrorism to divert limited resources
to send American digital music fans to jail. People like you and
me. So much for the memory and meaning of 9-11.

At a time when unbridled greed has shown the ugly face of
capitalism (Enron, WorldCom, etc.) these actions demonstrate more
of the same lack of business ethics and corporate responsibility.

At the minimum the music industry is woefully out of touch with
and has no respect for the very consumers who buy their product.
It is no surprise music sales are declining and people don’t
trust big business.

At what point will the industry get a clue? ... At what point
do the people say ‘enough is enough’?

Copyright 2002, Marc Freedman