Idol Stalker - Watching American Idol

American Idol Wants Torrent Users Kicked Off the Internet

Posted: 20 Mar 2009 10:10 AM PDT

This is all kinds of outrageous. According to reports, American Idol top executive, Tony Cohen, wants people who download the show via torrents to have their internet access cut off. WHAT? Cohen is the CEO of Idol's production company, FremantleMedia, and he's clearly crazy. I can understand that he has an opinion, and I can even understand his perspective, but the relationship between consumers and their internet service providers should not be policed by the producers of television shows.

Cohen made the comments when addressing the audience of the Changing Media Summit in London today. What he proposed was a "three strikes" rule that allows ISPs to disconnect repeat infringers from the Net. Last year, I attended NextMedia and the Banff World Television Awards and I heard similar comments from executives. What a lot of people, including Cohen, are suggesting is an online TV system that allows viewers to catch up on their favorite shows while paying a small fee.

I know that a lot of my readers here have noticed that I don't have as many videos up as I have in past years and this is why. FremantleMedia has been SUPER strict with removing videos of Idol performances. Since I don't want to be accused of copyright infringement, I have had to make do without performance videos sometimes. It's not ideal but there isn't much I can do at this point.

What do you think? Should people who download torrents be kicked off the internet? How do you feel about paying to see a show that you already pay your cable bill to watch? I know iTunes allows you to download performances for a fee. Do any of you actually do that?

Tags: american idol torrents, fremantlemedia, tony cohen, torrents

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Obama Compares American Idol to Washington, D.C.

Posted: 20 Mar 2009 08:39 AM PDT

Last night on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, our favorite television show was brought up during a visit from President Barack Obama when the commander-in-chief compared Washington, D.C. to American Idol.

NBC Photo: Paul Drinkwater

Here's what was said:

Leno: Now it's only [been], what, 59 days now, right?

Obama: Yes, 59 days.

Leno: And so much scrutiny. Is it fair to judge so quickly? I mean –

Obama: Well, look, we are going through a difficult time. I welcome the challenge. You know, I ran for president because I thought we needed big changes. I do think in Washington it's a little bit like American Idol, except everybody is Simon Cowell.

Leno: Wow. Wow. That's rough.

Watch the video here to see more:

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Tags: barack obama, obama american idol, obama leno, president obama