Now, I don’t want to put words in so and so’s mouth about such and such off-the-cuff comment, but this one is just too good to pass up and this guy is probably rich and snooty and supports billionaires making more billions of dollars so poor people can’t share music online. Boing Boing caught Fran Nevrkla, Chairman and CEO of Phonographic Performance Ltd, a UK music industry association, wishing capital punishment was still around to use on these music pirate bastards:
Choice quote:
Thank you, David, and thank you for putting some of those pirates behind bars. I know that regrettably capital punishment was abolished in this country some 50 years ago, sad it is, but a few years in jail is probably pretty OK…
YIKES. I get that Nevrkla probably isn’t serious about using capital punishment for pirates, but let’s get real here. CDs and even MP3 downloads are expensive. I know to these lobbyists and music industry bigwigs, who undoubtedly have at least three cars, a mansion, two personal servants and a pool in the shape of “FUCK YOU WORKING CLA$$,” the cost is mere pennies. But to roughly millions of people, who maybe work a shitty job opening doors at the hotels these guys sleep in, it’s a lot.
Do I support the very illegal act sharing of music online? I can’t exactly say yes. But should asshole billionaires shamelessly pursue the punishment (and joke about capital punishment??) of these people just so they can shamelessly make billions of more dollars? No. Nono. NO. To Fran Nevrkla: blow it out your ass.
I wonder if he paid for that clip of Lady Gaga’s ‘Just Dance’? Of course, he probably limited it to 30 seconds or less so he wouldn’t have to.
That said, the capital punishment bit is obviously in jest, it’s just that it isn’t funny. Actually scratch that, it’s not that the joke couldn’t have been funny, it’s that this piss poor excuse for a public speaker isn’t funny. Honestly, what’s the point of this address? Shouldn’t this be a ‘Rah rah rah!’ pep rally for the industry? He put me to sleep 1 minute in. If I was in the industry and we were looking to this guy for some kind of guidance, I’d throw in the towel.