From: Adam Rifkin -4K (adam@XeNT.ics.uci.edu)
Date: Tue Apr 25 2000 - 14:32:59 PDT
In this corner, Dr. Dre and Metallica and all those greedy record
companies. In that corner, Limp Bizkit and my wife, and to a lesser
extent, Bill Gurley. (Hey... what's my wife doing with Limp Bizkit and
Bill Gurley?!)
'Bizkit is planning a 10-city tour, free to its fans; Napster Netco
will underwrite the tour's cost to the tune of $1.8 million.
http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/037248.htm
Limp Bizkit, defender of poor little Net companies that can't get VC
funding...
> Limp Bizkit takes Napster's side in Net music controversy
> Posted at 12:56 a.m. PDT Tuesday, April 25, 2000
>
> LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hard rock band Limp Bizkit has teamed up with
> controversial Internet company Napster Inc. to launch a free U.S.
> concert tour, and the group's singer Monday criticized fellow artists
> who have accused Napster of promoting music piracy.
>
> Napster allows users to trade and search for MP3s (free downloadable
> files of musical performances). A fan can type in the name of the
> desired song, click on the desired version and instantly download it --
> all for free.
>
> The music industry's trade group, the Recording Industry Association of
> America, sued Napster in December, charging that the San Mateo,
> California, company's Web site promotes piracy and copyright
> infringement. Rock band Metallica and rap pioneer Dr. Dre have also
> waded in against Napster in recent weeks.
>
> But the controversy has washed over Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst, who
> told a news conference that Napster was a great way for fans to sample
> an album before buying it.
>
> ``I would think the only people worried about that are people that are
> really worried about their bank accounts,'' he said.
>
> In the opposite corner, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich accused Napster
> and several universities that allow access to it of ''trafficking in
> stolen goods'' when the band announced a copyright infringement and
> racketeering lawsuit against the company April 14.
>
> ``It is ... sickening to know that our art is being traded like a
> commodity rather than the art that it is,'' Ulrich added.
>
> Dr. Dre demanded last week that Napster take his music off its
> directory, saying his copyrights were being infringed.
> Durst countered that Napster was ``an amazing way to market and promote
> music'' to a massive audience.
>
> ``The Internet is here, and anybody trying to fight that, which would be
> people who are living by certain standards and practices of the record
> industry -- those are the only people who are scared and threatened,''
> Durst said.
>
> Asked to comment specifically on Metallica's stance, he replied, ``I
> don't think anything about what Metallica thinks.''
>
> Napster is underwriting the cost of the tour, which Limp Bizkit manager
> Jeff Kwatinetz estimated at about $1.8 million. Beginning in July, the
> band will play multiple dates at 3,000-5,000-seat venues in Chicago,
> Minneapolis, Detroit, Boston, New York, Dallas, Denver, San Francisco,
> Seattle and Los Angeles. Dates and venues will be announced later.
>
> The dates will help build awareness of Limp Bizkit's third album,
> ``Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water,'' set for August
> release. Current album ``Significant Other'' has sold about 8 million
> copies worldwide, the band said in a statement.
---- Adam@4K-Associates.comGive me something to break!! -- The only non-expletive-laden line from Limp Bizkit's "Break Stuff"
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