According to a BBC journalist in Baghdad, RIAA Lobbyist Hilary B. Rosen is rewriting the intellectual property laws for the new government of Iraq.
Why do I bother trying to write satire when it's indistinguishable from actual events? Tom Lehrer retired from performing music because "Political satire became obsolete when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize." I know how he felt.
(via Democracy Now)
Update: Democracy Now! lists the BBC source as Greg Palast and links to the Real Audio source. See the comments for links. Looks like I misremembered the detail of where he is. Palast is currently stateside, not in Baghdad...
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
The Onion would be ashamed to print something as absurd as that.
2 - Eric Olsen
Mike, there seems to be a lot of interest in this - any more info on source? Is the Democracy Now source on audio? We should probably make that clear. It still sounds like a joke.
3 - Michael Croft
Eric,
Yes, DemocracyNow! has posted a RealAudio Link. The Rosen info is in the first minute.
Also identifies the journalist as Greg Palast , investigative reporter with the BBC and author of "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy."
4 - Andrew
This strains credulity.
RIAA is big business, sure, but it's not quite Republican big business (not that the GOP didn't get the Sonny Bono Copyright act in in the first place, I know). If you'd said "Former ChevronTexaco General Counsel Hired to Draft Oil & Gas Law" I'd buy it... I need more to buy into this one.
More's the point, I cannot believe that when we're still fighting over whether Foggy Bottom or the Pentagon is going to be calling the shots in Baghdad and we're still sorting out oil production issues and when we've not even publically decided on any transition government that anyone's been hired to rewrite Iraqi IP law.
Mostly, though, you could hardly come up with a rumor better designed to annoy the people that care about this stuff.
5 - Michael Croft
Andrew, all you say is true, including the inappropriateness of both the choice and the timing.
I'd love to hear your reaction to the RA clip.
6 - Andrew
I enjoy DemocracyNow, I'm probably their most singularly right-wing regular listener, but Amy Goodman doesn't ask a lot of tough questions of people she agrees with, she certainly didn't here, and one bald assertion without some explanation or elaboration doesn't quite rise to the level of "rumor" with me.
I'm no fan of Hillary Rosen but I can't quite take this seriously yet.
It's possible -- but we need to hear a bit more before I give this more than an amused smirk.
7 - Michael Croft
Andrew:
Fair enough, although I'm willing to call it a rumor. I'll write Palast and the RIAA and the BBC and see if anyone wants to confirm or deny it. I'll use my "writer for Blogcritics" credentials. :)
If I come across corroboration elsewhere, I'll include that as well.
8 - Andrew
At least "BlogCritics" has a certain inherent credibility --- somehow claiming to be a writer for "Pathetic Earthlings" no matter how true is simply not helpful.
9 - Pierre
This is completely expected. Folks can be outraged, but copyright law is probably the area where we exert the most pressure on foreign governments. It's a very troubling issue in the Internet age... you either have to "persuade" other counties to recognize your IP laws, or suffer severe losses from copying.
BTW, here's an excerpt from an old NYT article on Iraqi media:
http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/bagfm.htm
Youth TV has a sports channel and a "general" channel, whose main attraction is pirated Hollywood movies that have become a focal point of Baghdad social life. The movies include recent releases, with a heavy emphasis on tough-guy films starring Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jean-Claude Van Damme. Mr. Ali acknowledged that many of the movies were recorded off foreign satellite movie channels and rebroadcast without permission
Satellite television is denied to all but the most privileged Iraqis by a law that provides severe penalties, including imprisonment, for owning a satellite dish. But Mr. Ali seemed to revel in answering a question about the pirating, turning his answer into a gibe at the United States, delivered with a half-smile. "We say you stole all the world, so just let us steal this small part," he said.
10 - Eric Olsen
I sent an email to RIAA pres Cary Sherman - his reply: "You've been had!" I imagine we should go right to Ms Rosen for a confirmation or denial.
11 - Eric Olsen
Mike, Hey it's a great story either way! I've written to Ms Rosen herself, will see if we get a reply.
12 - Michael Croft
Excellent. Thanks, Eric. I have a reply from Greg Palast, asking my why I'm interested in Hilary Rosen. I've explained some of the issues on which I differ with Ms. Rosen and I'm waiting to see if he provides more detail of his claim.
13 - Jackie D
The hell? Instead of just giving you a yes or no answer about Rosen, Palast asks why you're interested? Jaysus, that fits exactly with my image of him as a total nutjob.
14 - Eric Olsen
Does seem a strange reply
15 - Michael Croft
Strange indeed, although he is a journalist and may just want to know why Hilary Rosen pushes my buttons.
Hey, this is my story about your story, not your story about my story about your story... :)
His calendar says he's going to be speaking at Emory in Atlanta tonight. If anyone who reads this happens to go and has a chance to ask him, maybe we could find out more. Or maybe he'll reply to my email. Or the RIAA or Ms. Rosen might. I'm reserving judgement still.
16 - Michael Croft
The Register has picked up on the Democracy Now! story. I'm going to ask the writer of the story if he has any corrorobration.
17 - Eric Olsen
I was wondering about this - please let me know if you find anything.
18 - Michael Croft
Sure. I'm assuming that Ms. Rosen hasn't returned your email.
One of the Trackbacks wonders if the comments here are an example of distributed investigative reporting, but rightly notes that we don't have any, um, results.
Perhaps someone could ask him in Berkeley or Boulder Tuesday or Wednesday...
http://www.gregpalast.com/calendar/public/calendar/handler.cfm
19 - Jackie D
Palast is such a moron. Sure, life under Sony Records (huh?) would be MUCH more harsh for Iraqis than life under Saddam Hussein.
No wonder he thinks Buzzflash is a "news" site of veracity and intelligence.
I'm just vented about this in my blog, but it's not out of my system. I'd love to meet up with him in Berkeley; fortunately for him, I'm 6000 miles away from there.