WiredPen

If the presence of attack ads is a leading indicator, then the Web can now be considered a full-fledged member of a candidate’s media machine.

February witnessed an attack ad launched by the Bush-Cheney campaign against Democrate nominee John Kerry. Entitled “Unprincipled, Chapter 1,” the name suggests future installments are in the works.

The ad might be visually attractive on TV, but on this 1024×768 monitor it was fuzzy and illegible. The key messages, however, were hammered home in a simulated web search.

The Kerry campaign responded with a factual rendering of “special interest” financing of the current administration. Considerably more legible and less emotional.

Round one to Kerry.

Links:
Wise County, VA, portal (23 Feb); Kerry Response Ad; Bush-Cheney Ad

The Electronic Frontier Federation has called for a voluntary flat-rate fee system as a way to legitimize file sharing and compensate artists. The flat-rate plan is not unlike the flat-rate paid by radio stations to broadcast music.

No surprise: the RIAA opposes the plan, which got a public review Wednesday at the Future of Music Coalition’s “Music Law Summit West” in San Francisco. One RIAA objection is that all music is assumed to have the same value; however, an artist at the same forum applauded the concept because it frees musicians from the existing recording industry power structure.

Links:
Wired News (26 Feb)