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.

Comments

This inflamatory you say?

[Fluffeh]

Well, I bleep bleep welcome bleep new bleeps!

Re:This inflamatory you say?

[Anonymous Coward]

Marklar, marklar marklar. Marklar marklar!

Re:This inflamatory you say?

[PPH]

Hey, its funny when Jimmy Kimmel does it.

Re:This inflamatory you say?

[clockwise_music]

I would vote for it being a joke by Weird Al. The guy is extremely clever and is very likely to come up with something like this. After all, he did write "Bob".

Re:This inflamatory you say?

[Killer Orca]

Don't perpetuate the stereotype that Jimmy Kimmel is funny.

MTV Censoring?!?

[ExploHD]

What a shocker!

Re:MTV Censoring?!?

[compro01]

I think it's more a shock that MTV is playing music videos.

But

[ohxten]

But we can watch scantily clad ladies dancing around and gangstas promoting the dirty life?

Re:But

[Loibisch]

Sure, live the dirty live, but watch your filthy mouth.

Re:But

[Corpuscavernosa]

Yeah they bleep out "nine" when referring to a gun but you got titties and ass jiggling all over the place. I guess MTV only wishes to influence certain types of moral issues.

Re:But

[lysergic.acid]

that makes more sense than the American film ratings board who worry more about kids/teenagers seeing nipples or other parts of the human body (even in non-sexual contexts) or hearing swear words but will still give movies depicting gun violence, murder, etc. PG or PG-13 ratings.

Re:But

[Valdrax]

But we can watch scantily clad ladies dancing around and gangstas promoting the dirty life?

Do they promote consumption, particularly of goods sold by the advertisers on MTV?

Then, yes.

(And MTV still shows videos? Do they ever run in timeslots where you don't have fear losing ratings to the infomercial for the juicing machine and the $50 sit-up machine?)

Re:But

[Chris Burke]

I swear to God they let Trent Reznor say "fuck" on the air in the video for Closer.

Once I saw that video, followed by a rap video where they bleeped both "fuck" and "nine m".

Re:But

[Dark_Matter88]

Yea totally. look at the america/german divide...the amercas fear the body's love making but love the death and murder, whereas germany censors violence and allows all kinds of sex. To me, sex is way more natural than murder. The human body is beautiful, but it already has the right amount of holes, no matter how much rappers think they can improve it!!

Re:But

[MightyYar]

I'd much rather have my kid playing with titties and ass than 9mm pistols.

Just sayin'.

Re:But

[JStegmaier]

that makes exactly as little sense than the American film ratings board

Fixed that for ya.

Re:But

[shawn(at)fsu]

as an aside/tangent for the song Rockstar by Nickleback the radio stations here in DC bleep ass from "Hire eight body guards that love to beat up assholes" but just 19 words later in the song they leave it in for "I think I'm gonna dress my ass with the latest fashion". That always made me laugh.

Re:But

[Toonol]

Yea totally. look at the america/german divide...the amercas fear the body's love making but love the death and murder, whereas germany censors violence and allows all kinds of sex.

In defense of America, sex is much more of a temptation than violence is. 99.9% of kids won't commit murder regardless of what movies they watch, but 99.9% of them will make stupid decisions at some point regarding sex.

Now, I don't agree with the movie ratings in America, I think they're too prudish, and censoring nudity and erotica probably causes more sexual problems than it prevents... but it's not simply that "the america's fear the body's love making". The exposure of youth to sexual imagery can lead to problems when done wrong. Go look at 4chan if you doubt that.

Re:But

[zakezuke]

The human body is beautiful

In a vacuum perhaps, but in practice there are some damn ugly humans.

Re:But

[Dark_Matter88]

I totally agree with that, but what I say still stands. I mean, they will censor nipples but an innocent man being tazered by trigger happy police is OK?

Re:But

[swillden]

If the word "nine" depicted gun violence, murder, etc., then you'd have a point, but it doesn't.

Re:But

[Facegarden]

But we can watch scantily clad ladies dancing around and gangstas promoting the dirty life?

You can do drugs and abuse women all you want, so long as you don't pirate music.

At least, that's how the recording industry feels.
-Taylor

Re:But

[nabsltd]

You must listen to the same stations I do.

They also bleep out "drugs" in "girls come easy and the drugs come cheap", "drug" in "everybody's got a drug dealer on speed dial", and "pills" from "gonna pop my pills from a pez dispenser".

My attitude is if you are bleeping out words, then you don't understand the point of that particular song, and shouldn't be playing it on your station.

Re:But

[schon]

In defense of America

If you had even an inkling of understanding, you wouldn't characterize it as "defense".

sex is much more of a temptation than violence is. 99.9% of kids won't commit murder regardless of what movies they watch, but 99.9% of them will make stupid decisions at some point regarding sex

And why do you think that is?

Has it not occurred to you that perhaps it's because they're told from an early age that sex is bad and guns are good, and so therefore want to experiment with the taboo?

Youth is all about rebellion. Tell kids that they shouldn't do something is a surefire way to get them to want to do it.

Re:But

[anti-pop-frustration]

Mod Parent UP

Re:But

[TACD]

The human body is beautiful

In a vacuum perhaps, but in practice there are some damn ugly humans.

In a vacuum? They tend to get too bloaty and cold for my liking, but if you're into that sort of thing then be my guest.

Re:But

[CastrTroy]

My favourite is when the bleep out the word gun, yet play snoop and don't bleep out the lyrics "rollin' down the street, smokin endo, sippin on gin and juice". Which obviously promotes driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Re:But

[rrohbeck]

I'd much rather have my kid playing with titties and ass than 9mm pistols.

What an unamerican thing to say. Please report to your local NRA and FCC offices for re-education immediately.

Re:But

[Bragador]

What are your sources for the 99.9%?

I was exposed to sex when I was 11 because of photography magazines (well, artistic nudes). Then at around 13 I discovered the Internet in the beginning of the 1990s and saw tons of weird things. I learned a lot from that. Not because of school, and not because of movies.

So if your plan is to "protect" the kids, the Internet is screwing their minds anyway.

And mind you, I live a normal healthy life and am in a sane and healthy relationship.

Just ask my sheep.

Re:But

[lysergic.acid]

makes sense. that's why the most conservative/repressive cultures are also the most fucked up. i've noticed that extremely repressive Asian cultures like Taiwan and Japan tend to have very polarized populations, where most people are either complete prudes who lead unhealthy, overly sheltered lives devoid of any sort of pleasure, or they lead equally unhealthy lives partying way too much, with absolutely no sense of moderation or self-restraint.

when everything is taboo then there's no difference between having a few drink with your friends and getting completely shitfaced and coked out of your mind. so people end up either being a virgin their entire life, or become extremely promiscuous and have unprotected casual sex with random strangers.

Re:But

[Clandestine_Blaze]

Adopt me! :D

Re:But

[Anonymous Coward]

That's because the Bible doesn't say ANYTHING about guns.

Coveting your neighbor's hot ass wife, sin.
Popping a cap in a bitches ass, no problem.

Re:But

[conufsed]

Move to Australia then. We're working on stopping kids finding sex on the internet!

Re:But

[xrobertcmx]

Obviously you haven't turned on MTV recently. Now it is little blond sluts complaining about their last trip to Paris. I've not seen a single video played on MTV in years.

Re:But

[Larryish]

Coveting your neighbor's hot ass wife, sin.
Popping a cap in a bitches ass, no problem.

Only if you are Jewish and the "bitch" is a Gentile.

Re:But

[LuckyDuckie]

But we can watch scantily clad ladies dancing around and gangstas promoting the dirty life?

who watches MTV?

Re:But

[Dark_Matter88]

I agree in part, but your simplistic view here develops the problem that you can't instill morals because children will revolt anyway. If a child is treated less like a moron and more like a human being, and all these things are explained, I think the right path in life can be assessed morally (albeit defined by the parents).

Re:But

[mikedeanklein]

In S.F. on KMEL they didn't bleep "smokin' endo, sippin" for several years and then all of a sudden when the powers that be figured out what "endo" was they DID begin bleeping this word.

Re:But

[Dark_Matter88]

I predict a mod for 'Dead Space'

Re:But

[Anonymous Coward]

makes sense. that's why the most conservative/repressive cultures are also the most fucked up. i've noticed that extremely repressive Asian cultures like Taiwan and Japan tend to have very polarized populations, where most people are either complete prudes who lead unhealthy, overly sheltered lives devoid of any sort of pleasure, or they lead equally unhealthy lives partying way too much, with absolutely no sense of moderation or self-restraint.

So, what are you basing your observations from? Most Asians believe Americans will fuck a stranger at the drop of a hat and American Pie is a realistic depiction of what college life is like in the US. Do your jobs mod, I'm at least as insightful as my parent post.

Re:But

[freedumb2000]

Oh yea, and that's why you hear so much about german teens going nasty sex crazy all the time on the news. Germany, a country of pervs. Totally.

Re:But

[Rick Bentley]

In a vacuum? They tend to get too bloaty and cold for my liking, but if you're into that sort of thing then be my guest.

It's not as easy as you think: "I can't cum unless you pretend to be dead... wait, where are you going? Damnit, that's the third one this week! What am I supposed to do with THIS?..."

And then it's back to match.com to find another one.

Re:But

[Pantero Blanco]

To me, sex is way more natural than murder.

Sex and violence (including murder) are both about as natural as you can get.

Becoming obsessed with either is a bad thing for a society, and so is being unrealistically afraid of them.

I don't think as many Americans "fear" sex as you think (granted, a higher ratio do than in other countries). I think more are just worried about people becoming obsessed with it.

The lengths that some European nations go to to censor "violence" are more ridiculous to me than American censorship of sex.

I mean, we don't have shows called "Holding Hands in the City" and "Herbs with Medicinal Value".

Re:But

[lysergic.acid]

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.

Re:But

[iminplaya]

Yeah, but guess which one will land you in jail posthaste...

Jus sayin' :-)

Re:But

[plasmacutter]

then of course there's the instinctive drive to get it on. Let me know when watching violence gives you the irresistible urge to pump a few rounds into the nearest person.

Re:But

[Darby]

To me, sex is way more natural than murder.

Now now, they're equally natural. Just one is moral, ethical and wonderful and one is immoral, unethical and disgusting.

The problem is that there are too many lunatics around who can't figure out which is which.

Re:But

[mcvos]

In defense of America, sex is much more of a temptation than violence is. 99.9% of kids won't commit murder regardless of what movies they watch, but 99.9% of them will make stupid decisions at some point regarding sex.

They also did that before there were movies. The only way to prevent it is to educate them about it. But I get the impression that some Americans are even more afraid of kids making smart decisions about sex.

Re:But

[mcvos]

Hate to tell you, but obama is not the great black hope. He is a white guy in a black man's body.

Seems to me he's a half white/half black guy in a light brown body.

Re:But

[plasmacutter]

but ... I used to get that urge every day in school ... without the movies

which urge?

Re:But

[Leomania]

I'd much rather have my kid playing with titties and ass than 9mm pistols.

Damn, dude... how old is she?

Re:But

[msormune]

It's because if you try to censor rap and r&b stars, you're a racist.

Re:But

[Toonol]

If you had even an inkling of understanding, you wouldn't characterize it as "defense".

You know, I do have an inkling of understanding. Even more than that, even more than an Iota, past the point of smidge. Why the insults? Rational discussion too hard?

sex is much more of a temptation than violence is. 99.9% of kids won't commit murder regardless of what movies they watch, but 99.9% of them will make stupid decisions at some point regarding sex

And why do you think that is?

Has it not occurred to you that perhaps it's because they're told from an early age that sex is bad and guns are good, and so therefore want to experiment with the taboo? Sure, it occurred to me, and I mostly dismissed it. I think the main reason is that sex feels REALLY REALLY GOOD, and violence rarely does. (Trust me.) Everybody goes through puberty; not everybody thrillkills.

In honesty, you're partly correct, in that forbidden fruit will draw attention; but you're partly incorrect, in that people would still be making screwed up decisions at a young age even if there was no forbidden fruit aspect at all. Sex is simply different than violence. Now, if you had slowed down to read my post, I said we were too uptight about sex and should lighten up the ratings, like Germany.

On the flip side, is the European rating system part of the reason they're all freaked out by guns over there? Perhaps they need to adopt some of our free-thinking ways.

Re:But

[tm2b]

Germany, and Florida.

Re:But

[Toonol]

I think you misinterpreted my post. Most of the replies did, so perhaps I didn't write clearly. Note that I said we rated sex too strictly, and should loosen up; note that I didn't say we need to hide sex from children. I said "The exposure of youth to sexual imagery can lead to problems when done wrong". Playboy to a 13 year old may not be a problem. Hustler to a 9 year old may be.

I'm simply saying that the old canard about "Americans can show a breast being stabbed but not kissed" simplistically overlooks that fact that the violence and sex are entirely different, and are censored (or at least rated) for entirely different reasons. The fear about violence is that they will grow to stop being repulsed by it; the fear about sex is they will become more obsessed with it. Sex is like eating; a great and wonderful impulse that can be screwed up when all a kid learns about nutrition is from McDonalds.

If we switched the rating priorities completely, and didn't allow violence in films (books, internet, whatnot) but allowed explicit sex... we still wouldn't see the vast majority of teens committing murder and just weird loners having sex. Human nature.

Re:But

[IHC Navistar]

"The human body is beautiful"

Apparently, you've never seen the overly hairy and obese old men in speedos that seem to inhabit every public beach.

"the amercas fear the body's love making"

You know, the U.S. has this massive financial machine called The Porn Industry.....

Re:But

[Klucki]

Damn no mod points! (Score:+5, Funny:)

Re:But

[Klucki]

To me, sex is way more natural than murder.

Now now, they're equally natural. Just one is moral, ethical and wonderful and one is immoral, unethical and disgusting.

The problem is that there are too many lunatics around who can't figure out which is which.

Why do I waste my mod points before I find the gold...

Re:But

[Kashgarinn]

I don't think that because something's taboo that automatically someone is going to try it out.

Sex is a part of our nature, and treating it like a taboo is just like saying "clothes the colour green are taboo", inherently, they aren't.

Violence is also a last option in our social skills, and should be taboo, although it inherently isnt.

Then there's the humanity's advantegous curiosity which is what makes us experiment with all things, whether classified as taboo or proper. Teach children how to experiment and what to do if they have questions, and you won't have any problems with any subject as they should come to you for answers.

Hopefully you'll be grown up enough yourself to handle the questions.

Re:But

[MightyYar]

My daughter will someday have sex. I have accepted this, and you should too. Hopefully she will not get shot.

Re:But

[psychicninja]

or become extremely promiscuous and have unprotected casual sex with random strangers.

Citation needed.

...please?

Re:But

[7 digits]

> My daughter will someday have sex. I have accepted this, and you should too. Hopefully she will not get shot.

100% agreed. I don't have a girl, only two boys, so it is easier for me to agree in the social environment.

I suspect that the preference of violence over sex is also due to most parents being uneasy to talk about sexual subjects with their children.

Watching a movie together where there is a violent scene will generally not raise questions. A sex scene on the other hand will provoke reactions. Many parents will take the easy way and filter movies based on sexual content, because that is the easy path...

Re:But

[digitalhermit]

Oh god, what a misconception you have about Asian culture.

Asians, and I know many, are some of the most sexually aware and intrepid people I know. Prudes? Americans (and I live in the USA) are probably the most prudish people in the world. In fact, some even have trouble typing the word "sex". Many can't say the word "sex" and even substitute neutered (haha) words like "gender" for parts of speech when "sex" is the right word. Many *TALK* a lot about sex, but they don't actually *HAVE* it. Maybe it's some Victorian holdover, but it's annoying sometimes when the subject of sex is considered taboo conversation even in an adult gathering.

But there are stereotypes about Asians, I'll grant. The same as there are stereotypes about Americans. Some of the ones I've heard about Americans are that they are fat, uneducated, listen to country music, technologically backwards, willingly ignorant, gun crazy, fanatically religious, and mono-lingual. Within America these same stereotypes are applied to various ethnic groups. We know that the stereotypes are not true of the population as a whole, but that's what people outside the USA think.

But back to sex. It's a whole lot of fun. It's not the be-all and end-all of our reason for existence (well, maybe it is) but it's no worse than a good day fishing or a nice espresso or a good movie.

Re:But

[IndustrialComplex]

I'd much rather have my kid playing with titties and ass than 9mm pistols.

Just sayin'.

While modded insightful, perhaps you should rethink your position when it isn't clouded by an irrational fear of firearms.

Cause of death per 100,000 people

47.5 people died of Sexually transmitted diseases
26.0 people died of Intentional injuries (suicide, murder, war, etc.) and that's not limited to firearms.

Personally, I'd rather teach my children responsibility for both, rather than just jump on the anti-gun bandwagon because it gets a good response on an online forum.

Re:But

[PuckSR]

"99.9% of them will make stupid decisions at some point regarding sex."

Are you serious?
99.9%? Have a lot of problems as a kid?

You could have said "99.9% of them will have sex"
That makes a lot more sense, and sex is more of a temptation than violence. However, sex is a temptation because you are biologically designed to be a 'sex machine'(thanks James Brown). I don't think seeing a nipple or a penis in a movie is going to change a chaste angel into a raging slut,

At the same time:
"99.9% of kids won't commit murder regardless of what movies they watch"
They may not murder, but you will have a higher rate of violent crime.
They might fight, stab, rob, etc

In the end, I think I would rather have America's children experimenting with sex rather than violence. You might be different, but I would rather walk in on my daughter having sex with a young boy than walk in my daughter stabbing someone!

Re:But

[digitalhermit]

Hehe... Sign of the times..

At one time in history it was a moral obligation to kill the spawn of the enemy. It was once a moral obligation to kill in the name of your god.

Imagine if God was actually a miliary sub-commander in some Vogon army. His task was to breed a legion of super-warriors to combat the evil army of N'yarlathotep. One (cosmic) morning he creates the Earth and sets it to create a population of fierce fighters. He goes to sleep. The next day (4 billion years later in our time) He wakes up to check his creation. Instead of fighters he has a bunch of fornicating flower children dripping in weird bodily fluids.

Morality changes from year to year.

Re:But

[nametaken]

No, no... we're discouraging that behavior.

Kids, do not put the prom queen in a vacuum chamber! Also avoid her parents bed when you THINK they're on vacation.

Re:But

[MightyYar]

My daughter is very young, but questions definitely come up when something violent happens. I'm frankly a bit surprised at how violent movies like "The Little Mermaid" are... I mean, I've seen it before but I guess I'm desensitized to violence and don't realize how bad it is until my daughter starts crying.

I think that people are just, in general, more comfortable with violence because it's not something private.

Re:But

[skywiseguy]

I'm frankly a bit surprised at how violent movies like "The Little Mermaid" are...

nevermind movies, what about fairy tales and nursery rhymes? hansel and gretel? a witch fattens them up and tries to eat them. rock-a-bye-baby? a baby falls out of a tree. even the original cinderella story had the stepsisters cutting portions of their feet off to fit into the glass slippers. kids stories have always been tied to violence in some way or another

Re:But

[Limburgher]

I've never fired a 9 meter before. Must have one hell of a kick. ;)

Re:But

[7 digits]

Consider yourself lucky that Disney changed the ending of The Little Mermaid... :-)

> I mean, I've seen it before but I guess I'm desensitized to violence and don't realize how bad it is until my daughter starts crying.

My sons are a little over 10. They used to be very sensitive to violence in movies, but they are less and less because, well, just every movie is amazingly violent these days. Same goes for comics/mangas. There isn't much I can do about that... In the same vein, it is extremely difficult to find a movie without a gun in the plot.

> I think that people are just, in general, more comfortable with violence because it's not something private.

That is entirely possible, but it doesn't explains the rise of violence in movies, and the parallel removing of nudity.

Last year, I was re-watching the whole James Bond saga, and you can just see the violence getting up and up with each installment. I saw the last one recently, and I just can't grasp how anybody can have greenlighted that. For the fun, it is PG-13:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381061/parentalguide

I have weird and useless theories on that, but I'll save that rant for another time...

Anyway, good luck raising your kids!

Re:But

[Rennt]

In defense of America, sex is much more of a temptation than violence is.

It better be. Otherwise the human race can kiss its collective ass goodbye.

Re:But

[RussellSHarris]

don't forget to mention his big ears.

(going for funny, insightful, and flamebait here...)

Re:But

[zakezuke]

It's not as easy as you think: "I can't cum unless you pretend to be dead... wait, where are you going? Damnit, that's the third one this week! What am I supposed to do with THIS?..."

And then it's back to match.com to find another one.

Could be worse. "I can't cum unless you pretend to be a dead furry."

It's this point where you consider giving up dating all together, or at least match.com.

Re:But

[Hal_Porter]

It is JUSTICE.

Re:But

[Hal_Porter]

makes sense. that's why the most conservative/repressive cultures are also the most fucked up. i've noticed that extremely repressive Asian cultures like Taiwan and Japan tend to have very polarized populations, where most people are either complete prudes who lead unhealthy, overly sheltered lives devoid of any sort of pleasure, or they lead equally unhealthy lives partying way too much, with absolutely no sense of moderation or self-restraint.

Not spent much time in Taiwan, have you?

Basically my experience of both is that you can go out to a club, meet some woman, fuck on the first night and end up with a girlfriend, because that's what they are aiming for.

Taiwan is also far from repressive.

Re:But

[jfischet]

rules 1 & 2

Re:But

[Hal_Porter]

Well fuck moderation and self restraint. I want a girlfriend, they want a boyfriend. Come to think of it, they're kick ass engineers too. They probably designed the motherboard in the PC you're typing on now.

Taiwanese people get shit done ;-)

Re:But

[twosmokes]

Because the only thing holding you back from playing with titties was your parents. Right?

Re:But

[clone53421]

Well, that's interesting. Because there are plenty of kids who got their first BB gun at age 8, got their first shotgun at age 16, fired their parents' handguns and rifles, were taught to responsibly use all of those, and could probably have told you off the top of their head the exact date when the next deer, turkey, fishing, and Nascar seasons opened... and didn't grow up to be serial killers.

Re:But

[Clandestine_Blaze]

It's a long way up those basement stairs! :`(

Re:But

[MightyYar]

Surely you wouldn't consider a rap video to be a example of how to teach kids about responsible use of firearms?

I reiterate, I'd much rather have my kid _playing_ with titties and ass than 9mm pistols.

Relax, I'm not after your 2nd Amendment rights.

Re:But

[clone53421]

Ok, we agree that parents should be involved in their kids' upbringings I suppose.

Re:But

[EvanED]

Has it not occurred to you that perhaps it's because they're told from an early age that sex is bad and guns are good, and so therefore want to experiment with the taboo?

Youth is all about rebellion. Tell kids that they shouldn't do something is a surefire way to get them to want to do it.

This is dumb.

1) I definitely haven't been told that guns are good for my childhood. I've definitely been told that murder is bad. I don't want to murder. Why are people having sex to rebel but not murder to rebel?

2) People want to sex because it's helluva fun, not because it's taboo.

I'm not going to say that you're totally off base, because the forbidden aspect certainly contributes a little. It may be a noticeable factor in people saying "hey, want to try sex?" but I can almost guarantee it's almost a non-element in people continuing to have sex.

Re:But

[avandesande]

Most people will have sex during their lifetime and it is completely legal. Most people will never murder and it is always illegal.
How can you even compare the two?

Worst. Logic. Ever.

Re:But

[photomonkey]

Not that I presently (or will) have children, but I'm ok if they understand that all three are OK if handled responsibly and appropriately.

Re:But

[MightyYar]

I wanted to emphasize the term "playing". One should not "play" with firearms. If a kid is going to be shooting stuff, it should be supervised and the child should be taught how to properly use the thing. In rap videos (and on TV in general, actually), I can only pray that the gun is not real, because gun safety is not practiced at all.

Unsafe sex can also get you in trouble, mind you, but not like playing with a firearm that you have not been trained to handle.

Re:But

[MightyYar]

What is it about a rap video that promotes responsible gun use? :)

Your stats are a bit misleading. In the USA, there were about 15,000 deaths from STDs - mostly AIDS. That's only 5 per 100,000. I suspect you were using world stats, and I don't intend on raising my daughter in Africa.

But you are right - accidental gun accidents only kill like 600 people a year and there are something like 40 million gun owners. So that's only 1.5 per 100,000 death rate among users.

Contrast this with automobiles..

Re:But

[clone53421]

I wanted to emphasize the term "playing". One should not "play" with firearms. If a kid is going to be shooting stuff, it should be supervised and the child should be taught how to properly use the thing. In rap videos (and on TV in general, actually), I can only pray that the gun is not real, because gun safety is not practiced at all.

Yeah, we agree. However I'd argue that the best way to prevent your kids from "playing" with a 9mm hand gun is by giving them a healthy respect for firearms and teaching them how to properly handle them (both recreationally and for self defence).

And yes, as you mentioned, TV/film doesn't generally demonstrate gun safety (more typically gun irresponsibility, if we needed to coin a phrase for it) — all the more reason to teach it.

'Course, a similar approach is typically what the anti-gun people try to use to teach kids about sex. You'd think they'd figure out that it could apply to either.

Re:But

[TheoMurpse]

There's no need to beat around the bush, Darby. We all know which you're talking about. Murder, right?

Prohibited in Canada

[akorvemaker]

From Canada, I can't even watch the bleeped video in the article. "Copyrights restrict us from playing this video outside the U.S." Pfft! Pfft, I say!

Re:Prohibited in Canada

[tommeke100]

oh man, I'm in China and can't even see the page !!!
Copyright is serious business here!

Re:Prohibited in Canada

[Andr T.]

Hello mister Tom,

We've located your cyber and there will be some agents there in a few minutes. They will arrest you for trying to access a prohibited copyright-questioning page. All resistance will be futile, so please be a gentleman.

Re:Prohibited in Canada

[syousef]

oh man, I'm in China and can't even see the page !!!

You think you have it bad? I live in Australia. Every page redirects to www.australia.gov.au/propaganda

Re:Prohibited in Canada

[Anpheus]

You must be on the old redirect filter, I only see http://truth.ministry.gov.au/

Re:Prohibited in Canada

[Koiu Lpoi]

For a moment I thought you were serious.

Re:Prohibited in Canada

[arkhan_jg]

You think that's bad? I live in the UK. Every page I visit just redirects to a picture of a giant lidless eye, rimmed with fire. Looking at me.

Re:Prohibited in Canada

[dargaud]

"Copyrights restrict us from playing this video outside the U.S."

I seem to see this more and more. What's the easiest way to get around it ? Are there proxies in the US that can be used easily without juggling with browser configs ? A Firefox plugin would work great for that.

Re:Prohibited in Canada

[towelie-ban]

You think you have it bad? I live in Australia. Every page redirects to www.australia.gov.au/propaganda

You think you have it bad? I don't even have the internets, you insensitive clod!

Re:Prohibited in Canada

[Archangel Michael]

You think that's bad, I live on slashdot, and every link I go to has this picture of this guy with a gaping ass.

I'd rather see some guy getting his brains blown out!

Re:Prohibited in Canada

[LionMage]

"Copyrights restrict us from playing this video outside the U.S." Pfft! Pfft, I say!

It's pretty ludicrous, since copyrights are internationally recognized under the Berne convention. Now, if there's some license restriction such that the record label doesn't want something distributed in a certain locale, that's another thing -- but it's disingenuous to lay this at the feet of copyright. There's no such thing as an "American copyright" that prevents media from being sold or distributed outside of the United States. There are, however, restrictions imposed technologically by certain entities to enforce regional lock-out (e.g., the region codes on DVDs). But again, this has nothing to do with copyright.

Re:Prohibited in Canada

[Anonamused Cow-herd]

You think that's bad? I live inside a giant lidless eye, rimmed with fire. Every page I visit just redirects to moving pictures of some people with bad teeth who really like tea.

Re:Prohibited in Canada

[TheoMurpse]

You think that's bad? I live in Japan. Every page I visit just redirects to a picture of a giant gaping cornhole, rimmed with hair. Looking at me.

I don't believe it....

[Anonymous Coward]

MTV plays music videos?

Re:I don't believe it....

[cashman73]

Umm, yeah,... looks like you missed yesterday's discussion.

Re:I don't believe it....

[Kenoli]

Sort of.

Re:I don't believe it....

[Alsee]

MTV plays music videos?

Yes, I've seen MTV play music videos.

MTV premiered with the Buggle's Video Killed The Radio Star. The cable remote control was a big box connected to the TV by a 15 foot wire, it had one button for each channel.

NOW GET OFF MY DAMN LAWN!

-

I think this is the no free advertising policy....

[TheNarrator]

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.

Good reason to forget MTV

[Progman3K]

And watch Youtube instead.
Any time you give corporations power, they try to take even more away from you.

Re:Good reason to forget MTV

[Wizard Drongo]

Yeah! Let's all go and use YouTube instead.
And whilst we're at it, let's stop using MSN and their associated M$ brands, 'cause they're an evil corporation too.

Let's use Gmail instead.

/ Hope Google aren't evil. Otherwise we're really screwed.

Re:Good reason to forget MTV

[Anonymous Coward]

Right, because youtube is not owned by a corporation...

Re:Good reason to forget MTV

[Valdrax]

You mean you weren't engaging in rather sharp and witty irony?
That's... kind of sad, actually.

Re:Good reason to forget MTV

[Progman3K]

It's not perfect but it's better than other alternatives so far.
What do you suggest?

Re:Good reason to forget MTV

[Valdrax]

Oh, there's aren't, really, but don't think you're escaping corporate America by going from one media company to another.

Re:Good reason to forget MTV

[steelfood]

If Youtube goes down the (no pun intended) tube, there are dozens of other media sites, not of which are all hosted in the US, that will offer what it refuses to offer.

That's the beauty of the internet. For a society whose core values number "freedom of expression," the internet explosion is an already-opened pandora's box. So long as people continue to value the ideal of "freedom of expression," nothing can be censored.

Unfortunately, there are already a few taboo things that can no longer safely unanonymously be talked about. It is already a crime to admit to thinking certain things. The two subjects I can immediately think of off the top of my head are terrorism and pedophilia. So much for freedom of expression.

Re:Good reason to forget MTV

[iminplaya]

And don't think you're escaping corporate America by going from the TV to the internet, even with P2P.

Re:Good reason to forget MTV

[LS]

Fuck Youtube - Unless they open up the site to ALL content, it's still a censored piece of shit. There are several types of content you can't post to youtube.

Re:Good reason to forget MTV

[clone53421]

You immediately thought of terrorism and pedophilia off the top of your head? Please hold, the FBI will be at your door in a few moments.

Best anti-privacy band names

[Andr T.]

The Who, The the
Damn clumsy search systems.

Re:Best anti-privacy band names

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget !!!

Re:Best anti-privacy band names

[lxs]

The Who hate my privacy?

Come to think of it, they always want to know who I am so they must at least hate anonymity.

Re:Best anti-privacy band names

[GuldKalle]

Don't forget about Bobby tables...

*bleep*

[KasperMeerts]

Why would *bleep* do this? It really disrupts the flow of the song.
Still, this doesn't look as one of *bleep*-*bleep*'s best so I'm not going to look the uncensored version up on *bleep*.
Good night everyone here on *bleep*...

More stupid censorship

[notaspy]

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.

Re:More stupid censorship

[Anonymous Coward]

You are missing out on a golden opportunity for fun.

Call up the station and complain, but don't complain about the censorship itself. Escalate the call has high as possible. Tell them you are insulted that they think "white boy" is some type of slur. Ask them what they have against white people - "or is it just white males?" Make sure you throw the word racist around a few times, especially if they try to justify the censorship. Demand they censor ALL racial or ethnic words in all their songs.

Sing a few bars:

"I think I'm turning BLEEP I think I'm turning BLEEP I really think so"
"I'm on a BLEEP radio. I'm a BLEEP, woah, radio"
"BLEEP and BLEEP live together in perfect harmony"
"The ink is BLEEP the page is BLEEP together we learn to read and write"

Also demand they edit band and album names
"And now Iron Man by BLEEP Sabbath."
"From the BLEEP album, The Unforgiven."

And as fun as I think this would be, I bet it would be effective, too.

Re:More stupid censorship

[palegray.net]

Yes. We live in a nation that takes no offense to the United Negro College Fund; why is the term "white boy" unacceptable in a song lyric?

I'm gonna lay down the boogie and play that funky music till I die, by the way.

Re:More stupid censorship

[Anonymous Coward]

"I think I'm turning BLEEP I think I'm turning BLEEP I really think so"

That one is kind of racist actually.

Re:More stupid censorship

[Toonol]

Yes, it would be just as stupid.

Re:More stupid censorship

[Darby]

A local radio station (northern NH) bleeps out the the words "white boy" after "Play that funky music...."

Wait, New Hampshire?!? "Live free or die"

If that station isn't burned to the ground tomorrow, shouldn't everyone there shoot themselves in the face in a fit of integrity?

Re:More stupid censorship

[skroops]

IMHO, white boy is offensive. It is a degrading term, much more so than the official "Honky", but it's much more acceptable also. Spanish variation "Blanco" is also degrading. I know that PC states that white people can't be offended by racism, but if you one day find yourself in the wrong place and someone randomly calls you white boy, prepare yourself for an ass-whooping, because its not meant to be friendly. Nevertheless, censorship is bad.

Re:More stupid censorship

[maxume]

I think just the ones working at the radio station.

Everyone else is free to ignore the fact that it exists.

Re:More stupid censorship

[stubob]

I like this game. Politically-correct songs.

"I see a Native American door and want it painted African American."

"Back in African American, I hit the sack. It's been too long and I'm glad to be back."

Re:More stupid censorship

[dthree]

Blurring out logos is not about political correctness, its all about business. A channel or show may have advertisers that don't take kindly to the display of competitors logos. Or, a company might not like the content of a show or video and don't want the presence of their logo to imply tacit approval.

MTV exercising reasonable caution

[heretic108]

If MTV left the names of the file-sharing programs intact in the song, they could theoretically be a target for a contributory liability suit.

Re:MTV exercising reasonable caution

[Workaphobia]

If I had points and you weren't already at 3 I'd mod you Funny. There are some fucked up theories about contributory liability that get tested in court, like that one recently about hyperlinking to a defamatory page. But I'm pretty sure that mentioning the name of programs that themselves are at worst indirectly responsible for infringement, is not itself illegal. Otherwise we'd be looking at some pretty scary transitivity.

And remember, the services are only illegal if they fall under the Grokster standard of "intent to encourage infringement." Er, yes, I guess Grokster is one of the programs named in the song.

Re:MTV exercising reasonable caution

[photomonkey]

Perhaps under the DMCA they are making available information about how to circumvent copy protection?

*farts loudly*

They've got the right idea..

[tomd123]

File sharing should totally be censored... songs about rape, one night stands, drugs, money bitches, hoes, sluts... etc is perfectly fine though.. Thank God for such brilliant minds.

Re:They've got the right idea..

[Drakonik]

Well, if the RIAA were the Rape Industry of America, they'd probably have more interest in censoring that.

Re:They've got the right idea..

[lilomar]

Wait, they aren't?

here

[unity100]

http://your-freedom.net/

MTV

[Ceiynt]

MTV still plays videos? When do they find the time between have sex with my parents and next and guess who's a hochie tonight and other crap?

When has MTV mattered after the 80's?

Re:MTV

[dgatwood]

Not MTV1. They just keep moving the actual videos up to higher-numbered channels to keep the costs down as the lower-numbered channels end up on more cable lineups. Last I checked, the videos are on MTV35 or something. :-D

Re:MTV

[Shikaku]

I'll wait for MTV3.11

Re:MTV

[clam666]

MTV became irrelevent when the VJs stopped doing drugs and started running commercials about drugs being bad.

When was that. '84?

Re:MTV

[Hillgiant]

That's why I get my videos on Google.

Re:I think this is the no free advertising policy.

[Kethinov]

Maybe, but it's also possible that MTV due to its close ties to the RIAA is strongly against the proliferation of p2p by any means. Assuming that this isn't in fact all one grand inside joke from Weird Al, it would be pretty consistent. Remember, this is the organization which spends millions of dollars on propaganda campaigns trying to stigmatize p2p, labeling it as piracy and such, trying to get it subconsciously associated pillaging cargo.

However, this moral campaign only gets as much traction as it does because people are ignorant and assume that artificial scarcity is the only business model capable of monetizing music. Seems to me, keeping people ignorant about competition (what programs do file sharing) is a lot like keeping people ignorant of alternative business models in general.

huh?

[adosch]

So when did MTV start playing music again? This is news to me. Guess it's never to late to revive yourself with Weird Al...

Re:I think this is the no free advertising policy.

[Kethinov]

It's also possible space aliens have infiltrated MTV studios and are doing this to encourage us to fight amongst ourselves prior to a planned invasion. So what?

Maybe just a hunch, but I think the scenario I proposed is just a bit more likely.

Please!

[PPH]

Don't bleep me, bro!

Re:I think this is the no free advertising policy.

[Cassius Corodes]

Maybe just a hunch, but I think the scenario I proposed is just a bit more likely.

Oh I don't know, those aliens can be very tricky.

Time for Geroge Carlin to update his routine?

[popmaker]

The 12 words you can't say on TV:
Shit, piss, tits, fuck, cocksucker, motherfucker, cunt, Morpheus, Grokster, Kazaa, Limewire and (*inhale*) bittorrent.

I can't wait for the "clean" version of the Matrix now.

Re:Time for Geroge Carlin to update his routine?

[syousef]

The 12 words you can't say on TV:
Shit, piss, tits, fuck, cocksucker, motherfucker, cunt, Morpheus, Grokster, Kazaa, Limewire and (*inhale*) bittorrent.

Damn! Samuel L. Jackson's going to be hitting that unemployment queue! The censored version of Pulp Fiction must be a silent movie!

Re:Time for Geroge Carlin to update his routine?

[Xentalion]

Actually, I saw a "clean" version of the Matrix in the US. They remove all of the swear words and references to god etc.

Re:Time for Geroge Carlin to update his routine?

[icsx]

Don't forget fart, turd, and twat!

Re:Time for Geroge Carlin to update his routine?

[Andr T.]

I've heard that Kevin Smith's movies are heavily affected already. Silent Bob was meant to be named "Cursing-bittorrent-downloading Bob".

Re:Time for Geroge Carlin to update his routine?

[jZnat]

It's too bad we'll have to hear his updated routine via a psychic. :(

Re:Time for Geroge Carlin to update his routine?

[dkleinsc]

2 problems:
1. You left out "semprini".
2. "Tits" doesn't even belong on the list. It sounds like a nickname.

Re:Time for Geroge Carlin to update his routine?

[rrohbeck]

As long as eMule and eDonkey are OK I can tolerate that.

Re:Time for Geroge Carlin to update his routine?

[mewshi_nya]

Really, It's All Available

Free Crap, C'mon!

Mighty Things, Verily.

Re:Time for Geroge Carlin to update his routine?

[iminplaya]

You forgot VH1

Re:Time for Geroge Carlin to update his routine?

[plasmacutter]

Actually, I saw a "clean" version of the Matrix in the US. They remove all of the swear words and references to god etc.

Excellent. Can they also remove references to "the matrix"?

I recall an excellent line by kevin murphy from rifftrax
morpheus: "as long as the matrix exists, humanity can never be free"
murphy: "you heard the man, everyone get your matrix dvd's and burn them immediately!"

Re:Time for Geroge Carlin to update his routine?

[elmartinos]

You just can't say these words on america tv/radio. I remember an interview here in Austria of some American singer that went something like this:

Singer: ... and he was really fucked up. Oh my god I said the f word!
Moderator: Ha, we can say here whatever we want. Fuck Shit fuck shit fuck fuck. Its really cool.
Singer: ffffucking awesome!

Re:Time for Geroge Carlin to update his routine?

[photomonkey]

Try watching Orgazmo on TBS sometime.

Re:eh?

[Ethanol-fueled]

MTV's bullshit censorship changes with the times. Back in the early-mid '90's, they'd censor the word "ass" and other lame stuff from Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg videos(remember how half the screen was blurred out for some reason or other?).

Now the shit they play could be construed as child porn in some states! It all went downhill for them after they stopped showing the Beavis and Butthead episode where they make a hairspray torch because some dumbass kid copycatted and done burned his house down.

Fuck MTV. I'd rather my kids watch Cinemax.

Bleep MTV

[jimbertling]

What more can I say?

Re:Cindy

[BobNET]

I dedicate this post to Cindy. I love you, baby.

Mr. McCain, shouldn't you be worrying about your Presidential campaign instead of wasting time on Slashdot?

What about "white n' nerdy"?

[nobodyman]

But doesn't he explicitly mention "MySpace" in White and Nerdy? Does that get bleeped out?

Re:eh?

[cayenne8]

"MTV's bullshit censorship changes with the times. Back in the early-mid '90's, they'd censor the word "ass" and other lame stuff from Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg videos(remember how half the screen was blurred out for some reason or other?)."

I dunno what to think. Radio has gotten bad too. I'm listening to the classic rock station (ok, I'm old, it wasn't 'classic' when I first heard this stuff). I was listening to Pink Floyd playing "Money". They bleeped out "do goody good bullshit". What the hell?

After that, they played a lame censored version of Jet Airliner, with the words "funky shit" changed to "funky Stuff". And on the song Who are You...the twice bleeped out the part where it says "Who the fuck are You?". That last one...is so buried in the song, you have to pretty much know when it is said.

When did all this start? I mean, I grew up listening to these songs...and for nearly 30 years, they happily played these songs without editing them. Why start now all of a sudden?

I thought society was getting more permissive....yet NOW they start to censor classic songs that have been perfectly fine to play on radio?

Lord...I used to think it was funny when I could get a DJ to play the Stones song "Star Star"...but, c'mon...the other stuff was always played normally.

What happened?

What kind Al fan wrote this?

[vstat]

Everyone knows the line goes Morpheus, Grokster, Limewire and Kazaa. Jeez, if you're gonna quote the song, get it right!

Re:What kind Al fan wrote this?

[clone53421]

OP only listened to the bleeped out version. ;)

frsit fail

[Anonymous Coward]

There, fixed that for you ;)

Harry Enfield (UK comedian) nailed this in 1990

[blagger99]

Harry Enfield's Television Programme was an hilarious comedy sketch show in the UK. One of the greatest sketches (IMHO) he did was "Specially Ruined For Television" featuring a scene from a gangster movie like Scarface in which almost every single word was bleeped out. Now whenever I see "edited for content", or hear "ass" bleeped out in a great movie on network TV, I think oh yes, specially ruined for television.

Re:eh?

[QRDeNameland]

Do they bleep "you make a dead man come" from "Start Me Up" as well?

Um.. it's MTV.

[drunkennewfiemidget]

I'm moderately sure anyone still watching MTV is at more of a risk of shitting themselves than working a computer.

Re:I think this is the no free advertising policy.

[bill_mcgonigle]

Heh, I want to see them play REM's "Orange Crush" video, just for laughs.

MTV Still Has Videos? Drawing the line...

[Proudrooster]

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.

Re:MTV Still Has Videos? Drawing the line...

[plasmacutter]

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.

I'm just double checking, you were talking about cspan here right?

Re:MTV Still Has Videos? Drawing the line...

[Dirtside]

Don't be naive; they block what they think they have to to avoid shitstorms from the FCC. They'll show everything else. It's not like MTV was wandering out in the woods and whilst contemplating nature came up with a moral line. It's strictly what they (and, I must confess, we -- I work for an MTVN subsidiary) won't get shit for.

Re:eh?

[nabsltd]

Usually, they just fade the song out before that line, since it's so close to the end.

But, yes, it's censored. ISTR that the Stones sang that song at the Super Bowl halftime and that line was bleeped or muted.

MTV Get Off the Air!

[megamerican]

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

Re:MTV Get Off the Air!

[mewshi_nya]

Damn! You beat me to it!!

BUt, yeah...

Jello Biafra had it right. MTV, get off the fucking air!!!

Re:MTV Get Off the Air!

[mcvos]

Man, that's some good writing! Loved the song, but I've never seen those lyrics written out like that. And it's still true too.

Re:MTV Get Off the Air!

[theaveng]

>>>M.T.V. Get off the air; And so it was; Our beloved corporate gods; Claimed they created music video.

What's a music video?
I don't think I've ever
seen one of those on MTV.

(shrug)

(surfs over to youtube for some mindless vegetating)

Re:MTV Get Off the Air!

[theaveng]

No not really. MTV doesn't show music videos anymore. And almost-all the "video jockies" were laid off.

Re:MTV Get Off the Air!

[j00r0m4nc3r]

And MTV owns Harmonix. All you kids buying Rock Band and related DLC are shoveling money straight into their coffers.

Re:MTV Get Off the Air!

[elrous0]

You've inspired me to turn off MTV, and also to lynch my landlord.

Re:MTV Get Off the Air!

[Obfuscant]

The only time MTV (and VH1) show music videos anymore is very early in the morning. It's really annoying. I wake up at 7AM after falling asleep watching bi's compete to french some nutcase or has-been real-worlders fighting about who's the toughest or crying about who doesn't like who, really compelling television drama, and all I see is stupid music.

Damn, if you want a stupid music video channel, why not create one instead of buying time on MTV?

I love Martha Quinn. If you are listening, will you marry me?

Re:MTV Get Off the Air!

[dwye]

> And MTV owns Harmonix. All you kids buying Rock Band and
> related DLC are shoveling money straight into their coffers.

And you think that will *dissuade* them?

Re:MTV Get Off the Air!

[elrous0]

I'll deal with them just as soon as I get back from Cambodia.

Re:MTV Get Off the Air!

[khellendros1984]

So, because MTV (the channel) is crap, I should have a problem with supporting a product that I think they've done *right*?

MTV and the RIAA policy

[icedcool]

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers. "

I actually am more interested in whats bleeped out than the rest of the song. It's like the kid that finds out the bad word, and repeats it like crazy. Or when children learn another language the first thing they want to learn is the "bad" words.

We always test and want to push through our boundaries.

Re:MTV and the RIAA policy

[Thing 1]

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."

It's funny, I was thinking this line just this past weekend when I heard the news about the US attack in Syria. It's strange, we keep blowing people up and then keep wondering "why do people want to blow us up?"

As long as we get the oil, or something, record profits for Exxon and Chevron mean our economy is in good shape! :(

Oh, and MTV sucks, I haven't paid it any attention in years. Used to like watching the music videos but they don't seem to do that any more.

Re:eh?

[Sen.NullProcPntr]

I dunno what to think. Radio has gotten bad too. I'm listening to the classic rock station (ok, I'm old, it wasn't 'classic' when I first heard this stuff). I was listening to Pink Floyd playing "Money". They bleeped out "do goody good bullshit". What the hell?

At least broadcast radio has an excuse - FCC.

There are many opinions as to why the FCC is cracking down today. Mostly involving a web site and soccer moms.

Back in the 80's radio could play anything, in the Boston area the UHF TV stations played uncut R rated movies for a while. The college radio stations would even play The Ballad of Jerry Curlan!

Not sure what the problem is with MTV, the FCC doesn't have the same control over cable.

Re:What Happened...

[Chordonblue]

Howard Stern, Janet Jackson, and hardcore rap happened. The rest was all the FCC actually enforcing the pre-existing rules.

Too late, they realize...

[Chordonblue]

You know, promoting music that encourages people to break the law might also encourage them to download music. After all, those 'rap guys' are always stealing shit, and downloading music isn't exactly breaking into a store and grabbing all the CD's you can before the cops get there, right?

I think the record industry may be figuring out that all that moral ambiguity they promoted in the past is now going to bite them in the ass - big time.

See, to paraphrase the great Reverend Wright... The chickens... Have come home... To ROOST! :)

Re:Too late, they realize...

[iminplaya]

...to paraphrase the great Reverend Wright...

God damn the RIAA!

Can't visit the site

[SoundGuyNoise]

I think it's been *BLEEP*dotted.

Didn't RTFA but

[The Bungi]

I noticed this yesterday. Is it new? Well, I don't know if that Weird Al video is up there, but they have a few good oldies I hadn't seen in a while.

Of course the "Most Watched" on there seems to be a Britney Spears fluff piece and the "Most Rated" is RickRoll, but whatever.

Re:Cindy

[RulerOf]

Mr. McCain, shouldn't you be worrying about your Presidential campaign instead of wasting time on Slashdot?

If McCain wasted his time on Slashdot, I'd vote for him.

Weird Al

[bb84]

Weird Al get mentioned on here fairly regularly. I like that. I guess we really are nerds...

What MTV uses censorships?

[Orion Blastar]

MTV will not bleep out swear words in Gansta Rap videos, but they will bleep out the names of popular file sharing applications?

Ok now we know that the MAAFIA (RIAA/MPAA) is in bed with MTV and Time/Warner/AOL/Turner House of Pancakes running MTV are looney ultra-left-wing Liberals working for Hollywood and Record Companies who bribe them to play the same 12 videos over and over again each day to promote their sales.

Kids today are smart, all they need do is use Google with the words "file sharing programs" and they'll get millions of hits and find out not only the names of file sharing programs, but also how to download and install them and even poke a hole in Windows Firewall to get faster downloads.

"Weird" Al Yankovic was making fun of the MAAFIA in his "Don't Download This Song" video because of their totalitarian tactics of suing everyone that are fans of the music and videos. In fact, "Weird" Al Yankovic got even more popular when pirates downloaded his MP3 files and then went out to buy the "Straight Out Of Lindwood" CD that also doubles on the back as a DVD full of videos because "Weird" Al knows that pirates love to try before they buy, so they don't buy a CD for $35 only to find out when they get home to play it that most of the song suck and they only like 1 or 2 of the songs on the whole CD. That is why, unlike Metalica and Prince, "Wierd" Al doesn't sue his fans for downloading his songs in MP3 format, because he knows most of them will go out and buy his CD because "Weird" Al is too white and nerdy like his fans and is computer savvy enough to know that piracy actually helps him become more popular and sell more CDs, and more concert tickets.

Re:What MTV uses censorships?

[TwoScoopsOfPig]

"Turner House of Pancakes" Love it. Phrasejacked.
That is all.

Re:What MTV uses censorships?

[plasmacutter]

and Time/Warner/AOL/Turner House of Pancakes running MTV are looney ultra-left-wing Liberals working for Hollywood and Record Companies who bribe them to play the same 12 videos over and over again each day to promote their sales

please stop using a legitimate political outlook as an epithet.

Every "liberal" i've seen worth his salt has been anti-big-business and anti-authoritarian.
The extreme of this is the canadian NDP, which advocates fully legal filesharing and legalized marijuana.

Re:What MTV uses censorships?

[Darby]

Ok now we know that the MAAFIA (RIAA/MPAA) is in bed with MTV and Time/Warner/AOL/Turner House of Pancakes running MTV are looney ultra-left-wing Liberals working for Hollywood and Record Companies who bribe them to play the same 12 videos over and over again each day to promote their sales.

No, that would be the far right wing. Not at all left wing, certainly not "ultra" and not at all "Liberal".
That's straight up Fascist bullshit like Reagan and Hitler.
Still big government, but way the fuck over to the other side of that.

You're noticing the relatively trivial fact that those corporations own the Democratic party in particular as opposed to the Republican party while ignoring the important fact that corporations own your government. That's Fascism.

Pull your head out of your ass and learn to think, not just repeat shit you heard the guy raping your ass say.

Re:What MTV uses censorships?

[Anonymous Coward]

But...repeat shitting is the only way I can get revenge on the guy raping my ass!

Re:What MTV uses censorships?

[clone53421]

please stop using a legitimate political outlook as an epithet.

Are you talking about "liberals" or "ultra-left-wing liberals"? Because I'm willing to concede a few decent liberals, but some of the ultra-left-wing ones are definitely loony (as are some ultra-right-wing conservatives).

Re:What MTV uses censorships?

[Orion Blastar]

Yeah there are a few decent liberals who aren't like I describe. They are "Classic Liberals" and more to the center than the far left. The Liberals in change of the Democratic Party, Hollywood, RIAA, MPAA, Recording Studios, Newspapers, Blogs (Moveone.org) are Ultra-Left-Wing Liberals that are more like Communists or Anarchists protending to be Liberals or Neo-Liberals.

I and others wrote about them here, and I apologize to the real Liberals who are not like the fake Liberals.

Re:What MTV uses censorships?

[Orion Blastar]

Actually it is not Fascist but Communist, Ultra-Left-Wing tactics as outlined here by me and many others to show how Liberals like Neocons can be dictators, just Communists instead of Fascists. Liberal Fascism is the nickname for Communism and Anarchism mixed together. Those people are not even real Liberals but Neo-Liberals. Keynesian economics was loosely based on Marxism, don't you know?

Right now, Haliburton runs the USA, Dick Cheney's company, George W. Bush is his puppet and does not own Haliburton stock. But since Haliburtion gets all of the rights to Iraq's and Afghanistan's oil, it caused other oil companies to profit as well as the price of oil is rigged by speculators and oil companies and OPEC manipulated by Haliburton.

Nobody rapes me, if they try they get broken bones and bruises, I am a Space Pirate Ninja and know several forms of martial arts and am a sharpshooter with guns as well.

I am a Moderate Libertarian like most of the people in the USA, you Liberals and Neocons are in the minority.

Re:What MTV uses censorships?

[Orion Blastar]

Sorry that should have been Moveon.org and not Moveone.org, Moveon.org is the Ultra-Left-Wing Liberal propaganda hate and fear machine.

Re:What MTV uses censorships?

[plasmacutter]

uuh.. I think you need to recenter your views here (please humor me).

First off, hollywood and the MAFIAA are not liberals, they're reactionaries or corporatists. They are pretty far to the authoritiarian right. For reference, please see this political compass

Along this compass, newspapers are slightly within the authoritarian side (they are run by large corporations after all), with fox news on the far right, most of the others clustered in the center, and BBC and CBC on the left.

Slashdot, dailykos, moveon, the NDP, and the ACLU would be placed along a range in the libertarian-left quadrant. (moveon, the ACLU, and the EFF are public advocacy groups. Unlike the news, when they sound the alarm the threat is quite real. When they lose the government gains power it shouldn't have, even if cases of abuse of that power are rare)

Radical Communist Left would be the people's republic of china and the castro administration. The only real difference between this and Radical Authoritarian Right (fascism) is who owns the companies. With Communism, the state runs the companies centrally, while fascist regimes are in bed with CEO's, and allow them to run amok.

So far as american politics is concerned, both parties play the public off one another, making them too busy to see how rigged the system is to prevent parties which truly serve the people from arising. Republicans do the scaremongering, democrats have picked up a new gig dispensing "hope", and the bad policies ratchet with every passing election cycle.
(The FEC and the committee overseeing debates are good examples.. equal number republicans and democrats, nader and others never make it into the debates)

From my analysis, corporate conglomerates control enough resources and market power now to rival the power of governments. This is why I don't buy it when ultra-right libertarians and republicans claim the government should just leave them alone. The ideal system would set corporations and governments against one another (smart regulation tied with partial socialization) and toss them in a closet where their thrashing can't hurt the public.

Re:What MTV uses censorships?

[Orion Blastar]

But the MAAFIA pay politicians via campaign contributions like Al Gore, Tipper Gore, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton to pass the DMCA and Tipper Gore put warning labels on certain music CDs and video games.

Re:What MTV uses censorships?

[plasmacutter]

But the MAAFIA pay politicians via campaign contributions like Al Gore, Tipper Gore, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton to pass the DMCA and Tipper Gore put warning labels on certain music CDs and video games.

And they also pay campaign contributions to orrin hatch, ted stevens, sensenbrenner, bush, cheney.

They feed both sides through the same trough.

I'm very surprised you didn't mention feinstein.

Re:eh?

[jollyreaper]

MTV's bullshit censorship changes with the times. Back in the early-mid '90's, they'd censor the word "ass" and other lame stuff from Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg videos(remember how half the screen was blurred out for some reason or other?).

If only they could have blurred out the other half of the screen and bleeped the rest of the song. Or how about playing some rock? There's already BET for rap and hip-hop.

Re:eh?

[MightyMartian]

MTV playing music? Wow. I'm impressed.

Re:I think this is the no free advertising policy.

[minvaren]

They used to, back when 120 minutes existed...

Re:I think this is the no free advertising policy.

[mewshi_nya]

You damn fool! He *is* an alien!!!

power monopolies

[nephridium]

Even if they (and by that I mean any corporation or institution) are not evil, what makes you think they will not turn evil some time in the future (after you have given them all your data)?

Power structures need supervision in order so not turn evil. Power monopolies tend to get rid of any checks that were initially imposed on them and over the long run there is not much there to keep them from putting their goals before the goals of others. As long as these goals don't diverge too much there's no apparent problem, but in time that will change and then have a guess who can exert more power to attain their goals.

Re:eh?

[Weaselmancer]

Exactly what I came in here to say. I thought they gave up playing videos and became the Jackass channel sometime in the mid-90's.

Re:I think this is the no free advertising policy.

[bill_mcgonigle]

Good call. Good memory too!

"I've got my spine, I've got my <<<BLEEEEEP>>>"!

-REDACTED-
R.E.M.
Green
1988
Warner Brothers

Re:eh?

[flewp]

Radio has censored the words fuck and shit as long as I can remember (I'm 27). Ass was sometimes questionable - that is to say, asshole seemed to be censored, whereas just plain "ass" seemed to pose no problem. Sort of the same thing with damn. "God damn" seemed to be censored, but just "damn" by itself seemed to be okay.

Re:eh?

[flewp]

Huh? Wasn't it the FCC who fined the network (I forget which it was) that aired the Janet Jackson nipple slip?

The Dead Kennedy's "Get Off The Air" @Youtube

[mr_stinky_britches]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCUjMWh1Q98

Re:eh?

[AmberBlackCat]

In the 90's, KPRS decided to take a stand against negative music by refusing to play certain songs. Every night they had a countdown in which they would play the most requested songs of the day. The problem was the number one song on their countdown was Snoop Dogg's 'Gin & Juice' which was one of the songs they were protesting. So they played the rest of the songs and just stated the name of the number 1 song. It seemed like a good thing at the time but I have to wonder about a radio station that bans its most requested song.

Re:eh?

[veganboyjosh]

What's to wonder about? You stayed tuned in all the way to number one, didn't you? To see if they played it? Seems to me like not playing the song would get more people talking about and listening to their broadcast.
Here it is 10 or so years later and you're still talking about it.

Re:eh?

[mabhatter654]

yes, Viacom is parent of CBS and MTV. The FCC has been trying to regulate Cable for a while and MTV has been the prime target, they cave on censoring to keep the FCC from actually having grounds to get permission.

I want my...

[Alsee]

I want my P2P!

-

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this

[SL Baur]

I viewed this video on *BLEEP* core 9 with *BLEEP* 9.61,running *BLEEP* 2.6.25 and did not hear anything bleeped.

It just plain does not work or somebody is lying.

Re:eh?

[shawb]

I think I've even heard it as *bleep* damn.

Cheap bastard

[Workaphobia]

Curiously enough, the word "bastard" appears at the end of the song:

Don't download this song
Or you'll burn in Hell before too long (and you deserve it)
Go and by the CD (just buy it)
like you know that you should (you cheap bastard!) ...

It's too faint to really hear in the MTV version, although you can just make it out on youtube. Would they have censored that on television if it was in the main part of the song?

does it guard against wardrobe malfunctions?

[SL Baur]

ISTR that the Stones sang that song at the Super Bowl halftime and that line was bleeped or muted.

There was also the example of The Doors on Ed Sullivan (which was a live show) doing "Light My Fire". They were asked to blur the line "we couldn't much higher" (but did not - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080605152935AAplqas ).

Presumably The Doors "incident" is part of what they are trying to protect against.

What I want to know is, does this Microsoft patent guard against "wardrobe malfunctions" in video? If so, there may be prior art against that. Much of the Philippine videos I've seen routinely pixelates the bosom area of women.

Re:eh?

[halcyon1234]

I remember hearing "bullshit" in money all the time. I also heard "those paranoid little fuckers" in The Headstone's "Cubically Contained". Now I only hear it sometimes. The censorship is bizarrely randomized.

The three that currently have me baffled are:

Tool "The Pot": They don't censor "Fucking hypocrite". But the do for some reason censor "Foot in mouth and head up ass, so whatcha talking bout?" I mean, maybe, just maybe, "ass, so" can be heard as "asshole". But the official lyrics disagree. And what about the whole fucking thing?

Green Day, "American Idiot": They bleep the "fag" in "Well maybe I'm the faggot America. I'm not a part of a redneck agenda". Maybe someone would go "omg I was called a fag!"-- overlooking the ironic use of the word. It's especially bizaire because of:

Green Day, "Holiday": Where they don't bleep the line where the Representative from California gleefully states "Kill all the fags that don't agree". Though the did see fit to bleep the first two words of the speech, "Zieg Heil to the President Gasman".

So in conclusion, it's okay to swear, unless you just sound like you're swearing, in which case its bad. And it's sometimes okay to call people fags, but if you do, then you can't call them Hitler too.

If there was ever a time to say it, now is the time: What the fuck?

STFU

[fireheadca]

Eventually, this is where all roads will lead to. Hear what they want you to hear. --- What's that, I didn't hear you? Shut the fuck up! Come on a little louder Shut the fuck up! Everybody N 2 Gether now Shut the fuck up! What? What?

Re:I think this is the no free advertising policy.

[renimar]

Then to be fair, they should bleep out commercials, too.

Re:eh?

[multisync]

They don't censor "Fucking hypocrite". But the do for some reason censor "Foot in mouth and head up ass, so whatcha talking bout?"

I don't know where you live, but in Canada, they'll let fuck go as long as it isn't used in a sexual manner. So "Who the fuck are you?" is okay, but "I wanna fuck you like an animal" gets bleeped. Maybe "head up ass" is being taken as a sexual reference.

American Idiot and Holiday were both censored on commercial radio here; strange that you heard 'fag' in one but not the other. Maybe someone let the wrong version in to the library at the radio station.

Re:eh?

[mcvos]

I don't know where you live, but in Canada, they'll let fuck go as long as it isn't used in a sexual manner.

On Dutch TV and radio you can say whatever you like, as long as it isn't the name of a commercial product outside of a commercial break.

I'm only very slightly kidding here. They're more lenient about it now, but in the late '80s, brand names had to be (and were) bleeped out. And whenever someone accidentally mentioned a brand name on live TV, he quickly had to name all competing brands, or the station would be fined. (Some people still do that occasionally.)

That's quite a different standard than the US, I imagine.

Re:eh?

[Darby]

The college radio stations would even play The Ballad of Jerry Curlan

Ahhh, I love that song. I was like 12 when I first heard it. "Sleeps with midgets, drives a Ferrari and sucks assholes"
You gotta love the Angry Samoans ;-)

And no, I didn't click the link. No flash on the computer I'm on.

Re:eh?

[mcvos]

Exactly what I came in here to say. I thought they gave up playing videos and became the Jackass channel sometime in the mid-90's.

That was 10 years ago. In the meantime they've changed into the dating show channel.

Re:eh?

[Zontar The Mindless]

Whether they wear a turbine,...

I for one WELCOME our new engine-part-clad overlords!

PS Perhaps you were referring to this slightly more conventional bit of headgear?

Re:eh?

[iwein]

The times they are a'changing on slashdot too I see. Since when did quoting a song *on topic* become trolling?

Re:eh?

[Kokuyo]

That's today's paradox for you... while personal freedom is toted at every corner and we can see half naked girls walking around in public thinking they're dressed (and I'm 27 not 67, mind you), we're actually censoring more than we used to.

I remember in the late 80s, early 90s there were actual boobs in comedy shows/movies. Remember Benny Hill and all the scantily clad women? You don't see that nowadays but in its place we have talk shows where people ridicule themselves to no end.

So basically, having FUN with sex is frowned upon, but being extreme about it sells.

I dunno... I don't get it either.

Re:eh?

[mrchaotica]

That's nothing! I've heard them take out the entire line "making love in the green grass" from the song "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison! They dubbed over it with "Laughin and a-runnin, hey hey" from the previous verse.

Since when was "making love" a dirty word?!

One Word At A Time

[gsslay]

This is a step in the right direction. But, please, let's not stop there. With a little more effort we can remove the scourge of "Weird" Al's lame parody songs from our airwaves. Even if it means bleeping out a word at a time, it's still worth doing.

Re:eh?

[Archon-X]

One of the best things about living in australia was that the nation-wide alternative radio station was completely uncensored - so you'd hear everything from 'goddamn' to 'cunt'.

The cussing was not so much as exciting as the fact that it's a government owned / sponsored network [ABC Australia]...

Re:eh?

[Daengbo]

Since Match Game made it "making whoopie" in the 70s. ;)

Re:eh?

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

What happened?

Other people's outrage.

Re:I think this is the no free advertising policy.

[Schadrach]

They also bleeped the words "children" and "ratings" from the song "The Nobodies" by Marilyn Manson.

Re:eh?

[daem0n1x]

There is a music channel for Latin countries called Sol MÃsica. Years ago, when the Lenny Kravitz song "Fly away" was a hit, the clip showed all the time on TV. There was a girl in the clip showing her boobs. In Sol MÃsica we could see the boobies, but on MTV they were blurred.

What's the problem with boobies? Here in Europe, it's not such a big deal. We have statues of naked men and women in every square. You can see full frontal nudes in most European films. It's just naked people. Not that big of a problem. And I like boobies ;-)

Re:I think this is the no free advertising policy.

[bentcd]

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

More likely it's part of the general policy to not allow trademarks to be shown or spoken unless the trademark owner has paid his protection money.

my gosh

[circletimessquare]

if you are learning about filesharing (ancient concept)

in its defunct formats (morpheus? limewire? are we going to learn about doom? microsoft bob?)

from MTV (dead network)

on a music video (dead form of art)

by wierd al yankovic (is he still alive?)

you are really really off the map, on some deserted island or in prisoner camp

Re:eh?

[Monsieur Canard]

Back in the 80's radio could play anything, in the Boston area the UHF TV stations played uncut R rated movies for a while.

Ah yes, WSBK. They're motto at the time could have been "All Three Stooges, All The Time." Good times. Good times.

I remember seeing "The Deer Hunter" uncut on that channel. Great googly-moogly but did that freak me out. Almost as bad as "Scared Straight."

Re:eh?

[7 digits]

> I was listening to Pink Floyd playing "Money". They bleeped out "do goody good bullshit".

I bet they don't censor the cash register sound...

Re:eh?

[gnud]

I suspect that because of the individualist, permissive society, very vocal asshats get more media attention. And big companies don't want to get yelled at by vocal asshats.

Re:eh?

[multisync]

That's quite a different standard than the US, I imagine.

Quite. US television and movies are full of "product placements," which are really just commercials I suppose. Was the idea behind bleeping out brand names on Dutch TV to avoid diluting the brand value of the names?

Are you sure it's MTV's fault?

[camg188]

Has it been confirmed that MTV did the bleeping?
I don't know how videos get distributed, but it could have been the artist or label that censored it or even some legal reason that forced MTV to do it.

Applying censorship...

[Quantos]

Censorship has quite a few rules that all differ by culture and law in any country. Where the problem lies with censorship is that even though there are hard and fast rules for applying it - in most cases, it comes down to the Censors interpretation of those rules, and the specific cultural time frame.

Re:eh?

[mcvos]

That's quite a different standard than the US, I imagine.

Quite. US television and movies are full of "product placements," which are really just commercials I suppose. Was the idea behind bleeping out brand names on Dutch TV to avoid diluting the brand value of the names?

No, it was to prevent, well, product placement, I suppose. The idea was that companies might want to offer TV stations money if they mentioned their product in a positive way, and apparently we can't have that. Commercials need to be clearly labeled as such, or something.

Nowadays sponsoring of TV shows is pretty common on commercial TV, but it's still explicitly mentioned that it's sponsoring.

Re:eh?

[R2.0]

"What happened?"

The Baby Boomers, who simultaneously led the way for greater freedoms for youth and acted like spoiled children, had children. They looked back on their youth and, while having "no regrets", still didn't want their kids to do what they did. ESPECIALLY the sex part - a girl in the sixties may have burned her bra and fucked in the mud at Woodstock, but subconsciously she viewed herself negatively and wants to "protect" her daughters.

I worked with a woman who was pregnant, and one time she confessed to me that she was having a real ethical crisis. She had partied - hard - in her youth. Coke, meth, sex, whatever. And she enjoyed it, and didn't have any negative consequences. So how was she supposed to tell her little darling not to do the things she did, when she has no regrets?

Here we go

[dgagley]

Welcome to the new United Socialist States of America. Its happening more and more on all fronts. Now that the Govt. has an ownership in private banks the media and your mind are next. :) :0

Re:eh?

[ravrazor]

What really _should_ be censored is any reference to Slashdot posters' taste in music from this article...I really don't need to see the lyrics to horrible songs typed out as a post, then getting moderated "+5 Insightful" to give me any more reminders of how badly socially adjusted so many people on this site are.

Re:I think this is the no free advertising policy.

[Thing 1]

Seems to me, keeping people ignorant about competition (what programs do file sharing) is a lot like keeping people ignorant of alternative business models in general.

Well, you know, there's some truth to this.

I did not start playing around with Napster until Metallica spoke out against them; then, I wondered what all the fuss was and checked it out.

So there may be something to this; I know I was not the only one who was similarly influenced by Lars.

Re:eh?

[sorak]

MTV playing music? Wow. I'm impressed.

No, this was from an episode of "The hills" where one of the girls was watching a more entertaining channel.

I don't even see that

[pjt33]

It seems to be slashdotted now.

Re:I don't even see that

[Hal_Porter]

Maybe you're in New Zealand and .au sites are blocked.

Re:eh?

[UncleTogie]

What really _should_ be censored is any reference to Slashdot posters' taste in music from this article...I really don't need to see the lyrics to horrible songs typed out as a post, then getting moderated "+5 Insightful" to give me any more reminders of how badly socially adjusted so many people on this site are.

...and you managed to (unconciously?) hit on the problem....

"I don't like it, so it must be censored! Only the maladjusted listen to it!"

...I wonder what you'd say about my collection of Tibetan throat-singing mp3s...

All I can say is... thank god for the internet!

[clone53421]

http://www.lyricstop.com/d/dontdownloadthissong-weirdalyankovic.html

Re:eh?

[Theoboley]

NoNoNo... You're Thinking VH1 and all their (Insert stupid phrase) Of Love here shows.

Re:Cindy

[Theoboley]

Sounds like the KIA motors commercials up here... Bill Clinton calls the Mccain residence at 2 am looking for Cindy... then Sarah Palin.

The commercials get me sick, only because theyre on 732 times a day, and yes I counted.

Re:eh?

[Beardo the Bearded]

It just means they don't like the Stones, that's all.

Kids with mod points. What is the metaverse coming to?

Re:eh?

[cb8100]

they played a lame censored version of Jet Airliner, with the words "funky shit" changed to "funky Stuff"

There's a radio edit of that song with the line changed to 'funky kicks.' As far as I know, Miller recorded it that way.

What's surprising is that when Money for Nothing came out, MTV did not censor the part about the 'little faggot with the earring and the makeup' which did create quite a stir

Re:eh?

[mcvos]

NoNoNo... You're Thinking VH1 and all their (Insert stupid phrase) Of Love here shows.

I thought VH1 made all those "Top X craziest celebrity Ys" documentaries with a bunch of idiots commenting in what ways celebrities are even more stupid than they are.

Re:eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Chris: BOOBIES!

Re:More stupid censorship - MTV Response

[notaspy]

In a followup story, MTV recently announced that all adjectives and proper nouns will be redacted from songs. As said by an MTV spokesman, "In our -bleeeep- society, we must protect ourselves from -bleeeep- lawsuits. This is a -bleeeep- concept which will, no doubt, -bleeep- -bleeeep- and -bleeep-."

Uhhmm, there's a logic problem here..

[phrackwulf]

After hearing Al's song, wouldn't it occur to his not so innocent audience that by typing in "file sharing sites" in google, they would then be taken to the current sites like the pirate bay where you can download to your hearts content? Really the only way to keep our youth safe is to blacken the entire screen and remove the sound too, actually. Hence the tremendous stupidity of censorship. The video is kind of a "how to" actually.

Re:eh?

[Torinaga-Sama]

Not to defend the people who brought us The Real World and The Hills (the sense of disgust I feel even have typed the name of that show is so gorss and profound that I have thought of killing myself, but that would probably make the news which would bring more publicity to that show, which would bring forth the further decline of western civilization, honestly I am doing you all a favor by staying alive), but don't they censor most business names? Or at least censor business names that aren't paying for the right to have their name aired on MTV, or might sue MTV if they don't like the way their name is being used.

Goodness knows for a long time I was never sure what sort of bathroom Humpty Hump got busy in until I head the the uncensored version and realized he was saying "Burger King".

Re:eh?

[Theoboley]

lol Truth. Those shows get me sick. Its like they're throwing it in my face that i'm poor... /end emo moment.

Re:eh?

[couchslug]

"The Baby Boomers, who simultaneously led the way for greater freedoms for youth and acted like spoiled children, had children. "

Only a relative few of the Boomers were serious party monsters, some were sympathetic, and most didn't do shit. The rest were destined to become the standard fearful conformist and this is not a surprise.

"I worked with a woman who was pregnant, and one time she confessed to me that she was having a real ethical crisis. She had partied - hard - in her youth. Coke, meth, sex, whatever. And she enjoyed it, and didn't have any negative consequences. So how was she supposed to tell her little darling not to do the things she did, when she has no regrets?"

MANY Boomers didn't have negative or severe negative consequences and had a delightful time. When you don't have negative consequence from chemical recreation and fucking, there is every reason to remember those times with happy nostalgia, so we do.

Re:I think this is the no free advertising policy.

[clone53421]

I think this is the no free advertising policy

Notice the word "free".

Is MTV still relevant?

[roc97007]

Seriously, I wasn't aware that MTV still showed music videos. Last several times I tried to watch them -- admittedly a few years ago -- it was always some badly acted soap opera.

But given that they still do, why would anyone watch MTV when we can get music videos on demand from YouTube?

Re:Is MTV still relevant?

[photomonkey]

My sentiments exactly. I'm posting rather than modding because I'm out of points.

The whole concept of sitting down in front of a TV to passively surf it (as opposed to taking in a few actively sought programs) seems so dated now.

For me, it's either a live sporting event (and that's increasingly rare), off the DVR or on the Web.

I just can't sit down and "watch TV" anymore.

Re:Is MTV still relevant?

[roc97007]

> I just can't sit down and "watch TV" anymore.

That's it! That's exactly it. This has been boiling around in the back of my mind for some time -- the shift from passive watching-whatever-they-choose-to-show-me to a more aggressive approach -- if I'm going to sit and watch the damned thing, I'll watch what I want, when I want it, and with no damned commercials. Often I have a browser up on the big screen, watching streaming video that I have chosen to watch.

Breaking free of passive dependence on commercial TV is not easy at first, but the rewards are well worth it -- the quality of what you watch improves, you can watch a show in approximately 25% less time (sans commercials), and once you decide to cut out the dreck, you end up with a remarkable amount of free time for other activities. Who knows, you may even occasionally look up and notice the rest of the family.

Re:Is MTV still relevant?

[photomonkey]

I don't even mind the commercials. Well, the concept of the commercials, anyway.

The problem is that I don't need to see a commercial for Taco Bell at EVERY intermission.

I don't have the requisite anatomy to menstruate, so I don't buy tampons or PMS medication.

The fact that commercials are broadcast orders of magnitude louder than the program bothers me immensely.

If they showed commercials for shit I'd actually buy/consume, I'd mind watching them a lot less.

But even fast-forwarding through them on my DVR still gives me a brand impression. I know it's Budweiser, Ford or Victoria's Secret.

This is where advertising innovation comes in. Give me a set-top cable box that knows my rough demographics, allows me to watch programs on-demand and with more limited commercial interruption and that displays ads geared for me.

I would expect to pay a reduced fee (premium tiers should be available to skip commercials altogether) in exchange for the company being able to offer much more precise ads. To get the cheaper rate, I would also be more than happy to fill out quarterly or semi-annually a questionnaire that takes up to 15 minutes to complete so long as my NAME is never released, but my demography and a unique "ad member" number is fine.

Re:eh?

[R2.0]

"MANY Boomers didn't have negative or severe negative consequences and had a delightful time. When you don't have negative consequence from chemical recreation and fucking, there is every reason to remember those times with happy nostalgia, so we do."

More power to you. But do you have kids? Have you told them what a great time you had, and you strongly recommend it?

Re:eh?

[skuzzlebutt]

Oh, that just makes me ill...but, it sounds accurate, which rocks my sick-feeling up from "ate a day-old meef quesarito" to "doing double shots of Drano and warm hobo snot on the Gravitron".

...because the FCC is chartered to not only protect the young'ns, but also to to ensure the wealthy <BEEP>-fearing voters aren't offended or have to hear any kind of dissenting opinions.

Re:eh?

[skuzzlebutt]

He was just describing Osama Bin Learjet, the cybernetic post-911 supervillain in the upcoming "Ironman II: WTF?". Haven't you heard...?

Re:eh?

[skuzzlebutt]

Well, to a point...it may be a clever ("clever" here used sparingly) short-term ploy, but long-term you polarize your listening base: pro-censorship people will listen as much as they used to, and the rest will be turned off and route around the entertainment "damage area" you've created.

After spending years saying I'd never pay for radio, and after getting really, really burned out on songs being bleeped, long, annoying commercials, and limited playlists, I eventually broke down and bought a Sirius subscription.

I haven't looked back since...I can play the kid's channel for the little ones driving to school, and once they're gone I can pop over to Faction to listen to Jason Ellis talking in detail about getting his salad tossed on the beach, right before putting on the unedited version of NWA's "Automobile".

Or anything in between. Martha Stewart talks about tossing salads too, but I think she has a different method than what Ellis discusses.

Re:eh?

[couchslug]

"But do you have kids?"
No.

"Have you told them what a great time you had, and you strongly recommend it?"
I would have to present my whole experience,noting that some choices may have bad outcomes, and suggest how to get the most out of your youth if you are inclined to the pursuit of pleasure.

I cannot recommend illegal chemical recreation today due to the consequences imposed by a fearful society (for example, if the police find an ounce of weed in your car they aren't going to dump it on the ground and leave it at that), but partying and casual sex (with protection) I would recommend if they are of a mind to try it.
"Be smart, have fun, don't get busted and don't make unplanned babies."

Re:Please quote the racist bit for me

[XLR8DST8]

how funny. i used to think it was racist because of the 'i got your picture' line. i used to think it was stereotypical like the japanese tourists who always have cameras around their necks. but in reading the actual lyrics it's not like that at all. whoops. :-x

but i'd say this part:

No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women
No fun, no sin, no you, no wonder it's dark
Everyone around me is a total stranger
Everyone avoids me like a cyclone ranger

sure you could say 'what? he seems like a moral guy'. but, come on, he's just not very fun, adventurous, or cool. and that's part of the stereotype

Re:MTV blows ass

[dthree]

I remember seeing the bleeped version...2 years ago. I actually looked up at the "Posed by" line just to see if I wasn't looking at an old post.

Re:eh?

[DaVince21]

Throwing censorship through music like that just majorly distracts from the song. Get the actual albums (or don't download them from Morpheus, Grokster, Kazaa and Limewire) to be able to enjoy them a bit.

Re:eh?

[TheoMurpse]

There's already BET for rap and hip-hop.

Because rap and hip-hop are only for black people, and we should segregate colored music and white music. Sheesh. Sounds like someone's got a high horse stuck up their ass.

Re:eh?

[Zontar The Mindless]

Mad props. I'd give you the Funny mods I got if I could.

Re:eh?

[khellendros1984]

I'm an American who was able to live in Germany during high school. When I came back to the US, no more statues, no more nude art, etc. Frankly, I can't see what the problem is. Having had the chance to compare both American and European cultures, I'd have to say the European way of handling sex is probably healthier.

Liberal Fascism exists

[Orion Blastar]

Here is proof of Liberal Fascism Fascism need not be right-wing it can be left-wing as Communism is the left-wing version of Fascism and Communism existed first as Left Wing Dictatorships and Benito Mussolini created Fascism as the Right-Wing version of Communism to combat it.

Adolph Hitler was a National Socialist and did a Beer Putch to win the votes of the Working Class by bribing their votes with beer, The Jewish People were the Right-Wing Rich Class that Hitler spoke out against and claimed he was for the working class to redistribute the wealth from the Rich Jewish People to the poor German Aryan people, that by definition is Ultra-Left Wing Socialism combined with Nationalism, and isn't that much different from EU Socialism and American Liberalism today.

Moveon.org is the head of the Ultra-Left-Wing Liberal movement in the USA and keeps saying hateful propaganda in blogs they hire shills to write and in Newspapers and TV shows as well.

Barrack Obama, good thing he is more towards the center, he is still a Liberal but a Classic Liberal and not an Ultra-Left-Wing Liberal. I like that Obama does not play dirty politics as Moveon.org, Liberal blogs, Liberal Newspapers, and Liberal TV and Cable News channels do.

I salute the Classic Liberals that are not at all like their Ultra-Left-Wing Liberal counterparts.

Re:Liberal Fascism exists

[Darby]

Communism is the left-wing version of Fascism and Communism existed first as Left Wing Dictatorships and Benito Mussolini created Fascism as the Right-Wing version of Communism to combat it.

No, you're just an idiot. Fascism and Communism are opposite extremes. Fascism is right wing totalitarianism and communism is left wing totalitarianism, but totalitarianism is not the same as fascism as you're trying to say. Both are bad, and both have similarities, but they are fundamentally different things.

All you're doing is spreading fascist propaganda. They like to spread stupid bullshit like you're spouting because it's a way of pretending that the real fascists don't even exist.

Moveon.org is the head of the Ultra-Left-Wing Liberal movement in the USA and keeps saying hateful propaganda in blogs they hire shills to write and in Newspapers and TV shows as well.

Laughable. They're moderate left wing and are pretty accurate, at least as compared to the main stream media which is right wing.

I salute the Classic Liberals that are not at all like their Ultra-Left-Wing Liberal counterparts.

They're not at all like their right wing counterparts either. Both the left and the right despise Liberalism. In America, the right has a dominant position and has for some time. If you could pull your head out of your ass long enough to learn what left and right mean, you wouldn't come off as an ignorant fascist shill.

Not all Liberals are Liberal Fascists

[Orion Blastar]

But Liberal Fascists do really exist. Not that all Liberals are Liberal Fascists, some are Classic Liberals and not Neo-Liberals or Fake Liberals who are really Communists or Anarchists pretending to be real Liberals.

Re:Not all Liberals are Liberal Fascists

[plasmacutter]

Scholars would support Goldberg in certain respects. He is correct that many fascists, including Mussolini (but not Hitler) started as socialists -- though almost none started as liberals, who stood for representative government and mild reformism. Moreover, fascism's combination of nationalism, statism, discipline and a promise to "transcend" class conflict was initially popular in many countries. Though fascism was always less popular in democracies such as the United States, some American intellectuals did flirt with its ideas. Goldberg quotes progressives and liberals who did, but he does not quote the conservatives who also did.

Re:Not all Liberals are Liberal Fascists

[Orion Blastar]

because the book is called Liberal Fascism, not Conservative Fascism which has hundreds of books written on that subject.

All Goldberg wanted to point out was that Liberals also use Fascism it is not just the Conservatives that use it.

Check and mate!

Re:eh?

[cayenne8]

"What's surprising is that when Money for Nothing came out, MTV did not censor the part about the 'little faggot with the earring and the makeup' which did create quite a stir"

Why? When did faggot become a dirty word?

Re:eh?

[halcyon1234]

I don't know where you live

In Canada, brother Eh.

they'll let fuck go as long as it isn't used in a sexual manner...Maybe "head up ass" is being taken as a sexual reference.

I guess all of Stinkfist will have to be bleeped...

Re:eh?

[mcvos]

lol Truth. Those shows get me sick. Its like they're throwing it in my face that i'm poor... /end emo moment.

They're throwing in your face that you're poor and saner than anyone on TV. (Which could be pretty depressing too.)

Re:eh?

[iwein]

http://www.amiright.com/parody/60s/therollingstones19.shtml too good to be true...

Re:eh?

[pacinpm]

It all went downhill for them after they stopped showing the Beavis and Butthead episode where they make a hairspray torch because some dumbass kid copycatted and done burned his house down.

They want to eat cake and have cake. They want to play a song but not with "bad words". I think that if they don't like those words they should not play the song at all. If I was an artists I would sue them for messing with my creation.