I’m sure when Victor Hugo wrote Les Misérables nearly 150 years ago, the idea of Jean Valjean serving nineteen years in prison for stealing bread to feed his starving family seemed like an absurd idea and just the sort of exaggeration required as a jumping-off point to examine the issues he took on in that book. Especially the issue of justice.
But, as I have often remarked, the subtle art of irony appears to be dying a horrible death. I believe it started when the U.S. began building “Peacekeeper” missiles to carry nuclear payloads. It was probably kicked into high gear when it was decided to have an occupation army carry out “Operation Iraqi Freedom”.
How can anyone appreciate irony—let alone write effective satire—when reality is so far fetched? And now, even Hugo’s exaggeration is simply a banal reflection of our modern world.
Jammie Thomas, a single mother of two children, has been ordered to pay damages of almost a quarter of a million dollars for illegally downloading and sharing 24 songs with the peer to peer networking program Kazaa.
Does it seem a little harsh? Well, from the language of the trial you’d never know what harsh really was. According to RIAA lawyer and prosecutor of this case, Richard Gabriel; “…the defendant violated the record companies' exclusive rights.”
Naturally, if you’ve been paying attention, you know that corporate entities (your Exxons, your Haliburtons, your Enrons and yeah, Capital Records) have the legal rights of a human being and none of the responsibilities.
Clearly, at least in the eyes of the music industry, their rights have been violated.
Corporations are in control. They make the rules, they buy the laws, they own us and our minds. And we allow it. And if we should step out of line, we will be punished. Corporations with more money than you or I will ever see have rights, and those rights will be observed. And you will pay.
How do you like that?
The following is the email I have just sent to Capitol Records:
From: jd.buston at gmail dot com
To: contactus at capitolrecords dot com
Date: October 5, 2007
Subject: A thank-you note
Hey Guys!
Congratulations on your recent triumph over The Forces of Evil—in this case a single mom in Duluth. I’m ecstatic for you and for the music industry as a whole. This will teach those lowlife music fans that have supported your pampered asses for years that they can’t stop now! Christ, I bet the folks on your board have at least a couple mortgages each to pay, am I right? BMWs don’t pay for themselves, huh?
You show ‘em, man. Let ‘em all know that the decrease in the quality of the music you put out and the exorbitant costs of CDs are no reason to think we should all just take the handful of worthwhile songs without paying. I’m so sick of these liberal-hippie types and their assertions that you guys are greedy-eyed monsters with no humanity at all. At least you have a sense of justice!
Who needs a soul, am I right?
By the by, in case you can’t detect sarcasm, what I really want you to know is that I will never again, as long as I live, buy another album put out by your record label.
Thanks for nothing, assholes.
David James Buston
Prince George, British Columbia
But, as I have often remarked, the subtle art of irony appears to be dying a horrible death. I believe it started when the U.S. began building “Peacekeeper” missiles to carry nuclear payloads. It was probably kicked into high gear when it was decided to have an occupation army carry out “Operation Iraqi Freedom”.
How can anyone appreciate irony—let alone write effective satire—when reality is so far fetched? And now, even Hugo’s exaggeration is simply a banal reflection of our modern world.
Jammie Thomas, a single mother of two children, has been ordered to pay damages of almost a quarter of a million dollars for illegally downloading and sharing 24 songs with the peer to peer networking program Kazaa.
Does it seem a little harsh? Well, from the language of the trial you’d never know what harsh really was. According to RIAA lawyer and prosecutor of this case, Richard Gabriel; “…the defendant violated the record companies' exclusive rights.”
Naturally, if you’ve been paying attention, you know that corporate entities (your Exxons, your Haliburtons, your Enrons and yeah, Capital Records) have the legal rights of a human being and none of the responsibilities.
Clearly, at least in the eyes of the music industry, their rights have been violated.
Corporations are in control. They make the rules, they buy the laws, they own us and our minds. And we allow it. And if we should step out of line, we will be punished. Corporations with more money than you or I will ever see have rights, and those rights will be observed. And you will pay.
How do you like that?
The following is the email I have just sent to Capitol Records:
From: jd.buston at gmail dot com
To: contactus at capitolrecords dot com
Date: October 5, 2007
Subject: A thank-you note
Hey Guys!
Congratulations on your recent triumph over The Forces of Evil—in this case a single mom in Duluth. I’m ecstatic for you and for the music industry as a whole. This will teach those lowlife music fans that have supported your pampered asses for years that they can’t stop now! Christ, I bet the folks on your board have at least a couple mortgages each to pay, am I right? BMWs don’t pay for themselves, huh?
You show ‘em, man. Let ‘em all know that the decrease in the quality of the music you put out and the exorbitant costs of CDs are no reason to think we should all just take the handful of worthwhile songs without paying. I’m so sick of these liberal-hippie types and their assertions that you guys are greedy-eyed monsters with no humanity at all. At least you have a sense of justice!
Who needs a soul, am I right?
By the by, in case you can’t detect sarcasm, what I really want you to know is that I will never again, as long as I live, buy another album put out by your record label.
Thanks for nothing, assholes.
David James Buston
Prince George, British Columbia
Next I’ll find a contact address for the RIAA. I’ll post up that email when I write it.
Sending that message was therapeutic. Felt nice. Maybe I’ll start sending more angry letters to corporations when I feel tense.
At any rate, if you’re as outraged as I am I would like to suggest you send a similar message. Here’s Capitol’s email address:
contactus@capitolrecords.com
And here’s the mailing address, send it directly to the president of the company:
Capitol Records
1750 North Vine Street
Hollywood, California 90028
Attn: Andy Slater
Also, I’ll be posting up later—maybe this weekend—with a list of all the CDs and Records I own that were put out by Capitol Records. The deal will be: send me a blank CD and I will send you a copy of the Capitol Records release of your choice! Why? Fuck them, that’s why!
Attn: Andy Slater
Also, I’ll be posting up later—maybe this weekend—with a list of all the CDs and Records I own that were put out by Capitol Records. The deal will be: send me a blank CD and I will send you a copy of the Capitol Records release of your choice! Why? Fuck them, that’s why!
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