No one's getting intimidated anymore. “It worries me that the music industry took this action, because it reeks of desperation," PCMag editor-in-chief Lance Ulanoff openly responded to the earlier reprimand. “Clearly the music industry is still losing money to music piracy and even the recalibrated profit margins brought on by legal music sharing services."
So... does that mean no retraction? “We won't," Ulanoff flatly assured. Actually, the letter itself was only half-addressed to the right magazine. A pair of articles were mentioned, one of which belonged to PC World—owned by IDG, not Ziff-Davis. But the RIAA has never been a stickler for details, especially when it involves letters.
But digging into the complaint, should PC Magazine be forced to self-censor developments like LimeWire Pirate Edition, which is clearly out there and available? And, refrain from linking to such services? “Linking is part of reporting online and it worries me that the music industry thinks the answer to their troubles is any editorial entity employing self-censorship," Ulanoff continued. “We will continue to cover it all—as we must."
The complete response is here. The original industry letter is here.
