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Seagram's based in Montreal? I'm sure that's news to all the Seagram's employees that lost their jobs as they shut down Montreal operations.

here

in which he says:

For us at Universal Music Group, the Internet is about the opportunity to get more music to more people in more places. But the Internet is not simply an additional distribution channel. Its attributes expand the market for recorded music in many ways.

He must have been talking to a more moderate audience in this speech.
It seems obvious to me that this man is willing to represent himself and Seagram as whatever his audience wants to hear. I hope that good journalism (in the face of a new media force) will help to expose this two-facedness to all of Mr Edgar Bronfman, Jr.'s audiences.

is here

The First paragraph reads:

he Seagram Company Ltd. and its U.S. subsidiary, Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc. (collectively "Seagram" ) respect the privacy concerns of the users of its sites. As a general policy, no personal information (i.e. name, address, telephone number, e-mail address) is automatically collected from users of these sites. Certain non-personal information about users is recorded by the standard operation of Seagram's Internet servers. Examples of this type of information include the type of browser being used, its operating system, and the domain names (not e-mail addresses, where possible) of the users.

I can see a conflict, can you?

• A number of record labels are owned by Universal Music Group (UMG), a Unit of The Segram Company Ltd. A partial list can be found on the Seagram's Entertainment page.

• Another, more comprehensive list of Seagram owned businesses and brands is given as the Seagram portfolio of brands (part of their 1999 annual report, a public filing, I believe?). This list also contains names of artists, film companies, television networks, and beverage brands owned by Seagram. The list is also available in PDF format "for easy downloading".

• The Seagram Board of Directors list lists the members of the board and the other companies which they represent. There is also a Canadian Senator on the list. These people are public figures, and contact information shouldn't be terribly difficult to derive.

• Seagrams is Heaquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• The division of UMG that markets outside the US is known as UM3.
• The US Division of UMG is Universal Music Enterprises (UME).
• Sony and Real are Seagram partners.
• MCA is partnered with SEGA Enterprises and DreamWorks SKG
• Bronfman's bio
• Bronfman is Chairman of Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
• Bronfman is 71 years old, Gemini, and lives in New York City.

Editorial Commentary

• It is clear to me from the remarks that Lars
• made in the Metallica piece, taken together with the remarks of Mr Edward Bronfman, that the entertainment industry has designs on Napster and any similar services.

  Between Lars' contention that Metallica's main dispute with Napster was that Napster allowed distribution of Metallica material without the consent of Metallica, and Mr Bronfman's frontal assault on anonymity in general and anonymity for internet users in particular, I find a disturbing picture emerging.

  The music industry is setting the stage to co-opt Napster technology for their own use. They will no doubt use filtered Napster-type servers much like radio stations. Payola schemes will determine whose music is distributed and whose is not. The status quo marches on. The rich get richer, the band and the audience gets shit. As Bronfman states, they will move quickly to expand into "mutimedia" (movies).

  The man is asking for war. Given the fact of the music industry's close ties to organized crime and the drug cartels, it is a virtual certainty that blood will be shed over these issues, if it hasn't been already. Start keeping track of your friends.

  The most sickening part of the Bronfman's entire rant, to me was that he is trying to do all this for the good of the internet. I am so goddam sick and tired of idiots trying to legislate and litigate their moronic ideas for my own good... I am left speechless.

  Bronfman and his ilk must be stopped. Unless we intend to allow them to usurp the legacy we would leave to future generations; unless we would allow them to make the internet over in the image of the non-virtual corporate world as we have known it for the last 40 years, their powerbase must be destroyed. No quarter.

  For now, boycott. This thing is already in motion. No doubt legal venues have already been selected, and the outcomes of the cases predetermined. Expect will see the first anti-anonymity cases made quite soon.

  Mr. Bronfman has declared war on the internet, not just Napster.

Suggestions for a Boycott

• Don't buy any Seagrams branded product. Remember to contructively engage anyone wearing or using any Seagrams branded products as well. Talk to your local bartenders and tavern owners. Note that Seagram owns film and cable t.v. outlets.

• Download the Seagram portfolio of brands (PDF), print it, and distribute to stores, resteraunts, clubs, etc, with the notation "We won't buy these". The list is partial, but contains a list of artists, t.v. shows, and cable networks associated with Seagram. Contact these people and let them know that their association with Seagram is poison.

• Be sure to boycott any live performance by bands associated with the CMG labels. Let the performers know why, but don't buy the tickets or the merchandise.

• Contact the Hillel organization on your campus. Protest Bronfman's behavior and ask that he be removed as Chairman. Explain why. You can join Hillel online if you'd like to pursue this course as a member of the organization.

• If you're in New York City, drop in on Mr Bronfman. Explain to him why you value anonymity on the net, and why you don't believe he has the right to deny you that anonymity. Ask him to lunch, and offer to help arrange for the net community to accept Seagram's unconditional surrender to end this war they cannot win.

• Get this into the newspapers. Get the facts about what is going on into the public awareness. The corps that are trying to paint us, the internet community, as criminal are drug pushers, thieves, and murderers many times over. These facts are already widely known, and should be the first relevent information that comes to peoples' minds when they hear news about these issues.

• Probe the members of the board for schism within the corp. There may be some there who would not agree that Seagram's entire corporate weight should be thrown into the erradication of the internet as we know it.

• Buy Seagram stock. Don't give a proxy. Got to the shareholders meetings and raise hell.

• Flyers and broadsides posted in public locations remain a viable way of reaching masses of people.

• A couple of cases of Chivas tossed into the harbour might help get the point across, as well.

• A number of record labels are owned by Universal Music Group (UMG), a Unit of The Segram Company Ltd. A partial list can be found on the Seagram's Entertainment page.

• Another, more comprehensive list of Seagram owned businesses and brands is given as the Seagram portfolio of brands (part of their 1999 annual report, a public filing, I believe?). This list also contains names of artists, film companies, television networks, and beverage brands owned by Seagram. The list is also available in PDF format "for easy downloading".

• The Seagram Board of Directors list lists the members of the board and the other companies which they represent. There is also a Canadian Senator on the list. These people are public figures, and contact information shouldn't be terribly difficult to derive.

• Seagrams is Heaquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• The division of UMG that markets outside the US is known as UM3.
• The US Division of UMG is Universal Music Enterprises (UME).
• Sony and Real are Seagram partners.
• MCA is partnered with SEGA Enterprises and DreamWorks SKG
• Bronfman's bio
• Bronfman is Chairman of Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
• Bronfman is 71 years old, Gemini, and lives in New York City.

Editorial Commentary

• It is clear to me from the remarks that Lars
• made in the Metallica piece, taken together with the remarks of Mr Edward Bronfman, that the entertainment industry has designs on Napster and any similar services.

  Between Lars' contention that Metallica's main dispute with Napster was that Napster allowed distribution of Metallica material without the consent of Metallica, and Mr Bronfman's frontal assault on anonymity in general and anonymity for internet users in particular, I find a disturbing picture emerging.

  The music industry is setting the stage to co-opt Napster technology for their own use. They will no doubt use filtered Napster-type servers much like radio stations. Payola schemes will determine whose music is distributed and whose is not. The status quo marches on. The rich get richer, the band and the audience gets shit. As Bronfman states, they will move quickly to expand into "mutimedia" (movies).

  The man is asking for war. Given the fact of the music industry's close ties to organized crime and the drug cartels, it is a virtual certainty that blood will be shed over these issues, if it hasn't been already. Start keeping track of your friends.

  The most sickening part of the Bronfman's entire rant, to me was that he is trying to do all this for the good of the internet. I am so goddam sick and tired of idiots trying to legislate and litigate their moronic ideas for my own good... I am left speechless.

  Bronfman and his ilk must be stopped. Unless we intend to allow them to usurp the legacy we would leave to future generations; unless we would allow them to make the internet over in the image of the non-virtual corporate world as we have known it for the last 40 years, their powerbase must be destroyed. No quarter.

  For now, boycott. This thing is already in motion. No doubt legal venues have already been selected, and the outcomes of the cases predetermined. Expect will see the first anti-anonymity cases made quite soon.

  Mr. Bronfman has declared war on the internet, not just Napster.

Suggestions for a Boycott

• Don't buy any Seagrams branded product. Remember to contructively engage anyone wearing or using any Seagrams branded products as well. Talk to your local bartenders and tavern owners. Note that Seagram owns film and cable t.v. outlets.

• Download the Seagram portfolio of brands (PDF), print it, and distribute to stores, resteraunts, clubs, etc, with the notation "We won't buy these". The list is partial, but contains a list of artists, t.v. shows, and cable networks associated with Seagram. Contact these people and let them know that their association with Seagram is poison.

• Be sure to boycott any live performance by bands associated with the CMG labels. Let the performers know why, but don't buy the tickets or the merchandise.

• Contact the Hillel organization on your campus. Protest Bronfman's behavior and ask that he be removed as Chairman. Explain why. You can join Hillel online if you'd like to pursue this course as a member of the organization.

• If you're in New York City, drop in on Mr Bronfman. Explain to him why you value anonymity on the net, and why you don't believe he has the right to deny you that anonymity. Ask him to lunch, and offer to help arrange for the net community to accept Seagram's unconditional surrender to end this war they cannot win.

• Get this into the newspapers. Get the facts about what is going on into the public awareness. The corps that are trying to paint us, the internet community, as criminal are drug pushers, thieves, and murderers many times over. These facts are already widely known, and should be the first relevent information that comes to peoples' minds when they hear news about these issues.

• Probe the members of the board for schism within the corp. There may be some there who would not agree that Seagram's entire corporate weight should be thrown into the erradication of the internet as we know it.

• Buy Seagram stock. Don't give a proxy. Got to the shareholders meetings and raise hell.

• Flyers and broadsides posted in public locations remain a viable way of reaching masses of people.

• A couple of cases of Chivas tossed into the harbour might help get the point across, as well.

• A number of record labels are owned by Universal Music Group (UMG), a Unit of The Segram Company Ltd. A partial list can be found on the Seagram's Entertainment page.

• Another, more comprehensive list of Seagram owned businesses and brands is given as the Seagram portfolio of brands (part of their 1999 annual report, a public filing, I believe?). This list also contains names of artists, film companies, television networks, and beverage brands owned by Seagram. The list is also available in PDF format "for easy downloading".

• The Seagram Board of Directors list lists the members of the board and the other companies which they represent. There is also a Canadian Senator on the list. These people are public figures, and contact information shouldn't be terribly difficult to derive.

• Seagrams is Heaquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• The division of UMG that markets outside the US is known as UM3.
• The US Division of UMG is Universal Music Enterprises (UME).
• Sony and Real are Seagram partners.
• MCA is partnered with SEGA Enterprises and DreamWorks SKG
• Bronfman's bio
• Bronfman is Chairman of Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
• Bronfman is 71 years old, Gemini, and lives in New York City.

Editorial Commentary

• It is clear to me from the remarks that Lars
• made in the Metallica piece, taken together with the remarks of Mr Edward Bronfman, that the entertainment industry has designs on Napster and any similar services.

  Between Lars' contention that Metallica's main dispute with Napster was that Napster allowed distribution of Metallica material without the consent of Metallica, and Mr Bronfman's frontal assault on anonymity in general and anonymity for internet users in particular, I find a disturbing picture emerging.

  The music industry is setting the stage to co-opt Napster technology for their own use. They will no doubt use filtered Napster-type servers much like radio stations. Payola schemes will determine whose music is distributed and whose is not. The status quo marches on. The rich get richer, the band and the audience gets shit. As Bronfman states, they will move quickly to expand into "mutimedia" (movies).

  The man is asking for war. Given the fact of the music industry's close ties to organized crime and the drug cartels, it is a virtual certainty that blood will be shed over these issues, if it hasn't been already. Start keeping track of your friends.

  The most sickening part of the Bronfman's entire rant, to me was that he is trying to do all this for the good of the internet. I am so goddam sick and tired of idiots trying to legislate and litigate their moronic ideas for my own good... I am left speechless.

  Bronfman and his ilk must be stopped. Unless we intend to allow them to usurp the legacy we would leave to future generations; unless we would allow them to make the internet over in the image of the non-virtual corporate world as we have known it for the last 40 years, their powerbase must be destroyed. No quarter.

  For now, boycott. This thing is already in motion. No doubt legal venues have already been selected, and the outcomes of the cases predetermined. Expect will see the first anti-anonymity cases made quite soon.

  Mr. Bronfman has declared war on the internet, not just Napster.

Suggestions for a Boycott

• Don't buy any Seagrams branded product. Remember to contructively engage anyone wearing or using any Seagrams branded products as well. Talk to your local bartenders and tavern owners. Note that Seagram owns film and cable t.v. outlets.

• Download the Seagram portfolio of brands (PDF), print it, and distribute to stores, resteraunts, clubs, etc, with the notation "We won't buy these". The list is partial, but contains a list of artists, t.v. shows, and cable networks associated with Seagram. Contact these people and let them know that their association with Seagram is poison.

• Be sure to boycott any live performance by bands associated with the CMG labels. Let the performers know why, but don't buy the tickets or the merchandise.

• Contact the Hillel organization on your campus. Protest Bronfman's behavior and ask that he be removed as Chairman. Explain why. You can join Hillel online if you'd like to pursue this course as a member of the organization.

• If you're in New York City, drop in on Mr Bronfman. Explain to him why you value anonymity on the net, and why you don't believe he has the right to deny you that anonymity. Ask him to lunch, and offer to help arrange for the net community to accept Seagram's unconditional surrender to end this war they cannot win.

• Get this into the newspapers. Get the facts about what is going on into the public awareness. The corps that are trying to paint us, the internet community, as criminal are drug pushers, thieves, and murderers many times over. These facts are already widely known, and should be the first relevent information that comes to peoples' minds when they hear news about these issues.

• Probe the members of the board for schism within the corp. There may be some there who would not agree that Seagram's entire corporate weight should be thrown into the erradication of the internet as we know it.

• Buy Seagram stock. Don't give a proxy. Got to the shareholders meetings and raise hell.

• Flyers and broadsides posted in public locations remain a viable way of reaching masses of people.

• A couple of cases of Chivas tossed into the harbour might help get the point across, as well.

• A number of record labels are owned by Universal Music Group (UMG), a Unit of The Segram Company Ltd. A partial list can be found on the Seagram's Entertainment page.

• Another, more comprehensive list of Seagram owned businesses and brands is given as the Seagram portfolio of brands (part of their 1999 annual report, a public filing, I believe?). This list also contains names of artists, film companies, television networks, and beverage brands owned by Seagram. The list is also available in PDF format "for easy downloading".

• The Seagram Board of Directors list lists the members of the board and the other companies which they represent. There is also a Canadian Senator on the list. These people are public figures, and contact information shouldn't be terribly difficult to derive.

• Seagrams is Heaquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• The division of UMG that markets outside the US is known as UM3.
• The US Division of UMG is Universal Music Enterprises (UME).
• Sony and Real are Seagram partners.
• MCA is partnered with SEGA Enterprises and DreamWorks SKG
• Bronfman's bio
• Bronfman is Chairman of Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
• Bronfman is 71 years old, Gemini, and lives in New York City.

Editorial Commentary

• It is clear to me from the remarks that Lars
• made in the Metallica piece, taken together with the remarks of Mr Edward Bronfman, that the entertainment industry has designs on Napster and any similar services.

  Between Lars' contention that Metallica's main dispute with Napster was that Napster allowed distribution of Metallica material without the consent of Metallica, and Mr Bronfman's frontal assault on anonymity in general and anonymity for internet users in particular, I find a disturbing picture emerging.

  The music industry is setting the stage to co-opt Napster technology for their own use. They will no doubt use filtered Napster-type servers much like radio stations. Payola schemes will determine whose music is distributed and whose is not. The status quo marches on. The rich get richer, the band and the audience gets shit. As Bronfman states, they will move quickly to expand into "mutimedia" (movies).

  The man is asking for war. Given the fact of the music industry's close ties to organized crime and the drug cartels, it is a virtual certainty that blood will be shed over these issues, if it hasn't been already. Start keeping track of your friends.

  The most sickening part of the Bronfman's entire rant, to me was that he is trying to do all this for the good of the internet. I am so goddam sick and tired of idiots trying to legislate and litigate their moronic ideas for my own good... I am left speechless.

  Bronfman and his ilk must be stopped. Unless we intend to allow them to usurp the legacy we would leave to future generations; unless we would allow them to make the internet over in the image of the non-virtual corporate world as we have known it for the last 40 years, their powerbase must be destroyed. No quarter.

  For now, boycott. This thing is already in motion. No doubt legal venues have already been selected, and the outcomes of the cases predetermined. Expect will see the first anti-anonymity cases made quite soon.

  Mr. Bronfman has declared war on the internet, not just Napster.

Suggestions for a Boycott

• Don't buy any Seagrams branded product. Remember to contructively engage anyone wearing or using any Seagrams branded products as well. Talk to your local bartenders and tavern owners. Note that Seagram owns film and cable t.v. outlets.

• Download the Seagram portfolio of brands (PDF), print it, and distribute to stores, resteraunts, clubs, etc, with the notation "We won't buy these". The list is partial, but contains a list of artists, t.v. shows, and cable networks associated with Seagram. Contact these people and let them know that their association with Seagram is poison.

• Be sure to boycott any live performance by bands associated with the CMG labels. Let the performers know why, but don't buy the tickets or the merchandise.

• Contact the Hillel organization on your campus. Protest Bronfman's behavior and ask that he be removed as Chairman. Explain why. You can join Hillel online if you'd like to pursue this course as a member of the organization.

• If you're in New York City, drop in on Mr Bronfman. Explain to him why you value anonymity on the net, and why you don't believe he has the right to deny you that anonymity. Ask him to lunch, and offer to help arrange for the net community to accept Seagram's unconditional surrender to end this war they cannot win.

• Get this into the newspapers. Get the facts about what is going on into the public awareness. The corps that are trying to paint us, the internet community, as criminal are drug pushers, thieves, and murderers many times over. These facts are already widely known, and should be the first relevent information that comes to peoples' minds when they hear news about these issues.

• Probe the members of the board for schism within the corp. There may be some there who would not agree that Seagram's entire corporate weight should be thrown into the erradication of the internet as we know it.

• Buy Seagram stock. Don't give a proxy. Got to the shareholders meetings and raise hell.

• Flyers and broadsides posted in public locations remain a viable way of reaching masses of people.

• A couple of cases of Chivas tossed into the harbour might help get the point across, as well.

• A number of record labels are owned by Universal Music Group (UMG), a Unit of The Segram Company Ltd. A partial list can be found on the Seagram's Entertainment page.

• Another, more comprehensive list of Seagram owned businesses and brands is given as the Seagram portfolio of brands (part of their 1999 annual report, a public filing, I believe?). This list also contains names of artists, film companies, television networks, and beverage brands owned by Seagram. The list is also available in PDF format "for easy downloading".

• The Seagram Board of Directors list lists the members of the board and the other companies which they represent. There is also a Canadian Senator on the list. These people are public figures, and contact information shouldn't be terribly difficult to derive.

• Seagrams is Heaquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• The division of UMG that markets outside the US is known as UM3.
• The US Division of UMG is Universal Music Enterprises (UME).
• Sony and Real are Seagram partners.
• MCA is partnered with SEGA Enterprises and DreamWorks SKG
• Bronfman's bio
• Bronfman is Chairman of Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
• Bronfman is 71 years old, Gemini, and lives in New York City.

Editorial Commentary

• It is clear to me from the remarks that Lars
• made in the Metallica piece, taken together with the remarks of Mr Edward Bronfman, that the entertainment industry has designs on Napster and any similar services.

  Between Lars' contention that Metallica's main dispute with Napster was that Napster allowed distribution of Metallica material without the consent of Metallica, and Mr Bronfman's frontal assault on anonymity in general and anonymity for internet users in particular, I find a disturbing picture emerging.

  The music industry is setting the stage to co-opt Napster technology for their own use. They will no doubt use filtered Napster-type servers much like radio stations. Payola schemes will determine whose music is distributed and whose is not. The status quo marches on. The rich get richer, the band and the audience gets shit. As Bronfman states, they will move quickly to expand into "mutimedia" (movies).

  The man is asking for war. Given the fact of the music industry's close ties to organized crime and the drug cartels, it is a virtual certainty that blood will be shed over these issues, if it hasn't been already. Start keeping track of your friends.

  The most sickening part of the Bronfman's entire rant, to me was that he is trying to do all this for the good of the internet. I am so goddam sick and tired of idiots trying to legislate and litigate their moronic ideas for my own good... I am left speechless.

  Bronfman and his ilk must be stopped. Unless we intend to allow them to usurp the legacy we would leave to future generations; unless we would allow them to make the internet over in the image of the non-virtual corporate world as we have known it for the last 40 years, their powerbase must be destroyed. No quarter.

  For now, boycott. This thing is already in motion. No doubt legal venues have already been selected, and the outcomes of the cases predetermined. Expect will see the first anti-anonymity cases made quite soon.

  Mr. Bronfman has declared war on the internet, not just Napster.

Suggestions for a Boycott

• Don't buy any Seagrams branded product. Remember to contructively engage anyone wearing or using any Seagrams branded products as well. Talk to your local bartenders and tavern owners. Note that Seagram owns film and cable t.v. outlets.

• Download the Seagram portfolio of brands (PDF), print it, and distribute to stores, resteraunts, clubs, etc, with the notation "We won't buy these". The list is partial, but contains a list of artists, t.v. shows, and cable networks associated with Seagram. Contact these people and let them know that their association with Seagram is poison.

• Be sure to boycott any live performance by bands associated with the CMG labels. Let the performers know why, but don't buy the tickets or the merchandise.

• Contact the Hillel organization on your campus. Protest Bronfman's behavior and ask that he be removed as Chairman. Explain why. You can join Hillel online if you'd like to pursue this course as a member of the organization.

• If you're in New York City, drop in on Mr Bronfman. Explain to him why you value anonymity on the net, and why you don't believe he has the right to deny you that anonymity. Ask him to lunch, and offer to help arrange for the net community to accept Seagram's unconditional surrender to end this war they cannot win.

• Get this into the newspapers. Get the facts about what is going on into the public awareness. The corps that are trying to paint us, the internet community, as criminal are drug pushers, thieves, and murderers many times over. These facts are already widely known, and should be the first relevent information that comes to peoples' minds when they hear news about these issues.

• Probe the members of the board for schism within the corp. There may be some there who would not agree that Seagram's entire corporate weight should be thrown into the erradication of the internet as we know it.

• Buy Seagram stock. Don't give a proxy. Got to the shareholders meetings and raise hell.

• Flyers and broadsides posted in public locations remain a viable way of reaching masses of people.

• A couple of cases of Chivas tossed into the harbour might help get the point across, as well.

• A number of record labels are owned by Universal Music Group (UMG), a Unit of The Segram Company Ltd. A partial list can be found on the Seagram's Entertainment page.

• Another, more comprehensive list of Seagram owned businesses and brands is given as the Seagram portfolio of brands (part of their 1999 annual report, a public filing, I believe?). This list also contains names of artists, film companies, television networks, and beverage brands owned by Seagram. The list is also available in PDF format "for easy downloading".

• The Seagram Board of Directors list lists the members of the board and the other companies which they represent. There is also a Canadian Senator on the list. These people are public figures, and contact information shouldn't be terribly difficult to derive.

• Seagrams is Heaquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• The division of UMG that markets outside the US is known as UM3.
• The US Division of UMG is Universal Music Enterprises (UME).
• Sony and Real are Seagram partners.
• MCA is partnered with SEGA Enterprises and DreamWorks SKG
• Bronfman's bio
• Bronfman is Chairman of Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
• Bronfman is 71 years old, Gemini, and lives in New York City.

Editorial Commentary

• It is clear to me from the remarks that Lars
• made in the Metallica piece, taken together with the remarks of Mr Edward Bronfman, that the entertainment industry has designs on Napster and any similar services.

  Between Lars' contention that Metallica's main dispute with Napster was that Napster allowed distribution of Metallica material without the consent of Metallica, and Mr Bronfman's frontal assault on anonymity in general and anonymity for internet users in particular, I find a disturbing picture emerging.

  The music industry is setting the stage to co-opt Napster technology for their own use. They will no doubt use filtered Napster-type servers much like radio stations. Payola schemes will determine whose music is distributed and whose is not. The status quo marches on. The rich get richer, the band and the audience gets shit. As Bronfman states, they will move quickly to expand into "mutimedia" (movies).

  The man is asking for war. Given the fact of the music industry's close ties to organized crime and the drug cartels, it is a virtual certainty that blood will be shed over these issues, if it hasn't been already. Start keeping track of your friends.

  The most sickening part of the Bronfman's entire rant, to me was that he is trying to do all this for the good of the internet. I am so goddam sick and tired of idiots trying to legislate and litigate their moronic ideas for my own good... I am left speechless.

  Bronfman and his ilk must be stopped. Unless we intend to allow them to usurp the legacy we would leave to future generations; unless we would allow them to make the internet over in the image of the non-virtual corporate world as we have known it for the last 40 years, their powerbase must be destroyed. No quarter.

  For now, boycott. This thing is already in motion. No doubt legal venues have already been selected, and the outcomes of the cases predetermined. Expect will see the first anti-anonymity cases made quite soon.

  Mr. Bronfman has declared war on the internet, not just Napster.

Suggestions for a Boycott

• Don't buy any Seagrams branded product. Remember to contructively engage anyone wearing or using any Seagrams branded products as well. Talk to your local bartenders and tavern owners. Note that Seagram owns film and cable t.v. outlets.

• Download the Seagram portfolio of brands (PDF), print it, and distribute to stores, resteraunts, clubs, etc, with the notation "We won't buy these". The list is partial, but contains a list of artists, t.v. shows, and cable networks associated with Seagram. Contact these people and let them know that their association with Seagram is poison.

• Be sure to boycott any live performance by bands associated with the CMG labels. Let the performers know why, but don't buy the tickets or the merchandise.

• Contact the Hillel organization on your campus. Protest Bronfman's behavior and ask that he be removed as Chairman. Explain why. You can join Hillel online if you'd like to pursue this course as a member of the organization.

• If you're in New York City, drop in on Mr Bronfman. Explain to him why you value anonymity on the net, and why you don't believe he has the right to deny you that anonymity. Ask him to lunch, and offer to help arrange for the net community to accept Seagram's unconditional surrender to end this war they cannot win.

• Get this into the newspapers. Get the facts about what is going on into the public awareness. The corps that are trying to paint us, the internet community, as criminal are drug pushers, thieves, and murderers many times over. These facts are already widely known, and should be the first relevent information that comes to peoples' minds when they hear news about these issues.

• Probe the members of the board for schism within the corp. There may be some there who would not agree that Seagram's entire corporate weight should be thrown into the erradication of the internet as we know it.

• Buy Seagram stock. Don't give a proxy. Got to the shareholders meetings and raise hell.

• Flyers and broadsides posted in public locations remain a viable way of reaching masses of people.

• A couple of cases of Chivas tossed into the harbour might help get the point across, as well.

• A number of record labels are owned by Universal Music Group (UMG), a Unit of The Segram Company Ltd. A partial list can be found on the Seagram's Entertainment page.

• Another, more comprehensive list of Seagram owned businesses and brands is given as the Seagram portfolio of brands (part of their 1999 annual report, a public filing, I believe?). This list also contains names of artists, film companies, television networks, and beverage brands owned by Seagram. The list is also available in PDF format "for easy downloading".

• The Seagram Board of Directors list lists the members of the board and the other companies which they represent. There is also a Canadian Senator on the list. These people are public figures, and contact information shouldn't be terribly difficult to derive.

• Seagrams is Heaquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• The division of UMG that markets outside the US is known as UM3.
• The US Division of UMG is Universal Music Enterprises (UME).
• Sony and Real are Seagram partners.
• MCA is partnered with SEGA Enterprises and DreamWorks SKG
• Bronfman's bio
• Bronfman is Chairman of Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
• Bronfman is 71 years old, Gemini, and lives in New York City.

Editorial Commentary

• It is clear to me from the remarks that Lars
• made in the Metallica piece, taken together with the remarks of Mr Edward Bronfman, that the entertainment industry has designs on Napster and any similar services.

  Between Lars' contention that Metallica's main dispute with Napster was that Napster allowed distribution of Metallica material without the consent of Metallica, and Mr Bronfman's frontal assault on anonymity in general and anonymity for internet users in particular, I find a disturbing picture emerging.

  The music industry is setting the stage to co-opt Napster technology for their own use. They will no doubt use filtered Napster-type servers much like radio stations. Payola schemes will determine whose music is distributed and whose is not. The status quo marches on. The rich get richer, the band and the audience gets shit. As Bronfman states, they will move quickly to expand into "mutimedia" (movies).

  The man is asking for war. Given the fact of the music industry's close ties to organized crime and the drug cartels, it is a virtual certainty that blood will be shed over these issues, if it hasn't been already. Start keeping track of your friends.

  The most sickening part of the Bronfman's entire rant, to me was that he is trying to do all this for the good of the internet. I am so goddam sick and tired of idiots trying to legislate and litigate their moronic ideas for my own good... I am left speechless.

  Bronfman and his ilk must be stopped. Unless we intend to allow them to usurp the legacy we would leave to future generations; unless we would allow them to make the internet over in the image of the non-virtual corporate world as we have known it for the last 40 years, their powerbase must be destroyed. No quarter.

  For now, boycott. This thing is already in motion. No doubt legal venues have already been selected, and the outcomes of the cases predetermined. Expect will see the first anti-anonymity cases made quite soon.

  Mr. Bronfman has declared war on the internet, not just Napster.

Suggestions for a Boycott

• Don't buy any Seagrams branded product. Remember to contructively engage anyone wearing or using any Seagrams branded products as well. Talk to your local bartenders and tavern owners. Note that Seagram owns film and cable t.v. outlets.

• Download the Seagram portfolio of brands (PDF), print it, and distribute to stores, resteraunts, clubs, etc, with the notation "We won't buy these". The list is partial, but contains a list of artists, t.v. shows, and cable networks associated with Seagram. Contact these people and let them know that their association with Seagram is poison.

• Be sure to boycott any live performance by bands associated with the CMG labels. Let the performers know why, but don't buy the tickets or the merchandise.

• Contact the Hillel organization on your campus. Protest Bronfman's behavior and ask that he be removed as Chairman. Explain why. You can join Hillel online if you'd like to pursue this course as a member of the organization.

• If you're in New York City, drop in on Mr Bronfman. Explain to him why you value anonymity on the net, and why you don't believe he has the right to deny you that anonymity. Ask him to lunch, and offer to help arrange for the net community to accept Seagram's unconditional surrender to end this war they cannot win.

• Get this into the newspapers. Get the facts about what is going on into the public awareness. The corps that are trying to paint us, the internet community, as criminal are drug pushers, thieves, and murderers many times over. These facts are already widely known, and should be the first relevent information that comes to peoples' minds when they hear news about these issues.

• Probe the members of the board for schism within the corp. There may be some there who would not agree that Seagram's entire corporate weight should be thrown into the erradication of the internet as we know it.

• Buy Seagram stock. Don't give a proxy. Got to the shareholders meetings and raise hell.

• Flyers and broadsides posted in public locations remain a viable way of reaching masses of people.

• A couple of cases of Chivas tossed into the harbour might help get the point across, as well.

We now live in an era in which a few clicks of your mouse will make it possible for you to summon every book ever written in any language, every movie ever made, every television show ever produced, and every piece of music ever recorded.

Can we agree that this would be a good thing? Does anyone think it wouldn't? I want to make sure we all agree on this.

Music is on the leading edge of this revolution, and because of that, it has become the first product to illuminate the central - and I believe the most critical - challenge for this technological revolution: The protection of "intellectual property rights."

Finally, an MP3/Napster opponent who leads off his argument by saying that intellectual property rights are the most important issue. Most of them jump straight to talking about theft and how much money they think they're losing.

For the great ferment of works and ideas, including your own, if taken at will and without restraint, have no chance of surviving any better than did the buffalo.

Let me get this straight. If ideas are freely available, if they are given, taken, disseminated, distributed, shared, WITHOUT restraint, then they will die out. But if we restrain ideas, and make sure we control how they get distributed, then they can survive and prosper. Right.

And why is this important? Because you, like we in the entertainment business, are thoroughly dependent on patents and copyright. You need them no less than we do, to protect your processes, your conceptions, your software code, your procedures, your designs, your ideas.

No I don't. I don't think up ideas for personal gain, I think them up -- not to sound too self-important here -- for the betterment of humanity, for *everyone's* sake. They don't need to be registered in my name to do their job. If Thomas Edison hadn't patented the lightbulb, that wouldn't have stopped anyone from using it. In fact, had it not been for the patent system, Edison would not have been able to steal thousands of ideas, concepts and tools from other inventors and patent them as his own.

The Internet does not exist, and cannot prosper in a world that is separate from our civilized society and the fundamental laws upon which it is based.

He uses the word "civilized" a lot. I don't think it means what he thinks it means. Look it up. Know what word is conspicuously absent from the definitions? "Law". Also "property", "business", "consumer", and "money".

I have moved those lawyers - or some of them - but I have done so, and will continue to do so - not to attack the Internet and its culture but for its benefit and to protect it. For its benefit.

It seems to me that if this were true, it would be self-evident, and he wouldn't need to repeat himself in an effort to drive the point home.

We will launch a secure downloading format later this summer that will be the start of making our content widely available in digital form.

It will be interesting to see what measures this format will take to ensure that once one person downloads something, s/he can't share it with the rest of us.

And because of the security our product will offer, consumers' privacy will also benefit because their files and their systems won't be corrupted.

Yeah, you know, my biggest complaint about Napster has always been that it keeps corrupting my files and my systems. Please.

We will re-emphasize this truth and articulate this message in an educational effort, with our industry allies, targeted to the great majority of people who want to do the right thing - yet, may not fully comprehend that accessing copyrighted material without proper payment or permission in the digital world, is as wrong as it is in the physical world.

Oh, if only Napster users *understood* that downloading copyrighted material they don't own was illegal! I bet they'd stop doing it then.

. . . technology will offer the owners of property at least as much comfort as it may currently offer to hackers and spies, pirates and pedophiles.

More demonizing of the term "hacker". That's productive.

Technology exists that can trace every Internet download and tag every file. These tools make it possible to identify those who are using the Internet to improperly and illegally acquire music and other copyrighted information.

And soon, tools will exist that allow those people to circumvent these file-tagging and criminal-identifying technologies.

On line, privacy is assuring that what you do, so long as it is legal, is your own business and may not be exploited by others.

Anonymity, on the other hand, means being able to get away with stealing, or hacking, or disseminating illegal material on the Internet - and presuming the right that nobody should know who you are. There is no such right.

Privacy is being able to close the door when you go into a public toilet. Anonymity is not being required to write your name and address on the door before you do so. Understand how these are important to each other?

Here at Slashdot, we call anonymous people "cowards". But we don't deprive them of the ability to post.

This is nothing more than the digital equivalent of putting on a ski mask when you rob a bank.

Which is the crime: putting on the ski mask, or robbing the bank? If knowing people's identities is all that prevents us from total anarchy, the problem lies with those citizens who care so little for their fellow people that they would freely commit crimes against them. We need to stop perpetuating a society that creates so many heartless citizens. But we don't need to blame the ski masks.

In the appropriation of intellectual property, myMP3.com, Napster, and Gnutella (which has stolen from the breakfasts of 100 million European children even its name) . . .

He has got to be kidding. Are we supposed to picture those 100 million European children crying disconsolately just because a piece of software made a pun on the name of their breakfast food? Are even puns going to be outlawed now? He says "stolen" as if the Gnutella developers were maliciously appropriating the name, like the pirates they really are. You know, when humor is outlawed, only outlaws will be funny, except for people who are unintentionally funny, like Seagram's chairmen.

. . . are, in my opinion, the ringleaders, the exemplars of theft, of piracy, of the illegal and willful appropriation of someone else's property.

These are pretty strong words from someone whose company makes most of its money by selling a drug (i.e. alcohol). If he wants to criticize MP3.com/Napster/Gnutella for enabling copyright infringement and theft of intellectual property, let's first talk about how many automobile accidents Crown Royal enables each year. Let's talk about the abusive fathers who hold a belt in one hand and a bottle of Chivas Regal in the other. Let's talk about Captain Morgan's contribution to date rape, or the casino patrons who are served free drinks so they'll waste more money, or the lives, bank accounts, and relationships destroyed by alcohol addiction. Frankly, I don't think Ed Bronfman is in much of a position to be moralizing about a crime as relatively trivial as music piracy.

What individuals might do unthinkingly for pleasure, in my view, they do with forethought for profit, justifying with weak and untenable rationale their theft of the labor and genius of others.

I don't know, I'd say Gnutella was a pretty ingenious piece of work itself. And I'd be remiss were I not to point out that its developers aren't earning a single cent from it.

They rationalize what they do with a disingenuous appeal to utopianism: Everything on the Internet should be free.

Oh, no! Anything but that! You know, it's typical that such a hardcore capitalist can't understand that some people really mean it when they say something should be free.

What of the extraordinary gifts of software and whole operating systems of which we sometimes read?

They are rare, and sometimes they are loss leaders. Some of the donors may regret their generosity when later they are confronted with their children's college tuition and orthodontic bills, but yes, they have given, and they have given freely.

You hear that, Linus? What a fool you are, for giving away your operating system. Think of your children's college tuition! Forget the thousands of users! Forget the superior operating system, forget the challenge to the Microsoft empire! What will these things matter when it comes time to pay your children's orthodonist bills? Do you think you can derive some kind of *happiness* out of what you've done? Do you mean to take some sick sort of satisfaction from a job well done? What are you, some goddamned altruistic commie bastard? See where your generosity will get you! Hah!

Those whose intellectual property is simply appropriated on the Internet or anywhere else, are forced to labor without choice or recompense, for the benefit of whoever might wish to take a piece of their hide.

If this is a principle of the New World, it is suspiciously like the Old World principle called slavery.

Trading MP3s == enslaving the musicians. Got it.

World War II was won by the Allied forces . . .

Very stereotypically American tactic: bring World War II, the war that made the U.S. the superpower it is today, into the argument whenever you want to get the red-blooded American patriots on your side. Unfortunately, it has little to do with the issue at hand.

But being fair, and being just, is what allowed our civilized society to survive and prosper, while that of our conquering ally, the Soviet Union, cracked, crumbled and collapsed because it attempted to perpetuate a society that was fundamentally unjust, and unfair.

As someone else has already pointed out in this thread, the Soviet Union most likely "cracked" because its leaders were greedy and self-serving, not because it was based on an unjust system.

Thank you for letting me speak from the heart.

It's a scary world in which we have to thank people for the "privilege" of being able to speak from our hearts.

In closing, just remember, kids: don't get your philosophy from the same place you get your ginger ale.

Seagram certainly isn't particularly visible here either. The big players in chemicals over here are Bayer and BASF. Some of the brands in this list look familiar though.

Love also seems to be embracing the mp3 revolution and has plans to distribute her music through her website while severing ties with her current label, Geffen.

This thing is picking up speed. Best form up now. As the man said: Choose your killing ground, and bring the enemy to it.

Think Seegrams will lose a few sales this Memorial Day weekend?

Funky! Check out their history . They started with wines and branched to owning DuPont, and bought up MCA (Universal Studio's) 4 years ago.

Erm, I actually meant to link here. Damn frames. I'm sure everyone figured it out anyway.

This article makes a lot more sense when you realize that Seagrams doesn't just make seltzer anymore. I don't know if that's common knowledge...