yeah, you said it charlie.
You may have noticed that one of my posts disappeared recently and I had to pull it from the google cache. Well, after Hugger gave me a heads up I went through my archive and found a further three posts are missing. I will try my best to fully articulate why this makes me so angry, but rest assured I am seething...no...fucking boiling with anger.
Google (who own blogger) have recently started pulling entire blog posts when the American recording industry (RIAA) indicates to them that the post contains a link to copyright material. The sneaky thing is, they do it without notification or explanation. Whup...and there goes a few hours worth of writing and a whole bunch of comments. GRRFUCK...GRRRFUCK...AAUGH!!!
Now, I am fully aware that I am arguing from a bockety platform. I know that the stuff I linked to was copyrighted. I also know that I am availing of a free service. But still, I feel angry and, honestly, a bit violated. Because I invested so much time in this blog I suppose I imagine an ownership over it that in reality I don't have. And google (with a small 'g' because their motto is don't be evil - pfffnrrr) acutely reminded me of this today. All of my writing on asleep on the compost heap effectively belongs to a giant amorphous global corporation. And what means a lot to me, means nothing to google. My words are just inconsequential packing around something that obviously did matter more than a hot fart to them - a few hotlinks to songs on major record labels.
I wish they notified me before whipping the posts. Is that too much to ask? I would have instantly removed the links and held on to my words. Now all I can say is fuck you google, you didn't play nice so I am heading to wordpress.
25 comments:
Gardenhead:
Yeezus, this is UGLY. I woulda thot they'd at least respect yr WORDS & just pull the links 2 the stuff they think violates copyright. But I've also Cn a few blogs that I assume were shut-down by Blogger cos of alleged copyright violations...
& of course they assume yr words Rn't copyrighted & they won't havta worry about a lawsuit from U....
This whole copyright-violation file-sharing thing has got10 really ugly. When I was younger I tape-recorded NEthing I wanted off the radio 4 my own Njoyment, & then record co's started blaming home-taping 4 slumping record sales (especially in England, they got really nasty about it). Course they'll blame NEthing 4 slumping income. It's a whole diffrent world now, but some things haven't changed.
If this crap continues, eventually we might not B able 2 Xpress R opinion about the QUALITY of copyright material (might affect SALES!), & then I'll havta hang it up....
-- TAD.
Well from my perspective I can see the point of google pulling posts that just link to full albums. But here is different.
I always enthuse about the stuff I post. I rarely link more than one song from a new album.
I preview gigs of bands I like.
I might sound simple in saying this but I think this silly blog probably does more good than harm for the music industry in its own little way. I know at least two friends who buy a lot of CDs on recommendations they read here.
Google are going after the wrong people here. The real front of illegal filesharing happens on boards with full album links to rapidshare, torrent sites and all of that slippery malarky.
Going after music blogs who put up a song or two from an album they are promoting is pissing up the wrong tree. It's futile and counterproductive. The indie labels who post me stuff to link every day would appear to think this too.
as you've probably read from that palms out sounds post i showed you, it's not even tracks or albums - i've had blog posts with hour long mixes i've made taken down - it's not like anyone is going to sit and peel out an individual track from a mp3 that big, especially when there are bits and pieces of other tracks appearing before and after (and even on top of) that one track. it's ridiculous. i guess it helps them feel like they're doing something, but really they're just alienating people like us.
Sorry to hear that, they should give notification, thanks for the heads up. I'm going to get archiving.
In the wake of the PB decision google are treading very carefully with the music industry it seems and as a result coming down with a hammer on their users.
Gone are the days it seems of an annoying blog comment from the web sherrif.
Of course, you, and me and thousands upon thousands of bloggers are utterly and totally in the wrong here and google are utterly and totally within their rights to do what they do.
But then again, nobody ever reads the T&C's.
You really heading to wordpress? Can it ever be the same again? Will I be last Blogger standing like a blogspartan in front of the persian wordpressers? I'm afraid of the technological advancement that wordpress seems to have. Too fiddly maybe? Gah!
I know I am am in the wrong Ian, that's why I wrote a long post trying to rationalise my anger. What maddens me is not the removing blogs with links, but the cloak-and-dagger approach. Why not send out some sort of automated notification? Even a 24 hour warning? Or block the post until the link is removed? Why go the whole hog and rob the whole thing...because for some story-telling types - like me - the songs are less important than the writing. I could go on for an hour and a half about a local eccentric I met and waffle about a poem, then spend 10 mins linking a song. To have the whole post removed without prior warning is upsetting. I reply promptly and efficiently to any complaint I get here.
Google are being deliberately two-faced about this. They owe music bloggers at least an email to inform them of what is going on. Or are they hoping we won't notice?? That we give that little of a shit about our archives? FUCK THAT.
adam i am scared of the wordpress template too...maybe we can hold hands and step into this brave new world together.
I am suspicious of wordpress, don't like the trendy cut of its jib.
Cheers for the plug a while back, just noticed it now. Appreciate it man.
Speaking of wordpress, you could go to a self hosted account. Set up is not too difficult and you can get all the space in the word from dreamhost for like a 100 euro a year.
The advantage is your stuff is extremely unlikely to get taken down via DMCA. Don't remember that ever happening with a dreamhost account.
Good man - do go to Wordpress, it's a whole lot better than Blogger, at least in its layout and user-friendliness. It's like comparing Facebook with Bebo or something. Probably. It's a shame you've lost posts here. I think from now on I'll leave mp3s out of my blogging and direct people to Spotify or Youtube.
I would suggest that if people cared about their archives they should ensure they have their own backups done and not rely on others for it.
Then again I come for a geek background.
well maybe i was being complacent...but consider me shocked out of complacency now. I am archiving everything up over the weekend and going to move to wordpress in the next couple of weeks.
I am probably not going to link as many mp3s on wordpress once I get there. I've been meaning to change tack here for a while and will put more direct links to band's myspaces etc...
Also, I'll probably start blogging more about food like I've always threatened.
Tangentally related, and i'm drunk so fuck it maybe not related at all, but i once posted a poem written and recited by Allen Ginsberg, set by someone else to music by Tom Waits, and illustrated by someone else with photos of Jack Kerouac, and the guy who posted the whole thing to YouTube sent me an email a biteen annoyed that I hadn't credited him.
I can't remember what my point was.
He obviously felt that the sum was greater its the three parts. Ginsberg, Waits and Kerouac's unsung work waited in the wings for him to put it gloriously together in a youtube clip of staggering genius and you, for shame, did not credit him.
Seeing as you were annoyed about not getting prior warning I may as well pay you the courtesy.
I recently came into control of the copyright of the word "and". You have 3 hours to remove all references to my intellectual property from your blog or face the consequences.
G: Yr points R good, & yr frustration is valid. What I wanna know is when did the laws change? Copyright infringement useta hinge on making a copy of copyrighted material & then SELLING IT 4 PERSONAL GAIN. I don't C U selling NEthing. But it's probly not that simple NEmore, & the Internet makes it worse. Shutting-down sites & Dleting links is 1 way folks like the RIAA can claim 2 have some handle on the problem.
There R a LOT of downloading sites. I've Cn some where U can download Ntire albums by overlooked, 4got10, possibly starving musicians. Bootlegs, 2. The "morality" here is a little cloudy.
1 site has my VERY FAVRITE 4got10 album EVER, available 2 download. (Don't need it, already got it on vinyl.) I'm sure the rights 2 this album probly Blong 2 (A HUGE GERMAN-OWNED RECORD CO.), but the album's 37 yrs old, there've bn no plans announced 2 reissue it on CD, & why would NEbody bother since it only sold about 5 copies on vinyl? Nobody (mass-sales-wise) remembers who these guys were. So what can the downloading hurt?
I don't think Bruce Springsteen, U2, Madonna or Michael Jackson R hurt much when some1 downloads their stuff. But w/ some others ... hmmm. Good word-of-mouth generated by websites has gotta B a good thing, tho. I learned about Animal Collective & Television Personalities from U....
My Xperience has bn if U like something enuf yr gonna BUY it NEway. But, if I ever complete a novel, I don't think I'd want it available free over the Internet, unless I'd already sold a coupla million copies & wasn't worried about eating & paying rent 4 awhile. ... This is a tough area....
Good luck,
-- TAD.
yo darragh,
you can export yr blog as an xml file by going to blog settings and then the basic blog tools bit!
"I am probably not going to link as many mp3s on wordpress once I get there. I've been meaning to change tack here for a while and will put more direct links to band's myspaces etc..."
ah darragh, fair enough if that's what you planned but don't let the google incident detract you from posting mp3s and what not, therefore changing your modus operandi.
Definitely move to wordpress tho.
thanks for that info bobby I'm going to do that over the weekend.
Niall, Gareth I'm actually thinking of getting a .com domain now. Is there a lot of work involved?
Tad. You should seriously write a novel in that style. I don't think the law has changed yet, but the sea-change feeling in the air has sites like google hedging their bets and taking action against bloggers.
G: Um ... Thanx, but I think a novel written in this style would B kinda Xhausting 2 read -- even 4 ME. However, I DID get 25 pgs in2 an attempted Rock Group Novel written just like this a coupla yrs back, then it sorta stalled-out. All I need is a plot....
Cheers!
-- TAD.
I'm going to post a new blog post here soon folks...Promise!
Wordpress is much better for bloggers and blogreaders anyway. So...when ya coming over? :)
.com is pretty easy dude. i'll help ya.
thanks for that offer niall and i will certainly ask your advice come the hour!
Aoife post primavera would be deadlee
家出した少女たちは今晩泊る所がなく、家出掲示板で遊び相手を探しているようです。ご飯をおごってあげたり、家に泊めてあげるだけで彼女たちは体でお礼をしてくれる娘が多いようです
Post a Comment