George Bush has illegal music on his iPod?

This is hilarious. It’s a video of George Bush discussing his iPod after a recorded interview with Fox news. In a supposedly informal post-interview chat, the President lists the songs he has on his iPod, (at least one of which must have been “illegally” ripped from a CD, as you’ll see).

Here’s some text from the interview:

“Beach Boys..
Beatles…
Alan Jackson..
Aretha Fraklin..
…
Dan Maclean…. (Paz: but of course he meant Don Maclean of American Pie fame).
….”

“It has a shuffle…. so it plays them in a random order… it’s pretty high tech stuff!”; explains a beaming President Bush.

Here’s the catch though. The Beatles have famously refused to allow Apple Computer to feature any of their music in their official, iPod download catalogue. This is a consequence of an acrimonious split over Apple Computer’s alleged infringement of the Beatles’ Apple Corps trademark and logo. As a consequence of this battle, you won’t find a single Beatles track legally available from Apple Computer’s Music Store.

So how did the Beatle’s track get on the President’s computer?

Well, if the President really does have a Beatles track on his iPod, then it must have been ripped from a CD, and according to the RIAA; CD-ripping is illegal.

So, will this be a scandal bigger than Watergate? Will President Bush face impeachment?

Well, a wise man once said; “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone”, but let’s see what Congress and the media have to say!

Found via newlauches.com

Edit: I have to concede that the President MAY have copied the music from cassette or vinyl, which is fair usage as far as the RIAA are concerned because these media are considered obsolete ( see comments below.)

Thanks to the Music Store Zzounds for help with this post.