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Double standard? UMG fights excessive infringement damages
arstechnica.com — Big Four record label UMG convinced federal judges last year that paying huge punitive penalties was unconstitutional, but record labels seem to have no problems with filing massive damage claims against non-commercial file-swappers. Double standard, or two entirely different issues?
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- demonbaby, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5It would be easy to say they're being blatant hypocrites, but having a bit of first-hand experience with the absurdly mis-managed mega-conglomerate mess of an empire that is UMG, I would guess that the lawyers who sue Grandparents for using Kazaa and the lawyers who try to shave every penny off of incoming litigation probably don't even work in the same building. When you're a company thrown into financial and structural chaos because you refuse to evolve with technology, and the people at the top are corporate dinosaurs who only look at stock prices and sales figures and don't care much if they're managing a record label or a tire factory, you can expect a lot of stumbles on the long journey to irrelevance. This kind of insanity will only stop when current intellectual property laws are re-evaluated against a new world of technology and a drastically changed culture. The big four are holding this back at all costs, because at this point, they might as well try to suckle every penny they can before they die. Stop paying for big four music, and they will eventually die. When they die, we can change the rules and create a new, forward-thinking economy that (finally) favors musicians and their listeners. In the meantime, headlines like this one will continue to bring a smile to my face.
- EmporerTitus, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1The Copyright Cabal treats its customers like the Israelis treat Palestinians: with a double-standard whose only guiding principles is "What's good for the NY/DC/LA Mafia?"
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