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Thom Yorke pulls recent tracks from Spotify in protest against low pay for new artists
The artist famed for fronting Radiohead, and not so much for toeing the line, has withdrawn his solo tracks from Spotify and some smaller streaming services in order to highlight the low payments given to new musicians. Thom Yorke explained the decision by re-tweeting his producer, Nigel Godrich, who had complained that "new artists get paid f^@k all," and that the current streaming model only suits those with an existing back catalog. Yorke added that Spotify shareholders "will shortly be rolling in it," implying that the distribution of wealth is unfair. Some followers reacted badly to his decision, accusing him of "hurting his fans" with a "small [and] meaningless rebellion," but others spoke out in support -- including electronic artist Four Tet (aka Kieran Hebden) who said he'd pulled his music off Spotify for the same reason. Spotify responded to the criticism this morning in a statement provided to TechCrunch, saying that it is "still in the early stages of a long-term project," and adding that "we've already paid $500 million to rightsholders so far and by the end of 2013 this number will reach $1 billion." The spokesperson further went on to say that "we're 100% committed to making Spotify the most artist-friendly music service possible, and are constantly talking to artists and managers about how Spotify can help build their careers." Yorke is hardly the first star to make a stand, but unlike Coldplay, Adele and the rest, his specific focus on industry newcomers (rather than himself) is -- we've gotta say -- quite refreshing.
Tax protesters at London Apple Store
Comedian Mark Thomas, together with about 50 activists, took to Apple's retail store on Regent Street in London to protest Apple's penchant for tax avoidance. Of course, all taxpayers -- both corporations and individuals -- do all they can to minimize their tax liability within the confines of the law, so it's not as if Apple is doing anything illegal, or for that matter, even unusual. Then again, who really wants logic to get in the way of a fun protest? Thomas explained the reasoning behind the protest: Apple has this amazing situation where they pay no tax on one of their companies registered in Ireland, and so in essence, they're using Ireland as a offshore tax haven. So what we've decided is that Apple on Regent Street should therefore become Irish territory. So we're going to create Irish territory on Regent Street. Hopefully we'll do it without getting busted, hopefully do it with a sense of fun. You can hear the band, they're absolutely fantastic! Naturally, there's video of the protest. The Guardian further reports that members of the group held up banners which read, "Take a tax holiday in Ireland." What's more, some members took to Apple's displayed notebooks and iMacs and wrote messages advising customers that they can purchase the "SAME products at the SAME prices at John Lewis around the corner...". And all the while, the protest was accompanied by some melodic and traditional Irish music. As far as protests go, this one seemed pretty tame. Indeed, with the live Irish music, it seems like they really added some excitement to what may have otherwise been another ho-hum day at Apple retail. Upon leaving the store, Thomas took a more serious note, explaining that he would scream and shout until Apple pays the taxes it owes. The Guardian adds: Thomas is scheduled to appear at this year's Edinburgh Fringe festival with a new show entitled 100 Acts of Minor Dissent, which will catalogue his attempt to achieve just that in the space of a year. Something tells me Thomas won't be championing the Apple tax cause for long.
The Art of Wushu: The war for server time [Updated]
Scheduled events are a huge part of Age of Wushu. While each player has the option of enjoying the game at his own pace, scheduled events mark the major ways people can have an impact on the world at large. Because these events have to occur at a specific time, their placement will always be convenient for some and inconvenient for others. Recently -- and without warning -- Snail changed the server time in response to complaints about various events being inconvenient. This time change was influenced by a vote thread on the official forums, but was otherwise invisible; there were no warnings in the game's launcher or via in-game announcements until days afterward. The lack of communication about the time change was bad enough, but unfortunately, listening to the vocal minority had much larger, far-reaching problems for players. [Please see the end of this article for Snail's appended response to these arguments.] I was going to talk about meridians this time, but addressing this topic was something you requested. You came to the Massively tip jar. You emailed me directly. You messaged me in game. You even came to my house and said, "Hey man, you should write about how messed up the time change is." You asked, and this is my reply.
PBS shows how hacking is reclaiming its good name after a bad rap (video)
Hacking is still a loaded concept for many, often conjuring negative images of corporate espionage, fraudsters and prank-minded script kiddies. PBS' Off Book wants to remind us that hacking wasn't always seen this way -- and, thanks to modern developments, is mending its reputation. Its latest episode shows that hacking began simply as a desire to advance devices and software beyond their original roles, but was co-opted by a sometimes misunderstanding press that associated the word only with malicious intrusions. Today, hacking has regained more of its original meaning: hackathons, a resurgence of DIY culture and digital protests prove that hacks can improve our gadgets, our security and even our political landscape. We still have a long way to go before we completely escape movie stereotypes, but the mini-documentary may offer food for thought the next time you're installing a custom ROM or building your own VR helmet.
The Think Tank: What's your solution to save closing MMOs?
In the spectrum of entertainment, MMOs are still relatively young. When the original MMOs were created in the late '90s, I don't imagine the innovators thought much about what would happen if millions of people got hooked on these games, built solid relationships, put thousands of hours into their characters... and then it all went away. The consequence of that unique situation is a lot more painful than most early developers could have imagined, yet it's happening more frequently. With the closure of popular MMOs like Star Wars Galaxies, City of Heroes and more, some players are a bit irritated at the genre as a whole. Not too many other time-investment hobbies can completely go away as quickly as an MMO. So what does the Massively staff think is the solution? Do we turn to F2P publishers to throw some cash shop Band-Aids on the game and nudge it back into the wild? Do we bypass legal avenues and look at emulators? Is there even such thing as a solution?
Breakfast Topic: Have you ever protested about game issues in game?
So as I logged in each and every character recently to sync up all my goodies in preparation for Mists, I rediscovered a strange little level 1 gnome tucked away on Blackrock. Argent Dawn players, do you still have a thing going with the players on Blackrock? I haven't played on AD in years now, but back in the days of unstable launch-era servers, the "Blackrock kiddies" chose Argent Dawn to torment with their server-crashing antics whenever their own realm would crash. I'm not sure how making the AD players miserable with legions of profanity-blasting players shouting "Blackrock down! Blackrock down!" and taunting us for being roleplaying pansies was supposed to help their situation -- but it became a regular occurrence. Ironforge (best capital to hang out in because you could connect so quickly to Menethil) on Argent Dawn became a living hell whenever Blackrock went down. The lag was so bad you could guarantee you'd end up in the trench between the auction house and the bank. Then came the glorious day when Argent Dawn went down. I still can't believe I did it, but I did -- I joined the players flooding onto Blackrock to create level 1 gnomes. (Bad player. Bad.) We delighted in tacking on RP-esque "-eth" suffixes to the most ridiculous-sounding names we could think of, and we dogpiled onto the bridges of Ironforge for a naked gnomish dance party, chanting "AD down! AD down!" (Not sure what that guy in the screenshot shouting about drugs was all about. Looks like we didn't even manage to keep our main chant going. Oh, well.) I don't guess we ended up accomplishing anything of note -- we didn't crash Blackrock like their players did ours so many times, nor did we really intend to -- but it sure felt good to return the annoyance for just that little while. On a more serious note, WoW has been home to plenty of in-game marches, demonstrations, and protests of various sorts over the years. It was a very different era of customer relations back then, and many in-game protests were simply attempts to garner some attention from Blizzard over issues players felt strongly about. Today, of course, players enjoy much freer communication with Blizzard on the official forums, Blizzard blogs, and even Twitter and Facebook. Have you ever protested or marched in game over a game-related issue? Did you feel it was effective? Do you post in feedback threads and interact with the Blizzard blues outside the game now?
Canon and Panasonic halt production in China amid anti-Japan protests
Canon could be facing a costly drop in production of both its digital cameras and laser printers, following reports that widespread protests in China have forced it close most of its factories in that country. It's a similar story at Panasonic, which is said to have had one of its plants "sabotaged" by Chinese workers. The anti-Japan protests concern the status of disputed islands in the East China Sea and were triggered by the Japanese government's move to purchase some of the land in question -- check the More Coverage link below for a more detailed explanation.
Twitter hands over Occupy Wall Street protestor's updates under pressure
Twitter has been building a modest reputation for siding with the little guy (or girl) when it comes to communication privacy, and it just demonstrated how far it's willing to go in a showdown with Manhattan's Criminal Court over a demand to hand over tweets from Occupy Wall Street protestor Malcolm Harris. The social network has been pushed into delivering the claimed evidence, but only as it faced a deadline and the threat of a fine -- it even tried one last request for a stay before producing hard copies of the messages. However much the handover affects Harris' chances at winning during trial, it emphasizes that public posts have serious consequences -- companies ultimately can't shield you from the law. [Image credit: Paul Stein, Flickr]
City of Heroes fans will hold a protest rally at Atlas Park [Updated with video]
Odds are good that most City of Heroes fans can't picket NCsoft's corporate headquarters over the game's sudden closing announcement. But fans can picket in the game itself, and that's the plan behind the in-game rally on Saturday at 5 p.m. EDT. The event planners are asking players to congregate en masse on the stairs in Atlas Park on the Virtue server in the hopes of spawning an awe-inspiring number of zone instances. The rally is followed by a costume contest at 6 p.m. EDT with a similar theme: Players will be making costumes based on Paragon Studios employees -- not the pseudonyms of the employees but the employees themselves. Players are encouraged to put a personal twist on the costumes, but the rules emphasize that mean-spirited costumes are disallowed. If you want to show your solidarity with the game and the studio, head over to the Virtue server this Saturday and get ready to strut your stuff in truly epic fashion. [Update: Massively streamed the event live on our Twitch channel complete with commentary from Beau and Bree. We've embedded the show behind the cut -- sorry for the audio burps; 45234528435 people all waving torches in protest can do that to a stream. Titan Network has more info, including the speech by the rally's chief organizer and the groundwork for a campaign to mail superhero capes and masks to the NCsoft studios. Save CoH!]
AT&T confesses: its network couldn't handle unchecked FaceTime over cellular
Well, at least no one can blame AT&T for dodging the core issue any longer. After watching Verizon Wireless snag satisfaction crown after satisfaction crown from AT&T over the years, it seems that the latter is finally using a highly defensive blog post on the issue of FaceTime over cellular in order to cop to what we've all known: AT&T's network is in no shape to handle the glut of devices currently running on it. After being taken by storm in 2007 with the iPhone, AT&T has been racing to right the supply / demand curve, and it came to a head once more last week when the operator announced that only Mobile Share users would be able to use FaceTime over its 3G / 4G airwaves once iOS 6 hit. Naturally, pundits were quick to slam the company for implementing a policy that nudges existing users with grandfathered unlimited data plans to slide up to a plan that's potentially less awesome, but a lengthy letter on AT&T's Public Policy Blog lays out the real reason. The company makes clear that the decision to limit FaceTime over cellular to Mobile Share customers does not violate the FCC's net neutrality rules -- after all, it's being decidedly transparent about the frowned-upon choice -- nor does it cross the line on any "blocking" issues. Its argument is simple: it's not blocking you from using any video chat application you want, but it is exercising its right to manage the doors through which all chat applications can and can't be used. The money quote is here: "We are broadening our customers' ability to use the preloaded version of FaceTime but limiting it in this manner to our newly developed AT&T Mobile Share data plans out of an overriding concern for the impact this expansion may have on our network and the overall customer experience." Despite our scorn, we're halfway glad the policy is in place -- after all, how would you feel if you couldn't load a vital email because everyone else on the block was chatting with their mum about chimera cats on FaceTime? Rock, meet hard place.
Slacker Radio embraces Pussy Riot through 'Protest' station
There's been plenty of talk about Russian feminist punk collective Pussy Riot in the global media over the past few weeks, but the neon-ski-mask-donning assemblage's music isn't particularly easy to come by here in the States. Streaming music service Slacker is throwing some weight behind the group by adding such government-riling gems as "Putin Wet Himself" and "Kill the Sexist" to its "Protest Radio" station. The station is free and will kick off with one of four PR tracks "for some time," according to the service. You can access the offering below, just make sure you've got some ear holes cut in your own ski mask before you do.
Theory of cliodynamics uses science to predict history, sees violence erupt in cycles
Ever get the feeling that you've seen it all before? University of Connecticut researcher Peter Turchin has, and he (along with Russian partners Sergey Nefedov and Andrey Korotayev) has even crafted an entire scientific theory around the idea. Cliodynamics, as it's called, works on the view that broad trends of history occur in predictable patterns based on common factors like government strength, population size and social inequality. The surprise to Turchin is that violence outside of wars, at least in the US, triggers roughly every 50 years like clockwork: people rebel against a social crisis, but their children stay out of the fray and lead to the conditions that ultimately trigger another outbreak, like the 1970s civil rights and peace movements. Don't set your watch to cliodynamics just yet. Many historians are still skeptical, and even supporters note that one-off events or major wars fall through the cracks. If the theory pans out, however, science could be used to help governments do the right thing before they're made to do it at gunpoint. [Image credit: Steve Wilson, Flickr]
140 characters to the clink: Occupy Wall Street protester loses battle to block Twitter subpoena
In a decision that's sure to be lost on this generation of over-sharers, Occupy Wall Street protester Malcolm Harris, arrested this past October during a Brooklyn Bridge demonstration, has just lost a legal battle to block prosecutors' attempts to subpoena three month's worth of his tweets. Chalking the ruling up to Twitter's terms of service, Judge Matthew Sciarrino Jr. concluded that the posted updates belong to the social networking company under license and, therefore, are fair game for use in the case "given their relevance." Harris, as expected, is in the process of filing a motion to reargue, but let this be a fair warning to our open online culture: what happens on the internet, stays on the internet forever. So you better watch what you tweet.
Protesters claim credit for Apple's January announcement of FLA inspections
Protest groups Change.org and SumOfUs.org recently delivered boxes containing 250,000 petition signatures to the Grand Central Terminal Apple Store, demanding that Apple investigate and improve worker conditions in Chinese factories. Now that inspections have begun, those same groups are claiming victory. "This new announcement shows the pressure is getting to Apple," says Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, Executive Director of SumOfUs.org. There's just one problem: Apple's announcement isn't new. Apple announced its partnership with the Fair Labor Association on January 13, nearly a month before Change.org and SumOfUs.org delivered their signatures. In the same press release erroneously taking credit for Apple's partnership with the FLA, SumOfUs.org criticises the group as "a business-funded group with a long track record of serving as a corporate mouthpiece, not an effective advocate for workers." The New York Times' report on the FLA is hardly as scathing, though it has found that "many labor advocates say its efforts have barely made a dent in improving working conditions." AppleInsider has criticised both groups for what it calls "slacktivism," "retroactive activism," and "empowering social change after the fact," since Change.org and SumOfUs.org are claiming credit for actions Apple took long before either group's petitions even began. In fact, most of the "worker abuses" cited in these petitions are sourced from Apple's own annually-released Supplier Responsibility Report. Jim Dalrymple of The Loop has classified the groups' actions as "nothing more than a publicity stunt." "If these protesters are really concerned about the workers in China, why not deliver that petition to the other companies that manufacture products at Foxconn. Where is the press release saying they were going to visit HP, Dell, Microsoft and others?" Dalrymple asks. "I emailed the PR guy Brett Abrams yesterday and asked him that. No response." Change.org and SumOfUs.org's petitions have not accomplished anything that Apple wasn't already planning to do on its own. The issue the groups have raised is a serious one, but claiming credit for actions Apple took over a month ago seriously damages their credibility. Meanwhile, in a conference with Goldman Sachs, Tim Cook detailed the steps Apple is taking to improve conditions at its suppliers' factories (many thanks to Mac Rumors for its detailed transcription). "We think the use of underaged labor is abhorrent. It's extremely rare in our supply chain, but our top priority is to eliminate it totally. We've done that with our final assembly and we're now working with vendors farther down in the supply chain," Cook said. "If we find a supplier that intentionally hires underage labor, it's a firing offense." On workplace safety: "We don't let anyone cut corners on safety. If there is a problem on safety, we seek out the foremost experts and set a new standard and apply that to the entire supply chain. We focus on the details. If there is a fire extinguisher missing from a cafeteria, that facility doesn't pass inspection until that fire extinguisher is in place." Beginning in January, Apple began collecting weekly data on over half a million workers in its supply chain, with specific focus on overtime. Apple sets a 60 hour/week cap on supplier workers' overtime hours, and reports indicate its suppliers already have 84 percent compliance. Apple's goal on this is 100 percent. Thus far Apple has been issuing annual Supplier Responsibility Reports, but Apple will now supply those reports on a monthly basis and release them on its website. No other manufacturer has committed to that level of transparency in its suppliers' working conditions. By American standards, especially among those who have never set foot in a factory and are unfamiliar with the gruelling pace, poor working conditions, and worker abuses present in even the best and most tightly-regulated of factories, the conditions at Foxconn may indeed sound harsh. But real changes or improvements in those working conditions are not going to come from signing an online petition and tamely delivering a box of signatures to a handful of retail outlets. The only way conditions at Foxconn have any chance at improving is if companies like Apple take steps to put pressure on their suppliers, and Apple has already done exactly that -- well before anyone outside the company asked it to. In fact, Apple has taken far greater strides in this area than any other consumer electronics manufacturer, so the continued focus on Apple not only seems illogical, it also seems counterproductive. Other consumer electronics companies must be looking at the situation, where Apple's unprecedented transparency about its suppliers has backfired into a PR nightmare, and Sony/Dell/HP/etc. must be saying to themselves that maintaining the silent status quo is better for them in the long run. This is the third year in a row where, like clockwork, Apple's release of its Supplier Responsibility Report has been followed by a media firestorm and a laser-like focus on Apple to the exclusion of every other Foxconn client. With Apple now committed to releasing these reports monthly, the danger now is that the linkbaiting and Apple-focused controversy will never end. As long as every company except Apple keeps getting a free pass, no real improvements at Foxconn (or anywhere else) are going to happen.
Foxconn server hacked, CEO's password revealed
Hacker group SwaggSec took a swipe at Foxconn when it broke into the company's servers. The group stole login information and documents, both of which were promptly leaked to the internet. SwaggSec claimed the information would let individuals place fake orders using accounts from Dell, Apple, IBM and Microsoft. As soon as the hack was publicized, Foxconn shut down its servers and pulled down its website. Though SwaggSec does mention Foxconn's poor working conditions in a letter it posted on pastebin, this was not the reason for the attack against the manufacturer. The group says it hacked the company for the "hilarity that ensues when compromising and destroying an infrastructure." The news of this hack hit the internet at the same time protesters, upset with inhumane factory working conditions, were gathering outside Apple stores in London, New York, San Francisco and other stores worldwide. [Via Electronista]
Apple Store employees accept petitions from protesters
Slightly over a dozen protesters from Change.org and SumofUS delivered a petition signed by more than 250,000 people to the Grand Central Terminal Apple Store today. Both organizations are urging Apple to improve working conditions at factories run by its overseas suppliers, particularly Foxconn's massive facility in China. CNET reports the event was relatively low-key -- there were more people present covering the event for the media than the number of protesters who showed up -- and Apple Store employees seemed well-prepared when they accepted the big box of signatures. The group claims the same petition will be delivered to Apple's San Francisco store later today as one part of a global action also involving stores in Bangalore, London, and Sydney. At press time, it was unclear if the protesters were wearing clothing manufactured in the USA, or if they plan similar protests at Best Buys, Walmarts, Gamestops, or the headquarters of Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, HP, Dell, or any of the other retail outlets and consumer electronics companies who also heavily employ Chinese labor to build their products.
Google, Wikipedia and others protest SOPA / PIPA
At this point, SOPA needs no introduction. But if you've been diligently ignoring it up until this point, good luck getting through January 18th as an uninformed citizen. Google, Wikipedia and a host of other websites are either going dark or making huge, unmistakable statements on their homepages in protest. Google's tagline? "End Piracy, Not Liberty." Pretty much says it all, really. If you've spotted another site rebelling today, shout it out in comments below -- and while you're in the shouting mood, give your local officials a holler and let 'em know just how much you disapprove.P.S. - An amazing breakdown of this whole thing can be found here at reddit.
Firefall shutting down beta in SOPA protest, Minecraft sites join in [update]
Red 5 Studios will shut down the Firefall beta on January 18, joining Reddit in its one day protest of the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA). CEO Mark Kern told Shacknews that the "misguided legislation" would hurt smaller game companies that wouldn't have the legal resources to protect themselves in case of an "unwarranted shutdown." "We are also ashamed of the ESA for supporting a bill which is clearly not in the best interests of gamers or the game industry," Kern said, taking his protest of the organization that puts on the annual E3 event one step further. "We will not attend E3 unless ESA reverses their stance." "We issue a call to all our industry peers, including developers, publishers and game press, to join us in letting the ESA know they do not represent our views on this issue, and strongly oppose SOPA and PIPA." Despite the ESA's support of SOPA, some members have spoken out against the political lobbying group's stance. Non-member developers have also started speaking out this week, including League of Legends developer Riot Games and Torchlight's Runic Games. Update: Markus Persson has stated Minecraft.net and Mojang.com will join in the protest.
Syria bans iPhone in attempt to curb protests and silence citizen journalists
Times are tough in Syria right now, but that isn't stopping the Assad government from making things a whole lot worse. The nation's customs department, a branch of the Syrian Finance Ministry, has officially banned the iPhone in an attempt to curb citizens from sharing news and videos of the massive protests and violent crackdowns throughout the nation. For those not keeping score, foreign press have been largely barred from the nation since March, which necessitated the use of citizen journalism as a means to report news from the streets. As Syrians come to grips with new economic sanctions against the country, the banning of the iPhone is, sadly, certain to escalate the unrest.
EVE Online monument commemorates the summer riots
Back in June, the EVE Online community reacted negatively to the release of a lackluster Incarna expansion and controversy over microtransaction prices. Complaints eventually erupted into in-game riots with the leak of a company newsletter on microtransactions and an internal memo from the CEO denouncing complaints as noise. Players got together in trade hubs across the game to protest EVE's development direction, attacking a pair of invulnerable monuments outside the systems' major stations. As a nod to players' refusal to accept the status quo and force change, CCP recently altered the Jita monument that was the main focus of the summer riots. The statue now stands destroyed, and its plaque congratulating Heinky and Shin Ra of Burn Eden for solving a riddle contest several years ago has been changed to the text below: "This was once a memorial to the winners of a riddle contest sponsored by late entrepreneur Ruevo Aram. After standing proud for half a decade, it was destroyed in late YC113 by capsuleers who were staging a mass uprising against an intolerable status quo of intergalactic affairs. Today, the ruins of this once-great work of art stand as a testament to the fact that change is the universe's only constant." The change is currently only live on the test server, but will likely come to the main server on November 29th when the Crucible expansion launches. Thanks to Drew for the tip!
