Hollywood writers score domain name in writer’s strike

One can be excused for not registering every domain name to cover every event. But sometimes missing out on a domain name can be a little embarrassing. Such is the case in the current dispute between the Hollywood studios who “say they don’t know enough about the Internet to pay writers what they seek for the streaming and downloading of their shows, they might not be kidding,” according to this article in the Los Angeles Times.”[A] group of opportunistic writers unveiled a website lampooning the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios in labor negotiations. The alliance neglected to register two key domain names, an oversight seized upon by the writers, who are now in the sixth week of a strike,” writes the LA Times.Using the domain names amptp.com and amptp.net, “the writers built a fake site announcing that the alliance was ‘heartbroken’ that negotiations had collapsed ‘despite our best efforts, including sending them a muffin basket, making them a mixed CD and standing outside their window with a boombox blasting Peter Gabriel songs.'”The website has used “the same logo and typeface as amptp.org, the official website of the alliance, the faux site calls the studios’ ‘new economic partnership proposal . . . the single greatest document since the Magna Carta.'” Although one can’t help but wonder if there is a copyright infringement here. There is also a “breaking news” section, with headlines linked to UnitedHollywood.com, a site supporting striking writers.To read the complete article in the Los Angeles Times, see www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-strike11dec11,1,3597536.story