Investors, "Beware" of Record Companies

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The Motley Fool investment Web site warns investors to beware of 'Sony, BMG, Warner Music Group, Vivendi Universal, and EMI.' In an article entitled 'We're All Thieves to the RIAA,' a Motley Fool columnist, referring to the RIAA's pronouncement in early December in Atlantic v. Howell, that the copies which Mr. Howell had ripped from his CDs to MP3s in a shared files folder on his computer were 'unauthorized,' writer Alyce Lomax said 'a good sign of a dying industry that investors might want to avoid is when it would rather litigate than innovate, signaling a potential destroyer of value.'"

Comments

so, what would Fool say about our Friend

[yagu]

So, what might the Fool say about our Friend, Microsoft, which in the last year has at least put forth the specter of litigation in light of its agreement with Novell. Yes, they've assured the community they won't litigate, but only if within the imprimatur of Novell's "version" of open source. This, coupled with a seemingly possible failure of Vista, reviewed by many as lacking in innovation. Could these be first signs of another failing "industry"?

Re:Not like John Henry

[Conspiracy_Of_Doves]

Someone mod this up!

Re:The vicious last bites of a wounded animal

[GreatDrok]

Billosaur said "When you start treating your customers as criminals, you have slipped over the edge and down the slippery slope toward oblivion."

Someone should tell Microsoft that. Yesterday, my XP Pro machine informed me that my genuine OEM installed copy was using a VLK that has been blocked leaving me with limited update capabilities and a nice banner that says my machine is running pirated software. Later in the day it changed its mind and now says the license key was never even generated by MS at all. All this and I have a genuine CD with the hologram and the sticker assuring me that it is OEM Software with the little genuine hologram text strip. Today, the machine is still complaining that the software is pirated.

My Macs never do this to me........