purplecam said:

Aaron felt harassed by Prince's people for various reasons, and was tired of trying to debate and negotiate with them about the video forum, picture forum or whatever. He said he was tired of having to deal with it all, and regretfully closed it down. It's a sad state of affairs, no matter the reason.

If Aaron had just grown bored with the site in general, there were still moderators to run things, and he could have taken a back seat to it for a while.

However, that wasn't the case. There was some back n' forth w/ Londell, or whoever was sending emails to Aaron, resulting in breaking him down (for lack of a better phrase), and eventually Prince got his way. He shut down, even in a round about way, another fan site which served no other purpose than to fully promote him free of charge, and have a place for fans to gather online. Prince couldn't control it, so he wanted it gone.

Prince is a big bully in high heels and short pants. Even though the Org is a bit at times, I hope it stays open if for no other reason than to be a nag in the back of Prince's mind.

However, I don't speak for Aaron. Here is his statement when HQ closed:

purplecam said:

There isn't. Aaron got tired of the "harrassment" because Prince and company got tired of HQ using Prince's intellectual property/rights to their own accord.


.
[Edited 10/9/09 13:56pm]

xlr8r said:

Thanks for the info

Bohemian67 said:

De nada. Oh btw. Its a fun game to pinpoint the irony of some of the haters opinions

ernestsewell said:

I knew about all of that stuff but we've never heard of there being an actual document(s) that Aaron received stating that HQ was to be shut down by whatever date & that's my thing right there. Aaron shut it down on his own, not because Prince told him to. When I see or hear that P did that, that's when I will believe that Prince shut HQ down.

xlr8r said:

Thank you, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who saw that. I dare say that the people I know who know stuff in the Prince camp told me that Prince had nothing to do with HQ closing.

xlr8r said:

Do you have a specific example of HQ infringing Prince's intellectual property rights?
Other than something deemed to be of fair use, obviously.

purplecam said:

And how would you hear of them anyway? His statement is true, as well as what I said. Prince is a bully, and he bullied HQ right off the web.

here's the thing... the man gives us sub-par stuff and we pay him way too much for it because we are junkies. we absolutely have a right to bitch about the lack of quality and extremely overpriced stuff, such as the lotusflower website. we are his customers, and a customer always has a right to talk about the quality of the product, or lack thereof.

some of the fams get waaaaay too invested in him. i have read posts where people actually said they were crying because someone posted a very sharp review of sub-par material.

as deja used to say: prince ain't your damn daddy. he's an businessman selling you a product, not a friend or relative of yours.
[Edited 10/9/09 16:56pm]

cborgman said:

cborgman said:

You are right but you also have to include people who bitch about every little thing that occurs with Prince as fams with way too much investment in Prince.

Am I upset with Lotisflow3r.com ? Hell yes but I am a damn fool for paying the money for that product. Who's to blame ? Me, myself and I.

muleFunk said:

So you're going to take the blame for Lotusflow3r.com having no real content and dropping the ball on what it was supposed to offer? No responsibility on Prince at all, huh? No responsibility for lying, misrepresenting, and falsely advertising? It's YOUR fault, not his, for all that. Should people call you if they haven't gotten their t-shirts?

xlr8r said:

His "personality traits" and experiences "from his youth" are not my business. I'm a pissed off CONSUMER of his music. That's all. I don't hate the man because I don't know him but business-wise he acts like a dick. I'm still waiting for an explanation as to why videos I've downloaded from his website are no longer playable. As Ernest said, there is no customer service counter. This quite simply shows that he doesn't care.

He's a salesman and I'm a customer. It's as simple as that. Unfortunately he's an absolutely brilliant musician but a shitty salesman. A really shitty one. As many people have said prior to me, he needs someone to do this side of it on his behalf or he's just going to piss off more people.

I'm not hater. I'm just fed up with ridiculous antics.

maya said:

Iwould have to say that when i first joined i really didnt understand the concept to this web site., But now i know that we all love Prince in our own strange way, frustration just gets the best of some

i agree with Little Sister and Earnest

prince is a good musician but him as a person is just disgusting I hate how he treats his fans and those who love him and are dedicated to him its just terrible how he treats them of all the music artists im fans of I have never ever in my life seen such arrogence and unkindness to fans the ones that put his ass where he is today and he returns the favor with lawsuits bully tactics and treating like crap thats BULL and I refuse to spend one cent on him until he gets his act together

and I know the prince fams are going to flame me for this but I'm just telling it like it is

<-----Look here

PurpleDiamond2009 said:

[Edited 10/10/09 0:35am]

cborgman said:

Why don´t you move on to other businessmen ? That's what I don't get about people like you. Why are you so incredibly irrational ?

rwn said:

Because people love the music...and in many cases have grown up with it.

Prince's business model is like New Coke. Unfortunately he doesn't fix it when evidence to the contrary shows that it's ineffective.

Now if your local pizza place changed the way they make their pizza and it wasn't as nice many people would still keep buying the pizza and hope it would go back to what they remember. And often, if enough people say that they wish it would, the pizza place would change it back if they valued their customers.

Now the difference is Prince apparently doesn't give a shit that people are angry by his 'antics'.

This is the difference.

I don't see it as irrational at all. For you to see it as irrational shows that perhaps you're the one missing the bigger picture. Your statement is overly-simplistic.

I think Aaron was asking for it. He knew that Prince and his camp didn't like photoshopped images on the header, but yet Aaron or whoever did it constantly. Even changed his symbol. Prince's camp provided housequake with banners and album art, but still they did that photoshopped header that looked like it could have been official but wasn't. I knew it wouldn't stay there for long.

rwn said:

go back and read, note use of "because we are junkies"

irrational? what was irrational about that post?

Harassment: Is infringement upon your personal copyrighted material harassment? e.g. illegal file sharing/bootlegs/pictures
Were HQ and other sites infringing upon Prince's copyrighted material? Some on this board have openly admitted to doing so.
Is copyright infringement illegal?
Did HQ shut down voluntarily or was there a court document demanding such?
Can harassment, in the form of character defamation on the internet be taken to court? Yes just google. Has Prince done this? No.


MAYA: You said :" The fact that nobody had to pay a cent makes everything okay? Are you fucking serious? There is nothing over exaggerated about it. The constant harassment of his fansites was deplorable to say the least. But, somehow I'm the close-minded one? lol."

I ask you. The fact that fans never had to pay a cent for all the illegal material and bootlegs. Does that make it ok?

ERNEST: You said: "Prince is a big bully in high heels and short pants."

While your statement might be YOUR truth, it does make it THE truth.

CBORGMAN: You said: "here's the thing... the man gives us sub-par stuff and we pay him way too much for it because we are junkies. we absolutely have a right to bitch about the lack of quality and extremely overpriced stuff, such as the lotusflower website"

Does Prince twist your arm to do so or is it free will? Was the contract committed under duress or fraudelent misrepresentation? Are you of age to make sound decisions and was your mental capacity sound at the time of entering the contract?

ERNEST: You said "So you're going to take the blame for Lotusflow3r.com having no real content and dropping the ball on what it was supposed to offer? No responsibility on Prince at all, huh? No responsibility for lying, misrepresenting, and falsely advertising? "

As you feel so strongly about it, why not file a complaint and sue Prince for your stated reasons? In fact why don't you get a team of org members together who feel the same. Get expert legal advice or a pro-bono lawyer. Meaning, "PAY" to settle this. IMO when people receive legitimate material but have so much illegal material of their own, 1+1 will never make 2.

CONNORHAWKE: You said: "His "personality traits" and experiences "from his youth" are not my business. I'm a pissed off CONSUMER of his music. That's all. I don't hate the man because I don't know him but business-wise he acts like a dick."

True his background is not your business, but as a true fan one COULD think outside the box for a minute and consider the person. Maybe your downloaded footage is not playable because the purpose is not to have something that is re-distributable. Just a thought

PURPLEDIAMOND2009: At least you put your money where your mouth is!

CONNORHAWKE: You said: "Prince's business model is like New Coke. Unfortunately he doesn't fix it when evidence to the contrary shows that it's ineffective. "

How many concert tickets has Prince just sold out in Paris?

XLR8R: You said: "But it's all about his fans feelings (rather then them being more objective and either letting go or attempting some resemblance of understanding which may be beyond their control themselves). You see the horns grow in people and pitchforks purchased. Maybe just maybe they are far too emeshed with this artists etc. "


This is plainly clear, yes.

The sad thing is by all those who feel Prince is "disgusting and a bully etc" is that they retaliate by being the same. So who's better?
[Edited 10/10/09 2:23am]

ugh... fams.

who else would angrily defend a man that sues them because they post pictures of him?

Bohemian67 said:

Hey Bohemian67, if you're going to respond to my posts please make sure you understand them first. Perhaps I didn't give enough information?

I'll elaborate on the first point and then respond to your Paris jib.

Bohemian67 said:

First of all don't call me 'true fan' (or insinuate that I am not one) such a thing doesn't exist. Don't be ridiculous. Why should I 'think outside the box and consider the person'? Whose box are we talking about? Please take off your blinkers.

My downloaded videos are not playable because the license was not correctly transferable when I switched to my new computers, because the server for the NPG license no longer exists. I therefore have videos that I could not burn to a dvd when I bought them because it was against the rules and now, because Prince has abandoned the project, I have nothing for my money. I wasn't made aware when I bought them that I was, in fact, renting them (as it's turned out to be). Strangely enough, there is no one for me to complain to or apply for a refund for a product that doesn't work. The purpose may have been not to have them re-distributable but as I do not do this, nor do I buy bootlegs, why am I the one to suffer? I have a huge music collection, all purchased by me. I've lost count of how many albums I have and funnily enough, Prince is the only artist who has caused this situation.....every other artist allows me to listen to or watch the media I have purchased.

Bohemian67 said:

How is this above comment even relevant to what I was posting? The number of concert tickets he has sold is irrelevant to the fact that he has pissed off many of his fans. It only shows that he still has enough fans left to sell lots of tickets. Your A isn't equalling B here.....

Wat I find silly in all of this is that some of these fans have experienced similar from Prince timesss before...
they know he's not gifted in business as he is musically...yet went ahead and payed $77 to join lotusflow3r.
I feel like...
if u a grown ass man/woman...
and u get duped...
and u get duped by Prince...
and u get duped by Prince who u had previously been duped by time and time again with regards to business...
I think u should be slappin yourself now cause I think that's exactly wat was s'pose to happen to yo' azz.

That's like being in a relationship and your partner cheated and u gave them a second chance.
They took that second chance and messed it up again.....aaaaand u went ahead and gave them another chance...
aaaaand they messed up again..... ..... .....aaaaand u took them back again.....
if they cheat on yo' azz again...u gon blame them???

JayJai said:

Excellent point Jai Jai. Prince apparently "beats" them up. And they go back for more

[/quote]CONNORHAWK

Hey Bohemian67, if you're going to respond to my posts please make sure you understand them first. Perhaps I didn't give enough information?

I'll elaborate on the first point and then respond to your Paris jib.

First of all don't call me 'true fan' (or insinuate that I am not one) such a thing doesn't exist. Don't be ridiculous. Why should I 'think outside the box and consider the person'? Whose box are we talking about? Please take off your blinkers.

My downloaded videos are not playable because the license was not correctly transferable when I switched to my new computers, because the server for the NPG license no longer exists. I therefore have videos that I could not burn to a dvd when I bought them because it was against the rules and now, because Prince has abandoned the project, I have nothing for my money. I wasn't made aware when I bought them that I was, in fact, renting them (as it's turned out to be). Strangely enough, there is no one for me to complain to or apply for a refund for a product that doesn't work. The purpose may have been not to have them re-distributable but as I do not do this, nor do I buy bootlegs, why am I the one to suffer? I have a huge music collection, all purchased by me. I've lost count of how many albums I have and funnily enough, Prince is the only artist who has caused this situation.....every other artist allows me to listen to or watch the media I have purchased.

Bohemian67 said:

How is this above comment even relevant to what I was posting? The number of concert tickets he has sold is irrelevant to the fact that he has pissed off many of his fans. It only shows that he still has enough fans left to sell lots of tickets. Your A isn't equalling B here.....[/quote]

1. If I'm going to respond to your posts I must do whatever you say? You're right A defintely doesn't equal B.
2. When I refer to "ONE" fan being true or not "one" is not particular and does not necessarily refer to you. You are free to interpret "one" how you wish.
3. The word "could" implies possiblity, why do you get so angry?
4. In a world full of people who illegally re-distribute bootlegs etc, Prince/ Prince/Paisley must be psychic and know that YOU are not one of them?
5. So YOU changed pcs, had licence transfer issues because a server doesn't exist anymore but it's Prince/NPG/Paisley's fault? I admit, frustrating.

6. Paris ticket sales reflect the effectiveness of Prince's business model, along with many other things which I won't bore you with. Your reference to Prince's business model was that it was "ineffective." I disagree.

By the way are you Bart Van Hemelen who has just changed your screen name?
[Edited 10/10/09 5:43am]
[Edited 10/10/09 5:45am]

ernestsewell said:

He's saying he made the choice to join up. Prince didn't do it for him.
Most orgers who complained about lotusflow3r.com were members of Prince's previous sites and had reservations and they still joined up without seeing a single thing or waiting for another person to say what was on there. All for the chance to get a t-shirt. If Prince fooled any of you once then that's cool. If he fooled any of you twice then who's the fool?

JayJai said:

I'm not a member of Lotusflow3r. I knew exactly what was going to happen with that website and it all came true !
After I got duped with the NPGMC because I joined late and lost all the access to the files I legally bought, I vowed never again to enter into a business deal with Prince again except for CD's and concert tickets. Never again will I buy a digital product from him, only tangible goods, because now I know that he just can't be trusted and he provides no customer support at all.

I still enjoy the music and the concert, that's why I'm still going to Paris to see both shows.
But I have lost all faith in PRince, the web pioneer

HonestMan13 said:

granted, but who's the either incompetant or deceptive fool who keeps screwing his fans?

Bohemian67 said:

You are really stretching with this.

For the zillionth time : Since 2004 (ish) HQ never allowed illegal file sharing, whether that be official material or bootlegged material. Prior to that, bootlegs were openly traded on the board, but that ended quite harmoniously and members went off to conduct their business elsewehere. HQ allowed the discussion of unofficial material in it's bootleg duscussion section, but the mods enforced the "no trading" rule very strictly.

Pictures? HQ was a victim of Prince's ridiculous "no posting my likeness" rule as much as the Org was. Prince doesn't own the copyright to each and every picture with his mug splattered across it. He'd like to think he is, but he isn't (London 2007 tourbook fuck-up, anyone?).

So no, no harassment, and no illegal activities commited in the open thus far.

Yes copyright infringement is illegal, but I specifically asked for example. So far you have given me a lot of waffle with no substance, and certainly not a single specific example of them infringing his copyright.