World on Fire: II
p2pnet.net News:- The Big Music cartel doesn’t mess around. To impose its will, it not only targets individual politicians and other policy setters, it goes after entire countries.
Canada hasn’t so far cooperated with its marketing plans and that, say the cartel members, none of whom is actually based in Canada, must stop. Towards that end, it’s using all the financial and political clout it can muster to try to force Ottawa into changing Canada’s copyright laws.
Canada’s Russell McOrmond addressed an open letter to Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan asking her to join the fight to make sure it’s the cartel, and not progress, that’s stopped in its tracks.
McLachlan, you’ll recall, not only recently dedicated $148,270 from her World on Fire video to help underprivileged people, she detailed exactly how the money was being spent.
Example:
- Running street children’s hospital in India for a year ($11,050)
- Feeding 10 street children in Calcutta 3 meals daily for 1 year ($3,000)
- Schooling for 100 street children in Tanzania ($2,500)
- Education for 200 students in Ethiopia ($400)
Now Bill Evans is suggesting musicians should also follow McLachlan’s example. In a Reader’s Write to McOrmond’s open letter Evans, who founded Boycott-RIAA.com, although he’s no longer involved in it, says:
"When I first watched ‘World on Fire’, it brought tears to my eyes. Rather than blaming this politician or that politician for the conditions that the $150,000 helped to alleviate, (or at least improve to a great extent), Sarah put her money where her conscience told her to.
"She didn’t go off on a rant, asking someone else to take care of the problem, she did something about it. She didn’t take the attitude, ‘Now that I’ve pointed it out, now someone do something about it.’
"I’ve got an idea. Let’s take it, even a another step. Let’s challenge other musicial acts to do the same thing with their next video. Rather than spending a couple of million on a video, lets see what you can do to the positive with that money.
"Hey, MTV, how about a whole day of these videos? Hell – there could even be a DVD, CD: nothing but acts sitting on chairs, stools, in the park whatever. Done with one camera. Forget the special effects, the limos. Have Subway for lunch rather having it catered. ( I even bet Jared would show up)
"Come on, you all can be heroes. Put away the bling-bling in the next video and feed some starving kids. Provide some water pumps for villages. Help finance a clinic. Finance some malaria medicine. Clean up some swamps that breed the mosquitoes that carry it.
"Finance a drug rehab center, whatever. As the old saying goes, ‘If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.’
"You have a unique opportunity to actually make an impact directly on someone’s life, possibly many lives.
"Who’s up for it?"
So who IS up for it?
And you don’t have to be a star, or even a musician, to get into World on Fire II.
If you know someone at MTV (or anywhere else, for that matter), bug them. If you have a blog, use it spread the word. If you’re involved with the media, spread the word. If you have a connections with a company that has goods or resources or services to help move this along, you know what to do.
Stay tuned.
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See:-
open letter - To: Sarah McLachlan:, April 2, 2005.
