Jzolr0708 said:
If they are that stupid to risk going to jail for that then that's their problem not his.
No, he's stupid for saying that over 10 million people should lose everything and get anally penetrated in a prison cell for stealing 99 cents.
In the US, there are laws about that. They're in place so that people don't get punished badly for small crimes. Just like a pickpocket shouldn't be executed, someone who downloads 99 cent music off the internet for free shouldn't go to jail for life.
How about, instead of arresting the guy who's buying pot, you arrest the goddamn idiot who is selling it worldwide. If Gene Simmons crack team of lawyers can track down every last Anon and get them V& off to jail then they should maybe spend less time doing pointless tasks and maybe spend more arresting the people who allow illegal downloads to happen.
Wrong, wrong, and wrong again. You are taking what he said out of context (along with a large number of other posters).
He stated at MIPcon about how you should protect your brands by saying "You have a fiduciary duty to your own butt to make sure you maximize any potential and minimize any exposure," followed almost immediately by the statement of how you should sue anybody who crosses that line. I watched the video linked in the OP and at this point he is making an exaggerated point that you should do anything to save your brand. He may have been too confrontational, but this was at MIPcon (an "event for co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing entertainment content," as Wikipedia states) and he was trying to impact the audience.
This was almost a full minute before his other inflammatory statement about suing college kids. First he had a story about a leaking boat (a decent analogy for making his point IMO), then leading into his sentiment on suing college kids, followed by another analogy. At no point did he make the connection that those kids should be sued for everything they have or be put jail for life. If you had a chance to ask Gene Simmons directly, I bet he wouldn't advocate suing college kids as drastically as you might be thinking.
Finally, he never made the connection that the people who download a .99 cent song should lose everything and get anally penetrated. Anon was enraged at his statements at MIPcon and took his site down, Gene Simmons became mad and fought right back. He posted an entirely separate response to Anon saying that the people caught would "find their little butts in jail, right next to someone who's been there for years and is looking for a new girl friend." The only real connection between his MIPcon speech and his retaliation statement is the fact that Anon attacked because of his speech, and his reference about suing their pants off for it (I would say that he probably feels he is "minimizing exposure" by fighting back with legal threats).
Without trying to insult or offend Andy Chalk (the OP), I feel this news post was semi-poorly constructed. The second paragraph makes it seem that the two separate (however related) statements are one argument. Along with that, the news post says "hundreds of people without jobs" instead of "hundreds of thousands" like Gene said (which I am aware is also misreported at the linked site, but stated in the video), which downplays his reasons for resorting to litigation.
Do I feel that Gene Simmons is in the right in his opinions? No. However, this gives no cause to anonymous to attack him for being defensive of his industry and not adapting quick enough.
