a few random things…

over at whothehell.net, blink and you would have missed jerry’s post on the digital millenium copyright act or, more accurately, about his blog’s first-hand experience of a takedown notice from the RIAA - they were asked to take down a pnau remix. never mind that they were actually sent the file by pnau’s label:

My post is just one of the many examples how this law is being misused. It’s true that the mp3, being hosted with Dreamhost a US company, falls under US court of law jurisdiction. But hosting companies are so fearful of being sued by labels, movie studios and huge bands like Metallica and U2 that as soon as they received a takedown notice they restrict access to the disputed file without even doing background checks to the validity of the notices…

One of the sites has example of how to write a counter takedown notice, so I did a simple cut and paste, filled in the details and sent it back not to Dreamhost but to antipiracy@riaa.com, letting them know that they are in no position to serve this notice in the first place because they don’t even represent the copyright owner of the song. And then I waited, to see if I’m going to be sued for blogging an mp3 I was given permission to. A few days passed, and then I received an email forward from Dreamhost, the RIAA has rescinded their notice and the file has been put back up online. It is now available again. whothehell.net 1, RIAA 0.

full article.

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in the comment boxes for the above post you’ll find dj donna summer - aka jason forrest - weighing in with gusto… this is a great opportunity for me to, first, point you towards the birthday party berlin blog being healthily maintained and furnished with pop-core type stuff by forrest and his homies over in berlin, and second, clue you in on the fact that he’s recently made all the songs on his myspace profile available for download. that includes 3 tracks from what is close to my favourite album of all time “shamelessly exciting.” go over there and do some downloading - i know you’ll do the right thing and buy the album eventually from sonig, cos of its undeniable brilliance.

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i generally only use the street press to wipe my ass with (sorry dudes, for the vitriol and for the visual!) but there’s a great interview with cool hunter sia in this week’s inpress if you are around melbourne town. i love anthony carew’s (rrr broadcaster and international pop evangelist) subtle technique - which often takes the form of a kind of sly character assassination that you don’t catch the first 2 or 3 times you read the article:

The New York-based 32-year-old was born in Adelaide, raised in a new-age, beyond-Bohemian household that seems to have ingrained in her, from the very start, the need to be self-consciously kooky. A conversation with Furler feels like an interaction with someone who’s been told, from when they were very young, how ‘crazy’ they are; like you’re privy to a kind of performance. You’re warned to expect anything, but all you end up with are quirks, smirks, and mid-interview trips to the toilet.

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finally, tv on the radio do something that i can relate to:

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and finally finally - and i fear this is going to become more regular, at least until the novelty of me mentioning it wears off (for me) - but despite evidence to the contrary i won’t be appearing with Never tRuSt Hippie at the wall of the death concert in, um, мурманск russia this coming saturday night. but just remember, as i always say… Значит твоё место в СТЕНЕ СМЕРТИ!!!