I wouldn't characterize MPAA & RIAA as "shell companies". Their
membership is public and well known. They are 'enforcers' for those content
industries. Their purpose is to stamp out content copying by suing infringers.
Industrial-scale copying usually occurs outside the US, out of their
reach.
They are industry associations, of "content" distributors,
not creators. Their primary purpose is lobbying for more income for their
members by further extending copyright, inhibiting competition from independent
sources and eliminating the competitive effects of technology (which aids
alternative sources and distribution channels).
The enforcement aspects are
secondary. The technology they oppose — primarily the internet — has
already all but eliminated the industrial-scale copying business. Consequently,
their enforcement has been reduced to abusing copyright law, seeking to impose
industrial-scale punishment on individuals (and network printers).
Their
lobbying cuts across the entire federal government – legislative,
executive, and judicial – using the "revolving door" feature of the
federal government and empowered by their near monopoly on the
"media". --- --Bill. NAL: question the answers, especially mine. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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