Slashdot Mirror
Decoy Files on P2P Sites Become Ad Vehicles
Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Some record labels hire outside companies to plant fake files on peer-to-peer sites. Now, labels are turning these decoy files into vehicles for marketing to music pirates by inserting promotional material into the files, such as an eight-minute clip from a Jay-Z concert, the Wall Street Journal reports." From the article: "'The concept here is making the peer-to-peer networks work for us,' says Jay-Z's attorney, Michael Guido. 'While peer-to-peer users are stealing the intellectual property, they are also the active music audience,' and 'this technology allows us to market back to them.'"
Another entry in the Have-Your-Cake-And-Eat-It-Too Hall of Fame. They want to sue music fans for sharing files, yet they also want to market to them. They want them to stop sharing files, but they want them to share files so they will see their ads.
The RIAA has truly entered the Escherian phase of their downfall, where they have begun to swallow their own tails.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
From what I've heard of hip-hop and rap, they sometimes come pretty close, touting brand names as evidence that they're cool or whatever. Oh, and they also promote prostitution and drug dealing as proper things to do to obtain these goodies. (No, I'm not trolling)