Slashdot Mirror
EFF Releases "The Tinseltown Club"
Seth Schoen writes: "Sing along, kids! EFF is debuting the
EFF Action Center
with a song produced by EFF and friends -- the
Tinsel Town
Club Song (a parody of the
"Mickey Mouse Club Song").
"Tinseltown Club" makes fun of Disney for its support of legislation
which takes away your rights. There's also
an MP3 version (with better sound quality) for those
who can't see the Flash animation, and we expect to make several
other formats available soon. To help save bandwidth, we are
encouraging listeners to share the song on peer-to-peer networks." Update: Seth has written in with some mirrors you can try, I've posted his note in the story..
Seth says:
"Please try P2P networks first, before going to an HTTP site! The song and animation are definitely out there on the P2P networks by now.
For those who have BitTorrent, use http://bittorrent.theory.org:8080/20020528_eff_tinseltown_club.mp3
For those who use http, get The MP3 from here.
Please go easy on action.eff.org (where the Flash animation is posted) and please do set up and publicize your own mirrors.
- Seth"
I tried to grab the flash file to share on gnutella, but eff.org keeps denying me when I use wget or curl (grabbed url from page source).
Is there a URL where we can grab it so we can spread the word?
"Let him go, Ralph. He knows what he's doing." --Otto Mann (simpsons)
this is just sad. the last thing that's going to convince me disney is evil is a bunch of geeks singing, badly at that.
BilldaCat
So do I. They'd be just the people to sue and establish more fair use precedent.
-- Fester
"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows."
for now.
Ryan T. Sammartino
"Ancora imparo"
THis is Hilarious, I just hope that the EFF doesn't loose it's credibility as a result of this hilarious piece of work! They really should be acting more mature when it comes to serious matters such as these. Think about it, do we really want them to represent us with such works of art?
I unable to play Stallman singing " Free Software song ". Does anyone have a link to a music file of *him* singing it in another music format (ogg/mp3)?
The EFF is making a good statement here, without even issuing a statement.
1. Parodies are be protected speech, and the same content that is legal in "traditional" media should be legal on the internet.
2. Disney really sucks
3. Peer-to-Peer file-sharing software is not merely for eypatch wearing, parrot on their shoulder types. People actually use it legitimately.
WWJD? JWRTFA!
4. We don't need to use a license restricted format (mp3) when there's a better format available freely (ogg)
So do you think the RIAA would be stupid enough to come after me if I distribute this song on a Napster-like system?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Would you rather be represented by humorless executives?
In Vino Veritas
Software patents?
Odd that the EFF would use the proprietary Flash format.
(someone shoot the lameness filter please. Cheers. *fears for all those CPU cycles burned doing gzip compression*)
userland's dave winer has an image you can use to link to the animation from your own website.
(i humbly admit that i made it. i am biased.)
go get it
Download here: http://shakti.tky.hut.fi/slashdot/effmp3
Yes - you can view this offline. If you can manage to get this to download from their site, you can view the page source, go to the URL of the file (http://action.eff.org/tinseltown/tinsel.swf), then when it finishes downloading, go to File > Save As... (this should work in any browser, I believe..) and then save it to a safe place on your hard disk. Then, when you want to view it, open up your browser, and go to File > Open File...
Of course, if you can't get a connection (as I can't as of this writing), you're out of luck - but that's just how the Internet is structured.. it doesn't matter that this is Flash - if it were any other format, you'd still have to download it initially.
Unfortunately, Flash isn't Free Software (free as in speech and as in GNU). So, I can view Flash animations on this computer (x86, running GNU/Linux), but not on my Powerbook, which also runs GNU/Linux.. Macromedia only releases Flash for *Nix clones as an x86 binary, which cuts out all non-x86 hardware users running an alternate Operating System (or those who don't wish to run non-Free Software).
Hope you enjoyed my mini-rant right there.
-Phlog
[S]o Flash is a bad evil tool of the devil (as spouted here at Slashdot) but when the EFF uses it, no problem?
Flash is a bad evil tool of the devil when used in place of HTML or used in place of other, more accessible, standards. In this case, Flash is being used to make what is in essence a movie. When knowingly browsing to a movie, I am willing to accept that the movie might require a plugin in order to be successfully viewed.
What I hate and find annoying is when Flash is used in place of HTML or other more accessible means. If Slashdot's front page were a large Flash animation, then it would be an annoying tool of the devil. If Flash were used for the topic icons, it would be another misuse. But if Flash were used for a cute little animation that is the basis for a text story, that's an appopriate use of Flash.
Also, don't forget that there is no entity known as Slashdot. Some people like Flash, others do not.
I personally hate Flash when used where simple html and images would have done since Flash sometimes causes my browser to crash and generally slows down the rendering of the browser page. But when it is used to create an animation with sound, I don't mind it - as long as I am aware of that fact before loading the page.
This is just another right-tool-for-the-job issue, and in this case, the EFF is using the right tool for the job they wish to do.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
Hmmm... so Flash is a bad evil tool of the devil (as spouted here at Slashdot) but when the EFF uses it, no problem? Come on.
It's not as sensational *cough*karmawhore*cough* as you're making it sound. The FS/OSS community tends not to like Flash not because it's "a bad evil tool" but because it's TERRIBLY OVERUSED. 90% of Flash stuff SHOULD NOT be in Flash. The last 10% is what it should be used for: animation! The EFF are in this 10% with this cartoon, and thus it is not hypocritical.
The Free desktop that Just Works
. . . unless it's changed since this morning, doesn't the last frame invite viewers to find out what they can do?
The cartoon is motivating people to act.
"What they mean is, we want to shift the cost of distributing this thing to other people."
It's saving bandwidth the limited bandwidth that their site has. The cost isn't shifted, it's dispersed. It doesn't cost me anything to constantly upload a song on that plan that I'm on.
"Derp de derp."
I sent this link to my sisters, who have taken no interest in this issue at all. I am know that the stupid cartoon and song will make them laugh, but the confrontational lyrics should make them think. (I'm just glad I sent it to them yesterday.)
since when has slashdot been about quality?:)
Looking for Book Reviews? Check out Literary Escapism.
I mean, they don't have to be Free Software fanatics or anything, but I do expect the EFF to at least make a token effort at not squandering money, and keeping true to their beliefs. Surely the $1000 licensing fee for Macromedia Flash plus time spend developing the animation could have been better employed to defend peoples' rights in the real world, rather than promoting a proprietary plugin that I can't even see. I mean, the total amount I have donated to the EFF in the past is probably less than $1000, and I'd consider myself one of their more pecunative sponsorors.
Self-declared "pragmatists" may claim that Flash is the most widespread, or that it is the 'best', but he is a fool who denies that freedom from vendor lock-in and the goals of the EFF do not go hand in hand. I'll be contacting them directly over the next few days; the only right thing for them to do is to remove the proprietary Flash animation from their site.
Yeah, for earning the respect of the general public for an august organization like the EFF, there's nothing quite like making up a song that mocks those who disagree.
If that doesn't work, maybe we can shoot Disney execs with spitwads or give them atomic wedgies.
I can't get to their main page now, so I'm trying to figure out the lyrics. This is the best I can come up with so far. Anyone know what these words I couldn't figure out are?
Ooh, sing along kids!
Tinsel town glow[?]
Tinsel town glow
Tinsel town glow
Tinsel town glow
Who believes the average chains a criminal on the ???
Disney and his show biz friends
Who have a lot at stake
Who with their laws turn back the clocks
The rights we have today
The entertainment moguls and CBDTPA
And they stell us stuff (it's overpriced!)
They lock it up (and that's not nice!)
So they can keep their profits in the sky (sky high!)
So join the fight, defend your rights
Before they're whisked away
Speak up fast! Don't let them pass CBDTPA
Numbers count (they make Congress pay attention!)
Tell all your friends about that old CBDTPA
As I said when I submitted this story in vain this morning at 6am, the phrases 'Mickey Mouse Copy Protection' and 'Mickey Mouse Computer' need to enter the language in this context - as in 'Do you want a Mickey Mouse computer that stops you making music?'
http://bittorrent.theory.org:8080/20020528_eff_tin seltown_club.mp3
burris
JungleBoy was nice enough to convert the MP3 to Ogg. You can click on that comment link (or scroll up) and grab a version from his server.
Alternatively, you can also grab a copy that I mirrored here:
http://www.realfx.com/EFF-Tinseltown_Club.ogg
Be sure to spread this around on P2P networks!
Satire is a constitutionally protected form of speech, and I believe that's how weird Al got around it (although he might change a note or two here and there). Especially considering the political nature of this EFF satire, use of the basic tune would almost certainly be protected under the first amendment.
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
I have a copy at:
m p3
/.'ed pretty good, so try to use some kind of mirror if possible.
http://cubicmetercrystal.com/eff_tinseltown_club.
The EFF is getting
I got the MP3. Anyone got a mirror for the flash?
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
I'm staying logged into giFT at the moment to share this file (its the only one I'm sharing, actually), and I think it has spread to a few other users. See http://gift.sf.net/. I'm sharing the MP3, don't have the flash right now..
SSL Certificate
The Flash video was nicely done, but I think trying to paint corporations as villains for trying to "keep their profits high" is a strategy waiting to backfire. Keeping profits high is what corporations are supposed to do. No one in power is going to spank them for doing that.
The whole issue isn't about profits in the first place. It's about control. THEY want to control the things YOU buy AFTER you buy them. And they're using all their corporate powers -- money, lobbying, technology -- to stop you from owning things at all. In their world, you don't own CDs, just licenses to listen to them.
I think we'd all be doing better if we lampooned these corporations as communist dictators instead of capitalists. The analogy fits better, and it's funnier, too.
He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.
An Association Named Sue. Now available in ogg!
[ original post ]
c-hack.com |
I see at least one copy of the song on giFT, and I just added my own copy to that.
It's a nice song and all, but...I can't make out the lyrics. Are they posted anywhere?
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
And, of course, once released as Open Audio it would then be appropriate for listing in the Open Music Registry. :-)
No Laughing Allowed!
Also note their use of ASP. Isn't that proprietary? (It certainly does seem as nice to program in as PHP)
...with the Flash movie and the music (in Ogg and MP3) has been set up here:
http://marcus.pixelmagic.nu/tinseltown_club/
I quite like that song... A hacker song done to old country/folk music, very well done. I recommend everyone who comes across give it a good listen.
Bork!