As the identity is only 2 (count ‘em … ’2′) comments old, it’s reasonable to assume this is some industry hack – or the paid surrogate of same – attempting to inject a little pamphlet-ready obfuscation into the comment thread.

Your assertions are absurd, ‘Hermes G’:

a) The “random guy playing guitar in a coffee shop trying to sell his CD” ought to know better than to sign up with an organization of middlemen that have done more to control, exploit, censor, demean, and delegitimize music/musicians than any other organization in human history (save religious institutions, probably)

b) Your “random guy playing guitar in a coffee shop trying to sell his CD” should understand the the old paradigm of content gatekeepers is now dead – regardless of the innumerable attempts to prop up it’s corpse through the purchase of legislators, the exploitation of courts as a tool of intimidation, and the bullying of just about everyone.

“Random Guy” no longer has to sell off the rights to/control of his own creative output, bury it in a licensing tomb, or languish in obscurity (unless he sucks, of course…and even that doesn’t stop some from achieving fame). All he need to is introduce himself to the future and apply some of his own creativity to the free and open net (Or, alternatively, he can continue to lick the dirt from his master’s bootprint and hope and pray and dream of the day some A&R man will scoop him up from his restaurant job and drop him into a mountain of rock star cocaine)

c) Any suggestion – explicit or implied – that the “independent” (see Webster’s) artist in any way benefits from or contributes to the agenda pursued by the corporate rich that determine the course of such organizations is patently ridiculous. They are the deluded barnacles on the ass of a giant, rotting, corporate whale.

They are, as a wise poster characterized them, “meat shields”, and NOTHING more. Badly informed individuals who’ve not yet managed to see a reality beyond that which has been placed in front of them; a reality that works against the VAST majority of artists and against all people who care about/love music. OR they are all-day suckers who care about music in the same way hog futures traders care about hogs as a means to an end.. They care about themselves (as evidenced by their myopic decision to join ‘forces’ with an organization dedicated to money and the centralization of control).

The Copyright Alliance are vampires. Always have been and always will be

Anyone that signs up with them is either a fool or a dick.

Though I have no doubt that the next identity you create will agree with you completely.

Oh, wait, I guess that’s already happening anyway. No dice, Cary Sherman cocksucker.

They are preventing people from publishing something. That is literally what censorship is. How is it unfair to describe them as proponents of censorship?

If the guy supports the efforts of a conglomerate of raging unethical crooks who knowingly send in tens of thousands of invalid DMCA claims weekly to the detriment of innocents, then that guy deserves to hang with the rest of them.

You adherents of the copyright cult can’t use meat shields to hide behind any longer.

So, in other words, we should abstain from portraying the small creators who willingly support wholesale inaccurate censorship as actually supporting wholesale and inaccurate censorship?

Kinky. Aiding, supporting and abetting insane, unfair and inhumane policies should be considered quite excusable. As long as the cheerleaders are “small creators”.

Cry me a fucking river, copyright cultist. Your argument is repugnant beyond belief. Even worse than when you somehow stated the belief that ISP’s should abstain common carrier status.

Signed, willaLavie”

It’s like squeezing a fistful of water… The harder you squeeze, the more you lose.

You’ll just never see it. You are literally incapable of learning.

[and Thx to TF for their perpetually unparalleled coverage. Appreciated]

hello, pot? This is the kettle….

And that’s relevant… how?

‘The military isn’t just large weapons and millions of soldiers… it’s also staplers and paper clips’

True, but the staplers and paper clips are largely beside the point when discussing the actions of the military, no?

The Copyright Alliance is the RIAA, the MPAA, the BSA, Microsoft, NBC, Fox, Viacom, Time Warner, etc.

Your ‘independent’ (let’s overlook the use of that term, despite the association under discussion) artists are entirely beside the point, aside from their value as propaganda in discussions exactly like this.

“…who are simply trying to defend their art, they essentially name them as the bad guy…”

That is a value judgement determined by each individual. That you consider it a given that such behavior will be viewed as “bad” is telling though.

“…and put them at risk of personal attacks”

That is an absolutely ridiculous assertion with zero – ZERO – information to support it. It’s laughable. No different than making the claim that companies risk “personal attacks” by posting ‘No Trespassing’ signs in front of their buildings.

It’s a disingenuous and silly attempt to justify the censoring of information that is and should remain public (and that attempt too is telling)