“Are the fake MP3s popping up on file-sharing networks part of the recording industry’s war on piracy, or just the latest in music marketing? Stacey Herron, an analyst who covers entertainment and media for Jupiter Media Metrix, notes that the creator of some or all of the files could be a suburban mom who hates the controversial Eminem, an Internet prankster “or Eminem himself.” But there are also at least two good reasons for Interscope to be involved.
The first is the fight against file-sharing. As has been widely reported, Interscope advanced “The Eminem Show’s” release date several times out of fear of piracy. (In spite of these attempts, the album fell victim to unprecedented CD-bootlegging, although those efforts copied actual CDs, not MP3 files.) Contacted for this article, Interscope representatives refused to comment, but a May 21 Los Angeles Times article directly stated that the label had “flooded the file-sharing networks with bogus copies of the songs.” (Though no Interscope representative was quoted as acknowledging the practice.)”
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