Gene Simmons Threatens Anonymous Again and Gets DDoS'd

BussyB writes "Rather than shutting him up, the 'Operation Payback' DDoS attack on his websites only made Simmons more angry and outspoken. None of those threats seemed to bother Anonymous, however, and the group promptly launched another DDoS attack on both of Simmons' websites and rendered them inaccessible once again."

Comments

Something I find interesting

[Pojut]

It always seems like it's the largest and most sucessful musicians that slam piracy and filesharing.

Weird. Don't they make most of their money by performing dozens of times a year, anyway? I thought income from record sales was minimal, compared to touring and merchandise...

Re:Something I find interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

I noticed you didn't say "the most talented musicians"

Re:Something I find interesting

[Pojut]

Absolutely not. Without highly knowledgable producers/engineers, most mainstream artists wouldn't be given a glance.

When it comes to music, high production values and experience can trump talent.

Re:Something I find interesting

[Sockatume]

The largest and most successful musicians are the ones that most effectively act as employees of powerful record companies. Part of being an effective employee of those companies is believing them when they say "X is the reason why your sales are down".

Re:Something I find interesting

[shadowrat]

or is it the shrewdest businessmen who become the largest and most successful musicians? Kiss was a business. It was about marketing and maximizing profits. Of course the people at the head of that machine are concerned about every angle they could pursue and every dime they could possibly get.

Re:Something I find interesting

[biryokumaru]

Don't they make most of their money by performing dozens of times a year, anyway?

That's not true! They're also paid quite well by the recording industry to speak out against piracy!

Re:Something I find interesting

[Pojut]

Again though, the amount of money earned from album sales is piss compared to everything else (merchandising, touring, etc.) Why be so vocal about something that doesn't bring in much money, yet risks pissing off your fans...you know, the people that buy your merchandise and go to your concerts.

Just doesn't make sense.

Re:Something I find interesting

[Stregano]

You mean like how gangster rappers talk about killing and stealing, but when you steal their music, they get angry. I just think it is amusing. Daniel Tosh said it better, but I can't track down exactly what he said

Re:Something I find interesting

[xednieht]

Damn right, musicians need to stop being so lazy and get out there and perform. Does the guy that designed or built your car get royalties every time you get in it? Does the guy that designed or made your clothes get royalties every time you wear them?

Nothing against artists, but they really need to get out there and perform more. Earn a living like everyone else you lazy bums.

I wonder if Simmons pays royalties to the designers and builders of his website?

Re:Something I find interesting

[jayme0227]

I think a lot of the most successful musicians end up starting their own labels. Simmons certainly did, as referenced in the article. This gives them a stake in the game and even more reason to be anti-piracy.

Re:Something I find interesting

[Wowsers]

Marketing triumphs high production values, experience, and talent.

Re:Something I find interesting

[elrous0]

Nonsense! With Kiss it used to be about the music, man! Well, that and the lunchboxes, posters, cartoon shows, movies, guest appearances, fast-food tie-ins, TV specials, KISS Army fan club, clothing line, Halloween costumes, makeup line, books, toys, and probably a whole lot of other stuff I'm forgetting about. But the music was in there somewhere, I'm sure of it.

Re:Something I find interesting

[codegen]

Actually quite a few of them(such as Mr. Simmons) go on to be producers and/or label owners and discover how much more money there is on the other side of the microphone. Of course they are much more vehement against piracy then. However, the public tends to remember them as the musician, when really they are speaking as the label owner.

Re:Something I find interesting

[John Pfeiffer]

All the more ironic given that this is probably because of his son's blatant plagiarism of popular Japanese comics.

But while you're on the subject, I've always found Metallica's opposition of filesharing to be most amusing, since it's widely understood that they gained initial popularity from the circulation of bootlegs of their live performances. (In fact, if I remember the documentary I saw correctly, this bit of information may have come directly from their own mouths.)

Re:Something I find interesting

[Monkeedude1212]

It's in their best interest to keep the labels happy though. Sometimes the private jet, the pool, the mercedes, aren't actually owned by the musicians (though they'll say that they are on MTV Cribs) but are actually loaned out by the labels so that the band can live the high life while they're on their streak of popularity. You make the label money, they take care of their top money bags to keep them with the label. You fall off the charts? Want to switch labels? Well they're going to repo that car and give it to the next big shot in town.

So when the largest and most successful musicians seem to be slaming their FANS because they want to enjoy the music, it's because the record sales are keeping them in the Hollywood lifestyle. Perhaps you might be unaware of this, but sometimes when you sign up with a label, you can't actually go on tour without the labels permission. Then they've got you by the balls where you can't make money unless they let you.

Re:Something I find interesting

[ArhcAngel]

Gene Simmons has always been a businessman first a performer second and an artist a distant third. He has stated in interviews he had ideas for merchandising KISS paraphernalia long before they had a record deal. It's not surprising at all that his instinct is to sue anything that hurts his enterprise.

Re:Something I find interesting

[MozeeToby]

Since their last album they operate their own label (Kiss Records), the same is true of a lot of the big name, super successful, anti-piracy bands. Considering that is only one of their many albums though, it's probably true that they make more money touring, but if they self publish another couple of albums that might not be the case.

Re:Something I find interesting

[Pojut]

That's pretty much the case with me as well. There are a TON of "bedroom" and "local studio" musicians out there, putting out original and interesting music. I see no reason to line the pockets of rich fatcats who throw crumbs at the people that earn them money.

I'd much rather support only the musician.

Re:Something I find interesting

[vlm]

Well, that and the lunchboxes, posters, cartoon shows, movies, guest appearances, fast-food tie-ins, TV specials, KISS Army fan club, clothing line, Halloween costumes, makeup line, books, toys, and probably a whole lot of other stuff I'm forgetting about.

Yeah, you forgot the KISS branded casket

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Kasket

Now if someone replicated on a 3-d printer, then ole Gene would be rightly annoyed. But copying the music? He doesn't lose any real money from that.

Re:Something I find interesting

[Artifakt]

It doesn't make sense because it isn't a reasoned position, just an emotional one. Gene Simmons has gone as far as endorsing prison rape for file sharers. That's, simply put, psychotic. It used to be I didn't buy Kiss merchandise because I didn't particularly like Kiss (and I didn't and still don't infringe their copyright either). Now, the way Mr. Simmons is talking, I don't buy Kiss merchandise because I'm concerned he's so far over the edge he'll use the money to try and get draconian revenge, far beyond any proportionate concept of justice, on some kid he elects to make an example of.

Re:Something I find interesting

[jbeach]

You're right. The music was in Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. Who then got fired.

Re:Something I find interesting

[SuricouRaven]

I like to imagine the executive from marketing who gets the job of telling the producers that the market research says songs about beating up your girlfriend will make the most money.

Re:Something I find interesting

[hedwards]

Because Kiss was always about being corporate whores. I mean it's not about the music, it was about how fully they could sell out for more money. And if the corporate masters don't keep pushing it there's that many fewer lunchboxes and breakfast cereals sold.

Re:Something I find interesting

[Microlith]

Sure as hell wasn't computers. Gene Simmons didn't have a computer growing up and look what happened to him.

Buy your kids a Banana Jr. 6000 today!

Re:Something I find interesting

[grub]

They tried autotune with Lemmy. The autotune box exploded, killing 4 in the sound booth.

Re:Something I find interesting

[Runaway1956]

I applaud everyone who finds their own niche. How many people think about the culture that has been lost in America? I'm not talking about music alone. Accents and dialects, music, local cuisine, even costume in some cases. I miss the days of my youth, in a city divided almost evenly into four parts. There was the "white" part of town, the black part, the Italian part, and the Slovak (Poles, Hungarians, Ukrainians, and a few odds and ends). Each part of town SMELLED different at dinner time. You didn't even have to think about where you were - just smell the cooking. Today? No one even cooks. Everyone orders Domino's or goes to Micky D's. Support what is left of culture - we're losing it fast, and the new generation(s) have no idea what they are missing.

Re:Something I find interesting

[squizzar]

I think having been paid he will continue to design more cars or clothes in order to get paid again. I've been designing stuff all day today, and I got paid for it, just like I did yesterday and the day before. If I stop designing stuff tomorrow I'm fairly certain I'll stop getting paid...

Arguably I'm designing the wrong stuff, but to me it seems that 'art' is the only industry that gets away with being so far up it's own arse as to assume that everything these creative types create should be paid for by society forever. I'm willing to bet the guys who designed the Statue of Liberty, or the Viaduc de Millau Bridge, or the Aston Martin Vantage don't get paid every time someone looks at their work. It's not that I don't think they should get paid at all, it's just that they seem to expect to be paid regardless. I can't afford to buy a BMW M5, and at the moment I can't afford to buy £15 CD albums. If a friend had a car and lent it to me I wouldn't say no, and I certainly wouldn't expect to give BMW a royalty for the privilege. For some reason though if I borrow a friends CD and listen to it I should be paying someone though. If I sit in a pub listening to the radio on on a personal stereo that's fine, but if the pub has the radio playing they're supposed to pay royalties? If it was all about the music then they'd just play it. These guys are just like the bankers complaining about not getting bonuses when the economy collapses. We all could do with earning some more money, most of us seem to think we should work for it...

Re:Something I find interesting

[Bing Tsher E]

Arguably I'm designing the wrong stuff, but to me it seems that 'art' is the only industry that gets away with being so far up it's own arse as to assume that everything these creative types create should be paid for by society forever.

You don't have to pay them anything.

In fact you can completely shun them, and pay them nothing.

But you need to get a clue. 'Shun' means you don't listen to their music or pass copies of it around.

Re:Something I find interesting

[holiggan]

That's the exact, pinpoint moment when they switch sides from the "let's be rebellious and brake a window" attitude to the "that window is expensive and I'm gonna sue your for all you got"...

Really? Take people's homes and cars over piracy?! Wish for jail rape for copying songs?! I wonder if this "big rock star" would have the same attitude if his kids (does he even have kids?) were doing it (if?! I'm yet to meet a teen nowadays that doesn't do it).

Or perhaps, maybe, that's his exact position regarding drug abuse... How's that? Take the cars and homes and wish for jail-rape, for all the people caught with drugs, or using drugs, or selling drugs, or enjoying drugs. Now that's a crime with *real* consequences for other people, stuff that people might actually *die* from. I bet the "big rock star" agrees with me.

Re:Something I find interesting

[geekmux]

Nonsense! With Kiss it used to be about the music, man! Well, that and the lunchboxes, posters, cartoon shows, movies, guest appearances, fast-food tie-ins, TV specials, KISS Army fan club, clothing line, Halloween costumes, makeup line, books, toys, and probably a whole lot of other stuff I'm forgetting about. But the music was in there somewhere, I'm sure of it.

The only real difference 30 years ago was at least the music was good and the voices were real. Other than that, your irony (and Hanna Montana) have only proven one thing; same shit, different decade.

Re:Something I find interesting

[Darth]

Metallica encouraged tape trading of their shows and their demo tapes. Between songs during their sets, they told audiences to share their music. That is exactly how they got their record deal. They really didn't start giving a crap about people sharing their music until the whole napster thing. Even then, I think it's just Lars. I'm not convinced the rest care.

Lars was always kind of an ass. He's a crafty business man, though.

Re:Something I find interesting

[MyLongNickName]

10 bits of music

Now that is one hell of a compression algorithm!

Re:Something I find interesting

[formfeed]

I don't buy Kiss merchandise because I'm concerned he's so far over the edge he'll use the money to try and get draconian revenge,

Following that argument it would be really unethical to buy a Kiss CD. Good thing you never liked Kiss to begin with. Otherwise, if you really wanted to listen to Kiss, you would have very few options:

1. Surpress your passion for music and suffer. -But you know it's for a good cause.
   Great, the suffering will be a sign that you're doing the right thing. (As long as you're Catholic or Jewish.)
2. Copy the music illegally.
   Great, you break the law for a reason, fight the system. (And also save some money while doing it.)
3. Buy only used CDs on yard sales and flea markets.
   Great, you beat the system, you crafty anti-capitalist. (And support pop-culture addicted teens so they can buy more stuff)

Re:Something I find interesting

[BJ_Covert_Action]

Gene Simmons has gone as far as endorsing prison rape for file sharers. That's, simply put, psychotic.

No, that's actually just heavy metal talk. As someone who has been involved in the punk, metal, and hardcore scenes for quite awhile, I can attest to that fact that metal-heads talk in these kinds of extremes pretty regularly. Saying the most outlandish, controversial, politically incorrect thing that comes to mind is pretty much par for the course of anyone speaking in the metal, punk, or hardcore languages. Hell...the Misfits wrote a song about raping mothers and killing babies....soooo, yeah, prison rape was actually a pretty tame threat coming from a band like Kiss.

Re:Something I find interesting

[BJ_Covert_Action]

Today? No one even cooks. Everyone orders Domino's or goes to Micky D's. Support what is left of culture

That's nonsense, or, at least, anecdotal. Here on the central coast of California, if it's a nice evening out, you can jog through my community and, depending on which part of town you are in, you can smell the rednecks BBQing hamburgers, the Mexicans BBQing carne asada, or all of the suburbanites cooking their latest Stoffer's stir fry packet. Plenty of people cook. There is plenty of culture left in America. I don't know why the area you grew up in is changing, but out here on the West Coast, in the smaller towns and cities, that is very much not the case.

Re:Something I find interesting

[infinite9]

Marketing triumphs high production values, experience, and talent.

Wouldn't it be great if artists became popular because they were good?

Re:Something I find interesting

[l0b0]

Yeah, but have you seen the executable?

Re:Something I find interesting

[FatRichie]

>> "The age of mass comsumption of music is coming to an end"

I'd have to disagree with this. With sites like Last.FM and Pandora getting more and more popular, not to mention how most radio stations are streaming their broadcasts on the web, I think the mass consumption has just changed. People are starting to tolerate ads (and even paying for premium subscriptions) more because the medium is convenient, even more convenient than popping in a CD.

Re:Something I find interesting

[jason.sweet]

Marketing triumphs high production values, experience, and talent.

Wow! You just summed up Gene Simmons entire career in eight words.
I have seen this story 3 times in 2 days. Who's pwning who?

Re:Something I find interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

Our four ... no ... Amongst our triumphs ... Amongst the aspects which allow us to triumph ... are such elements as marketing, high production values ... I'll come in again.

Re:Something I find interesting

[Moryath]

Wow, you really don't know how this works in the real world, do you?

In the real world, anyone with actual talent quickly gets weeded out. Next goes actual production experience, in favor of mastering the album way too fucking loud so that everything clips out (yeah, looking at you Metallica, you fucking tone-deaf retards).

Next, if you don't have "the body" or "the look", forget it. Shitney Spears and the teenybopper whores get millions despite being worthless and talentless, because the marketing machines pump all their crap out, put it in boxes, and sell to brainless, clueless idiots.

Actual music is almost dead in America. As for the world, actual music is more endangered than the Panda.

Re:Something I find interesting

[hesiod]

That's the exact, pinpoint moment when they switch sides

Normally you are right, but not in this case. Gene Simmons was never in it for the music. Right from the start, it was a business venture to him (y'know, showBUSINESS) -- it was always about the money.

Re:Something I find interesting

[bws111]

All consumer goods, whether it be art, cars, electronics, furniture, clothing, or anything else, is produced on spec. On spec means that the costs of producing it (including design, facilities, equipment, overhead, materials, etc) is recouped on every single 'copy' of the thing sold. Every car sold has earned some money towards the design of the car. As long as that car is sold, the design of the car is earning profits. Same with every shirt sold. Same with every CD sold. Now, in many cases (cars for instance) the cost of actually producing the physical item far outweighs the portion of money that goes to paying for the design, but the design cost is there nevertheless.

Now, you say you are designing stuff and getting paid. All that means is that your employer has effectively taken a loan against his future profits and paid you with that money. HE is still going to get paid for every copy of the thing that you designed that is sold, which will be used to pay back the loan he used to pay you, and hopefully also earn some profits. You are lucky, you get all your money now rather than having to wait a potentially long time to get paid. If you work for a good company, and the value of your work exceeds projections, you may be paid even more money as part of a bonus or profit-sharing incentive. Regardless of whether or not you earn more in the future, ALL of the money you earned comes from sales, either actual or expected.

As far comparisons to the Statue of Liberty, etc, that is just stupid. The people who designed and built the Statue of Liberty were hired to do that. The money to pay them came from the government. The Statue of Liberty was never intended to earn money. Same with your other examples. However, there are bridges that were built with private money. And guess what? The owners still expect to be paid every time someone uses the bridge, even if it was build 100 years ago.

Re:Something I find interesting

[Omestes]

Actual music is almost dead in America. As for the world, actual music is more endangered than the Panda.

If your talking about the big labels, and the top 40 machine, then you are absolutely correct on all your points, but, luckily, this is only a very small portion of modern music. Yes, it is the most visible, and has the highest share of public consciousness, but that scene still represents a tiny minority of the music that is out there.

Right now, in your town, there are hundreds (maybe thousands, depending on population and culture) of small bands, some of which are VERY good. Most are crap, but some of them are better than anything the major labels have churned out in years. Finding which ones are worth the time is a bit daunting (currently, in my town, we have an obnoxiously ubiquitous metal scene, which aspires to recapture the most idiotic parts of 90's metal...), but I guarantee that there is something out there that you will like.

Thanks to the internet, major labels are largely insignificant. It is trivial to find an acquire music from small labels, or individual bands, without ever touching the ancient media dinosaurs, this is now, and not in the future. Of the last 100 or so music purchases I've made in the last 5 years, only two were from major labels, this was completely accidental, I did not have the desire to "stick it to the man". The independent music is just better, at least to my taste.

I would recommended some bands that are awesome and have nothing to do with big labels, but taste is subjective.

I would guess that the big labels make around 90% of the profit, but only represent around 10% (if even) of the artists out there. In ten years they will be almost completely irrelevant. Yes, they are nice for marketing, and promotion. This is generally the case made against independently distributed music around here, small bands can't go on their own because they can't afford to be Lady Gaga (whose branding efforts might rival those of CocaCola and Nike). But who cares? If a band can't become huge without marketing they don't deserve to be huge. And small labels work wonders, insteading of having 10 labels with 10,000 artists, why not have 1,000 labels with 100 artists? Smaller labels have funds for promotion, and smaller labels allow more artist control (the only thing that matters). This is how things are going to develop.

Re:Something I find interesting

[bws111]

He got paid based on EXPECTED FUTURE sales of the car he designed. The manufacturer (the people who paid him) will get that money back on the sale of EVERY car they ACTUALLY sell. If they sell more cars than they expected they get to keep the extra money as profits. The only difference is: do I get my money all at once NOW, or do I get it as the items are actually sold. If I get my money now, whoever paid me gets to keep all the profits. If I get paid when things are sold, I get to keep the money. Of course, if I get paid later, and my product doesn't sell well, it is me who is losing out. It is amazing the number of idiots who can't grasp these simple concepts.

Re:Something I find interesting

[cayenne8]

"That's pretty much the case with me as well. There are a TON of "bedroom" and "local studio" musicians out there, putting out original and interesting music. I see no reason to line the pockets of rich fatcats who throw crumbs at the people that earn them money."

So, where do you find these new musicians? Where do you find the TIME to find them?

:)

I mean...hell, I live in New Orleans...places play music down here, but during the week, I don't have the time to go out. I work a real job and try to hit the gym. Music in places here starts at 11pm at the EARLIEST it seems, I'm getting old and am usually in bed at 9pm or so (get up a bit after 5am to hit the gym).

I've often heard "well, its on the internet...stream music...etc". Well, everywhere I work at...networks are secured, no streaming on work computers.

I am trying, though to do a little in my iPhone...and starting to try to listen to Pandora a bit. I'm still a bit lost on how to find things I really like, modern bluesy guitar driven rock. I know you can punch in a led zeppelin, but that's what it plays, and I own all their stuff.

Any suggestions on channels to look for? Anything else out there free besides Pandora on the iPhone?

I do want to listen to new music, find the good artists...and do prefer good live music, but whew...when you're over 25yrs (I can only imagine how hard it gets when you have wife and kidlets too)...hard to find it, and hard to see it with it starting so damned late.

Does live music start earlier with ya'll live?

Re:Something I find interesting

[Oqnet]

actually on that note you brought up something I had completely forgot about. He does have 2 kids... this is what his son Nick did recently.. http://www.squidoo.com/nick-simmons-art-thief http://www.penciljack.com/forum/showthread.php?101682-Nick-Simmons-Incarnate-swipes-Tite-Kubo-s-Bleach&highlight=simmons thought someone here might find that interesting....

Re:Something I find interesting

[mcgrew]

How's that? Take the cars and homes and wish for jail-rape, for all the people caught with drugs, or using drugs, or selling drugs, or enjoying drugs. Now that's a crime with *real* consequences for other people

Selling certain drugs has consequenses for other people, but OTOH a runner is little different than a heroin junkie. Heroin only works becsuse it fits the brain's endorphin receptors and gives an almost identical high. However, I much prefer heroin junkies to runners, because the junkies don't run out from behind a FedEx truck right in front of my car. How about the people selling the drug that has more overdose deaths than all other drugs combined -- alcohol? Jack Daniels should be in prison? They tried that, its illegality caused gang wars and massive death, just like the current day drug prohibition.

Your drug use doesn't affect me at all. Your "pirating" my work may affect me, but it will likely be in a positive way; nobody ever went broke from piracy, but lots of talented artists have had to get real jobs because of obscurity. Piracy sells art.

Re:Something I find interesting

[2obvious4u]

Yes he has kids. His kids are even worse than file sharers. His kids copy other peoples work and sell it as their own.

Source.

You can also do a Google search for Nick Simmons plagiarism and you'll get lots more on the story.

Re:Something I find interesting

[darthdavid]

Exactly. 90% of the negative consequences of drugs come about because of their illegality and the remaining 10% mostly just effect the person doing the drugs (and thus it should be their choice). As something of a musician myself I'd be thrilled if someone was pirating my work (in fact, I've put it all up online for free). After all, if they're downloading it it means that they like it.

How to handle Anonymous

[TheSpoom]

Wait until they get bored of you and move on.

Doing anything else will extend the attacks, because your actions just make it that much lulzier.

Re:How to handle Anonymous

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

There will come a point where - if enough attention is consistently drawn to their actions - various government entities will actually take notice and feel compelled to act.

Re:How to handle Anonymous

[SuricouRaven]

Eventually. The problem with acting against anonymous is that most of them are just pranksters doing the equivilent of a bit of light graffettiing on the internet, and often minors too - and yet there are so many, their collective damage is considerable, and it's impractical to take some action against them all. Thus the only way to stop them is indimidation, or the Simmon's method: Pick a few at random, and totally destroy them. Take their money, destroy their careers, throw them in jail, and in general hit them with a punishment grossly disproportionate to their crime in order to scare others away.


The RL equivilent would perhaps be announcing that every day one random person caught littering shall be executed - it's also hugely excessive as a punishment, but it's a whole lot cheaper than hireing enough police to give every litterer a small fine, and you can be sure that the streets would get a lot cleaner.

Re:How to handle Anonymous

[clone53421]

Thus the only way to stop them is indimidation, or the Simmon's method: Pick a few at random, and totally destroy them. Take their money, destroy their careers, throw them in jail, and in general hit them with a punishment grossly disproportionate to their crime in order to scare others away.

You give Simmons too much credit... the *IAA came up with that tactic.

Amusingly, if it had worked for the *IAA, Simmons wouldn’t need to be working himself up over this...

Be careful about what you say

[srussia]

FTFA:“Be litigious. Sue everybody. Take their homes, their cars. Don’t let anybody cross that line,” Simmons encouraged his peers.

He should have listened to his mother and watched that tongue.

Re:Be careful about what you say

[betterunixthanunix]

I think that quote really shows how the customers are viewed here...

(Now why won't my mother join the boycott of the RIAA?)

You're missing something here Gene...

[tekiegreg]

The group "anonymous" is everyone and it is no-one...it is what was once your devoted fan-base likely. But now that you've threatened them with jail and a pack of angry lawyers they have become defensive and your worst enemy. They are the embodiment of the hearts you are trying to win towards your music and the mass that is disappointed in your reality.

No I'm not doing this, I honestly didn't hear about these attempts until right now...and have never been a big fan of KISS's music from the get go...

Gene should really love Anonymous

[digitaldc]

With KISS' classic rock jams such as 'Take Me' 'Hooligan' 'Dirty Livin' 'All Hell's Breakin' Loose' 'Any Way You Want It' 'Get All You Can Take' 'Thief In The Night' and 'When Your Walls Come Down', Gene Simmons should really identify with Anonymous, not try and attack them.

What is it about old rock stars who disavow their youthful ways?

Re:Gene should really love Anonymous

[BobMcD]

What is it about old rock stars who disavow their youthful ways?

Money, and the pursuit for more of it. Plus an inflated ego. Everyone must love Gene!

This genuinely isn't Gene's fault. It's yours. You're the ones thinking that his youthful endeavors were EVER about anything other than becoming a successful, AND WEALTHY, musical icon.

He doesn't lead the choir at his local church here, folks. He's a rock legend. The distinction is greatly about how far you're willing to go to make a buck.

He'll have to learn the hard way...

[Jugalator]

You simply don't win an argument with a group of trolls by feeding them.

Re:He'll have to learn the hard way...

[Anonymous Coward]

On the other hand, though, if you let them get away with this sort of behavior, you're just reinforcing it, too, by telling them (in essence) "this is how far you'll have to go to win".

It's rather like dealing with stalkers (who're pretty much on the same rung of the ladder as far as lowlifes are concerned); even if a stalker calls you a hundred times a day, you still don't pick up the phone, as all that accomplishes is teaching them that a hundred calls is what it takes to get through to you.

Not acknowledging trolls at all is probably the best option, but it's not always a feasible option.

In any case, for Simmons, it's likely all a matter of money, anyway. How much money does he lose when his websites are inaccessible? How much money does he have to spend on securing them against this? If it's less than what he gains from tougher legislation which will get passed because he can point to these trolls as a justification for why it's needed, then the whole thing will have worked out in his favor, and the trolls will have been nothing but useful idiots who played their role in his game without even realizing.

Re:He'll have to learn the hard way...

[SuricouRaven]

No, but popcorn may be involved.

Re:Childish

[biryokumaru]

Note to self: Next time I send pizzas to someone as a prank, don't pay for them before hand...

Internet Terrorism

[kellyb9]

Ridiculous. I don't agree with how IP law is implemented, but it doesn't mean I have the right to go and hack someone's site. If you want the laws to change, lobby congress and vote in people who agree with your point of view on this issue. This is basically internet terrorism.

Re:Internet Terrorism

[rotide]

Anonymous doesn't care. They are doing it for the lulz. To assume they have any agenda besides lulz gives them too much credit. Honestly, have you ever visited 4chan? Does that user base strike you as political or activist?

Re:Internet Terrorism

[BobMcD]

Anonymous doesn't care. They are doing it for the lulz. To assume they have any agenda besides lulz gives them too much credit. Honestly, have you ever visited 4chan? Does that user base strike you as political or activist?

The issue, though, is that 'Anonymous' is a myth. These are real people committing actual crimes, and since they're being so brazen about the conflict, there's an excellent chance that someone WILL take the fall for all of it. It would be one thing to launch an attack at a site unannounced, but to repeatedly use the same methods at the same target, that's just stupid. A scapegoat will be produced if this continues, I promise you that.

So agenda or not, Parent is right. This is not the way to prove Gene wrong. Not today, not in this manner.

All I can think is, 'poor, stupid, kid'.

Re:Internet Terrorism

[spidercoz]

Believe it or not there are more people in the world who don't know this Glenn Beck than people who do.

yes, and I envy them for it

Richard Simmons

[Culture20]

I don't know why, but I imagined Richard Simmons was getting DDoS'd and I was very confused.

The KISS of death

[GPLDAN]

You show us everything you've got
You keep on dossin' and the net gets hot
You drive us batty, we'll sue your ass
You say you wanna go for a spin
The party's just begun, we'll let you in
You kill our blog, we'll drive a spike to your chin
You keep on shoutin', you keep on shoutin


I wanna kick Simmons ass all nite and blog every day!
I wanna kick Simmons ass all nite and blog every day!

Kiss goooood...pirates baaaad

[grapeape]

Sadly Gene is about 5 years behind Metallica in learning that biting the hand that feeds you hurts you more in the end. I've got a friend that would buy every piece of Kiss crap that hit the shelves from CD's to action figures. He got sick of Gene's crap last year over this kind of thing and has been slowly selling his entire collection on ebay. It doesn't help that the album prices for digital downloads are nearly 50% higher than buying the CD. Take Kiss Alive II for example, at Wal-Mart and Best Buy its $9.99 while on Amazon and Itunes its $13.99, who in their right mind would buy the digital version when they can buy the disk and just rip it? I dont use a cd player anymore, but still buy CD's for this specific purpose....but according to Gene im a pirate for it. I realize your an old man Gene but you pretend to be hip and relevant try and at least understand the technology and why people do what they do, maybe then you could be part of the solution rather than a contributor to the problem. I dont think Gene realizes that the same people he is wanting to sue are the same people willing to buy Kiss caskets and trinkets, with his known level of greed you would think he would be more concerned with the revenue stream than someone downloading a copy of a song they have likely already purchased on Vinyl, Cassette and CD.

Follow Gandalf's strategy instead

[dkleinsc]

The way to defeat trolls is to keep them arguing with each other all night long, until daylight arrives and they're no longer a threat. (ok, in this case it's because their mothers have sent them off to school, but the idea is similar)

Inaccessable?

[Conspiracy_Of_Doves]

Was anyone even trying to access them in the first place?

Re:Childish

[houghi]

Yeah, because then you would scam the people bringing the pizza, not the people it is delivered to.

Re:Didn't he do a lot of drugs?

[spidercoz]

why aren't Motley Crue dead? the ones that SHOULD die never do

Gene, you may want to stay quiet

[Drakkenmensch]

Anonymous regularly takes on the church of scientology, one of the most aggressively litigious entities in the world (WORSE than the RIAA/MPAA) and stays ahead of them. You really think that your facepaint and unnaturally long tongue are going to scare them any?

Re:Gene, you may want to stay quiet

[magus_melchior]

It's the guy who told one of the best interviewers in the country that she should welcome him with "open legs". I don't think intelligence and good sense are part of his skill set.

Re:Gene, you may want to stay quiet

[revlayle]

They weren't trying to dent them... they were just doing it as long as it was "entertaining" - once the lulz died down, so did Project Chanology. They got Scientology irritated more than anything, and that is a "win" to Anon. Anon doesn't care... whatever entertains them that day is what they do. The amazing about Project Chanology was how long it lasted. I imagine a few people were trying to really achieve something. Those people I call "suckers" that the rest of Anon used to get their lulz on... let a few do the work and then everyone else just shows up and laugh asses off.

Re:Didn't he do a lot of drugs?

[BobMcD]

What's going on here. He's over 60, and a musician, didn't he do a lot of drugs in his youth? Why isn't he dead yet?

I was kind of hoping darwin would have taken care of these old pro-RIAA musicians already with a gentle dose of death.

Did you ever consider that the ENTIRE thing was a front? Not just the costumes, but the drug lifestyle and the whole thing? Real junkies-turned-rockstars OD early. As do rockstars-turned-junkies. But there's really only a certain personality type or two that would genuinely flush everything down the toilet like that. It isn't as common as you've been led to believe, and it selects contrary to the traits that make someone a rock legend.

Love Gun

[Is0m0rph]

Who are these clowns? Kiss? You don't know who Kiss is? No. Never heard of them. They look likeidiots to me. No, no, no, dude. These are four of the smartest guys who ever lived. They're these Jewish guys that grew up in New York, and they put on guitars and makeup to get girls, and all of their songs are about fucking! I'm listening. Seriously, this song is called Love Gun, and it's about Paul Stanley's dick and how this girl's gonna get some of his dick! Cool. I didn't know Jews could sing like that. No. No. They couldn't at the time. That's why they had to dress like clowns. This got them girls? Get this! They've been getting pussy nonstop for 30 years! They're probably fucking right now, and they're old dudes! They put makeup on, and it's all good! No shit? You pull the trigger of my Love gun You see, Ronnie? His dick is the gun!

Re:Free Speech.

[Miseph]

Don't be ridiculous, of course they believe in Free Speech. They just place some conditions on that speech.

Free Speech requires the following for Anonymous to support it:

*It must be done Anonymously, otherwise you're obviously a shill or something
*It must be obnoxious and ultimately without purpose
*It must be done by somebody who isn't rich, famous, educated, poor, unknown or uneducated... all of those groups are stupid (see first bullet)
*It must not criticize Anonymous in any way, ever, for any reason, doing so makes you a fascist who hates Free Speech
*It must not violate any of Anonymous' other stipulations which may or may not exist and may or may not be made known before they begin enforcing them

That's pretty ringing support, in my book. Actually, it looks pretty similar to the conditions most major Western political parties put on their support for Free Speech. Perhaps it really is time for the Dramacratic Party to step forward and seize the mantle of power... they've got the requisite hypocrisy in place, and they certainly have enough skilled operators to start rigging elections like the big boys. How about it gaiz?

Re:Wrong.

[the_hellspawn]

Anonymous is a mishmash collection of personalities ranging from teens to crusty old people. Each person contributes in their own way. I use to purchase music on physical media, but as time wears on the music just keeps getting crappier as most of us know already. Many in the Army of Anonymous purchases music if he/she can and for the youth of Anonymous they grab their media in the way they know. Anonymous is everyone and yet no-one.

Something for every business to keep in mind

[cdrguru]

There is no law on the Internet, except the "Law of the Internet".

The Law of the Internet is simple: you can get away with anything as long as you don't brag about it. Oh, and if you piss someone off you may face unimaginable consequences.

So, there are two lessons from this:

1. 
   Don't brag about your exploits as you will be punished if you do.
2. Don't piss people off that are motivated to punish you.

The thing to realize about point 2 is that you are always going to piss people off. It is unavoidable if you have any interaction on the Internet. Posting a picture of your dog on Facebook will piss people off that hate dogs. Posting a picture of a cat on Facebook will piss people off that hate cats. There is no escape from this. All you can hope is that the pissed-off person has better things to do than make your life hell.

Re:Didn't he do a lot of drugs?

[gstoddart]

What's going on here. He's over 60, and a musician, didn't he do a lot of drugs in his youth? Why isn't he dead yet?

Doesn't drink. Doesn't smoke. Doesn't do drugs. Says he never did, nobody has ever contradicted him on that.

Also claims to have humped everything that ever came along, which you can take with a grain of salt. I'm sure his own count is inflated, but I'm sure he's never wanted for willing females.

Gene Simmons is a nice Jewish boy who has always been about making money and selling his brand. He's not your typical aging rocker -- having watched a couple episodes of his TV show, he's an out of date old fool of a narcissist who is obsessed with his own image and making money in the worst possible way.

In short, he's absolutely part of the problem with the RIAA mindset. As has been pointed out in this thread, advocating prison rape for file sharers (or Anonymous, or whomever he was referring to) goes to demonstrate he's a bit of a loon, and has way crossed the line.

I thought he was irrelevant before his TV series. Now he's irrelevant, pathetic, and a lot more lame than I ever thought he was. At least his son seems to treat him like the old troll that he is.

Re:Didn't he do a lot of drugs?

[gstoddart]

Real junkies-turned-rockstars OD early. As do rockstars-turned-junkies. But there's really only a certain personality type or two that would genuinely flush everything down the toilet like that. It isn't as common as you've been led to believe, and it selects contrary to the traits that make someone a rock legend.

Not without some precedent though.

Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Stones, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Guns and Roses, Kurt Cobain, CCR ... probably countless I can't even think of off the top of my head ... the whole notion of rock legends being users of some pretty hardcore drugs is exceedingly well documented, and not what you'd call a front. The ones that survive it and keep going are some of the biggest legends there are.

Many of them turned around and stopped using. But, in a huge amount of cases, I don't believe that the whole drug thing was a "front". It's more like documented fact.

Now, in the case of Simmons at least, he absolutely wasn't using them, and I don't think ever claimed he did.

Make it Personal

[Anonymous Coward]

The personal, as everyone's so fucking fond of saying, is political. So if some idiot politician, some power player, tries to execute policies that harm you or those you care about, take it personally. Get angry. The Machinery of Justice will not serve you here - it is slow and cold, and it is theirs. Only the little people suffer at the hands of Justice; the creatures of power slide out from under with a wink and a grin. If you want justice, you will have to claw it from them. Make it personal. Do as much damage as you can. Get your message across. That way you stand a far better chance of being taken seriously next time. Of being considered dangerous. And make no mistake about this: being taken seriously, being considered dangerous, marks the difference - the only difference in their eyes- between players and little people. Players they will make deals with. Little people they liquidate. And time and again they cream your liquidation, your displacement, your torture and brutal execution with the ultimate insult that it's just business, it's politics, it's the way of the world, it's a tough life, and that it's nothing personal. Well, fuck them. Make it personal.

Quellcrist Falconer, Things I Should Have Learned by Now. Volume II

From Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan