Universal CEO interview

[BevvyB]

Universal's CEO Once Called iPod Users Thieves. Now He's Giving Songs Away.

Some quotes:

"[Morris] wants to wring every dollar he can out of anyone who goes anywhere near his catalog. Morris has never accepted the digital world's ruling ethos that it's better to follow the smartest long-term strategy, even if it means near-term losses. As far as he's concerned, do that and someone, somewhere, is taking advantage of you. Morris wants to be paid now, not in some nebulous future."

"There's no one in the record company that's a technologist," Morris explains. "That's a misconception writers make all the time, that the record industry missed this. They didn't. They just didn't know what to do. It's like if you were suddenly asked to operate on your dog to remove his kidney. What would you do?"

"Unfortunately, Total Music will almost certainly require some form of DRM, which in the end will perpetuate the interoperability problem. Morris likely doesn't care. He is more committed to Total Music -- or any other plan that allows protection -- than he is to a future where music can truly be played across any platform, at any time. "Our strategy is to have the people who create great music be paid properly," he says. "We need to protect the music. I know that."

Once again, it's all about protection protection protection.

'I must protect my artists'. What a crock.

These people need to understand that the seige is never going to end, and the only way to survive is to either open the gates, or run to the hills with some dignity left.

I was quite amazed by this interview. But perhaps I shouldn't be.

I know it's not really a question, but does anyone care to comment?