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MTV Bleeps Filesharing Software Names In Weird Al Video

An anonymous reader writes "We've all heard Weird Al Yankovic's 'Don't Download This Song,' which came out a couple years ago, but did you know that MTV is apparently so afraid that kids listening to the song will discover for the first time that file sharing offerings exist that in its video of the song, MTV bleeps out their names? There's a line in the song that lists out Morpheus, Grokster, Kazaa and Limewire (most of whom don't really exist any more), but for some reason MTV considers those names to be bleep worthy." Unless this is all one grand inside joke from Weird Al.

5 of 395 comments (clear)

  1. I think this is the no free advertising policy.... by TheNarrator · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I was watching MTV several years ago and remember hearing the words "Burger King" getting bleeped out in the "Humpty Dance" song in the verse "I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom".

    So, IMHO, I think this is probably part of a general policy to not allow product placement in song lyrics.

  2. More stupid censorship by notaspy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A local radio station (northern NH) bleeps out the the words "white boy" after "Play that funky music...."
    That's when I turn the dial to NPR.

    --
    hi!
  3. MTV Still Has Videos? Drawing the line... by Proudrooster · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Wow, I'm shocked! Last I checked MTV had gone to 7x24x365 of uncensored reality trash TV. I had no idea they were still showing videos. I am even more shocked to learn that MTV has censors. This channel spews so much vulgar garbage and stupidity that I don't even have it programmed on the channel list to prevent it lowering my IQ if I should happen to pause while channel surfing.

    Hey Kids! It's acceptable to have sex, do drugs, and abuse alcohol, but by golly we here at MTV have to draw the line at filesharing. Sorry.

  4. MTV Get Off the Air! by megamerican · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The Dead Kennedy's had it right.

    M.T.V.-Get Off The Air"

    Fun Fun Fun in the fluffy chair
    Flame up the herb
    Woof down the beer
    [click!]
    Hi
    I'm your video DJ
    I always talk like I'm wigged out on Quaalude's
    I wear a satin baseball jacket everywhere I go

    My job is to help destroy
    What's left of your imagination
    By feeding you endless doses
    Of sugar-coated mindless garbage

    So don't create
    Be sedate
    Be a vegetable at home
    And thwack on that dial
    If we have our way even you will believe
    This is the future of rock and roll

    How far will you go
    How low will you stoop
    To tranquilize our minds with your sugar-coated swill

    You've turned rock and roll rebellion
    Into Pat Boone sedation
    Making sure nothing's left to the imagination

    M.T.V. Get off the
    M.T.V. Get off the
    M.T.V. Get off the air
    Get off the air

    See the latest rejects from the muppet show
    Wag their tits and their dicks
    As they lip-sync on screen
    There's something I don't like
    About a band who always smiles
    Another tax write-off
    For some schmuck who doesn't care

    M.T.V. Get off the air
    And so it was
    Our beloved corporate gods
    Claimed they created rock video
    Allowing it to sink as low in one year
    As commercial TV has in 25
    "It's the new frontier," they say
    It's wide open, anything can happen
    But you've got a lot of nerve
    To call yourself a pioneer
    When you're too god-damn conservative
    To take real chances.

    Tin-eared
    Graph-paper brained accountants
    Instead of music fans
    Call all the shots at giant record companies now

    The lowest common denominator rules
    Forget honesty
    Forget creativity
    The dumbest buy the mostest
    That's the name of the game

    But sales are slumping
    And no one will say why
    Could it be they put out one too many lousy records?!?

    M.T.V.-Get off the air!
    NOW

    --
    If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
  5. Re:But by lysergic.acid · · Score: 4, Interesting

    mostly based on the fact that all of my cousins in Taiwan are either really crazy, or really boring. two of my cousin are always in and out of prison because of their drug problem, and possibly gang affiliations. a few others ran away from home when they were in their teens, and the one whom i'm still in contact with drinks a lot, does coke/ketamine/ecstasy/etc. (i know this because i partied with her that last time i visited Taiwan). and aside from maybe 1 cousin who's relatively normal and doesn't abuse any kind of substance, the rest all seem incredibly boring and somewhat socially maladjusted--one of whom i found out joined the Mormon church.

    most of my cousins seem to fall into one extreme or the other. even most of my aunts and uncles are like that. it really is night and day when you compare one group with the other. i mean, i know tweakers, heroin addicts, gangbangers, convicted bank robbers, and all kinds of crazy people here in the U.S. too. but there's a much more even distribution across the entire breadth of the social spectrum here. and really the thing i can think of that accounts for this are the different cultural values and parenting styles.

    i mean, there are strict/overbearing parents in the U.S. too. heck, i dated a girl whose parents were absolutely nuts and wouldn't let her date or even socialize with male friends, and she ended up being the biggest nympho i've ever met. similarly, there was this Korean kid from my home town who went to prison for killing his mom and his younger sibling. he basically just snapped because his parents were so strict and pushed him too hard. granted, that's an extreme case, but you can still see the general pattern that's emerging.