>> ^rottenseed:
whats a "torrent"?


It's used with the BitTorrent communications protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent_%28protocol%29

I've read about a system in the early 1900's, when the phonograph was huge and the telephone was just catching on, where you could call on your telephone to get a certain song played over your phone. You then hung the telephone receiver on a special attachment on your phonograph and you'd get the music piped over the phone through your phonograph. The earliest form of file sharing.
Unfortunately I can't find the article I read before, or any information on it. Anyone else ever hear of this?

wow, nice letter, and nice work eric... this blog is worth checking for sure. i work with musicians and filmmakers on low budgets, and it's definitely interesting to note how much the big studios oppose file sharing... as if they instinctively know it will be their undoing...

however, most of the time if you hear a project got big because of myspace or whatever, it's a flat out lie propagated by a PR company... and films and music still cost money to make. My main argument is that UNPROFITABLE stuff should become viable, and wildly profitable stuff is only a tiny fraction of the world's creative output. We need more variety, not more superstars.

i don't think we have reached a meritocracy yet, and the only future I will be happy with is one where a lone independent artist can make a reasonable living or even just beer money from his work, without the filter of big media.

the future is not 1000000 bands making it big on the internet, there's still only 10 people in the top 10. if we are levelling the playing field, that means less money for successful artists (and more for niche acts with cheap worldwide diy distribution). It might still be impossible for 99.9% of artists to give up their day jobs.

Ummm... who the hell cares what Michael Moore thinks about file sharing? He's not the authority I would turn to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Willis

Wesley Willis (May 31, 1963 – August 21, 2003) was a musician and artist from Chicago. A diagnosed schizophrenic, he gained a sizeable cult following in the 1990s after releasing several hundred songs of unique but simple music, with emphasis on his stream-of-consciousness lyrics. Most of his exposure came as an internet phenomenon during the early days of peer-to-peer file sharing (via Napster).

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

As someone who plays a lawyer on TV, I can tell you with authority that YouTube will not suffer the same fate as Napster because its raison d'être is not to pirate music or videos.

Sure, it does a good trade in that, but it has a legitimate side as well, Napster didn't have much of that and had a hard time convincing the judge that it was a legitimate file sharing company focused on free or share software and music trading.

My response when the cease and desist letter comes?

[Sgt Shultz voice] I host nothing. [/Sgt Shultz voice]

and then ... put another DMCA infringement on the Barbie mate, and crack a coolie - welcome to Australia. ;-)

(actually Australian regulations are not quite as heinous as the US - but we are no Sweden here. hmmm... Sweden ... torrentsift.com, yes!)

I'm the YouTube poster of this. Glad to see this get some attention outside YouTube.

Gerviase: Her most well-known song (at least on the various file-sharing networks) is "When The Rain Came Down", mis-attributed as a duet by Kate Bush and Annie Lennox.

From wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirate_Bay

[DNA sample??!?!]

At around 11 a.m. CET [8] on May 31, 2006, a major raid against The Pirate Bay and people involved with the site took place, prompted by allegations of copyright violations.

The raid, in which some 50 police officers participated, shut down the site and confiscated its servers, as well as all other servers hosted by The Pirate Bay's Internet service provider, PRQ Inet. PRQ is owned by the current managers of the Pirate Bay.

Three people, Gottfrid Svartholm, Mikael Viborg, and Fredrik Neij, were held by the police for questioning, but were released later in the evening. Mikael Viborg, the legal adviser to The Pirate Bay, was arrested at his apartment, brought in for questioning, forced to submit a DNA sample and had his electronic equipment seized.[9] All servers in the server room were seized, including those running the website of Piratbyrån, an independent organization fighting for file-sharing rights, as well as servers unrelated to The Pirate Bay or other filesharing activities.[10] In addition, other equipment were also seized, such as hardware routers, switches, blank CDs and faxes regarding air conditioning.

The Swedish public broadcast network Sveriges Television cited unnamed sources claiming that the raid was prompted by political pressure from the United States which the Swedish government firmly denies.[citation needed] There have been claims of "ministerstyre" (lit. "minister rule") in connection with this allegation.[citation needed] Ministerstyre—when a politician pressures another government agency to take action—is a crime in Sweden.