Pardon me if I seem really edgy lately, folks….personal stuff going on lately.

Why do I put my name out there?
Easy:
(And please nobody take this the wrong way)

1. “Underground” scenes are absolutely no threat to whatever the Status Quo happens to be.
“Speakeasies” were no threat to Prohibition, for example. Hell, the Status Quo LOVES the existence of “undergrounds”, because they serve to justify the draconian bullshit against which they’re supposedly “rebelling”. Add to that, the fact that they tend to deteriorate into pathetic little status-trips. (Look at the status-seeking, cliquishness etc. involved in the so-called “release scene”, Private trackers, etc. Status trips are evil, because when it’s about status and “rep”, it’s no longer about principle — which is pretty much why I take an interest in the p2p debate.

That’s also why I didn’t waste the time joining your “underground”, Surfer.
Sure it might give me access to a digital treasure-trove, but ultimately, it completely and utterly fails to challenge the RIAA, MPAA, corporate “personhood”, or gas-bag vermin like “Sam I Am”, and their misinformation campaign. Nope, not gonna happen.

So yeah, I’m more than willing to have the balls to let people know my stand on p2p, copy”right”, corporate personhood, or any of it.
And Y’know what? Ultimately, as we’ve seen with the RIAA’s sue-em-all campaign, you don’t even have to DO anything to be targeted. (Dead people and printers getting served is just a bad sign.) The only way to take the existing system on, is by taking it on — using permissive licenses, agitating for copy”right” term reductions, deliberately doing things that push the boundaries of “fair-use”, etc. etc.

Sorry if anybody finds this offensive, but I figure your run-of-the-mill remix/mashup creator is doing more for the p2p/”free culture” principles than any “underground” could ever hope to, no matter how organized or technically knowledgeable.

Besides, it’s not even ABOUT what the RIAA/MPAA wants to believe, for me.
I love music blogs (especially the one over at http://www.wfmu.org) because they give you access to something besides Clear-channels idiotic pablum, and I think music bloggers are just about the ballsiest and most “subversive” people out there right now, because they’re actually making stuff accessible on a grand scale, and — as some guy on WFMU blog expressed it — helping the Internet to “massacre obscurity”.

To my way of thinking, THAT’S where it’s at — not some kind of digital “fortress of solitude” where the name of the game is hiding from “the Man”. Bad laws need to be changed, and the first step to achieving that is having the balls to openly — and proudly — challenge them.

So yeah, TPB’s refusal to go along with takedown notices/tendency to sneer at the DMCA was really cool, because it faced the issues head-on. “Scene” folks bragging about their “Zero-day” warez and releases are pathetic, no matter the quality of their products.

Do I think “undergrounds” have a use? Sorta. If you’re so tech-savvy and clued in on the issues and stuff, the “above-ground” side of the thing could use people like that. Why not do something to educate those you dismiss as “average” users? And above all, instead of merely hiding from bad laws, DO SOMETHING.

“Anonymous” strikes me as infinitely more ballsy than any “underground” could every be.

Just my 2 cents, no offense meant to Surfer or anybody.