From cnet.com this morning:
President Bush on Monday signed into law an [RIAA-backed] intellectual-property enforcement bill that would consolidate federal efforts to combat copyright infringement under a new White House cabinet position.
Congress and the President have determined that copyright infringement is so doggoned important that it, out of all the critical problems facing this country, merits a new Cabinet-level position. If this doesn’t prove that the RIAA owns a majority in Washington, nothing will.
It’s not that I dislike copyright. If I ever write something that people would be willing to pay for, I might want copyright protection. But to give it this much importance is mind-boggling. How about new Cabinet-level seats for, say, oil drilling? Or war profiteering? Or golden parachute preservation? Don’t they deserve equal time with the RIAA? Don’t those lobbyists have money just as good as that of the recording industry? Let’s be fair here!
Oh, wait! Somebody’s probably already working on them. Let’s see how soon they have to build an addition to the White House for that extra-extra-long Cabinet table.
So what will they call this new position? Secretary of the Recording Industry? Will they have to build a new Department of the RIAA building?
If there’s any good news here, it’s this: I use iTunes and rip my own CD’s. So if John McCain wins in November, I should be qualified to serve in this new position. I bet it pays well!