I don't often link to Mickey Kaus (he generally covers stuff that I consider off topic for this blog), but I certainly read him on a daily basis. Today he has an interesting post about the appearance of a conflict of interest with regard to the author of a recent puff piece profile of Jack Valenti in the New York Times (Another Easy One for Daniel Okrent, Public Editor!). Seems the author of the piece is the spouse of Amy Pascal, one of the Vice-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Interesting enough ... but there was something even more interesting in Kaus' piece:
But here's what Weinraub was either too inhibited or uninformed to report: Valenti's bosses, the studio heads, are not happy with him. Why? Because he doesn't want to pursue a litigation strategy to combat the threat of piracy (maybe because he doesn't want to end his long Motion Picture Association career in an atmosphere of contention and controversy). But the studios are insisting on litigation. [emphasis in original]
So, seems like the MPAA will soon turn towards a litigation strategy similar to the RIAA's. Frankly, it makes sense to me.