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iPods, TiVos and the Cheap-Ass Media Mongrels

The other day I blogged about Edgar Bronfman’s disclosure that he spanked his kids (or something) for all the music they illegally downloaded.

Now Reuters’ MediaFile blog details the iPod obsessions of the media moguls who attended last week’s Reuters Media Summit.

The follow-up questions aren’t printed, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume that these big-timers took advantage of much of this digital media free-of-charge, and most likely with comped iPods as well. Plus, they’re all hooked on TiVo and/or satellite radio, wisely avoiding the endless spew of lame adverts for, uh, TiVo and iPod (and Chevy). Check these excerpts and ask yourself if these cats have ever dropped a dime on a rhyme:

Richard Parsons, CEO / Chairman, Time Warner: “I like music. I have iPods everywhere. I had the whole bunch of (the Warner music collection) files put on before we sold it….”

Dick Cook, Chairman, Walt Disney Studios: “…For fun, I have a little iTunes and that kind of stuff. The only time I get to read books is when I listen to it so I have a lot of books on iTunes.”

JEAN-MARIE DRU, CEO, TBWA/CHIAT/DAY WORLDWIDE: “…I have five kids, so we are 7 at home and we have more than 15 or 16 iPods in the family.”

Ah, behold the aristocrats pirates of megalomediahackland.

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Rumsfeld: ‘Be More Like Saddam’

rumsfeld hearts saddamFormer SecDef Donald Rumsfeld evoked his madman self one more time in a memo submitted to the president prior to his “resignation” last month. The NYT has the story and the full memo.

Is Rumsfeld getting sympathy if not credit for what reads as a wholly ridiculous “sorry, buddy, I lied, we ARE losing” mea culpa?

Personally, I can’t seem to get past this particular passage:

Provide money to key political and religious leaders (as Saddam Hussein did), to get them to help us get through this difficult period.

It’s beyond me why this memo is grabbing headlines and moreso why it was considered by Baker’s Iraq Study Group. Their report will be released this week — its recommendations are expected to be resisted by the White House. But as evidenced by Paul Richter’s blunt reporting in today’s L.A. Times, Middle East leaders have had enough of Bush and his boys:

instead of flaunting stronger ties and steadfast American influence, the president’s journey found friends both old and new near a state of panic. Mideast leaders expressed soaring concern over upheavals across the region that the United States helped ignite through its invasion of Iraq and push for democracy — and fear that the Bush administration may make things worse.

In lieu of wasting anymore time on this rubbish, I’ll refer you to D-Day

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Acknowledged: Warner Music Head’s Kids are Pirates

And “they’ve suffered the consequences.” Whatever that’s supposed to mean.

At the Reuters’ Summit, Edgar Bronfman was asked if his kids steal music:

“I’m fairly certain that they have, and I’m fairly certain that they’ve suffered the consequences.”

Other interesting tidbits from the Summit (full coverage here): Bronfman says WMG is diving head-first into online advertising deals in online video plays. They’ve been gettin’ with YouTube, I wonder if they’ve got it in for Revver and others as well.

Looking to invest in media stocks? The experts at the summit are looking towards News Corp, Apple and Disney.

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‘Bong Hits 4 Jesus’ Case To Be Heard By Supreme Court

Madness.

WSJBlog:

Justices agreed to hear the appeal by the Juneau, Alaska, school board and principal Deborah Morse of a lower court ruling that allowed the student’s civil rights lawsuit to proceed. The school board hired former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr to argue its case to the high court.

The Justices had examined the appeal in this freedom-of-expression case five separate times before agreeing to hear it, according to SCOTUSblog. Kick back and have a look at the petition.