WQLZ Music Minute

STOP ACTA & TPP

Stop ACTA & TPP! - Never use trade agreements to mess with the Internet!

They tried to push internet censorship through Congress and we stopped them with our STOP SOPA/PIPA protests. But the companies behind SOPA & PIPA have a backup plan: secretive trade agreements like ACTA & TPP. If we can't stop these backroom deals, the internet's future belongs to SOPA's backers. DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO SPREAD THE WORD, CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES, YELL FROM THE STREET CORNERS, ALL OF IT! You can start by using the form below to send a message. Get more detail from KILLACTA.org

I urge you to vote no on ACTA and to communicate its severe problems to your colleagues. ACTA's vague language locks us into obsolete copyright and patent laws, preventing democracies from updating their laws to unlock new economic and social opportunities.It criminalizes harmless remixes by ordinary users if they achieve 'a commercial scale' (art 2.14.1) which many amateur videos do on sites like Youtube. And it criminalizes legitimate websites by making them responsible for user behavior ('aiding and abetting' art 2.14.4).Worse, it permanently bypasses the democratic process by empowering the 'ACTA Committee' to 'propose amendments to [ACTA]' without your approval. (art 6.4) In other words, it's impossible to know what you're voting for.The global movement against the US law SOPA showed that internet freedom is a crucial issue which belongs in the legislative process of each country. You should view ACTA as an attempt by a handful of companies to circumvent the democratic process, and you should vote against it.Thank you. Please reply if you have any questions.

March 15, 2010

Music News from the Rock Station, 92-7 WQLZ by Bishop

Going retro

Tribute albums are always a fun time, unless they make you feel old. Metal Hammer out of the UK is lining up an exciting set of albums to celebrate the multi-decade anniversary of Black Sabbath, AC/DC, and Judas Priest albums. Recreations of vintage Sabbath tunes will be performed by Apocalyptica and Prong while the AC/DC tracks will be covered by 80s metal lampoon-ers Steel Panther and Skindred. Judas Priest's classic tunes will be reproduced by Trigger the Bloodshed and White Wizzard. No word yet when these new renditions of classic metal tunes will be out, but just know that it is happening.

From real life to cartoons

Comic book fans, listen up! Rob Zombie is getting back into the land where ink and text bubbles rule. He's mastered the music business, directed Hollywood motion pictures and even taken the lead on network television directing a prime-time crime drama. Now the horror rocker/director is in the process of producing the comic “Whatever Happened to Baron Von Shock?” It won't be your traditional super power driven dark world of misfits and mutants, but rather a depiction of celebrity life, it's seductions, and it's pitfalls. Image Comics' artists Danny Hadiwidjaja and Val Staples have taken up the mantel of this intimidating project. Zombie is on the record saying this will be a very different project. Unlike his past cartoon attempt of “El Superbesto,” Zombie wants to take real life and bring it into the comic world. You should be able to pick up the first issue of the dark dramady subtitled “Sex Drugs and Monster” May 26th. Check out the cover art here.

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