BLACK BLACK BLACK SOPA discussion

MetalAges

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Sep 30, 2001
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www.ultimatemetal.com
As many may know a ton of sites today have "gone black" in opposition of the SOPA/PIPA bill that's currently circulating in Congress (I will provide a link at the bottom if you are not aware of the specifics of what these bills mean, but please read all of this announcement).

How does this affect Ultimate Metal? Let me count the ways...

I've been running the site since 2004 when I purchased the site from my pal Mark (who had started it in 2001). I can't tell you the countless amount of times I am dealing with "admin" stuff that noone hears about, and never will -- complaints, threats of legal action, whining, finger pointing, DMCA take down notices, Google warnings, ads being shut off (our main revenue stream that keeps the site going). The list goes on.

I handle all these things on behalf of the site, and the users who visit. I love Metal, I love supporting the scene in my little way. I'm a fair person, if something deserves action, I take it. If someone is out of line, I kindly tell them why. If a DMCA complaint comes through, I deal with the hassle of the process and dispute (since we support artists and do not allow illegal downloading here etc.). Heck I'm dealing with an issue just today that even though what is on my site is 99% probably the real deal and "outs" a con man in the industry - I have to think of the money I could lose personally, what would happen with the site, the time involved in fighting this legal threat etc.

I say all this because, if these bills were to go through and pass, Ultimate Metal would probably (sooner than later) be forced to go away due to potential lawsuits and take downs, just based on potentially false accusations from big wig record labels alone. They could simply submit a complaint, which would essentially be unwarranted given the lengths we go to to support artists here, and an ISP or government could shut us down without notice. UltimateMetal.com as you know and (hopefully) love would never be the same.

Please read the details (specifics) of this ridiculous bill. We do not support piracy here, but these bills are definitely not the solution to the problem.

OPPOSE SOPA/PIPA article

Thanks for reading, and thanks for the support!
 
We do not support piracy here, but these bills are definitely not the solution to the problem.

That's the bottom line.

For comparison a piece of USA history:

http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/p/prohibition.htm

The same it's going to happen, mark my words. The USA government is not learning from history and thus condemned to repeat it.

And now the rant:

If labels want to stop piracy, they should start dropping the price of CDs and promoting better the bands on their roster (look what Earache did for the last Savage Messiah album, that's promotion!)

If Hollywood wants to stop piracy, they should start for making better movies (and not the humungous pile of crap they have been filming in the last 5 years or more) to stimulate people to go to the cinema, then drop the price on DVDs and BD to stimulate the audience to buy them.

And finally we all know these measures are been taking by pressure of the honchos in the movies, music, gaming (etc) industries and not really the artists/writers/programmers (etc).
 
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We do not support piracy here
And about piracy. Piracy became a large issue when large corporations blatantly ENCOURAGED piracy as a way to get people hooked on it, to later then sue those pirates for MILLIONS. Disney had its own file sharing network where you could get copyrighted songs, while at the SAME TIME suing people for piracy. CNet, a very popular website, especially in the early 2000s, which is owned by CBS Viacom, hosted piracy software like Limewire and Kazaa. They even hosted DRM removal software at the same time. Then Viacom goes around and sues people for piracy. Viacom sued people for using software that THEY THEMSELVES distributed. Shelby Bonnie, the Co-Founder of CNet was on the Board of Directors of Warner Music Group while he worked at CNet.

The only people who benefit from SOPA are the large entertainment industry corporations. Everyone else who uses the internet will suffer greatly.
 
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