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Wal-Mart Ditches DRM, Keeps Censorship
Smiley Face writes "Wal-Mart has hopped on the DRM-free bandwagon with today's announcement that it will be participating in Universal's DRM-free sales pilot. The quality looks good: 256Kbps MP3 for 94 cents apiece, but customers are likely to be turned off by the retail chain's continued censorship. 'It's a bit hard to believe that all the customers who shop at the world's largest retailer want censored versions of music, though, but that's what they get. Only edited versions of albums with parental advisories are available, just as they are in Wal-Mart's offline stores. This isn't a new policy; Wal-Mart's online music store has carried only edited versions for years, but it's worth pointing out to potential new users tempted by the lower prices and lack of DRM.'"
For me, CDs with swear lyrics are a specialty market that is adequately served by Internet/mail orders and adult stores. I don't see why a store that also sells toys and teen clothes would want to carry "50 cents" in the next isle. The real problem is that WalMart is a monopoly in many communities and there may not be another CD store for quite some distance. Rather than regulating there offerings, we should split up the company to promote competition. Then customers will have a variety of places to shop, "family-friendly" or not.
Considering the type of music that typically has two versions, I can only assume that parts of it being removed can only be an improvement.
Wait a minute, I wonder if that CD of Beethoven Piano Sonatas I bought the other day from Wal-Mart was censored... *then* we would have something to complain about.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
For anyone wondering why a private company would voluntarily censor their merchandise, Wal-Mart does it to satisfy the Christian Rite, and prudes in general. It helps them when they advertise as a "Family Store." There are more people who would prefer that other people are censored than there are who prefer that nobody is censored, and Wal-Mart is indeed catering to the majority.
Write your own Choose Your Own Adventure. http://www.freegameengines.org/gamebook-engine/
Its been years since I have bought a cd at Wal-Mart, but I did manage to get Coal Chamber there unedited(though the Korn CD I bought was edited...bleh). So at least some Wal-Marts sell some unedited songs....
Amazing, they can poison our dogs and children no problem, but if somebody should utter the word "fuck" then Wal-Mart has a hissy fit.
Monstar L
Curious, I had no idea WalMart censored media it sells. Do they also censor DVD movies?
And do they still sell bullets? Saw that one in Bowling for Columbine. It would be odd to censor CDs that contain a few swear words, and yet sell lethal projectiles.
> >"Never shopped there in my life, never will.
> If you've never shopped there, how can you know its a worthless store? I'm not saying it isn't worthless (or that it is), just curious how you can claim that without experiencing it for yourself.
We're all awaiting your report on how it felt to try doing this, as well as your experiences wrt beastiality.
Kevin Smith on Prince
No, censorship is when any person with any kind of authority modifies a work for ethical, moral, or political reasons.
When any person with any kind of authority modifies the work? Even the artist? Seriously Mr. Clinton, why do you feel you need to redefine words? You're just spouting crap - who modified the work? Maybe the artist wanted two versions, and you can be sure that, whether done in the studio or electronically, they agreed to it somewhere in the fine print.