The US of A and Big Music vs Skwerl
p2pnet news view P2P | Music:- In the Guns ‘N Roses Chinese Democracy farce, “Skwerl got himself hauled in by the FBI today over this whole GNR/Chinese Democracy leak fiasco, which seems to mean that people take this whole copyright thing pretty seriously,” posted Johnny Firecloud on Antiquiet.
‘Skwerl’ is Kevin Cogill, 27. He had FBI agents all over him for publicising GNR’s songs. For free.
“It took five Feebs to nail this wicked criminal who’d viciously streamed tunes from Guns ‘N Roses online,” p2pnet posted, going on:
“Oh! The Horror!”
As Dan Tynan noted, “If someone can explain to me how streaming music cuts out legitimate sales, I’d like to hear it.
“Don’t we have an invention that does something very similar called – radio? Hasn’t that been the prime marketing vehicle for the recording industry for the past 50 years?”
Yeh, um, er, well ……
Chinese democracy in action
Below, with permission from them both, is an interesting email exchange between Eric Garland, the man who runs BigChampagne, the famed and oft-quoted online music marketing research company, and Bob Lefsetz, author of the equally famous and equally often quoted Lefsetz Letter »»»
From to Eric to Bob, September 3
So often I hear “artists, labels, and publishers have the right…”. Well of course they have the right, both under law and in principle. Is anyone you know really disputing that?
Let’s all agree:
1) Artists/owners have the right to control their creative works.
2) These rights will be habitually, and increasingly, violated (sometimes by your most loyal fans).
3) As these rights are violated, of course artists can avail themselves of legal remedies.
4) However, this will not impact the ongoing, chronic, and mass violation of those rights. See #2, above.What is there to argue about? Your work has been illegally wrested from your control. Hey, that’s not right! Agreed. Now you have a simple strategic decision to make: pursue criminal or civil relief, or don’t.
But let’s be very clear about the facts and the numbers.
Arresting the GNR leaker has had a measurable impact on GNR piracy.
It has increased it, necessarily, by drawing a lot of attention to it. News cycles do that every time.
All of the leaked tracks continue to be easily obtained from a wide variety of the most popular destinations on the web. Google, for one.
Same as it ever was.
___________________________________From Bob to Eric, September 3
Can you provide me with statistics as to the increase after the leak, after the lawsuit, etc?
___________________________________From to Eric to Bob, September 3
Well, only the leaker (nd now the FBI) knows for sure how many people grabbed the tracks directly from his own blog before he was shut down, but nothing like the more than 60,000 people (and counting) have snagged it since the story of his arrest hit.
Most people learn about these leaks in the press. The bigger the news cycle, the bigger the leak.
___________________________________From Bob to Eric, September 3
But how many downloaded it before the story about the arrest hit?
___________________________________From to Eric to Bob, September 3
Sorry, should have been clearer: almost no one on torrent sites, as the initial downloading was directly from his blog. The news story broke five days later and the torrent downloading has been going gangbusters ever since.
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/06/24/guns-n-roses-chinese-democracy-leaker-gets-fbi-visit/
___________________________________From Bob to Eric, September 3
Just so I’m clear, and maybe you have the statistics ……
How big was the jump after the arrest?
Thanks.
___________________________________From to Eric to Bob, September 3
Since the news cycle broke, almost all of the public (torrent) downloading has taken place, as the increased media attention created awareness. 90+% of torrent activity has been since the story broke.
But what’s more important is that people are _still_ downloading it apace and it is more public than it was when it was only on the leaker’s blog.
Do a Google search for keywords “chinese democracy torrent.”
So do a search.
And don’t just confine it to Google.
Where’s Skwerl at these days?
Here’s what he says in Antiquiet in The United States Of America Vs. Me »»»
Hi everyone. As you are all undoubtedly aware, I was arrested at gunpoint last Wednesday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and I am now facing a federal criminal charge by the United States Government of copyright infringement, after allegedly hosting a stream of 9 Guns N’ Roses songs, for a brief period of time in June.
As a result, many old friends, new enemies, creepy strangers and reporters have been cramping my style; Asking questions, offering to help, threatening to injure / kill me, wishing me luck, wishing that I rot in jail for the rest of my life, hiding in my bushes, et cetera.
Of course, I’ve been consumed by more pressing concerns, and I haven’t been able to respond to any of it. But I wanted to take a moment to address some things today, now that my situation is a little more under control.
As this is a criminal case, I will not be discussing any of its details, with anyone, while it is open. Inquiries of any kind in any relation to this case should be directed to my attorney, David J.P. Kaloyanides, APLC, without exception.
I am trying to take full responsibility for my predicament. I consider the burden of legal fees ultimately mine to bear; I have independently raised the funds required to retain my attorney. However, it has definitely been by far the biggest expense I have ever faced in my entire life, and my resources are very limited while formidable costs shall continue to pile up. It’s beyond daunting, being a single independent citizen facing a full-force prosecution by the most powerful government in the world.
The United States Attorney’s Office has almost unlimited resources to prosecute. The FBI has nearly unlimited resources to investigate. And while by “resources” I mean taxpayer dollars of course, in this case they also have the added resource of the band’s lawyers, on which they have already relied.
Supporters have expressed an interest in contributing to a defense fund, so I’ve opened one up. You can send funds via PayPal to defense@antiquiet.com.
We’ll be keeping track of every single contributor, and we’re exploring ways we can show our appreciation and thanks. If anyone out there wishes to donate anything our supporters may appreciate; CDs, concert tickets, anything- we’ll be happy to re-distribute them out to other donators, or auction them on eBay to benefit the defense fund. Either way, I will be auctioning off some of my own few valuable possessions, including a Gibson Les Paul BFG guitar that we may try and get autographed by one of the bands that Antiquiet has supported.
We’re open to all creative suggestions; direct any you may have to defense@antiquiet.com.
You can also send mail to our PO box, anonymously or otherwise. Checks can be made payable either to myself (Kevin Cogill) or my lawyer, David J.P. Kaloyanides, APLC.
Your donation and / or correspondence can be kept completely confidential if you so desire.
Thank you,
Skwerl
Stay tuned.
Kevin Cogill – Guns N’ Roses leaker Kevin Cogill nailed, August 27, 2008
p2pnet – Sam I Am and the Statute of Anne, August 30, 2008
Dan Tynan noted – Guns ‘N Roses, the RIAA and Chinese Democracy, August 29, 2008
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