It started with this article in Portfolio, where Jim Giffin of Warner Brother’s advocated for a universal fee attached to all consumer’s internet-service bills that would go directly to the record labels:
Warner’s plan would have consumers pay an additional fee—maybe $5 a month—bundled into their monthly internet-access bill in exchange for the right to freely download, upload, copy, and share music without restrictions.
David Barrett, an engineer for Akamai, criticized the plan:
“It’s too late to charge people for what they’re already getting for free,” says Barrett. “This is just taxation of a basic, universal service that already exists, for the benefit a distant power that actively harasses the people being taxed without offering them any meaningful representation.”
And now it seems Akamai has fired him:
Akamai engineering manager David Barrett, who spoke on the record as being opposed to the Warner Music sponsored music tax (more) last month, was fired on April 25, sources say.
I’m sure one has nothing to do with the other.