Yale Pirates Storm Professors’ RIAA Tea Party

[JackSpratts]

Joe Light

On Thurs., Oct. 10, pirates raided the Jonathan Edwards Master's house to disrupt a Master's Tea with Joel Flatow, JE '86, senior vice-president of artist and industry relations for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Shortly before the tea began, the "Men of JE," disguised as "music pirates," marched into the room, brandishing plastic swords and shouting "Argh!" They also distributed burned music CDs with a mix of hits by popular artists including Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, Outkast, and the Beatles, as well as many illegal remixes by oft-sued prankster Freelance Hellraiser.

Before Flatow entered, however, most of the crew had left, leaving only a couple pirates to deal with their nemesis, and when Flatow arrived the Men were surprisingly silent.

During the Tea itself, Flatow defended the RIAA's lawsuits against Kazaa, a peer-to-peer file-sharing network, and other suits against music pirates around the world. Participants also saw a preview of a 30- second commercial that's due to air on MTV within the next two months. The clip shows pop stars, including Missy Elliot and Britney Spears, beseeching viewers to refrain from illegally downloading music.

Flatow only briefly kidded the JE pirates at the beginning of his talk and emphasized that Yalies need to view music both as art and business.
http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=1153

- js.

[Smoketoomuch]

I understand the business part... but Art and Britney?