2009/12/02
24 Songs Worth $80,000 Each? Bainwol, Smainwol!
I'm writing this post today because I truly believe that you haven't had enough facepalm moments in your life yet.
I follow Cracked.com on twitter and jumped to the link immediately when I saw the tweet about 7 Inventors You Didn't Know You Wanted to Punch In the Face. I expected to see a list of gadgets or technology that end up being annoyances or death traps. But starting with #7 it seems the first winner was really just a jerk with some legal tricks. But since the jerk in question was Mitch Bainwol, CEO of the RIAA, a group I've written about before and follow with some modicum of enmity, I took careful notice.
The article gives a bit of detail and some links about the history of the RIAA's legal campaign against individuals file sharing, the history of one of it's most important cases and Mitch's role in it. In regards to Cracked's article, it occurs to me momentarily that this does not make him an "inventor" but just a "suit". Still, the suggestion that someone (maybe me) would like to punch him in the face still stands.
Mitch Bainwol RIAA
Originally uploaded by SAITOR
I won't regurgitate the whole article here. I only suggest reading it and also catching up with the relevant Wikipedia page on the case referenced. In summary, before Mitch stepped up the plate, the RIAA's legal tactics against ISPs were barely making a dent in the so-called problem, so they took their fight down to the individual. What heinous criminal did they bring charges against? An organized crime boss? A street vendor selling pirated CDs? A Russian hacker?
No. They brought suit against a mother of four in her late twenties named Jammie Thomas, a Native American descendant from the great state of Minnesota. A classic David-and-Goliath story unfolds from there, of course, with retrials still lingering as recently as July 2009. Unfortunately, as it stands right now, the jury last sided with the plaintiff (wait,... what?!) finding her liable for damages totaling ... <drum roll here>
$80,000 Per Song?! That Adds Up to $1.92 Million?!!
Though the record companies alleged that the total number of shared files was 1,702 songs, they mercifully sought relief for only 24 of these. None of these numbers can be proven very well via evidence, but that's still nearly 2 million dollars that as of right now she legally owes. There are still motions, counter-motions and so forth flying around right now and the evidence seems mighty flimsy from my vantage point.
The point I want to especially highlight from the Cracked.com article was this witty snippet that I appreciated.
...she was found guilty of sharing the most embarrassing 24 song playlist imaginable with countless Internet users.
Isn't that just awesome? The actual list of all 24 songs is outlined for all of history in bold-faced type on Wikipedia. Just savor what Jammie must feel to know that the whole world gets a peak at her private music tastes. There's a smattering of classic rock, 90's era chick-rock alternative and some gooey pop. The artists included are Aerosmith, Bryan Adams, Def Leppard, Green Day, Janet Jackson, No Doubt, Richard Marx and Vanessa Williams among others.
It's pretty safe for the Cracked writers to point their fingers and laugh at the list, especially when they are clearly taking her side. It includes many songs that are good, but many of us wouldn't admit to liking publicly. And at the same time, I can't help feel some pity and solidarity with this mom that the RIAA has chosen to pick on. So in support of her and in empathy for her situation, I've created the following playlist with all 24 songs! So here they are, Jammie's Playlist, in no particular order. I dare you to listen to it and not sing along at some point.
More Information
- Wired.com - RIAA Trial Produces Playlist of the Century
- Free Jammie Forum
- StarTribune.com - Judge in Internet music sharing case may grant new trial
- arstechnica - File-sharing on the docket
- Copycense - Two Years Later, We Still Cannot "Free Jammie"
Found via Twitter / Cracked.com.
Labels: articles, copyright, funny, history, music, music/artists, news, reference, RIAA, stupid, technology, via:playlist.com
2008/10/02
Top 5 Friday: Farewell Jayme
Top 5 Friday has been on a bit of a hiatus for a few weeks. Everybody is pretty busy, at least I know that I am. But one of our coworkers is leaving us and getting a different job. As a farewell --and to send her our hopes that she will "Feel Good" without us-- I present...
Top 5 Feel Good Songs!
View the full playlist at Playlist.com.
Labels: audio, friends, music, music/artists, Top 5 Friday, via:playlist.com, ♫
2008/07/10
Top 5 Friday: Mushed-Up, Mixed-Up Mashups
This week was difficult for some folks as I don't think everyone has heard of mashups before. But I think in that case it was an educational list for the uninitiated.
Mushed-Up, Mixed-Up Mashups | Project Playlist.
Alternate Player
Labels: audio, genre/remix, music, music/artists, Top 5 Friday, via:playlist.com, ♫
2008/07/04
Top 5 Friday: Happy Birthday America!
Per the assignment at Top 5 Friday: Top 5 Bottle Rocket War Anthems, here is my list. Sorry it's a little late!
See the full list titled Independence Day - U.S.A. - Fourth of July | Project Playlist | Music Playlist.
Alternate Version:
The code above sometimes doesn't work.
Labels: genre/marching-band, holidays, holidays/independence-day, music, music/artists, music/artists/bruce-springsteen, music/artists/jimi-hendrix, Top 5 Friday, via:playlist.com, ♫
2008/06/27
Top 5 Friday: Gettin' All Dressed Up Mix
Labels: Top 5 Friday, via:playlist.com
2008/06/19
Top 5 Friday: Musical Theater
Per the assignment at Top 5 Friday: 1+1=2 Top 5 Friday Topic is In, here is my list...
You can view my playlist and create your own at Musical Theater | Project Playlist
My experience with Musicals began in high school, but I was not part of the drama department.
Les Misérables was not a musical that I was very familiar with until after college.
Labels: Top 5 Friday, via:playlist.com
2008/06/12
Top 5 Friday: Songs to the POWER of eX
Per the assignment on "Top 5 Friday" called Songs to the Ex, here is a glimpse of my relationship breakdown moments.
See the playlist or make your own at Songs to the POWER of eX | Project Playlist.
Man, I'm gonna enjoy participating in this collaborative project. However, one of the things that I feel it really needs is to have an expanded explanation from each contributor on why they chose each song or what each one means to them. Since my opinion is so important (*snif*), I'll start if off right now.
Led Zeppelin makes the top spot simply because they were one of the first bands that I embraced when I was introduced to classic rock. Here, the jilted lover is reading the riot act to and about his love, who apparently is being dressed up as the town slut. That bitch!
I've written about Rob Thomas before and not just here. Basically, my wife adores him, we saw him in concert and she bought his debut CD. "Dear Joan" is a song with no radio play, but I've listened to it repeatedly. It starts with him writing a goodbye letter to his woman in the style of Dear Jon (hence the name?). By the end of it, he's off-handedly mulling over strangling her in her sleep. Yeah.
My very first girlfriend in the tenth grade gave me a copy of a mix tape at or near the time that we broke up. I thought she'd made it for me, but it turns out that another boy had made it for her and she was just letting me copy it. Love Hate Love by Alice in Chains was in this collection and it goes one step further by having the protagonist wanting to "peel the skin from" her face. Of historical interest regarding this one and only mix tape is the fact that it may have been my first exposure to grunge music. Someday (soon?) I'll post the whole song list.
"Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" by Chris Isaak is a classic angry blues song that I got on some CD that came with a subscription to Details Magazine. It was paired right next to Alanis' "You Oughtta Know" juxtaposed with other unmemorable crap. Chris is walking her walk away, missing her and liking it at the same time.
Jewel's "You Were Meant for Me" was deceptively released in one version that played on the radio and MTV and another that was found on the CD (which sucked). The woman who would years later be my wife and I spontaneously danced for the very first time in my basement to this song of heartache and heartbreak. We were in a long-distance relationship and were having a bad stretch at that point. This song has always been "our song" for me ever since, but it's ironic in the sense that it's a song of loneliness.
And there you have it! Note: I admit that I don't really know the proper interpretation for the lyrics of all of these songs. I don't care. This is what these songs mean to me and I don't have time to research whether I'm right or not. Meh!
Update (2008-06-18): I'm adding more songs to the above playlist, but the first five are the priorities.
Labels: music, music/artists, music/artists/alice-in-chains, music/artists/chris-isaak, music/artists/jewel, music/artists/led-zeppelin, music/artists/rob-thomas, Top 5 Friday, via:playlist.com, ♫
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