Why, Celine, why??? [parental discretion advised]

Okay so I'm Johnny-come-lately on this one, but I finally had to post something for my own ventilation. I've been building up steam reading about SonyBMG's latest debacle and their constant lying and truth-stretching that goes beyond even the limits of Stretch Armstrong. In my opinion, what they have done is a violation of Homeland Security and they aren't the terrorists? So yes, I'm angry blogging on this Sunday morning. If you are not up-to-date on the story, Boing Boing has a great timeline to fill you in on what's been going on.

I totally agree that Sony needs to make amends for this behavior beyond this sloppy apology and trade-off. I'm not sure if it's been said (surely it has) but what better metaphor here than the Trojan horse. I mean how many of us collect CDs by the bucket and especially certain musicians that we love. I mean all those poor fans of Celine Dion (okay bad example) saw the people of Sony outside the gate with a new CD from her. They yelled down to the other Celine-heads to open the gates and let the CD in. Once inside what a surprise was revealed when they were raped by Sony officials and told it wasn't rape. Instead they said it was simply something that they didn't enjoy, but that they had to do to protect themselves and Celine. One of the Sony rapists, Thomas Hesse, goes on to say that you don't even know what a penis is, so why should you care that they rammed it into you. Their buddy, the RIAA, tells them...all the other companies are raping you, too. At least when Sony rapes you they give you a non-apology and free MP3s afterwards. So you should be thanking them for being so polite about the assault.

Interesting comment guys.

Okay end of the potentially offensive metaphor...Hesse also claims that, though the software sends information back to Sony...the information is not used. OKAY...WAIT A MINUTE. Does that fly EVER in a court of law. "Oh, your honor, I hacked this company's computer and forced it to send me all the information about the company's activity on their server (in the process opened their computer up to countless other hackers), but I wasn't reading the information...so no harm done, right?" I'm so tired of PR people from every corporation blowing smoke up my...well you get it, I'm pissed.

And as for the 50 or so artists (several of whom are now passed on. Frank Sinatra for one) I would say it's time to get out of that contract. This attack does not just hurt the customers...it is a fatal attack on the artists whose music was used to conceal malicious software. Enough is enough. Call your lawyer, Our Lady Peace, and jump ship, fast! Do it for your fans. Show your fans that you don't stand for this kind of treatment. You are above the money, you are actually making music because you love it. You do not feel the need to let big companies screw over the people who support you. Apparently the RIAA doesn't have your interests in mind after all, so you need to look after yourself.

And as for the ever-growing corporate blog, SonyBMG... The next time someone tells you that corporations are "bettering society," remember this event. Once a company gets as big as Sony or Coke or Enron, they can do whatever they want and get away with it. Take a tip from Raquel Chavez, a shop owner in Mexico, who was told by Coke that she had to stop selling another brand of soda at her small store. She refused...they tried strong-arming her...she sued...she won! We (customers, musicians, directors, writers...i.e. human beings) cannot let this corporate crap continue to go. These are just drops in the bucket of what they THINK they can get away with.

Okay now let's get back to talking about butterflies and LEDs...sorry.