RIAA Gives Up (pretty much) On Illegal Downloading

A recent conversation with a friend about 'just how dangerous it is to post music to your blog' led me to a bit of surfing which turned up a raft of really interesting reporting done by CNet in December of 2008.

As some may recall, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has in the past gone after individuals for whopping sums for downloading or uploading to songs to share sites such as KaZaa, but thus far all of these cases have either been settled out of court for relatively nominal sums, or been unsuccessful. This despite the RIAA's threats on their website that they will throw individuals in jail for up to 5 years for downloading so much as 1 Madonna single, a punishment hardly on par with the crime.

With illegal downloading expanding rather than contracting in response to the RIAA's efforts, the group is now seeking a new method to stop file sharing, creating a blackist of people whose internet activity suggests they are doing a buncha up and downloading, and then asking their ISP's to disable their accounts.

On the upside, this approach is far more humane, reasonable, and far less costly attempting to sue individuals (what, were they going to bring suit against just about everyone in the entire United States?), on the other, as CNet points out through an interview with one ISP, why should they do the RIAA's work for free? So far, exactly zero ISPs are stepping up to the plate, and why would they? They'd be driving off their own customers - and that is capitalism at its best.

One final thought on the immediate future of the RIAA, with the world economy being through the floor, and record sales descending, how much more money can they rally to hire lawyers and prosecute anyone over this issue? At $200- $400 an hour, they better be picking and choosing who they bother to fight. A 40 hour work week for just one lawyer, could sure pay for a lotta songs.

Alicia Keys & Gene Simmons of Kiss on Banzai!

I recently find myself laying in bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about one of my favorite shows from the past - Banzai! Banzai! is sort of a parody of a "Japanese TV Show" which actually came from the UK in the early 2000's. The format is a betting show, where viewers are supposed to wager on the outcome of an array of peculiar events set up by Banzai staff. The show had a brief run here in the US on Fox before Asian-American activists shut them down - gee, I wonder why?

Nonetheless, one of my very favorite recurring sketches is Lady One Question - a girl reporter who asks celebrities one question and continues to stare at them as if they are still answering until confused, they eventually walk away. Below one can enjoy her interview of Gene Simmons from Kiss, how long will the batty blowhard talk? Well wager why don't you?



Not had enough of music celebs being hosed by fake Japanese for the bemusement of the BBC viewing public? Then try on for size Alicia Keys being interviewed by "Mr Shake Hands Man" a reporter whose entire goal is to see how long he can get a celeb to shake his hand (sorry to say, he's not really that interested in your latest project - cough cough - but really, who is?). Again, place your bets now!




Bonus! Bill Murray, just because I like him:

My Bloody Valentine 3D - not the same as My Bloody Valentine

A common problem seems to have struck my friend Kelly (and Phil, and others)...

"I was watching tv this week, when a movie commercial came on and I'm sitting there going 'Wait, why are people screaming? What's with the stuff being thrown at you' etc before the wheels in my head started to turn and I realized that "My Bloody Valentine 3-D" is not in fact a concert film of the band My Bloody Valentine - it's a horror movie."

If only My Bloody Valentine the band were in the movie My Bloody Valentine 3-D, alas. But to tide one over here's a very old MBV single from our friends at Little Hits. Cool beans.

Rock of Love Tour Bus Edition - some thoughts...

I hate to admit that for some reason I find Bret Michaels' Rock of Love intoxicating.

I mean, if I were to treat the show like something on The Discovery Channel - I'd say its certainly interesting to see how big modern science can inflate a woman's breasts, while at the same time it's intriguing to note that even the greatest minds of our time apparently find themselves unable to do anything to inflate her self esteem (hmph! Science!). But even with this bit of science out of the way, I think my favorite part of Rock of Love is how Michaels spends much of the show deeply wounded and full of sensitive remorse whenever he finds that any of the stripppers, porn stars, and deeply psychiactrically troubled women the folks at VH1 have painstakingly assembled for him to test the waters of romance with - may not be there because they are romantic idealists who truly wishes to commit to a life of love with a (surely balding) aging rock has-been, but in fact may just be doing it because they are crazy beeyotches who want to be on TV. Imagine that!

The other puzzling part of this show is how Michaels, a childhood onset diabetic (and didn't I read one-time recovered alchoholic?) is often shown parting hard with the ladies. Um, wouldn't all that booze get in the way of his healthy lifestyle?

PS - My money is on the Penthouse Pet Taya, because as she says “I’m a centerfold model for Penthouse and I’m the classiest one here!"

PPS - And what up with all that eyeliner Michaels now wears? He looks like he's going to be in an amateur theater production of Rent.

Snoop and Martha Stewart say "Pass The Courvoisier" : Cognac makers thank rappers for boost in sales

Talk about a great story on NPR this AM about how Cognac sales once were flagging but ever since Busta Rhymes sang "Pass The Courvoisier" in 2001, African Americans have flocked to the elite french brandy.

No longer is cognac considered an old man beverage, and now, thanks to Rhymes and Snoop Dogg - who's song "For the Good Times" about the a young hip cognac called Landy (commissioned by the liquor maker) - sales are strong. Download For the Good Times here, and enjoy Martha Stewart hosting Snoop on her show below. Her reading his emails aloud must be sampled into someone's song soon.