P2P Talk: Thanks for Not Sharing
 

From Wired Magazine, Issue 9.06
- Paul Boutlin


So much for the red carpet. Sixteen-year-old Aimee Deep was thrilled to be on the guest list of Tina Brown's Talk conference, "Innovators and Navigators." Her dad, Aimster founder Johnny Deep, had been invited to participate in the spring Santa Barbara event. The elder Deep -- who named the P2P software after his daughter -- was asked to sit on a panel, "Intellectual Property: Innovation vs. the Law," with Disney's Michael Eisner and BMG exec turned startup maven Strauss Zelnick.

But when dad and daughter showed up, they found Talk was treating them like outlaws, not honored guests. "I got a call on my cell to come to the business office," explains Johnny. It was moderator Gordy Crawford, the brains behind media stock investor Capital Research and Management. "He said I didn't need to be on the panel. It sounded to me like they had a pretty clear opinion that file sharing is piracy."

Things went downhill from there. According to Aimee (whose story was corroborated by others who attended the panel), "Strauss said he wanted to put 10 students in jail. The guy (Michael Eisner) from Disney and a couple other guys agreed. They said maybe we should take a couple of college students out of their dorms and put them in jail, and that will stop this."

That evening, at a screening of Bridget Jones's Diary, Aimee introduced herself to Harvey Weinstein, cochair of Miramax, which publishes Talk with the Hearst Corporation. "I said I was Aimster," she says. "He's like, 'Were you invited here?' He wanted to make sure we were on the guest list. Before that I thought he was a nice guy." Conference organizers vouched for the Deeps, who stayed for the movie but bailed on the rest of the three-day conference. After all, it's clear when you're not wanted. "From the look on his face," says Johnny, "it was like he thought we were going to bootleg the movie."

bunch of stuff necked ass- holes let them come take my ass to jail and others , they will loose so much business- what are they now bounty hunters???? jesus christ!!!!!!!! we should start drawing mickey putting kids in jail and crushing computers!!!!!!!!! what owning the world isnt enouph for these cocks ????? i hate people. :att: :no: :att: :no: :MAD: :no: :att: :MAD:

Oh, yes... I would really like to see this. A SWAT team busting in on Johnny Quarterback at a quaint little college without a warrant or probable cause. That is, unless, he's developed a notorious reputation for massively distributing burned CD's commercially.

Does the FBI come knocking on the door of a media hound who tapes every single video he rents from Blockbuster? Does the DEA run a stakeout, prowling around a rural home with a little "greenhouse" in the back? I would really like to see the respective industries get away with this. Probable cause is a must before you can just go barging in on John Q. Burner.


I can see it now...

Prisoner A - "So what are you in for?"

Prisoner B - "Armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and attempted murder. Some counts of manslaughter possibly."

Prisoner A - "Wow, that's rough..."

Prisoner B - "Yeah, well... here I am. What are you in for?"

Prisoner A - "Umm, well... copying CD's and trading files over the internet -- for nonprofit reasons."

Prisoner B - "Damn that's bad, man. I feel sorry for you. You're already getting reamed and you haven't even been to the showers yet."

:uu: :cool: