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Jimmy O'Regan [joregan at gmail.com]
Totally off-topic, but NIN have released two albums this year; "Ghosts I - IV" (a collection of ambient improvisations) and "The Slip" (a 'proper' album) under the Creative Commons Share Alike Non-Commercial licence.
http://www.archive.org/details/nineinchnails_ghosts_I_IV http://www.archive.org/details/nine_inch_nails_the_slip
An interesting move in the age of DRM. They also have a remix site (http://remix.nin.com) where they offer the 'source' for Garageband, ableton Live, as well as plain old wav format files for each track.
René Pfeiffer [lynx at luchs.at]
On Jul 20, 2008 at 1237 +0100, Jimmy O'Regan appeared and said:
> Totally off-topic, but NIN have released two albums this year; "Ghosts > I - IV" (a collection of ambient improvisations) and "The Slip" (a > 'proper' album) under the Creative Commons Share Alike Non-Commercial > licence. > > http://www.archive.org/details/nineinchnails_ghosts_I_IV
I bought Ghosts I-IV for 5$ and was surprised to find not only the 320 kbit/s MP3s but also a PDF with artwork for every song in print quality. And in addition Trent has a strong opinion about others who did almost the same, but not quite: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080313-reznor-says-radiohead-offerin= g-insincere-industry-inept.html
> [...] > An interesting move in the age of DRM.
I am pretty convinced that the age of DRM will not last very long provided the customers vote with their wallets (and maybe even write nice letters to companies promising money in return for them to actually sell what they promise).
Best, René.
Jimmy O'Regan [joregan at gmail.com]
2008/7/20 René Pfeiffer <[email protected]>:
> On Jul 20, 2008 at 1237 +0100, Jimmy O'Regan appeared and said: >> Totally off-topic, but NIN have released two albums this year; "Ghosts >> I - IV" (a collection of ambient improvisations) and "The Slip" (a >> 'proper' album) under the Creative Commons Share Alike Non-Commercial >> licence. >> >> http://www.archive.org/details/nineinchnails_ghosts_I_IV > > I bought Ghosts I-IV for 5$ and was surprised to find not only the 320 > kbit/s MP3s but also a PDF with artwork for every song in print quality.
Ah, that was the other cool thing I forgot - they also offer 'higher than CD quality' FLAC files.
> And in addition Trent has a strong opinion about others who did almost > the same, but not quite: > http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080313-reznor-says-radiohead-offering-insincere-industry-inept.html > >> [...] >> An interesting move in the age of DRM. > > I am pretty convinced that the age of DRM will not last very long > provided the customers vote with their wallets (and maybe even write > nice letters to companies promising money in return for them to actually > sell what they promise).
I hadn't really been keeping up with Nine Inch Nails since 'With Teeth', and a lot of this seems to be a reaction to their record label's actions in promoting the album after that: it was a concept album set in a dystopian future, and they use a set of websites to set up an alternate reality, based on the concept (http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/02/22/year-zero-project-way-cooler-than-lost/).
Part of their plan was leaking MP3s on USB drives left in bathrooms in different venues on their European tour, which had information in the ID3 tags giving clues for the next part of the game. But 'According to Billboard.com, the RIAA sent cease-and-desist emails to web sites that posted the tracks, leading one industry source to say, "These f***ing idiots are going after a campaign that the label signed off on."' (http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=69841)
So, I don't think it looks good on the DRM front.
René Pfeiffer [lynx at luchs.at]
On Jul 20, 2008 at 1718 +0100, Jimmy O'Regan appeared and said:
> [...] > Part of their plan was leaking MP3s on USB drives left in bathrooms in > different venues on their European tour, which had information in the > ID3 tags giving clues for the next part of the game. [...]
I missed that, but it's a really great idea.
> [...] So, I don't think it looks good on the DRM front.
Well, music-wise there's been some success banning DRM, but it's different with TV/radio broadcasts and cinemas. We had to buy a TV set yesterday and the whole market has gone digital. Some European countries already changed their broadcast systems as well (at least for the TV signal). The good old radio is collecting enemies, too: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/24/drwg_report/
A friend of mine told me about cinemas converting their projectors to digital "tape". The side effect is that this introduces DRM into cinemas. Then the studios can
- limit the validity of decryption keys (i.e. they can force the cinema to show the movies only at certain times and dates, choose the size of the audience room, etc.), - control the display quality (i.e. "no, you are not allowed to view what you paid for"), - control which parts of the movie can/must be played, - use watermarks, - distribute the content by using networks (so there are no more hardcopies going around) and more.
The above list is an excerpt from the German Wikipedia entry http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitales_Kino (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_cinema lacks the list of implications). A friend of mine told me about a producer of documentary films who toured cities and countries asking cinema owners to play his film. When he asked cinemas that we already "upgraded" to digital projectors, they had to decline since the projector would only play signed content. Guess who signs the data and controls the certificate authority.
So, it's time to mention this URL: http://defectivebydesign.org/
Best, René.
Ben Okopnik [ben at linuxgazette.net]
On Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 12:37:29PM +0100, Jimmy O'Regan wrote:
> Totally off-topic, but NIN have released two albums this year; "Ghosts > I - IV" (a collection of ambient improvisations) and "The Slip" (a > 'proper' album) under the Creative Commons Share Alike Non-Commercial > licence.
Amusing followup: since I'm listed as the top of the LG masthead, I get a lot of "PR spam" - and I just got this one.
To: [email protected] Subject: NIN The Slip Physical Release Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:35:59 +0200 From: nin <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected]A physical release of Nine Inch Nails' The Slip will be available worldwide in the upcoming days as a limited edition CD with bonus DVD through the Null Corporation label. Release dates as follows... Australia: July 19 Europe: July 21 US: July 22 Canada: July 22 Japan: July 22 UK: July 28 http://theslip.nin.com/physical This CD with bonus DVD edition will be a one time only worldwide run of 250,000 individually numbered digipacks. Each digipack features a six-panel layout, 24 page booklet and an exclusive three sticker set. Art direction by Rob Sheridan. The bonus DVD includes 5 live performances filmed during rehearsals for Nine Inch Nails' upcoming tour, including album tracks Echoplex, 1,000,000 and Letting You. A gatefold vinyl version of The Slip which contains one 180gm vinyl LP and a 24-page booklet will also be released in the US and Canada on August 12 in the UK on August 18. The Slip, written and performed by Trent Reznor, with Josh Freese, Robin Finck and Alessandro Cortini, has been downloaded 1.6 million times worldwide since its online release on May 5, 2008. NIN's Lights in the Sky Tour opens in Pemberton, Canada on July 25, 2008 with support slots from Crystal Castles, Deerhunter, Does it Offend You, Yeah and A Place To Bury Strangers. Visit http://tour.nin.com/ for the latest tour information. To stop receiving these emails: http://member.nin.com/email/opt_out?token=&[email protected] To unsubscribe, click on the below link:http://member.nin.com/email/opt_out?token=&[email protected]
-- * Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *
Jimmy O'Regan [joregan at gmail.com]
2008/7/26 Ben Okopnik <[email protected]>:
> On Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 12:37:29PM +0100, Jimmy O'Regan wrote: >> Totally off-topic, but NIN have released two albums this year; "Ghosts >> I - IV" (a collection of ambient improvisations) and "The Slip" (a >> 'proper' album) under the Creative Commons Share Alike Non-Commercial >> licence. > > Amusing followup: since I'm listed as the top of the LG masthead, I get > a lot of "PR spam" - and I just got this one. >
Heh. Well, NIN have featured in some of our off-topic ramblings before, so they at least hit the 'somewhat relevant' button. Unlike the PR stuff I get, which is all about Windows software.
On the general topic of spam, the one that amused me most recently was:
RE: SCAMMED VICTIM/$521,000 BENEFICIARIES. REF/PAYMENTS CODE: 06654 $200,000 USD ONLY. This is to bring to your notice that I am a delegated from the United Nations to International commercial Bank Ghana Plc. to pay 221 scam victims $200,000 USD (Two Hundred Thousand Dollars only) each. You are listed and approved for this payment as one of the scammed victims to be paid this amount, get back to me as soon as possible for the immediate payments of your $200,000 USD compensations funds.
That's just adding insult to injury 