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Napster: The Movie
Joey Patterson writes "Looks like the story of Napster founder Shawn Fanning is headed to the small screen. CNET News.com reports that Fanning has signed a deal with MTV to turn his life story into a movie, which will focus on his personal saga during Napster's rise and fall. There's no word yet on who the cast will be (although Fanning may play himself), but Alex Winter (who played Bill in the "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" movies) will write (and possibly direct) the film."
Think I can download it off of Kazaa?
I knew alex winter had a stint with modona a while back, I guess its good to see he is still in the business. I love bill and teds... I aspired to BE Ted for about 8 years of my life (and mabye still a little bit). anyway, hopfully the movie doesn't suck
I hate those MTV "this is how you should live" lifestyle movies/"shows"...I have a feeling this is gonna be another one of those teen cult movies about computers which will get it all wrong anyway... Hehe, wonder how Fanning will feel about this movie being pirated on the net? (which it probably will be)
The Welkin: Online Music Reviews
Curious to see what type of spin they will put on this - either the RIAA will come out looking like justified heros, or Fanning will look like the media scapegoat.
For those of you skeptic of Alex Winter's directing abilities, please make sure to see the movie "Freaked" first, which he wrote, directed and starred in.
Incase you aren't familiar with it, Mr. T is one of the co-stars, playing a man turned into a woman, now the Bearded Lady in a circus side show.
Oh, now about this movie - I'm sure it'll suck, but that's not his fault.
Starring:
Vin Diesel as 'The Napster'
and
Louie Anderson as 'Corporate Bad Guy'
special appearance by Beatrice Arthur as Mr. Fanning's love interest, and Samuel Jackson as "Angry black man."
[FromTheMorning]
Although, you may be able to find it if you look for "EmTeeVee" instead.
"Geeks Alive!"
Watch as Geeks try to break the system!
Ten selected geeks are locked up in a Virtual House.
Each week one geek gets sued by Big Business.
You GET TO VOTE!!! with your browser!
Which geeks stay, which geek gets sued into oblivion!
And... Free...!!! Download all the pr0n and muzik you can cram onto your HD!
This fall on Fox.
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Too easy to make jokes about. Like shooting fish in a barrel or buying Napster's aeron chairs on EBay for 12 dollars each... Oops ;)
s200.org - visit it (me), love it (me).
And I thought HBO had the best drama's on TV.
All they need to add is Rosie O'Donnell in a cameo as "The AIMster Girl".
There are 01 kinds of cars in the world. The General Lee, and everything else.
09:44 omg
09:44 napster: the movie
09:44 the movie is on the net
FRIEND: Dude, I just like, totally ripped this CD off from the store.
FANNING: Hey, check this out, man: I just discovered a bodacious way to rip off CDs without shoplifting!
FRIEND: Excellent!
FANNING: It works with porn, too!
FRIEND: Sixty-nine, dude!
FANNING: Whoa.
Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
Keep in mind this is the second attempt and producing a Napster movie.
Starz Pictures had already written a script, and I believed was seeking directors when apparently they just ran out of cash. Bummer.
In any case, keep your eyes peeled for the book too, which should be out in the Spring!
--jordan
They have a chance to change turn this all around. I think this movie would be very intersting if they focus more on Fanning's transition from college life to the startup of Napster.
Everyone knows what happens after Napster hit it big. I'm more interested in the startup side of Napster, before they were a success.
While on the topic of music and P2P, I hope nobody missed this Onion jewel?
_ stations.html
http://www.theonion.com/onion3836/riaa_sues_radio
Alex Winter's sketch comedy show on MTV called the Idiot Box was a delightful gem for its time.
No it wasn't popular and yes it got canceled, but then SO did the Ben Stiller show, and look at Ben now! (not that funny all together, but he's laughing all the way to the bank!)
Honestly, I would watch this on Alex Winter's merits alone.
I was just thinking about the Sinead O'Connor sketch the other day!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
I want to play the CD ripping geek who spends all of his time finding the perfect audio settings and making everyone's albums into MP3's. Except in the movie, I'd want them to write in a bunch of playboy models who would be my "assistants".
~ now you know
Yes.. it's a very dramatic story. Kid has idea. Kid drops out of school to pursue idea. Evil Corporation realizes that kid's idea is allowing infringment on copywritten material. Evil Corporation crushes kid. Kid become folk hero.
So.. what's the huge deal about this? The kid didn't save any lives. He didn't revolutionize anything. He didn't improve the standard of living for anyone. He didn't create anything that had an impact on the majority of Americans. No.. he wrote some software that pissed off the wrong people.
What does it say about America when she has to find her hero's in the realm of corporate business? Perhaps she should take a look for her real hero's. Those people that actually affect the bottom line of all the people around them?
-CodeTrap (I AM CANADIAN!)
CodeTrap (www.codetrap.net)
they don't turn it into a broadway musical!
Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
I hope they remember all the small people that were involved in the programming of this thing from the beginning. Fanning has been the only name really associated with Napster, but there weere many people involved in getting this thing going back in the early days. Even something as simple as a reference to their IRC nick would be nice
Don't Tread on Me
I hope it has a happy ending, such as a crazed music fan, yelling "You killed Napster!" and gunning down Lars Ulrich. Some scenes of Hilary Rosen snorting coke would be a good thing to include, too.
How ya like dat?
Dude! The RIAA is Bogus!
Aren't they controlled/owned by the XXIA?
Hold on a sec, wouldn't this movie sale the point of Napster == EVIL, XXIA is the savior?
If the XXIA can't look good then just make Napster look worse, oldest trick in the book.
First off, Kevin Bacon must have a part in this movie. Doesn't matter what part, but a part he must have. Specific recommendations are:
The Rock or Russell Crowe to play Shawn Fanning (depending on whether you want an outrageous super-hero or a more realistic, though tough-as-nails hero), Sir Anthony Hopkins in a Lector-like role should play the leading RIAA character. I think that Vin Diesel should also have a role - reprising his character in _Pitch Black_.
A few _Enemy of the State_ chases and explosions, a super-hot love interest in the form of say, Alyssa Milano (_lots_ of nude scenes), great fight scenes, one of them epic... Do this, and it will be a big-a$$-megahit that I will spend to see on the big screen and then again to buy the DVD when it comes out.
In Bushworld, they struggle to keep church and state separate in Iraq as they increasingly merge the two in America.
Effectively the a front for the music industry (which I personally hold responsible for showing us the worst of what it has to sell) is producing a film about someone utterly demonized by the RIAA. Irony so thick that you could hammer it into a horseshoe.
So how does MTV/Alex Winter portray Shawn? Good guy? Bad guy? Misunderstood genius? Or some horrible crap where Shawn starts out as a devil-may-care music pirate, but sees the shining light of reason, in the angelic form of Hilary B. Rosen (descending from Heaven with a subpoena in her hand), and returns to the light, to take his seat to the right of Bertelsmann AG and expound on the virtues of IP and clamping all possible evil-doers in the irons of DRM.
Slated for 2003-2004 season relsease, I don't expect much in the way of special effects (so Hilary will probably just have to descend on visible wires.)
Last, the burning question on everyones mind: Will it fend off the Simpsons for holiday audiences?
Soon to appear in P2P everywhere... well, maybe not.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
"So Shawn .... I wrote this film about how you let people trade White Stallions Album all over the internet!"
"No way!"
"Way!"
"No way!"
"Way!"
MTV is sponsoring movies now? Trying to turn into an HBO?
I remember when they used to show videos. All day long.
Or at least download the telecine, and then download the DVD rip when it comes out.
Watch the Geeks with slim VIAOs beat the livin' bejesus out of the Geek with the OS 10.2 PowerBook, then watch them bitch when they find out the HFS+ iPod won't mount under Windows without some software from Versiontracker!
Each week a Geek will be voted out of the house if they fail to meet a challenge.
First Challenge - Uninstall Easy CD Creator 5 from Windows XP without interupting the Metallica CD playing in the Optical Drive
Second Challenge - Vi vs Emacs - Defend your position
Third Challenge - KDE vs Gnome - Defend your GUI
God the onion is so lame these days. Dosn't everyone know that radio stations already pay for the music they play? (not much, (probably less then they were paid to play it, if they're a clear channel station) but still something)
The onion sucks now. And it's getting worse by the week.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
MTV (business associate of the RIAA and music industry in general) is making a movie (MPAA territory) about Napster (one-time arch-nemesis of the RIAA and not exactly on good terms with the MPAA either.) Being that this is an MTV movie, it will make the attempt of appealing to a younger crowd (RIAA and MPAA will use their influence to basically make this one big ad campaign against filesharing.)
I expect this to blantantly portray Fanning as a common thief on every level. They'll probably even have scenes where he's shoplifting, forceably taking candy from children, or anything else that gives the public the impression he's a cleptomania.
No, I think I'll watch something else when this airs. A 90-minute ad against Napster-clones doesn't interest me in the least.
Agent RIAA: We've been watching you Mr. Fanning, and we're willing to wipe the slate clean in exchange for your cooperation in bringing every known college student to justice.
Fanning: *flips hair* Woah. How 'bout I give you the finger, and you give me my phone call?
Agent RIAA: Mr Fanning, we're in bed with Inifity and Clearchannel, as well as every major television station. What good will that phone call do, when you don't have a voice?
Well first of all no one has any idea if this guy can actualy act. If he can't, he'll need to have a good director that can work around his lack of abity (cf. The Matrix).
But I doubt this will be any good. I used to watch MTV a lot, and all their movies, without fail, sucked.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Oh wow, I never saw Insomniac with dave attell-
Now I wish I did!
I don't expect MTV to actually come up with good^H^H^H^H any ideas, I 'm just impressed that they decided to rip off an intruiging one!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
hmmmm... memory is coming up blank...
damn this organic bit rot!
I remember LOCKJAW! I also remember Alex winter drowing in a swimming pool...
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Then I strongly recommend you turn to VH-1 classic. It's what MTV was about, oh, say 20 years ago with NO VJs(except one woman that sometimes comes on) and commercials roughly every HOUR. I was in utter shock with some of the rare/obscure videos they played on their '80s weekend 2 weeks ago. I was glued to the set.
Does anyone have access to the forthcomming dailies?
NO, I didn't mean Carson Daly.
Now I feel dirty.
With Alex Winter on board, can we expect to see Wyld Stallions MP3s shared in the film?
Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
>"EXCELLENT!"
>"And Execute them!"
> "BOGUS!"
What about the closing credits? If MTV's doing this, aren't they gonna hafta rewrite that KISS song?
"Hill sells rock and roll to you,
Sells rock and roll to you,
Tore its heart and so-oul from everyone..."
Try this programme schedule:
Week 1: the Geeks try to hack the Pentagon. Will they survive the subsequent FBI raids?
Week 2: the Geeks have to water-proof their laptops and order pizza from 1m under in the Tropical Swimming Pool. See who gets TORCHED as 5000 VOLTS rip their laptops to shreds!!
Week 3: (female interest story). Geek survivors hack into the co-ed dorm closed circuit TV system. Check it out!!!
Week 4: the surviving Geeks try to hack the Pentagon again. This time they also hack the FBI. Laugh as fifty NSA ninjas show those geeks who's boss!!! (Warning: rectal probe scenes may offend younger viewers.)
Week 5: Bill Gates makes a guest appearance and helps the Geeks install Windows XP. Call during the show and you could win a FREE SERVICE PACK with all-new EULA!!!
Week 6: the Geeks try to escape. Watch in horror as a pack of hungry pitbulls tear one of the geeks to pieces. Giggle as the Geeks scamper! Warning: no televoting this week.
Week 7: the last surviving Geeks try to escape again by building a glider from old AOL CDROMS. Surprise ending.
Week 8: new guest appearance by pr0n starlet Jucy Luicy. The Geeks line up to get their five minutes of shame. YOU DECIDE who gets the finger!!
Week 9: The Final Countdown!!! Special extra prize for 3733t televoters!! Don't forget to check out the special offers on www.geeksurvivors.com!
Week 10: Last Geek Week. The last geek has to survive a whole week with no Net connection, no food or water. Entertainment will consist of a reading of Bill Gate's "Hard Drive" over the intercom. Will he make it?
Find out this fall on Fox.
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OPENING CRAWL
There is unrest in the P2P Community.
Several hundred lawyers, under the leadership of the RIAA Leader,
CEO Hilary B. Rosen, have declared their intentions to save the world
from Napster.
This movement has made it difficult for the limited number of
P2P Developers to maintain peace and order in the warez community.
Shawn Fleming, file sharing pioneer, is returning as a developer
of Napster II for the critical issue of creating a grand utility
to assist the overwhelmed warez community...
From the opening crawl, TILT DOWN through a vast sea of stars to the
massive planet of Earth. Soon after, a couple of starships with subtle
RIAA marks fly overhead the planet, followed by a large, chrome
Law Creator battleship.
etc, etc
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
EXCELLENT! /me plays air guitar
It's been a long time.
Unless there are some personal issues that Shawn is willing to reveal, there may not be a very interesting story here. Failed businesses are a dime a dozen. Could be a "tragedy" like the movie Startup.com. In a tragedy the main characters have a flaw that causes them to fail, e.g. blind ambition in the Startup.com. Shawn doesn't seem to have flaws.
In contrast, the Pirates of Silicon Valley was a comedy, i.e. adventures with a happy ending. There were lots of personal issues such as Steve J.s girlfirends and Bill's nerdiness. The happy ending was that everone got very rich.
I presume they'll hve to personalize the main conflict here. Bring in a big, bad media executive to quash Napster. But will it be interesting to watch?
Bill S. Preston?
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
Uh... First off, even if there was ANY comparison between the two shows, Insomniac would be the 'rip off,' since it came on the air TEN YEARS LATER! :^)
:^) )
Insomniac is a bald stand-up comedian wandering around towns interviewing drunk people on the street at 4am.
Idiot Box was a bunch of bizarre sketch comedy bits (i.e., it was filmed like any other sketch comedy show - it wasn't out in public interacting with random people).
Some of the Idiot Box sketches I remember included:
* Evil Dead parody with Sinead O'Connor
* Eddie The Flying Gimp
* Sacrifice Your Daughter To Guar (and all you get is this lousy t-shirt)
The show was only on about 2 seasons. I really wish I had taped them (not as though I wouldn't have lost the tapes
They aired right before (I think) Liquid Television. Some of the cooler animations from that one included:
* Mighty-Oh's (what's wrong kid, 'fraid of a little... BUG?)
* Jack Mac and Rad Boy GO!
* Beavis and Butt-Head
* Aeon Flux (of course - back when it was cool and there was no dialog, and she died every episode)
* Milton (turned into the movie 'Office Space')
Doing a quick Google, I discovered this guy (Drew Neumann) who did sound effects for a lot of the above (both IB and LTV).
Its a far-out choice, but Eminem has anti-establishment 'tude' and a gen-xy look. Both Eminem and Shawn are heavily involved in the music industry. And early reviews of Eminem's "8 Mile" movie, in general release next month, are good.
Ally Sheedy helped a lot, too. Wargames had some iffy computer issues, and the story was a bit simplistic, but it was still a pretty good movie.
Remember that in 1983 not a whole lot of people knew too much about computers, and writers tailor their work to what their audiance will accept.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
anyone else find it ironic that its.. MTV that's making a movie about Napster???
Eminem was my first thought, too. He's edgy and alienated and in-your-face, about the right age and a big enough star to draw a lot of people to see the movie. His hair's not nappy enough, though.
There's a little Slim Shady in all of us. Let's all stand up.
The Liquid TV segment that was always my favorite was The Specialists.... Mastermind, Miss Kitka, and, uh... the bit fat guy whose name eludes me. Sumo or something.
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
Who is going to play Lars?
Read the OT part of my post (the post that was accurately modded as OT? that one?)
I was talking about this new MTV show where they follow some kids around, and he said "Oh yeah, INSOMNIAC with Dave Attell!"
I think the MTV show is called radio active...
However I admire your rabid defense of The Idiot Box! You bring back a lot of memories- Eddie the gimp, the GWAR contest and the liquid TV stuff-
"Blow wheels, mac jack! Blow wheels!"
However I will never forgive Liquid television for the "ART SCHOOL GIRLS OF DOOM"
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
actually, TEH SUCK is just as funny as "WHy you throw chip? FUCKING COME ON, THEN!"
Which is to say laugh out loud, pee and poop in my pants, milk out my nose, colon out my ass blowing funny.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Ah, sorry about that. I was wondering where in thin are you had pulled the comparison. :^)
I guess due to the way I have my view of the articles (threading, certain mod's only), the post you're talking about wasn't even visible to me (or was way-the-hell elsewhere in the collection of replies).
Yes- the original post was modded to (1,Offtopic) (who knows, it could be even less by now!)
Mostly becuase after the first two sentences it says
"OT as hell, but..."
I mean, how can you compare Dave Attel shooting off some snyde remarks to Sinead O'Connor beating Alex Winter over the head with a video camera? Its no contest!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
MTV will portray Fanning as a hero, and Napster as the Holy Grail, and then... nothing. One week later, nobody will remember or care. For MTV, its sponsors, its RIAA overlords, and its viewers, it will be business as usual: a cookie-cutter counterculture/rebel story ("based on real events") to entertain the masses, and no real threat to the status quo.
Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.
Hey, suppose the RIAA winds up suing the MPAA over this movie? We can't lose!
And the brethren went away edified.
I thought that "Triumph of the Nerds" was pretty solid.
Admittedly, this is unlikely to be as well done.
May we never see th
They just started ignoring connections from IPs hammering them.
May we never see th
Quite ironic that HBO used to show music videos at intermission and now the channel that used to show music videos shows movies to break up the music videos.
It dosn't cost much to play a song, but radio stations are required to pay small amounts of money for each song they play.
But, although it's illegal, record companies pay huge amounts of money (or 'payola') to get their songs played, so people hear them. It's a promotional thing.
Not every song is a payola song, though. It's just something that *can* happen.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.