"The music industry and its hired muscle, the Recording
Industry Ass. of America, plans to step up its war against MP3 file
sharing and CD ripping with campaigns targeting legal,
technological and Internet access fronts, The Register has learned.
Last week, the RIAA hosted a secret meeting in Washington DC
with the heads of major record labels and technology companies,
plus leaders of other trade bodies and even members of the US
senate.
Present, we are told by sources close to the RIAA, were Intel's
Andy Grove; IBM's Lou Gerstner; Disney's Michael Eisner; Jack
Valenti, head of the Motion Picture Ass. of America; International
Federation of the Phonographic Industry chief Jay Berman; Vivendi
Universal's Edgar Bronfman; AOL Time-Warner's Gerald Levin; EMI's
Ken Berry; Sony's Steve Heckler; and from Bertelsmann, Strauss
Zelnick.
Also present were the CEOs of Matsushita and Toshiba, and
senators Fritz Hollings and Ted Stevens."
