"You better sit down kids"

Billboard is reporting that Mary Bono, the widow of Sonny Bono, who took over his congressional seat after he died in a skiing accident, may replace Hilary Rosen when she leaves at the end of the year.

Before you start thinking that this could be a good thing, take a moment to remember two things.

1) She was one of the co-sponsors of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (also sometimes known as the Mickey Mouse Copyright Act)which extended copyright by 20 years, and was retro active in most cases.

2) Here is a quote From Ms Bono: "Sonny wanted the term of copyright protection to last forever", but that since she was "informed by staff that such a change would violate the Constitution", Congress might consider Jack Valenti's proposal of a copyright term of "forever less one day".

The RIAA would not comment on the search or the possibility of Bono taking over, beyond Rosen saying, "I love Mary Bono; she's great."

Wikipedia on the CTEA

Bill,
did u ever do anything about selling stuff of ebay like we discussed? i would love to see if anything comes of it, or atleast to see this website gain more followers.
Please email me with info.
thanks

This is going to be just as bad!!!!

Be afraid, be very, very afraid if this woman takes over.

Sinister,
i think your being a little over the top with the scared thing, the record companies are only going down the tubes, and i am not sure if i even care who is at the top of the RIAA, they all don't care about me, just the money.
i apologize if this sounds rude.
I'm in the fight with you.
Thanks

Directive I've een tied up almost 24/7 with dmusic issues...I'll get to it...

THEY ARE NOT DONE! THEY ARE NOT GOING AWAY. There is too much money at stake, and the Hollywood Crowd and the Publishing crowd are along for the ride. THIS IS NOT GOING AWAY.

I got a call from a wierd scary dude and met him in a cheap Santa Monica Blvd. hotel room. Screams and gunshots all around, not my usual cuppa tea.

He sat in the shadows.I couldn't see his face.

I paid him what he requested, and he spilled the story.

A sniper sat in the treeline and drilled Sonnt Bono in the balding forehead before he hit the tree. This confirmed my own suspicions of the odd circumstances of the death, knowing that Sonny was an experienced skier.

Too many billions at stake. Better to make a martyr of a fellow who was at best useless.

My own reaction to this news, is---cool. Hire Mary Bono. Her past experience as a restaurant hostess in Palm Spings makes her an ideal candidate to understand the new service economy where "the customer is always right."

What difference does it make anyway.

Jay Berman of the IFPI living in Europe pulls all the strings.

Leflaw,

They're not going away, but we just have to keep them from getting any more indies.
I hate to put it this way, but today's "stars" will not live forever. What if artists just stop buying into the "I want a record deal" idea?

It doesn't matter if it's Mary Bono or the Wicked Witch, someone will continue to try and push the "pirate" agenda.

So we just cannot let up.

On the bright side, Rosen isn't taking a congressional seat.

directive, I was being sarcastic ya know?

Be very, very quiet, I'm hunting wabbits...

and the beat goes on....
ttmmm

You will never win - i will prevail.

We already won Hilary. That's why you're stepping down.

So what's the worst she can do? Extend copyright for another 70 years?

All this proves is that it makes no difference whether a radical-leftist "Democrat" or a check-pants "Republican" sits in charge of a body like the RIAA -- their rigid, exclusivist, disenfranchising agenda of using copyright as a straitjacket, as a means of reducing our standard of living ot the level of a Third World tin-pot banana republic, and as a weapon against the poorer sections of our population will remain firmly in place no matter what, as both sides of the fence care not one whit about the consumer or, for that matter, about the very future of our society; they will bring us all down just to maintain and further hold on to their preciou$ profit$$$.

Correct, it does not really matter who chairs the RIAA. They are just a spokesperson, vile if for no other fact than that they accepted the position. It is those entities that are behind the RIAA that are the true monsters.

All it means is, instead of having a dyke in office you'll get someone ten times worse.

*shrugs*

An actual company memo.
-----
From: Hilary Rosen
Sent: 9/25/01
Subject: Peer to Peer Services

Dear all:

It is time to get coordinated and aggressive with the new round of peer to peer
services. The amount of music being downloaded is, as you know, reaching
unprecedented levels. Since college started last week Morpheus traffic was up
to 19 million downloads per day. AND THAT'S JUST MORPHEUS. With the imminent
launch of legitimate subscription services we have to get our customers back.

I know you want your new businesses to be successful. So do I. Given the
overwhelming volume of these alternative services, RIAA can't handle all of the
enforcement alone. If they are not controlled more effectively and consumers
redirected to legitimate offerings, there won't be new businesses. That's
obvious.

You are all competitors, but you have common interests in enforcement. Help me
help you. I'd like to have a meeting at the RIAA in October as soon as
possible. If you agree to participate, I will have my assistant try and work
with schedules to get a date that works.

I want to keep the meeting small to start (we can expand participation to other
companies later).

We need to discuss:

1. Spoofing and/or interdiction methods for existing peer to peers - (perhaps
by adding promotional messages about the launch of various new systems)

2. A PR campaign

3. We will share the latest legal strategies and RIAA's thinking on options

4. Continued sublimation of public opinion through expanding media block partnerships

5. The Elvis mandible.

Please plan on attending. I am cautious about sending alternates because we
need people who have the ability to make decisions and commit to spending.

Best regards,

Hilary
--

Yes, I added 4 and 5. Couldn't resist. The rest is unedited by me...

That dyke comment by Sinister X, by the way, was pretty cro-magnon. Is this indicative of the participating readership here?

Still seeking