From You
Music Downloading
originally published April 30, 2008
Ms. Gilzenrat’s article [“Do It Illegally,” Apr. 16] is probably getting a great deal of feedback, and for good reason. I don’t know where to begin, so I’ll take a guess and start with Nine Inch Nails.
They did a five-day promotion online where the whole album streamed for free, leading up to the release. You could listen to the songs as many times as you want for free, for that five days. When the album came out, you had to pay for it. Just like R.E.M. did for their new album on ilike.com. No more free music once the album came out, though, because it was streaming media, which means it wasn’t downloaded into a file that can be replayed or shared. They (NIN) distribute through Tunecore (I also distribute through Tunecore) to sell on iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, etc., for digital downloads. And through that service, you make 100 percent of the commission from iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, whichever online vendors you choose to distribute through. No labels involved. Artist (NIN) to distributor (Tunecore) to vendor (iTunes, etc). The artist pays a small flat fee for hosting and storage, and keeps 100 percent of what the vendor pays. iTunes, for example, pays $7 on a $9.99 album. Sell a thousand albums, make $7,000, less your $30 setup fee to the distributor (Tunecore). The industry is changing indeed, and the major labels are in trouble, and there really isn’t anything they can do about it. That’s the only thing Ms. Gilzenrat is right about.
This bohemian idea that we little people should steal music in the form of “sharing” as a way to get our tunes and stick it to the man, killing two birds with one cool stone, goes about as far, logically, as a 13-year-old who realizes he can say “damn” in front of his parents without getting spanked. Sharing files of indie artists specifically helps to destroy alternative music, not in spite of the music industry, but because of the change in the industry.
You are no longer ripping off rich people, no more Robin Hood arguments. Right now, millions of artists have already cut the big labels out of the deal and are using direct marketing techniques to distribute, using modern (postmodern?) technology, like myself and Trent Reznor. When you “share” our files with a few hundred other people, you are literally taking money from our pockets, not some faceless corporate entity, or “the man.” With technology and the changing industry, Trent Reznor is the man. I am the man. And you are ripping us off.
Some artists want you to share their music for free with as many people as possible. Some don’t. Respect the artists’ right to dictate the use of their creation. It’s not about record companies anymore. Radiohead’s last album was an experiment, not a mandate. Ms. Gilzenrat’s article made some decent points about the RIAA and big record labels, but completely missed the point.
Especially disconcerting was her diminishment of “intangible” products in terms of value; reading these words from a writer made my back hurt.
Sockfeet At The Airport
originally published April 30, 2008
Pete, I have had a very bad sore on my big toe for a year. I have tried every over-the-counter medication available to try to cure it with no success. I even tried several alternative medicines to cure my ailment, again with no luck. Yesterday, I went to a dermatologist for help. She diagnosed a very severe bacterial infection and prescribed very powerful antibiotics and cortisone cream to heal my toe. I asked how I could have gotten such an awful infection.
For years I have argued with airport security personnel about having to take my shoes off and walk in stocking feet across the floor where unknown strangers from all over the world walk. TSA personnel wear rubber gloves and never take their shoes off. I have requested booties from TSA and suggested several other ways I could walk through without risk of smuggling explosives aboard planes. Of course TSA has no solution and treats everyone from octogenarian females to very young travelers equally bad. Before last year, I would walk through with my shoes on, submit to an insulting body search and have my shoes scanned separately while I waited, sitting on a chair with my feet held off the floor.
In September of 2006, I think, TSA refused to let anyone walk through and then be frisked. Everyone now takes their shoes off and walks across filthy floors covered with the germs of thousands of worldwide travelers. I believe this causes a terrible risk for spreading contagious diseases.
The U.S. Surgeon General recommends that everyone wash their hands after even a brief excursion into public places to prevent the spread of flu and other contagious diseases. Imagine, with the advice from the Surgeon General widely published, the TSA makes it mandatory that everyone expose themselves to deadly germs with no really practical way to protect themselves.
Could the widespread flu epidemic this year be caused by the TSA airport security program? The flu has caused more deaths by far than have been saved by any ill-conceived TSA security program that requires millions of people to expose themselves, unreasonably, by walking through security lines in stocking feet. I am convinced that my staph-like infection was caused by the TSA forcing me to walk through their security points in my stocking feet.
When is the TSA going to relent and choose other less dangerous ways to supposedly make our air transportation system safe? I, for one, do not believe it is worth the risk for the infinitesimal probability of preventing a terrorist from boarding a plane with a bomb in their shoes. It is time for the public and the Congress of the USA to stop the TSA from this very unsafe practice.
An Exchange
originally published April 30, 2008
Dear Senator Chambliss: I deeply appreciate the depth of the analysis required for your staff to not only cut and paste their responses as if unfamiliar with Microsoft Word, but to respond with an identical collage of phrases from the Turkish junta’s lexicon as was sent to me last year on Apr. 24, internationally known as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (a recognition you apparently oppose). Turkey has spent millions of our defense dollars on the annihilation of its ethnic minorities, both within its borders and in Kurdish Iraq. They helped ensure the futility of sanctions in avoiding conflict in Iraq by openly flouting them to purchase Iraqi oil at beneficial prices. They have spent millions also on the care and feeding of their lobbyists: unemployed senators such as Stephen Solarz, whose New York constituents decided he truly was the “Congressman from Istanbul” as he proclaimed so often before he was “fired,” and disgraced former Sen. Bob Livingston. Nevertheless, I will share your thoughtful response on this issue, which you will find below my insertion of your previous email, with a wide range of journalists and political activists in both parties, as well as other voters. I will be glad to disseminate any subsequent thoughts on this issue you may develop, so feel free to follow up at your convenience.
Very Truly Yours,
On 4/24/07, Saxby Chambliss saxby_chambliss@chambliss.senate.gov wrote:
Dear Mrs. David: Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns about H. Res. 106, the “Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution.” I appreciate knowing your thoughts on this issue. The passage of H. Res. 106 would damage United States-Turkish relations and possibly harm U.S. interests in the Middle East and Central Asia. Such a resolution will not advance the Turkish-Armenian dialogue and it will not improve the process of Turkey’s examination of its own past. The United States-Turkish relationship is both deep and broad. Turkey is a strategic partner with the United States in a number of significant areas, including the War on Terror and the United States’ involvement in Iraq. Our friendship with Turkey goes back a very long way and we must continue to work together on issues of importance. If you would like to receive timely email alerts regarding the latest congressional actions and my weekly e-newsletter, please sign up via my web site at: www.chambliss.senate.gov. Please let me know whenever I may ever be of assistance to you.
On 4/24/08, Saxby Chambliss saxby_chambliss@chambliss.senate.gov wrote:
Dear Mrs. David: Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns about S. Res. 106. I appreciate knowing your thoughts on this issue. The passage of S. Res. 106 would damage United States-Turkish relations and possibly harm U.S. interests in the Middle East and Central Asia. Such a resolution will not advance the Turkish-Armenian dialogue and it will not improve the process of Turkey ’s examination of its own past. The United States-Turkish relationship is both deep and broad. Turkey is a strategic partner with the United States in a number of significant areas, including the War on Terror and the United States’ involvement in Iraq. Our friendship with Turkey goes back a very long way and we must continue to work together on issues of importance. If you would like to receive timely email alerts regarding the latest congressional actions and my weekly e-newsletter, please sign up via my web site at: www.chambliss.senate.gov. Please let me know whenever I may ever be of assistance to you.
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