Striking Writers Use Domain Name to Lampoon Studios

Writers acquire .com version of studios’ domain name.

The writers strike in American continues. Man, do I miss my nightly dose of The Daily Show and Colbert Report.

But crack one up to the writers for ingenuity.

A group of striking writers has acquired the domains amptp.com and amptp.net, reports the L.A. times. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios in this battle, uses the domain amptp.org. The writers have created a parody site at their new domain names.

The L.A. times article reads:

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.”

Bill Davis, who owned both domains for about a year, was approached by a party last week that wished to purchase the names from him. He declined to disclose the sales price.