Eyolf wrote in the month of December, 2005

The Irony of commercialism

Posted in announcements, general on 19 Dec 2005

I have a spam filter on this blog. That’s one of the mixed blessings of blogging: once in a while I get bombed with comments like “Like your page, interesting comments” and then fifteen links to online casinos, phentermine, cialis and texas holdem. Most of them never see the light of day, thanks to efficient blocking.
The downside is that once in a while a legitimate post gets trapped too. Usually it’s transparent enough so that those comments end up in “purgatory” and I have to approve them manually (which is why some of you may have experienced a considerable delay before your comments appear on the site), but occasionally, they are sent to “spam hell”.

The irony is that one of the words that trigger this, is “free”.
Freedom’s just another word for something you can buy.

Sad, that’s what it is.

“Lyrics Dustup Ends in Apology”

Posted in community, general, guitar, music, politics, tabs on 19 Dec 2005

Wired News: Lyrics Dustup Ends in Apology

Kinda interesting, this one… Especially the last couple of paragraphs.

Beginning in January, the Music Publishers Association, of which Warner Chappell is a member, will begin pursuing a campaign against 5 to 6 such companies, according to MPA CEO Lauren Keiser.

“Lost revenue for rights holders is in the millions,” said Keiser, “We’re not going after fan clubs, but websites that make money.”
True, I do have that “small donations welcome” link hidden away at the bottom of some frame, but I guess that doesn’t really count — I’m a small potatoe here (sob! my ego is hurting!).
Anyway, for various reasons, I will not make any drastic changes quite yet, but stay tuned.

Thanks to …

Thank god! There is still hope!

Posted in community, music, politics on 17 Dec 2005

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Young ‘prefer illegal song swaps’
So, the question of file sharing and illegal music sites is coming up again. One consequence is that dylanchords is temporarily down. “Sam Spade” first posted a note in a different thread, about the record industry being intent on stopping sites like this one. Fair enough, perhaps. I took a consequence of that. An overreaction, perhaps, but that was my decision.
The post also contained a link to a report about a study that Jupiter Research has undertaken, about the music habits of young people. One conclusion is that illegal file sharing networks are used three times as much as the legal ones.
I don’t know what to say …

The Airwaves, They Are A-Changin’

Posted in community, dylan, music on 17 Dec 2005

The Airwaves, They Are A-Changin’
Amazing how we think the same about things, Dylan and me :-) It’s only a month or so since I wrote:
Why doesn’t he give us something he’s interested in? He obviously loves old music, the kind of songs he rips off and records with new lyric collages, the kind of stuff he sings when he’s all by himself. That’s what he does amazingly well, so why not do it more? How about ditching the war-horses — they’re as tired as him — and playing a show once in a while, with Doc Boggs, Gene Austin, Johnny and Jack, Charles Aznavour, stuff we know he loves?
And now he’s going to do exactly that, on …

“Song sites face legal crackdown”

Posted in dylan, guitar, music, politics, tabs on 16 Dec 2005

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Song sites face legal crackdown

Before you act: there’s no point in writing comments like: Where’s the zip file? I want the zip file. Can you please send me the zip file?

well well… What can I say? Several people have sent me links to this and other similar news reports, concerned about what is going to happen to dylanchords.
I understand the concern — I share it, and I don’t know what’s going to happen.
On the one hand: I don’t want to go to jail, and I can’t afford a 500,000$ lawsuit. Those are two good reasons to shut down the site right now.
On the other, I keep telling myself that I don’t have …