Gangland warfare between copyright holders and file-sharers took a twisted bloody turn for the worse on October 16 when the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) turned in on itself and fired three of its anti-piracy bosses. The MPAA’s general counsel, director of worldwide anti-piracy operations, and the deputy director of internet anti-piracy were all lined up in the company’s garage and disposed of with immediate effect (the general counsel, Greg Goeckner, is being thrown out of his 25-story office at the end of the year).
Film industry sources say that the “three were thrown out because the anti-piracy operations of the MPAA were unsatisfactory, and ‘lacked aggressiveness’” or, in other words, for failing to protect the family. In a delightful euphemism, the MPAA’s anti-piracy division will be renamed as ‘content protection’ – just like the way it wants to “silence” isoHunt’s founder Gary Fung.
These latest developments are likely to result in more belligerent moves against file-sharers, with the copyright holders' favored method of “persuading” lawmakers to take more rapacious action.
