SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Slap in the fact to who actually? I'm a Prince fan. I take it as a damn good piece of music. Being as much a fan as you are, are you saying I should feel the sting of the slap as well?

This is getting frickin' ridiculous!! I mean, I've been what I would consider a useful member of this community. I have my own opinions, and I simply will not allow anyone to dictate how I should feel, or how I will express those feelings.

Let me ask you a very simple question. What would you like to see Prince do here? What would appease you? I'm curious as to what you feel he owes you...

The fams are rolling, but the fans are still focused on the issue(s), even if the song is funky.

However, according to one of the HQ mods,

Turnitup:

( http://www.housequake.com...ost1552932 )

BlackandRising said:

actually, its not. Ben has made it very clear that the org has always accommodated Prince's requests but that these new rounds of requests go beyond what is sensible and do indeed impact our constitutional rights. furthermore, the fashion that websheriff is manipulating the patriot act, using it to threaten websites needs to be challenged in the courts...these are constitutional issues and i am appalled that prince would offer a song as a peace offering for his representations actions as if that's going to pacify folks...and to do it in such a flippant way...princefams united? a leaked press release slamming folks? its silly and childish...

look, if his attorney's did not want to engage in a legal battle then they shouldn't have threatened these website's the way they did...and no song or website is ever going to make this situation go away.
[Edited 11/9/07 14:31pm]

ThirdStrike said:

I would like him to issue a written or verbal response to this. A song doesn't cut it, especially when it's riddled with lyrics that are clearly aimed at those who are displeased with what he's doing. You don't give a shit about any of this, that is on you. I do and I won't be satisfied until he handles this like an adult and stops with these stupid games. I mean PrinceFamsUnited? Good grief. He's either behind this madness or he's not and so far he hasn't come out against any of it. When I see him do that, I will let bygones be bygones, until then he aint getting one single penny from me ever again.

DevotedPuppy said:

Sounds like some will have an entire egg McMuffin on their faces very soon...

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

First of all, I'd greatly appreciate it if you would refrain from telling me what I give a shit about, and what I don't. I find that extremely disrespectful, and down right rude. Maybe you should issue a written apology to me for your actions...

Secondly, I just think this is getting blown way out of proportion, and heads on both sides are beginning to swell. Maybe deep breaths are needed all around.

And lastly, it now appears this mess will be over soon. Hopefully, relationships can be mended when it's all said an done...

ThirdStrike said:

My words are copyrighted and you have used them without permission!

roodboi said:

An explanation as to what? I'm confused...

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

You better stop, or I might have to pull out the old Casio keyboard from the garage and write a diss song about how mean you've been to me today!!

2elijah said:

The next time you cross the picket line.....

gettin' all huffy....


the song is bumpin' but still.....

actually, its not. Ben has made it very clear that the org has always accommodated Prince's requests but that these new rounds of requests go beyond what is sensible and do indeed impact our constitutional rights. furthermore, the fashion that websheriff is manipulating the patriot act, using it to threaten websites needs to be challenged in the courts...these are constitutional issues and i am appalled that prince would offer a song as a peace offering for his representations actions as if that's going to pacify folks...and to do it in such a flippant way...princefams united? a leaked press release slamming folks? its silly and childish...

look, if his attorney's did not want to engage in a legal battle then they shouldn't have threatened these website's the way they did...and no song or website is ever going to make this situation go away.
[Edited 11/9/07 14:31pm]

ThirdStrike said:

Kirky J!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Trust me, Kirky J would be Bethoven compared to my skills on the keys...

ThirdStrike said:

Well that makes 2 of us

STOP THE PRESSES! Am I actually being nice!

roodboi said:

An explanation as to what? I'm confused...

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Yeah, but you're actually making my point for me. I mean, if you visit this site for reasons other then Prince, why would you even concern yourself with what he has to say? If the name of this site was changed tomorrow to "toothpaste.org", and the same people were here, would you still visit? If your answer is "yes", who gives a flying ugly-bump what Prince does or says? That's what you should be asking yourself...

okay...am i brain farting here? why did i think DMCA was broadened due to the Patriot Act? but i was wrong...

but the way that IMHO web sheriff is abusing the DMCA it could affect our constitutional rights.

ThirdStrike said:

For him...it's no longer about Prince here on there site. However, most of us STARTED there and found something more wonderful past the PM&M page. And the results of this is that he wants these sites taken down. For many that's a big deal as they have friends and connections on these sites.

We give a flying bump because what Prince is doing is against free speech. And you know most of us KNOWS where all of this stems from. It stems from the whole ownership battle he has had with the WB. And the problem is he treats his fans in the same vein as he did them.

Lame.

JustErin said:

Agreed.

Rhondab said:

Rhondab, There was actually no picket line for me to cross. I have always stayed true to who I am. I have never been a follower or one to band together to ruin someone's reputation or career regardless, even if I don't like a person. I know being honest and outspoken will always draw enemies and lose acquaintances, but that is the chance I'm always willing to take, regardless, to stand by what I believe in and I am the same exact way in person. How is it fair though for members to band together and form a PFU site bashing an artist, but not fair for those who do not wish to participate? Basically you are telling the latter that they have no "freedom of speech" rights unless they agree with everyone else that joined that site. That's ridiculous.I am not going to band together to support a site designed just to trash someone's reputation. The fact that people on that PFU Fan site called Prince a n****r, which I've actually seen several times posted in comments there, with no Mods controlling the flow of nasty comments appearing on that site? Now what does that say about the fans that called him that? Sorry, that crossed the line for me and I just can't support that kind of bashing.

Now there are some members here, who have actually trailed/insulted me and stalked some of my posts like little kids, just because I happen to like the song, which is kind of crazy, and they are adults.., but what else is new? Whether the song is a diss or not, apparently its directed to those who chose to challenge Prince on that PFU site and trash talk him. Prince is Prince. He's a musician/artist who has the right to protect his music, just like any other artist, and he is not the only one who has done this. Whether anyone agrees with the way he's handling it or not,he has the right to protect it, just like everyone else here has a right to voice their beliefs/issues. Anyway, in the meantime, I'll just enjoy whatever music he puts out...that's just my 2cents that's all...take care.
[Edited 11/9/07 18:15pm]

okay...am i brain farting here? why did i think DMCA was broadened due to the Patriot Act? but i was wrong...

but the way that IMHO web sheriff is abusing the DMCA it could affect our constitutional rights.

sosgemini said:

Dude, you're so far off regarding the concept of the DMCA and how it pertains to this situation...especially with your contention that it could affect out constitutional rights.

Hi all… some of you may be aware of the WebSheriff stuff going on, which has affected most of the big Prince fan sites, with each getting a DMCA infringement notice. Basically, this is a letter from an authorized agent of Prince, saying that something on the site infringes his copyright, and must be removed. The interesting thing is that, as part of the DMCA law in the USA, the letter is sent to the service provider, not the site owner directly. So for example, the company that we rent servers from, got the letter and passed it along to us. The letter basically stated (I will include more details later), that there were ~3,500 images in our ‘gallery’ section, that infringed Prince’s copyrights, trademark, or other intellectual property. The way the DMCA notice works, is that the site owner has two choices: 1. take the material down, or 2. file a counter notice to say the material is not infringing, and that they accept being sued within 14 days.

Now, there’s no way that all the images we were asked to remove were infringing–it included images of people’s tattoos, their cars, scans from books that had nothing to do with Prince, newspaper clippings, wire image bureau images, etc. Lots of stuff which might be copyrighted, or not, but certainly, images and images of items, that Prince does not own the rights to (under the DMCA, the rights owner of the specific item being asked to be removed must file the complaint). There were also other problems with the specifics of the request that lead us at prince.org to believe it’s invalid, and we’re following up on that angle as well. Put simply, we believe this to be a bogus, incomplete, and certainly overly broad, even fairly sloppy, request. (In this article I don’t want to get into the “is this fair” or “why is Prince doing this” issues; that’s the topic for another day, and another message.)

That said, you may be surprised to learn that I have decided to temporarily make these images unavailable, nearly 3,500 of them. I would prefer not to, of course, and believe there is no legitimate reason why I should… but this is a purely practical matter. Our service provider, the good people (really!) we rent servers from, aren’t legally in a position to debate the correctness of each image and the request–this isn’t their primary role. They will simply take the ’safe’ road and shut down our server (or something similar, with the same effect) unless we remove them, or else they become liable to be sued. The DMCA is imbalanced in this regard, but this is the reality (remember, this was enacted by the same people who brought you the Patriot Act!) So, essentially, I’ve disabled access to these images so that while prince.org can secure a thorough legal analysis, we aren’t shut down. After all, the image gallery is a small part of the site, and I wouldn’t want to risk having the chat and forums go offline while we wrangle over this… there is principle, and honor, involved here, but this site exists to serve you, the community visitor and site member, and if we’re offline we’re not serving anyone, no pun intended

So, that’s the quick update… there’s fewer images in the gallery right now, but they’re not gone, we’re just working through legal silliness. The site will continue to run and provide the unofficial, semi-random, relatively unfettered and hopefully entertaining discussions it always has. Watch the staff blog for continuing updates…

the websheriff did not file a complaint sourcing specific cases of copyright infringement...instead it made a general statement that threatened this site's right to exist...this is not the first instance of websheriff doing such a thing...check out our site forum or just google websheriff. there are numerous examples of extreme behavior on the part of websheriff that have led many to cry foul...and not just in the prince online universe.

ps...now i found my patriot act reference... my bad!!!

I wasn't laughing b/c you like the song or for saying you like the song. I think the song is funky. However, one funky ass song doesn't mean I'm going to forget about Prince & Websheriff trying to stifle fan websites from critically discussing Prince's music (aka 'freedom of speech') or posting photos (aka 'fair use') that the websites have the LEGAL right to do .

I'm laughing because you were first in line for the princeFAMSunited kool-aid Prince is passing out.

But I think you already knew that's what I meant.

sosgemini said:

So it's a general complaint of copyright infringement based on certain images rather than an attack on prince.orgs right to exist. Granted, that sucks ass too, but its a different kind of ass-sucking than a constitutional claim, imho.