Words of the Profits

The digital entertainment war is a conflict between technology, the copyright industry, and the consuming public. We already know what the public thinks – 60 million file sharers vote with their keyboards. Here is what some of the big swinging members have to say:

Chris Gorog
Title: Chairman and chief executive, Roxio Inc.
Position: Pro-digital music technology
Stake: Runs a legal music service and sells CD-burning software

“Anything that Roxio will do in this space will be respectful of artist rights and will be working toward a commercial solution.”

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Fred von Lohmann
Title: Senior intellectual property attorney, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Position: Pro-file-sharing technology
Stake: Advocates civil liberties online

“The American public has really spoken on this, and the idea of suing them all into submission is a dead loser.”

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Janis Ian
Title: Singer, songwriter
Position: Pro-file sharing
Stake: Sells songs and collects royalties

“The Internet, and downloading, are here to stay Anyone who thinks otherwise should prepare themselves to end up on the slag heap of history.”

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David Schlang
Title: Chairman, National Assn. of Recording Merchandisers
Position: Anti-piracy
Stake: Sells CDs

“Without exception, we believe artists have the right to be compensated. For that to happen, their work must be protected.”

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Jack Valenti
Title: Chief executive, Motion Picture Assn. of America
Position: Anti-piracy
Stake: Sells movies

“It is not sharing. It’s stealing.”

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Wayne Rosso
Title: President, Grokster
Position: Pro-file sharing
Stake: Runs a file-sharing network

“We’re a massive distribution arm. It’s very powerful, and we happen to have their customers.”

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Cary Sherman
Title: President, Recording Industry Assn. of America
Position: Anti-file sharing, anti-piracy
Stake: Sells recorded music

“The seriousness of this problem requires us to act quickly and send a loud and clear message that this kind of activity is illegal and has consequences.”

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Sarah Deutsch
Title: Vice president, general counsel, Verizon Communications Inc.
Position: Believes RIAA subpoenas violate privacy rights, endanger anonymous speech and threaten public safety by giving a powerful tool to stalkers and other abusers
Stake: Company sells Internet access

“Anyone can claim to be a copyright holder, and anyone can use this process to obtain your identity, whether you’ve infringed a copyright or not.”

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Nobuyuki Idei
Title: Chairman, Sony Corp.
Position: Pro-technology and anti-piracy
Stake: Sells computers, CD burners, digital music players, music and movies

“They have to change their mind-set away from selling albums and think about selling singles over the Internet for as cheap as possible – even 20 cents or 10 cents – and encourage file sharing so they can also get micro-payments for these files. The music industry has to reinvent itself; we can no longer control distribution the way we used to.”

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Steve Jobs
Title: Chief executive, Apple Computer Inc.
Position: Pro-technology
Stake: Sells computers, digital music players and downloadable songs

“People keep their music collections on their computers. They want to burn CDs and to put their music on portable players. Why shop at a record store?”

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Bill Gates
Title: Chairman, Microsoft Corp.
Position: Pro-technology, anti-piracy
Stake: Sells software and digital media technology

“It reminds me of the early days of the PC industry. The hobbyist clubs would get together and swap the software, and I wrote an open letter – this was back in 1975 – saying, ‘Gee, come on, you guys, license some of this stuff. It would sure help in terms of invention and new software coming along.’ Well, I didn’t write that letter in the most politic form” [LA Times]