AT&T Censored Anti-Bush Lyrics From Pearl Jam Webcast

[Nomad559]

http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=44047312

According to Pearl Jam's website, portions of the band's Sunday night set at Lollapalooza were missing from the AT&T Blue Room live webcast. Fans alerted the band to the missing material after the show. Reportedly absent from the webcast were segments of the band's performance of "Daughter," including the sung lines "George Bush, leave this world alone" and "George Bush find yourself another home."

After questioning AT&T about the incident, Lollapalooza was informed that material was indeed missing from the webcast, and that it was mistakenly cut by AT&T's content monitor. Tiffany Nels of AT&T told CMJ that they are working the matter out with the band. "We regret the mistake," she explains. "This was not intended and was an unfortunate mistake made by a webcast editor." She went on to explain that AT&T has a policy for any excessive language, and that it was set up because of its all-ages audience.

"This, of course, troubles us as artists but also as citizens concerned with the issue of censorship and the increasingly consolidated control of the media," the band wrote on their website. "AT&T's actions strike at the heart of the public's concerns over the power that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media." The band went on to point out that "most telecommunications companies oppose 'net neutrality' and argue that the public can trust them not to censor."

[illinoisprogressive]

1. Part of the new Facist Emergency Powers thing Bush put out a few months back?

[Double T]

2. Don't purchase ANYMORE products or services by or from at&t.

[kiteinthewind]

3. "mistakenly", my ass. This is SOP. Corporate Whores.

[tabasco]

4. Sorry 'bout the censorship!

Don't be hatin' on our Pretzeldent!!

[Lint Head]

5. Whoops!? Here at AT&T we're just fascists doing our jobs.

:dem:

[TomInTib]

6. "unfortunate mistake" my ass.

At that level, everything is done either by committee or by design.

[TankLV]

7. I guess criticizing der Fuhrer is "excessive language not suitable for children" now...

and who says this is not like Nazi Germany...

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

8. Someday I will tell you guys...

About why I didn't tour manage "MotherLoveBone" (Google, and it wasn't my fault) and what that has to do with Pearl Jam, but I will tell you this:

Somewhere in Seattle is one hella-pissed-off Kelly Curtis, tonight. This is not the last we will hear of this.

I predict that some mid-level production weenie made a content decision way above his pay grade and could, in the near future, be an ex-mid-level production weenie. Because no way in hell was there anything in the contract with AT&T that gave them the right to censor on idealogical grounds. Someone was waiting for the lyrics, to hit the dump button on the audio, in the service of their personal idealogy.

[Pachamama]

15. Is Kelly Curtis still managing Pearl Jam?

Hey there Tandalayo! :hi:

I know Kelly but havent' seen him in years since I left Seattle and Microsoft...His brother Dave was an attorney with Microsoft and that's how we met. Met him back in the early days of Pearl Jam and we all lived in the same area and had bbq's together. If I was still in touch with them, I'd love to know the scoop on this.

Unbelievable...I think this is a very scary sign of things to come. Guess they start with the subtle censorship, see if people notice and then slowly step it up notch by notch.

Personally, I refuse to use anything or any service from AT&T since the revelations came out about their little "rooms" in San Francisco and elsewhere that had been set up. I used to have a landline service with them and also cell phone. Dumped it all.

But I think this stuff is happening on a far far greater scale than any of us can imagine....

[Bitwit1234]

9. Does anybody remember any newscast, TV network, cable network

newspaper, magazine or telephone service ever deleting anything that was negative to President Clinton when the republicans were on their 80 million dollar witch hunt.

[smtpgirl]

10. Why the amazement

by the time corporate america finishes, we will be in a Total Recall movie.

[greyl]

11. I only see righteous indignation. ;) nt

[tom_paine]

12. Sure...a mistake. Nazis used to make such mistakes over and over and over again

just like our Kinder and Gentler Nazis, the Bushies, they just can't seem to stop making these "mistakes".

[mogster]

13. It's like the Soviet union

Imagine capitalism becoming stalinism. That's what this is - censorship.

The only difference is that a company has employees and is not centrally responsible, but can blame it on the 'webcast editor'.
Time to change the policy that edits 'excessive language', perhaps, as it opens for misuse?

[shenmue]

14. "We just happened to remove exactly the words we didn't like."

:crazy:

:dunce:

:puke: