This is getting beyond a joke...

...the other day, I painstakingly wrote out my Festive Fifty for 2008.

After much deliberation, I finalised it, posted it, and added some mp3s. One artist, Dom De Luca, even sent out a mass email to say how pleased he was, which made me feel like I was doing some good.

Then I got this email this morning from Blogger:

Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog infringes upon the copyrights of others. The URL(s) of the allegedly infringing post(s) may be found at the end of this message.

The notice that we received from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the record companies it represents, with any personally identifying information removed, will be posted online by a service called Chilling Effects at http://www.chillingeffects.org. We do this in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Please note that it may take Chilling Effects up to several weeks to post the notice online at the link provided.

The IFPI is a trade association that represents over 1,400 major and independent record companies in the US and internationally who create, manufacture and distribute sound recordings (the "IFPI Represented Companies").

The DMCA is a United States copyright law that provides guidelines for online service provider liability in case of copyright infringement. We are in the process of removing from our servers the links that allegedly infringe upon the copyrights of others. If we did not do so, we would be subject to a claim of copyright infringement, regardless of its merits. See http://www.educause.edu/Browse/645?PARENT_ID=254 for more information about the DMCA, and see http://www.google.com/dmca.html for the process that Blogger requires in order to make a DMCA complaint.

Blogger can reinstate these posts upon receipt of a counter notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and 3) of the DMCA. For more information about the requirements of a counter notification and a link to a sample counter notification, see http://www.google.com/dmca.html#counter.

Please note that repeated violations to our Terms of Service may result in further remedial action taken against your Blogger account. If you have legal questions about this notification, you should retain your own legal counsel. If you have any other questions about this notification, please let us know.

Sincerely,

The Blogger Team

Affected URLs:

http://www17seconds.blogspot.com/2008/12/17-seconds-festive-fifty-2008.html

To say I am angry would be an understatement. I emailed Blogger, and as yet have not received the apology nor explanation I demanded. (I am pushing my luck on the first one but it's the principle of the thing).

Let me say this once and for all: Blogging is not stealing, it is promoting music. There is a disclaimer on the blog which states pretty clearly that if people don't want to post stuff, then to email me and I will remove it. But when an act of flattery, I would have thought, is treated like this, it makes me wonder why I bother.

Blogger as I have said before, are cowards for not standing up to these authorities. Do people really believe that reputable Bloggers will not remove mp3 links when asked? And seeing as half the music industry is desperate to get featured on blogs, it seems a bit rich to undermine what can and cannot be printed. That's called CENSORSHIP.

So...I will repost my Festive Fifty. But I am hopping mad. I am appalled that the takedown notices, which have NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO WITH ARTISTIC INTEGRITY, UNLESS YOU ARE SERIOUSLY DELUDED, AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH RICH, GREEDY, EVIL TOSSERS. WHO ALMOST CERTAINLY HAVE DODGY RIGHT-WING VIEWS, USE THE LAW TO SILENCE THEIR DETRACTORS, CHEAT ON THEIR WIVES. IT IS MORALLY ACCEPTABLE, NAY, NECESSARY TO EXPOSE THESE PEOPLE FOR THE EVIL __________ THEY ARE, PERHAPS BY PUTTING THEIR NAMES, ADDRESSES, EMAILS, PHONE NUMBERS ON THE WEB.

And any musician who seeks to silence blogs doesn't deserve to sell records. You are no better than Daily Mail reading scum. May your kids be taken permanently into care, your partners take every penny you have and you burn in hell for eternity.

Rant over.