Although the shuttering of Megaupload certainly had a huge impact it seems to me similar to what was going on with Napster when they ran into problems. We'll have to see where it goes but they had US servers which gave the US government the ability to get to them. Other sites would not present such a simple nexis. As for Sopa/Pipa. It's already losing support and at least for the moment seems dead in the water. Either way, thanks for the great blog.
One suggestion to keep the blog going, but to duck concerns, would be to go private. One of the sites I regularly use went to a private format, and not only are you no longer found in the search engine results, but there are few direct takedown requests and complaints.
The drawback, of course, is that you exclude people who might find a great blog by searching for "Tommy Keene" or "Jellyfish".
I agree with Anonymous, as well. MegaUpload was a big venue, but they had a target on them (celebrity endorsements? Advertising? Video ads?) and US-based servers. With SOPA and PIPA dying on the vine, I think we'll see some of this hubbub end.
If I were a blogger offering serious downloads, my only concern would be that they'll go back to their original strategy of a few years ago and take legal action against individuals again. In other words, making examples of a few people.
Echoing Eric's idea, I'd suggest that you at least start to collect email addresses from your many fans - that way you'll have a large number of visitors to a private blog if you decide to go that route.
Quality over quantity - better to have 40 or 50 people who want to interact with the site (via comments on their reactions to the music) than 500 leeches who grab the music and continually take off!
I'm sure there will always be alternatives. MultiUpload works well enough. My favorite, as a downloader, is MediaFire. If you ever do decide to go private, I hope to be invited! Thanks for all you do.
SOPA/PIPA will go away. There simply is too much resistance by relatively powerful entities to allow it to happen. Hollywood has money, power and influence but not enough to change the most important aspect of the internet. Free flowing information. That is why nothing has been done yet. Megaupload goes down, another will pop up. No real worries there. It's unfortunate for the people at Megaupload and those that paid for their services but I think the powers that be needed a whipping boy and Megaupload got tapped on the shoulder.
IT's always easy to point fingers, but I find it ironic that Sen Christopher Dodd, who helped to fuck up the Financial Industry with the Dodd-Frank Bill, got chased out of Congress after being investigated for ethics violations and immediately went to work for the Motion Picture Association. He then went back to his buddies in Congress and got these bills moving through.
Now we see pictures in the paper showing all of the cars, houses, etc, that the head of Megaupoad owns. How is his wealth different from that of music or motion picture moguls?
Shutting down these sites makes no sense to me - might as well shut down google for its search engine, or google blogs for allowing blogs to proliferate.
Your site is my favorite on the web, and I truly hope you stay up and running. If you ever do go private, I hope to be invited too! Thanks very much.
love your site, hope it keeps going! I think things will probably calm down soon, but you never know. I agree, if you go private, I hope to get an invite! You've turned me on to tons of great music!!
I come into this as a fellow Blogger and friend of Curty and I'm also examining options at the moment.
Whilst I do this, it's a wait and see game.
I can give you the argument against going to a Private Blog as it would seem a sensible solution unless you know some of the drawbacks.
Firstly, going Private and using Blogger is limited by Blogger itself.
You can usually have no more than 100 members, I found a way round that, but it's still maxed at 250.
Mine is a community, so 250 is fine as there's a lot of interaction goes on.
For something like PPO, Curty would be limited to just reaching out a small number and the blog is about getting the music to as wide an audience as possible.
So little promotion for the artists that you all love and the expense of the Cloud Service you use is still there.
To go for a much larger audience, requires a much bigger outlay.
Curty could ask for contributions but that opens a minefield for prosecution as you can be accused of profiteering from copyright.
There's no easy answers. The blogging community was decimated by Blogger 12 - 18 months ago, but the megaupload thing makes matters 10 times worse, because storage becomes the problem.
The Megaupload case has a while to run, but if it does come back and I feel it will, confidence is shattered in it and in it's competitors.
As mentioned above, Blogger (i.e. Google) did shut down many music blogs a year or so ago, yet Google went full bore after Congress in regards to the pending SOPA and PIPA legislation. If anything else, this proves once again that politics makes for insanely odd bedfellows.
As for my own blog (Wilfully Obscure) I've been using Rapidshare consistently for almost five years. While I do have to pay for long-term/premium hosting services, my readers don't have to put up with as much annoying spyware or pop-ups that other file hosting services are synonomous with, including Megaupload. So far as I know Rapidshare has no presence in North America. Nevertheless, in spite of recent events I feel more than vulnerable, though I'm not running scared just yet, and neither should anyone else
I also just noticed that Garage66 has been removed. What I don't understand is that they, along with PPO, almost exclusively post out-of-print or extremeky hard to get albums that I can't imagine it being worth anyone's time to take action against someone for posting.
Curty, I hope you decide to keep going. I don't comment often enough but I have discovered so many great albums and artists through your blog.
I think MU will prevail and be back in some form. As long as you don't feel there's any direct threat to you personally, I hope you'll continue to have a public presence on the web. A good compromise might be going semi-private, with a fully viewable site that allows access to links only by invitation/membership. Thanks so much for keeping it going.
I'm a relative newcomer to these sorts of blogs. I finally gave up on the CD market 8 months ago when the last viable new CD store in my town closed. Music sharing blogs have been a source of great pleasure insofar as finding music I own on vinyl and newly-discovered music is concerned. I hope that you and the other bloggers whose work I enjoy stick with it.
If I had a blog, I'd definitely be concerned at this point about the government coming after me, whether today or at some time in the future. Good luck whatever happens.
Recent events have certainly got me thinking about the future of blogs. In general the blogs I frequent are specialist blogs, that is, blogs that specialise in a particular genre of music, power pop, 60’s psychedelia, garage rock, northern soul, etc. Basically blogs created by fans for other fans to enjoy. In my naivety I would like to think that the powers that be can distinguish these blogs from the ones that are just blatantly ripping off new releases. Blogs such as PPO are simply sharing music that is usually out of print, with other fans. I don’t know about others but if I see a CD of something I have downloaded and enjoyed I buy it without any hesitation, whereas if I hadn’t heard it would probably be still sitting of the shelf. Regardless of what happens to this blog thanks for all the marvellous gems you have lead me to over the years, it has made the world a much more bearable place.
I would just like to echo Spower's comment above. In addition to discovering new music, which I've often bought if possible, I've found digital versions of older gems that I already own on vinyl, making it possible for me to hear them again. I figure that I've already payed for them once... Anyway, I hope you keep the blog going, but if you don't, considering the MU happenings, it's understandable. Thanks for everything up until now.
Follow in front. Do not be discouraged. What is happening is passing. Your blog is very good and does not deserve to be closed because of an ephemeral turbulence. Sorrry for the bad english. Cheers!
In the eyes of those pushing censorship, out of print offerings and ROIOs are still a target even if they won't say so, because they represent an alternative to the product they want to sell you.
This music and entertainment industry effort to stop sharing is total BS. They are not losing as much money as they claim. A lot of downloads are things that people are just not going to pay for. If it's not free, they aren't going to get it. For example, if I can't watch Dexter online for free somewhere, I'm not going to pay for showtime. Now they have every right to go after people making bootleg copies of physical media (i.e china), and maybe even people that are making money off of illegal downloads, like the owners of mega-upload etc. But they are stupid to attack what is essentially a giant free marketing machine. What they need to do is come up with new ways to monetize their product (for example, making some kind of licensing arrangement with mega-upload). Anyway, in terms of blogs like PPO, it is asinine if the RIAA does not love them. You are definitely helping sell product for the artists on the blog. Of course, you need to at least keep abreast of things and do what you need to protect yourself, because the RIAA is an idiotic and non-forwarding thinking organization, and many of our government officials are easily swayed by lobbying money...
Now, with galaxie 500, for example, it is still available from the band now, so you might want to note that: http://www.damonandnaomi.com/frameset/frame.html?http%3A//www.damonandnaomi.com/merchandise/merch.html
that way when people love what they hear, they can go over there and buy the vinyl or the CDs with bonus discs, etc
CR This can of worms that Dodd has opened up will kill all freedom of speech, sharing information and the joys of discovery and I dont think it will happen as it will destroy the whole concept of the world wide web and MU is going to walk away and restart maybe not flashin' it as before but more discreet .....we'll see. They might as well start on evryone from Sony recording products to ricoh or xerox for making machines that copy. Its all ridiculous. If private is the way to go Curt and if there's any risk of this shit escalating go for it man be secure in 2012
Whats Going down i'm new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It positively useful and it has helped me out loads. I hope to give a contribution & assist other users like its helped me. Great job. Childcraft Wooden Preschool Puzzles - 8.5 x 11 - Set of 12
I've been surfing online more than three hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty price enough for me. In my opinion, if all web owners and bloggers made just right content material as you probably did, the web will be a lot more useful than ever before. Sorel Women's Helen Of Tundra Boot
My 2 cents worth: Making the blog "private" might work but then you defeat the purpose, if your intention is to promote music you like to a wider audience.
That, BTW, is the whole reason the recording industry is up in arms: Their "recorded to corporate specifications" so-called music can't compete with small label and "too old" music. Sales are not down because we are downloading their latest uber-hyped crap, sales are down because we now have alternatives to what they are shovelling at us.
That said, from the old "blog wars" days, here are typical defensive options:
* Sharebee and other multi-uploaders. * Upload and link to small text files that contain the real download link. * RAR encrypt all uploaded files, so their content is harder to verify.
None of these solutions is 100% effective but a "speed bump" is often enough to deter hostile action.
Note also that the "blog wars" are long over and done with, and the Megaupload case was a rare instance where file locker owners documented offers of cash rewards for uploaders of "infringing content", making them criminally liable. File locker companies who know their business are careful to maintain their "common carrier" status and are not criminally liable.
33 comments:
Although the shuttering of Megaupload certainly had a huge impact it seems to me similar to what was going on with Napster when they ran into problems. We'll have to see where it goes but they had US servers which gave the US government the ability to get to them. Other sites would not present such a simple nexis. As for Sopa/Pipa. It's already losing support and at least for the moment seems dead in the water. Either way, thanks for the great blog.
One suggestion to keep the blog going, but to duck concerns, would be to go private. One of the sites I regularly use went to a private format, and not only are you no longer found in the search engine results, but there are few direct takedown requests and complaints.
The drawback, of course, is that you exclude people who might find a great blog by searching for "Tommy Keene" or "Jellyfish".
I agree with Anonymous, as well. MegaUpload was a big venue, but they had a target on them (celebrity endorsements? Advertising? Video ads?) and US-based servers. With SOPA and PIPA dying on the vine, I think we'll see some of this hubbub end.
If I were a blogger offering serious downloads, my only concern would be that they'll go back to their original strategy of a few years ago and take legal action against individuals again. In other words, making examples of a few people.
Echoing Eric's idea, I'd suggest that you at least start to collect email addresses from your many fans - that way you'll have a large number of visitors to a private blog if you decide to go that route.
Quality over quantity - better to have 40 or 50 people who want to interact with the site (via comments on their reactions to the music) than 500 leeches who grab the music and continually take off!
I'm sure there will always be alternatives. MultiUpload works well enough. My favorite, as a downloader, is MediaFire. If you ever do decide to go private, I hope to be invited! Thanks for all you do.
SOPA/PIPA will go away. There simply is too much resistance by relatively powerful entities to allow it to happen. Hollywood has money, power and influence but not enough to change the most important aspect of the internet. Free flowing information. That is why nothing has been done yet.
Megaupload goes down, another will pop up. No real worries there. It's unfortunate for the people at Megaupload and those that paid for their services but I think the powers that be needed a whipping boy and Megaupload got tapped on the shoulder.
IT's always easy to point fingers, but I find it ironic that Sen Christopher Dodd, who helped to fuck up the Financial Industry with the Dodd-Frank Bill, got chased out of Congress after being investigated for ethics violations and immediately went to work for the Motion Picture Association. He then went back to his buddies in Congress and got these bills moving through.
Now we see pictures in the paper showing all of the cars, houses, etc, that the head of Megaupoad owns. How is his wealth different from that of music or motion picture moguls?
Shutting down these sites makes no sense to me - might as well shut down google for its search engine, or google blogs for allowing blogs to proliferate.
Your site is my favorite on the web, and I truly hope you stay up and running. If you ever do go private, I hope to be invited too! Thanks very much.
private posts.
love your site, hope it keeps going! I think things will probably calm down soon, but you never know. I agree, if you go private, I hope to get an invite! You've turned me on to tons of great music!!
I come into this as a fellow Blogger and friend of Curty and I'm also examining options at the moment.
Whilst I do this, it's a wait and see game.
I can give you the argument against going to a Private Blog as it would seem a sensible solution unless you know some of the drawbacks.
Firstly, going Private and using Blogger is limited by Blogger itself.
You can usually have no more than 100 members, I found a way round that, but it's still maxed at 250.
Mine is a community, so 250 is fine as there's a lot of interaction goes on.
For something like PPO, Curty would be limited to just reaching out a small number and the blog is about getting the music to as wide an audience as possible.
So little promotion for the artists that you all love and the expense of the Cloud Service you use is still there.
To go for a much larger audience, requires a much bigger outlay.
Curty could ask for contributions but that opens a minefield for prosecution as you can be accused of profiteering from copyright.
There's no easy answers. The blogging community was decimated by Blogger 12 - 18 months ago, but the megaupload thing makes matters 10 times worse, because storage becomes the problem.
The Megaupload case has a while to run, but if it does come back and I feel it will, confidence is shattered in it and in it's competitors.
All we can do at the moment is wait and see.
BTW the Megaupload prosecution isn't about US servers primarily.
If that were the case, the servers would not have been grabbed elsewhere.
It's about profiteering from USA copyrights and artists and the fact that it is a .com address which is regulated by The US.
As mentioned above, Blogger (i.e. Google) did shut down many music blogs a year or so ago, yet Google went full bore after Congress in regards to the pending SOPA and PIPA legislation. If anything else, this proves once again that politics makes for insanely odd bedfellows.
As for my own blog (Wilfully Obscure) I've been using Rapidshare consistently for almost five years. While I do have to pay for long-term/premium hosting services, my readers don't have to put up with as much annoying spyware or pop-ups that other file hosting services are synonomous with, including Megaupload. So far as I know Rapidshare has no presence in North America. Nevertheless, in spite of recent events I feel more than vulnerable, though I'm not running scared just yet, and neither should anyone else
Garage Punk '66 blog just posted something new only 2 hours ago and the blog has now been REMOVED!! Anybody know what happened?
I also just noticed that Garage66 has been removed. What I don't understand is that they, along with PPO, almost exclusively post out-of-print or extremeky hard to get albums that I can't imagine it being worth anyone's time to take action against someone for posting.
Curty, I hope you decide to keep going. I don't comment often enough but I have discovered so many great albums and artists through your blog.
I think MU will prevail and be back in some form. As long as you don't feel there's any direct threat to you personally, I hope you'll continue to have a public presence on the web. A good compromise might be going semi-private, with a fully viewable site that allows access to links only by invitation/membership. Thanks so much for keeping it going.
Ray
I'm a relative newcomer to these sorts of blogs. I finally gave up on the CD market 8 months ago when the last viable new CD store in my town closed. Music sharing blogs have been a source of great pleasure insofar as finding music I own on vinyl and newly-discovered music is concerned. I hope that you and the other bloggers whose work I enjoy stick with it.
If I had a blog, I'd definitely be concerned at this point about the government coming after me, whether today or at some time in the future. Good luck whatever happens.
Recent events have certainly got me thinking about the future of blogs. In general the blogs I frequent are specialist blogs, that is, blogs that specialise in a particular genre of music, power pop, 60’s psychedelia, garage rock, northern soul, etc. Basically blogs created by fans for other fans to enjoy. In my naivety I would like to think that the powers that be can distinguish these blogs from the ones that are just blatantly ripping off new releases. Blogs such as PPO are simply sharing music that is usually out of print, with other fans. I don’t know about others but if I see a CD of something I have downloaded and enjoyed I buy it without any hesitation, whereas if I hadn’t heard it would probably be still sitting of the shelf.
Regardless of what happens to this blog thanks for all the marvellous gems you have lead me to over the years, it has made the world a much more bearable place.
I would just like to echo Spower's comment above. In addition to discovering new music, which I've often bought if possible, I've found digital versions of older gems that I already own on vinyl, making it possible for me to hear them again. I figure that I've already payed for them once...
Anyway, I hope you keep the blog going, but if you don't, considering the MU happenings, it's understandable. Thanks for everything up until now.
Follow in front. Do not be discouraged. What is happening is passing. Your blog is very good and does not deserve to be closed because of an ephemeral turbulence. Sorrry for the bad english. Cheers!
In the eyes of those pushing censorship, out of print offerings and ROIOs are still a target even if they won't say so, because they represent an alternative to the product they want to sell you.
hang in and ride it till it's gone.
if you go private please let me in.
This music and entertainment industry effort to stop sharing is total BS. They are not losing as much money as they claim. A lot of downloads are things that people are just not going to pay for. If it's not free, they aren't going to get it. For example, if I can't watch Dexter online for free somewhere, I'm not going to pay for showtime. Now they have every right to go after people making bootleg copies of physical media (i.e china), and maybe even people that are making money off of illegal downloads, like the owners of mega-upload etc. But they are stupid to attack what is essentially a giant free marketing machine. What they need to do is come up with new ways to monetize their product (for example, making some kind of licensing arrangement with mega-upload).
Anyway, in terms of blogs like PPO, it is asinine if the RIAA does not love them. You are definitely helping sell product for the artists on the blog. Of course, you need to at least keep abreast of things and do what you need to protect yourself, because the RIAA is an idiotic and non-forwarding thinking organization, and many of our government officials are easily swayed by lobbying money...
Now, with galaxie 500, for example, it is still available from the band now, so you might want to note that:
http://www.damonandnaomi.com/frameset/frame.html?http%3A//www.damonandnaomi.com/merchandise/merch.html
that way when people love what they hear, they can go over there and buy the vinyl or the CDs with bonus discs, etc
spot on gabbazoo
We're with you, no matter what happens!
If you do go private, please send me an invite.
It will have to be Spotify, to be completely safe.
Curty Ray,
First off thanks for PPO - one of the greatest blogs on the web. You taste in musics is legendary.
Second - is the mailing list for when and if you go private?
Cheers,
TWDM
CR
This can of worms that Dodd has opened up will kill all freedom of speech, sharing information and the joys of discovery and I dont think it will happen as it will destroy the whole concept of the world wide web and MU is going to walk away and restart maybe not flashin' it as before but more discreet .....we'll see.
They might as well start on evryone from Sony recording products to ricoh or xerox for making machines that copy. Its all ridiculous.
If private is the way to go Curt and if there's any risk of this shit escalating go for it man
be secure in 2012
Whats Going down i'm new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It positively useful and it has helped me out loads. I hope to give a contribution & assist other users like its helped me. Great job.
Childcraft Wooden Preschool Puzzles - 8.5 x 11 - Set of 12
I've been surfing online more than three hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty price enough for me. In my opinion, if all web owners and bloggers made just right content material as you probably did, the web will be a lot more useful than ever before.
Sorel Women's Helen Of Tundra Boot
My 2 cents worth: Making the blog "private" might work but then you defeat the purpose, if your intention is to promote music you like to a wider audience.
That, BTW, is the whole reason the recording industry is up in arms: Their "recorded to corporate specifications" so-called music can't compete with small label and "too old" music. Sales are not down because we are downloading their latest uber-hyped crap, sales are down because we now have alternatives to what they are shovelling at us.
That said, from the old "blog wars" days, here are typical defensive options:
* Sharebee and other multi-uploaders.
* Upload and link to small text files that contain the real download link.
* RAR encrypt all uploaded files, so their content is harder to verify.
None of these solutions is 100% effective but a "speed bump" is often enough to deter hostile action.
Note also that the "blog wars" are long over and done with, and the Megaupload case was a rare instance where file locker owners documented offers of cash rewards for uploaders of "infringing content", making them criminally liable. File locker companies who know their business are careful to maintain their "common carrier" status and are not criminally liable.
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