A recent comment by NBC/Universal lawyer Rick Cotten has him stating:

“Our law enforcement resources are seriously misaligned. If you add up all the various kinds of property crimes in this country, everything from theft, to fraud, to burglary, bank-robbing, all of it, it costs the country $16 billion a year. But intellectual property crime runs to hundreds of billions [of dollars] a year.”

It’s good to know that should I ever have to resort to breaking and entering but get caught, I can make a semi-valid claim in my own defense that hey, at least I’m not ripping off the entertainment industry. So how about going easy there on me, your honor?
While this article is mainly focusing on copyright infringement in regards to movies and other creative properties owned by the MPAA, it’s pretty transparent that this is an attitude that seems to be growing amongst music-industry representatives and executives who stand to get fat loot (yo!) supporting the likes of the RIAA. Off the backs of college students (their supposed primary market), small children, and of course, the dead.

I don’t think it stands as a surprise to anyone anymore to see this sort of shit getting espoused, though those of us who stand against it should be aware of a growing ripple effect that groups like the MPAA and RIAA are triggering to protect their interests, rather than say producing superior entertainment mediums that people will actually pay for. I don’t know about you, but I only buy shit I like and don’t waste my time on crap, hence why my hard-earned dollars go into beer and Chinese food, rather than paying for crap music that’s not worth the plastic it’s recorded on.

Thanks to Consumerist.com on this one.)

Tags: MIAA, RIAA //