AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

LA Times reports a domain name saga which will bring a smile to anyone in the internet world, and heartburn to some others

When the Hollywood studios 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.

That was made embarrassingly clear Monday when 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.

Using the Web addresses 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.”

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