Speaking to an invited group of high school students at UCLA yesterday, US attorney general Alberto Gonzalez sent a message to the MPAA, and to Hollywood as a whole.
When it comes to “internet piracy” and intellectual property theft, the US Department of Justice has “bigger fish to fry”, such as combating terrorism, he stated unequivocally, says Variety.
Although acknowledging the DoJ is obligated to go after criminals, it’ll use its limited resources to “focus on what’s most effective”, such as relying on tips and “evidence” of “piracy” from the studios, and suggesting that civil actions (by the cartels) against alleged thieves are more appropriate than attempts at criminal enforcement, says the story.
Actor James Cromwell, current secretary-treasurer of the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG), also spoke at the gathering in an attempt to brainwash American youth into thinking they’re criminals for participating in activities which aren’t illegal.
Confronted by several high school students in the audience who asked why they should have to pay outrageous prices for cinema tickets and DVD’s so the studios could justify multimillion-dollar budgets and salaries for its stars, Cromwell replied with the usual MPAA party line – that most cast and crew members are paid middle-class salaries and would suffer by lower residuals from DVD and ticket sales.
He avoided answering the question: Why must we pay such a high price to subsidize bigger budgets for the studios and high salaries for the stars?
Read the story @ P2Pnet News
