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December 14, 2006
Microsoft: "Buy An Artist Out For Life" As An Alternative to DRM...or "Just Buy A CD and Rip It"
Ever a patron of the arts, Bill Gates muses on how to support artists with lifelong grants (or something) instead of trying to protect their work with digital rights management.
Is this a veiled reference to Microsoft "donating" a dollar from the sale of each Zune player to Universal? Does Gates really believe that a significant portion of that dollar is really ending up in artists' pockets? I'd bet a buck that at least twenty cents of it is going to the RIAA to shut them up.
Anyway, when I hear the words "Microsoft" and "buy out," used in the same sentence as "artist," benevolence isn't the first concept that comes to mind:
Homer Simpson: I reluctantly accept your proposal!
Bill Gates: Well everyone always does. Buy 'em out, boys!
[Gates' lackeys trash the room.]
Homer: Hey, what the hell's going on!
Bill Gates: Oh, I didn't get rich by writing a lot of checks! [insane laughter]
This part killed me:
His short term advice: “People should just buy a cd and rip it. You are legal then.”
I bet the people at Microsoft's just-launched Zune online music store are shaking their heads.
Oh, and can someone please post a video of Gates' expression when he walked into the room and saw the convened bloggers all using Macs? Please?
Posted by Paul at December 14, 2006 08:27 AM
Comments
hahahahaha.. and have you seen that thing? it's brown. poo brown
hahahahahahahahaha!
Posted by: lynne at December 14, 2006 11:33 PM
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