did anyone see the NY Times articles today?
this fucking sucks.
Quote from: Blackieshampsdid anyone see the NY Times articles today?link for the lazy
Grateful Dead to allow free Web downloadsBy Associated PressThursday, December 1, 2005 - Updated: 06:56 AM ESTSAN FRANCISCO -- What a short, strange trip it was. After the Grateful Dead angered some of its biggest fans by asking a nonprofit Web site to halt the free downloading of its concert recordings, the psychedelic jam band changed its mind Wednesday. Internet Archive, a site that catalogues content on Web sites, reposted recordings of Grateful Dead concerts for download after the surviving members of the band decided to make them available again. Band spokesman Dennis McNally said the group was swayed by the backlash from fans, who for decades have freely taped and traded the band’s live performances. "The Grateful Dead remains as it always has - in favor of tape trading," McNally said. He said the band consented to making audience recordings available for download again, although live recordings made directly from concert soundboards, which are the legal property of the Grateful Dead, should only be made available for listening from now on. The soundboard recordings are "very much part of their legacy, and their rights need to be protected," McNally said. Representatives for the band earlier this month had directed the Internet Archive to stop making recordings of the group’s concerts available for download. But fans quickly initiated an online petition that argued the band shouldn’t change the rules midway through the game. "The internet archive has been a resource that is important to all of us," states the petition, which also threatened a boycott of Grateful Dead recordings and merchandise. "Between the music, and interviews in the archive we are able to experience the Grateful Dead fully." The Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995 following the death of guitarist and lead singer Jerry Garcia. The group once set concert attendance records and generated millions of dollars in revenue from extensive tours. With concert tickets now removed as a source of revenue, sales of the band’s music and other merchandise have become increasingly important in an age where music is distributed digitally instead of on CDs, vinyl and cassette tapes. And the arrival of Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes online music store, and other similar sites, means free downloads can be seen as competition, said Marc Schiller, chief executive of Electricartists, which helps musicians market themselves online. The band sells music on iTunes and exclusive shows through its Web site. "When the music was given away for free to trade, the band was making so much money touring that the music was not as valuable to them," Schiller said. "Apple iTunes has made digital downloads a business." The Grateful Dead’s freeform improvisational style led to vastly different sounding songs, from year to year or even night to night. A song that lasted four minutes during one performance could be stretched to 20 minutes during a different show. Fans eager to explore the varying versions frequently built large collections of shows spanning the band’s 30-year career. The band even encouraged recording of their live shows, establishing a cordoned section for fans to set up taping equipment. Representatives from the Internet Archive didn’t immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Wednesday.
Downloads of the Dead are Not Dead YetBy JESSE FOX MAYSHARKPublished: December 1, 2005In the face of anger among its fans and divisions within the band itself, the Grateful Dead on Wednesday said it was reconsidering its decision to disallow downloads of the band\'s concert recordings from a large Internet archive.With more than 4,200 signatures on an online petition calling for a boycott of Grateful Dead products - from tie-dyed T-shirts to kitsch emblazoned with the band\'s dancing bear and skeleton icons - the band\'s spokesman said the members were still working out an official position on the controversy."The band has not fully made up its mind," the spokesman, Dennis McNally, said. "Things have already changed, and God only knows if they\'ll change some more."Phil Lesh, the band\'s bass player, posted a statement on his own Web site (phillesh.net) on Wednesday, saying he had not known that band representatives the week before Thanksgiving had asked the operators of the Live Music Archive (archive.org) to stop allowing downloads of Grateful Dead concerts. "I do feel that the music is the Grateful Dead\'s legacy and I hope that one way or another all of it is available for those who want it," he wrote.John Perry Barlow, one of the band\'s lyricists, said he had had a "pretty heated discussion" on Tuesday with Bob Weir, the Dead guitarist and singer, over the extent of the restrictions.Before the death of Jerry Garcia, a founding member, ended its active career a decade ago, the Grateful Dead had pioneered the practice of allowing fans to record and circulate tapes of its concerts. So its attempted restriction of digital file-sharing felt to many Deadheads like a betrayal.The band asked the archive to completely remove copies of live recordings made directly from concert soundboards - which are the legal property of the band but often leak into mass circulation - and to make audience recordings available only for listening, not downloading.The Live Music Archive is a free library of recordings, some made by fans at concerts and others by artists themselves. According to its written policies, recordings are posted only with the permission of the artists.The move not only created an uproar among the band\'s devoted fans; it also exposed divisions among factions within its extended family, which have often disagreed over the band\'s business philosophy.Perhaps no one was more conflicted than Mr. Barlow, a founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that has fought multiple court cases in behalf of freedom of information on the Internet.Mr. Barlow said he agreed that soundboard recordings should be restricted, but he said fans should continue to be free to circulate their own tapes, as they have for years.Mr. Barlow said the blanket request to the Live Music Archive was driven by Mr. Weir and the band\'s drummers, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. "It was almost as if they had just discovered it was happening, even though it\'s been online for at least three years," he said.But there was also some question as to how explicit the band\'s permission had been in allowing files to be placed in the Live Music Archive to begin with. Mr. Barlow said the band had had a policy since 1997 that "we had no more problem with someone digital file sharing than we had with tape sharing." He said he had relayed that policy to operators of the archive when they contacted him."I said that, given that\'s our policy, I don\'t see a problem," Mr. Barlow said. But, he acknowledged, he had also feared that a request for explicit permission from the band\'s corporate entity might get snarled in band politics - which seemed to be the case this week.Steve Bernstein, the publisher of Relix magazine, which began in the 1970\'s as an outlet for Deadhead tape trading, said the split reflected the band\'s current position. Although the surviving members still sometimes play together as the Dead, he said, their most reliable income comes from new releases of old concert recordings. So their avid file-sharing fans are now also their competitors.Mr. Barlow said the band\'s other primary lyricist, Robert Hunter, did not wish to get involved in the public debate but supported his position. But the lyricists are not full voting members of the band, and given the apparent 3-1 split among the four surviving performing members in favor of disallowing the downloads, Mr. Barlow said he was not sure how the issue would play out.In the meantime, the online forums at the Live Music Archive had plenty of outrage, but also a little sympathy. "This action demonstrates a very great lack of generosity on their part, as well as fundamental marketing miscalculation," one person wrote, speculating that people who trade recordings are likely to find other sources rather than buy the band\'s official releases.But some veteran tape traders urged consideration for the band and a return to the days of sending tapes and discs through the mail. "Thing is, for all these faux pas, GD are still megaparsecs beyond the best of the other rockers," one wrote.
I figured Bob Wier was the driving force behind this... just chalk that up as another one of the infinite reasons why he SUCKS. Boycott Ratdog!
