Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

Let's jump right in. The winner of this week's most insightful is no stranger to these "winner" lists over the past few months, as it's Capitalist Lion Tamer yet again, with his comment on Kutiman's latest Youtube remix song:

You can call it "piracy." You can call it "derivative." You can call it "infringement." You can call it whatever your joyless mind imagines it to be. If you can't see the beauty of creating something cohesive from a collection of unrelated parts, then your definition of "art" is incredibly narrow.

If you can't find a single thing interesting or wondrous or flat-out kickass in Kutiman's works or the works of the thousands of other cut-n-paste and mashup artists, then I truly believe your soul is dead. It most likely died at whatever point you believe music stopped being "innovative." (In most cases, this seems to be somewhere in the late 1970's. Of course, there are always outliers...)

Go ahead and heap your derision on these works of art. You'll receive nothing but scorn, lightly sprinkled with pity, from me.

Coming in second is fogbugzd, with his comment in response to someone who accused us of not wanting the NY Times to make money in talking about the NYT's paywall. Fogbugzd explained how that's not it at all:

I don't think the typical TD'er is against the NYT making money off its own content. A lot of us make at least some money off of our own content in one way or another. TD itself makes money off of its content, and no one objects at all. Most of us want musicians, authors, actors, directors, and other artists to get paid for their work.

I dont' think most of us are even angry with the NYT. We are, I think, amused. It is kind of like seeing a banana peel lying on the sidewalk. We know someone is going to slip on it eventually. If we could pick it up we would, but we can't reach it. We can yell and holler to people to be careful, but no one is listening. Since we are pretty sure someone is going to slip on it eventually, all we can do is sit back and watch the show. Maybe we shouldn't be enjoying watch someone fall, but we know that the people who will be tripped up are likely to be arrogant stuffed shirts who are ignoring the world around them.

The unifying theme to the TD perspective is that the Internet and digital media have changed market for many products. There are some ways to make money in the new market, but they are different. We celebrate the new economics and frequently share success stories. I think if Mike had his way, TD would be mostly about sharing the new and innovative methods people are using to share their crafts and make a good living at it.

TD tends to go negative when we encounter stories that involve the people who refuse to adapt to the new realities and try to roll back time to an era when their old business models let them rake in lots of cash. Typically, those are gatekeepers or artists who made it big under the old system. The NYT is trying to do that. The thing that I find most amusing is that the folks promoting the paywall don't even seem to understand what made their old business model work.

And, finally, for editor's choice, I'm going with a comment from an anonymous DJ responding to the fact that copyright holders are starting to crackdown on DJs posting mixes to Soundcloud:

I'm a DJ. I can't speak on behalf of all my peers, but this has resulted in many of my friends moving to the friendlier "mixcloud" service instead. But generally, if a track is DMCA'd I won't hear it, meaning I won't buy it, meaning I won't play it for hundreds of people enjoying the set. DJs in my scene play many tracks from first-time artists, local heads, independent labels, etc. The more you care about your track not being "stolen", the less likely anyone will listen to/download/buy it. There is massive competition, and the culture and labels in general are very friendly to sharing tracks and remixing copyrighted content. It gets the word out, and in what is now a really saturated market, that matters. A lot. Also, when labels region-restrict a track, and I like it, it means I won't buy it but I will find a way to acquire it. Otherwise I buy 100% of the tracks on my set when a purchase link is available (there are a lot of artists share download links to their own track among the scene). Im not familiar with the "top 40/hiphop" bar dj experience- nor do I want to be in the position of being told what to play.

What soundcloud did is a grave mistake. The culture on both the consumer side and label/artist side in the electronic music and dj scene is remarkably forward thinking and anti-restrictive copyright. Soundcloud, by catering to the dj, should have known better. Warner Bros/Sony/BMG can't save them from the exodus unless soundcloud completely sells out and leaves the dj behind (at this rate, good riddance. When will these companies realize that they are REPLACEABLE. Especially when restricting consumer's ability). BTW, Itunes is not one of our storefronts.

Moving over to the funny side of the aisle, we've got Khstapp discussing some planned updates to the NY Times paywall:

The Times announced updates to the subscription price of its print copy. Readers who wish to turn the pages of the Times with their right hand will pay $1 per copy whereas left handed use will cost $1.25. Readers can use either hand for $1.50 a copy. If you carry your copy of the Times folded under your arm with the front page facing outward you will be charged an additional $.25 a copy in case a passerby reads the headline. There is no carrying charge if you carry your copy hidden from prying eyes in your briefcase or backpack. For an additional $2 a month you will receive a 'clipping' license which allows you to cut out up to 10 articles per month to share with friends and relatives. Print subscribers can share an unlimited number of clippings with other Times print subscribers. Finally, for an addition $1 per month subscribers can purchase a 'pet rider' which allows you to line litter boxes and birdcages with used (at least 5 days old) copies of the Times.

Coming in second is an anonymous user, actually copying an old, old joke, in response to Sheriff Joe Arpaio's letter blaming Craigslist for helping him catch some criminals:

Dear Sheriff Arpaio:

Some asshole is writing stupid letters to me and signing your name to them.

Sincerely,

Jim Buckmaster
President and CEO, Craigslist

And, since we're on the fake letter trip, I'll also include the third place finish from Chris Rhodes, publishing his "letter" from Sony concerning a potential boycott of Sony products:

Dear Sehlat,

As you no doubt know, boycotts interfere with Sony's business model. Every product you don't buy from us reduces our profit, and I think it's easy to see that reduced profit is nothing more than stealing by another name. Accordingly, we are sending you this cease-and-desist letter to stop your illegal actions against Sony. To avoid the threat of further legal action, you must immediately:

(1) Cease your boycott of Sony products.
(2) Cease discussing boycotts of Sony products.
(3) Buy three (3) Playstation 3 consoles.

In addition to our ability to prosecute you for theft, your state senator has also been presented with a proposal to make interference with a business model a felony absent reasonable cause ("reasonable cause" to be determined by Sony Corporation) punishable by up to 30 years in prison and fines of no less than $150,000 per interference. Given that your state senator has worked for Sony in the past, and will no doubt work for us again in the future, his vote on this legislation seems obvious.

We hope that, given the above, you will come around to see our side of things and we can resolve this situation amicably. Our research on you indicates that you seem to have built a nice life for yourself. Would be a shame if anything were to happen to it.

Sincerely,
Sony

And, because I'm greedy, I'll include two quick ones as "editor's choice" this week. The first is from Gwiz, discussing Russia's decision not to recognize the Pirate Party, because it doesn't like the name (well, that's the official excuse):

Maybe they should drop the "P" and become the Irate Party.

A lot of the issues that they stand against certainly piss me off.

And, finally, we have Rekrul, discussing the lack of due process in the recent domain name seizures:

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty.*

*Some restrictions apply. Limited time offer. Not valid in all locations. Details may vary. Subject to eligibility.

And, there you go... on to a new week...

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