PC-GUY
1
Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman made a startling admission when he sat down for a Second Life interview with Reuters: his kids have pirated music. Well, they've probably pirated music—Bronfman doesn't sound too sure. "I'm fairly certain that they have, and I'm fairly certain that they've suffered the consequences," he said, though he later confirmed that he had caught at least one Bronfman child using P2P software. Naturally, his kids were forced to cough up thousands of dollars to the RIAA to keep from getting sued. Right?
Of course not; Bronfman told the reporter that he disciplined his child, but that he would prefer to keep the details of the punishment "within the family." He also gave his offending offspring a little talk about morality. "I explained to them what I believe is right, that the principle involved is that stealing music is stealing music. Frankly, right is right and wrong is wrong, particularly when a parent is talking to a child, a bright line around moral responsibility is very important. I can assure you they no longer do that."
It's tempting to label this hypocrisy, which it certainly is in one way (Bronfman is in no danger of getting sued, but he has no problem funding the RIAA's lawsuits of others), but Bronfman's response to his children's file-sharing shows that he lacks the true hypocrite's soul. File-swapping remains verboten in the Bronfman household.
Still, this shows just how normal young people consider file-swapping to be. When your dad runs one of the largest music labels on the planet and you still turn to P2P networks to discover new tunes, it's clear that the issue isn't just lack of access to music. Or money. This is now considered a "normal" way of checking out digital content.
The incident is reminiscent of the MPAA's own decision to copy a movie without permission earlier this year. In both cases, the industry insiders—so concerned with stomping out the piracy of others—suffered no legal consequences for their own dodgy behavior.
ars technica
Of course not; Bronfman told the reporter that he disciplined his child, but that he would prefer to keep the details of the punishment "within the family." He also gave his offending offspring a little talk about morality. "I explained to them what I believe is right, that the principle involved is that stealing music is stealing music. Frankly, right is right and wrong is wrong, particularly when a parent is talking to a child, a bright line around moral responsibility is very important. I can assure you they no longer do that."
It's tempting to label this hypocrisy, which it certainly is in one way (Bronfman is in no danger of getting sued, but he has no problem funding the RIAA's lawsuits of others), but Bronfman's response to his children's file-sharing shows that he lacks the true hypocrite's soul. File-swapping remains verboten in the Bronfman household.
Still, this shows just how normal young people consider file-swapping to be. When your dad runs one of the largest music labels on the planet and you still turn to P2P networks to discover new tunes, it's clear that the issue isn't just lack of access to music. Or money. This is now considered a "normal" way of checking out digital content.
The incident is reminiscent of the MPAA's own decision to copy a movie without permission earlier this year. In both cases, the industry insiders—so concerned with stomping out the piracy of others—suffered no legal consequences for their own dodgy behavior.
ars technica
