So lame this is happening! High Violet sucks it isn’t even worth it. Getting shut down for that is like getting an std from a hooker or something. I hope you get it back up elsewhere.
THNX
Hi, my name is Brian and I have posted links to leaked albums on my Twitter. I also post an audio post a few times a week, and in nearly 100% of those instances I tend to lie and say I have permission to post the song and that I accept the Tumblr’s terms of service. That’s my full disclosure bit.
Anyone shedding tears for Tumblr’s takedown notices is aerating the desert with pebbles of false virtue—at best. No human is naturally entitled to due process. Luckily, we have somewhat benevolent masters. The US government (for us Americans) makes a fair effort at due process. Tumblr—who has even less at stake for treating its users fairly—has transparent, generous policies. Not only that, but their staff is open wide. Email the founder or any of his minions, and you’ll likely receive a response. If your Tumblr gets threatened with being shut down, there is an appeals process. For instance, if you feel like you—and not The National—are the legal copyright holder for The National’s album, then you can make a counterclaim in writing. Go ahead.
The culture of FREE is such a fucking stupid myth. Nothing is free. Making an asinine Tweet isn’t free for anyone: There’s an opportunity cost for you. There’s RnD, infrastructure, bandwidth, overhead, and labor costs for Twitter. And that’s all just so you could say, “So true! RT@someidiot Something kind of funny.” There’s a huge cost for being asinine, and there’s an even larger cost for stealing and disseminating other people’s work. Those people you’re stealing from will have the odds stacked even higher against them. You’re stealing their potential success.
The reason they put the Bukowski/Kerouac/Zinn books behind the counter at the bookstores isn’t because their works are so subversive that they attract a generally edgy crowd who is down with stealing; it isn’t because their readers are poor students who can’t afford the books; it’s because they are useless assholes whom useless, thieving assholes are attracted to. Free love, free expression, free shit: My lizard brain is all for these; but nothing material is free. The only thing that’s truly free is the human spirit. It’s true, look it up. Literally nothing else in this world is free, so you have to think about the shit you’re doing. What’s the marginal cost to society? What’s the opportunity cost for you? Who are you stealing from? Do something good and make something well.
