GREAT MOMENTS IN PRACTICAL JOKES: FREE AS IN COPYRIGHT-PROTECTED BEER

And now, a true story.

Recently I bought some CDs from Amazon.com, one of which entitled me to a free MP3.

Like so.



I tend not to download MP3s from Amazon, partly because of the uncertain DRM situation (i.e. will this file still play if I change iPods), but mainly because they won’t let me. Not even if they’re free (like the time Mojo Nixon’s entire song catalog was offered for free for 24 hours).

Because I’m a foreigner, you see. If yr outside the US and try to download MP3s from Amazon, here’s what you get:



But I figured, “Okay, this will be different. I may be a foreigner, but I am a foreigner that they have explicitly granted the right to download an MP3 on their dime. So let’s try it.”

So I cashed in my MP3 credit. And got this.



Ha ha. Good one, Amazon. You totally punk’d me. Dude.

I’m more amused than upset – I mean, the free MP3 was an added perk to buying something I would have bought even without the free bonus offer, so it’s hard to feel ripped off.

But the “logic” behind the “Americans in America only” rule continues to baffle me.

To be fair, I’m sure it’s not Amazon’s fault entirely – it’s probably a condition imposed by the music labels. And I’m not sure if the issue is licensing (which tends to be geographically limited), or stopping piracy. The latter makes zero sense. Apart from the fact that it assumes that only non-Americans steal music, it also assumes that foreigners who are free to buy as many CDs as they can afford won’t rip the tracks and post them on Limewire.

But then it’s not as if the RIAA’s anti-piracy strategies ever made sense in the first place.

You can’t always get what you want,

This is dF

CHEESECAKE SO NICE THEY USED IT TWICE

Via the Easy Rider tumblog, an interesting case of Pulp Fiction Cover Art Repurposing.

How many differences can YOU spot, kids?

 

Double yr fun,

This is dF

GAY PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES, PART 7: AN EXHIBITION OF SHEER PRECISION

It’s Gay Pride Week. And it’s the weekend. Time to bring out the metal. And the leather.

Judas Priest has both.

I know, it’s a bit obvious, and I know that strictly speaking the song doesn’t deal directly with LGBT issues. But one good reason to include Judas Priest is Rob Halford’s assertion at the time he officially came out that his homosexuality was heavy metal’s worst-kept secret anyway.

“What, you didn’t know?”

PRODUCTION NOTE: This video is also recommended for the fact that the song’s big ending takes longer than the actual song. And Halford literally whips a motorcycle into submission. That’s so metal.

Hear the roar as they sense the fear,

This is dF

OH BABY JUST YOU SHUT YR MOUTH

[Via Radioactive Lingerie]

Eyes wide open,

This is dF