The peer-to-peer(p2p) filesharing battle has taken an ominous turn. Wired magazine got a copy of a Microsoft Word document, supposedly written by California’s attorney general. But a close look at the document’s “metadata” (accessible through the File–>Properties menu of MS Word), shows the original author to be someone in the entertainment industry.
Here’s an excerpt:
However, the metadata associated with the Microsoft Word document indicates it was either drafted or reviewed by a senior vice president of the Motion Picture Association of America. According to this metadata (automatically generated by the Word application), the document’s author or editor is “stevensonv.” (The metadata of a document is viewable through the File menu under Properties.)
Sources tell Wired News that the draft letter’s authorship is attributed to Vans Stevenson, the MPAA’s senior vice president for state legislative affairs. MPAA representatives have issued similar criticisms of P2P technology in the past. Stevenson could not be reached for comment.
So it looks like there is an impending p2p battle in California; the state legislature, or at least some of it, is in bed with the entertainment industry. Go figure.