Submitted by: Worminc
Source: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,35410,00.html
Downloading illegal MP3s is so common that even U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey jokes about it. |
"I get full-motion streaming video and sound, I listen to radio and steal, steal uh, you know, my music through MP3, like everybody else does," Kerrey said.
"I write the laws that say it's illegal, and I do it anyway," he added, chuckling.
Actually, the personable Democrat from Nebraska isn't really connected to the ongoing digital music controversy; he's far more active as a member of the finance and agriculture committees in Congress. He hasn't actively been involved with digital music laws like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
But still, what about those illegal MP3s?
Later, when asked again about whether he downloads illegal MP3s, he dismissed his comments, saying, "No, I do not. That was a joke.
"I'm very much aware of what the law says in regard to copyrighted material," he said. "I think the artists' copyright should be protected."
Kerrey said that he does download MP3s, but from a legal site.
In fact, Kerrey is quite the savvy Web maven. Jody Ryan, his press secretary, said the senator had to show his staff how to listen to music on the Internet because "not all of us are big tech geeks like he is," Ryan said.
Nevertheless, MP3 sites were happy to hear that the senator gets his music online.
"I think it's good news because it shows that lots of people are adopting music as a downloadable format," said Gene Hoffman, president of emusic.com.
Hoffman pointed out that his site has 8 percent of the U.S. music market licensed, including popular artists like Tom Waits and Phish.
"For 99 cents per song, or $8.99 an album, a senator can easily afford that," Hoffman said.
Executives from the Recording Industry of Association of America, which is embroiled in legal disputes over pirated music, were unavailable for comment.
