In an announcement today, a small recording lable has made a claim for damages and frankly I hope they get them
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/19/business/media/19payola.html?ei=5088&en=79e24836047d9707&ex=1287374400&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1129730492-YJWYDoXvvTLtQp5sYZ7SDQTSR Records, an independent music label, filed suit yesterday against Sony BMG Music Entertainment, accusing it of unfairly dominating radio play lists through the use of bribes to programmers and other illicit tactics.
The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Los Angeles, comes three months after Sony BMG agreed to pay $10 million to settle allegations by the New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, that it had used improper radio promotion practices, including payola, or undisclosed payments to broadcasters.
TSR, of Tarzana, Calif., said independent labels were "systematically excluded" from radio play lists as a result of record company tactics. It contended that Sony BMG violated federal and California antitrust laws and improperly interfered with its business prospects. The case seeks unspecified monetary damages and attorneys' fees.
Its about time these multinational monopolies where ordered to cease there illegal practices and made to pay substancial compensation.
I expect similar claims to be laid against any organisation that seeks to kill P2P and with it any independant means of showcasing and distributing non mafia/Cartel works and products.
