Finally, someone is trying to use the media industry’s own weapons against them.
TechCrunch reports that Veoh, an online video website, is suing Universal Music, after being continually threatened by them. While their chances in court are probably not very high, its heartening to see that some entrepreneurs aren’t easily intimidated.
Incidentally, I ran into this quote of a judge today:
“There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back, for their private benefit.”
Unfortunately, the speaker isn’t a real judge, he’s a fictional one, in Robert Heinlein’s classic short story Life-line, written in 1939! (I’ve been reading some classic scifi lately). Too bad that this paragraph, written 68 years ago by a true libertarian to criticize corrupt business, is still relevant today. Even worse, no real life court today would say the same.
