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So, back in the day, I started a music service called Piracy Management. I was a label manager and, at the time, I saw a need not being fulfilled. Or at least, not very well.
Filesharing sites offering direct downloads, like megaupload, and zippyshare, and very soon after a multitude of others were being used by music “blogs” that would post each new release of EDM music (mostly on beatport), would upload that release in full quality to one of these filesharing sites, and post the link to download for free. It was RAMPANT. Even the label that I ran, which was absolutely obscure on the worldwide stage, had almost every release posted on these various blogs and, in turn, on these filesharing sites.
Now…these filesharing sites now don’t exist. Not even close to how they used to. Everyone knew they existed purely for pirating software, music, and videos. So they got shut down. BUT…at the time…the protected themselves by offering Abuse Reports. You could send a cease and desist letter to an email address, or using a form, and they pledged to take the link down within 24 hours. It was a flawed, work-intensive system of protecting copyright that they *thought* would protect them. It ultimately didn’t, but at the time it was all us little labels had. Piracy Management took that work out of a label’s hands for a fee.
I’d scour the internet each day searching various keywords, IDing pirate sites and finding their links to the download sites, and then put in a mass of cease and desist orders for dozens of links at a time. It sounded like a good idea, and it was honorable work.
Problem is: labels don’t have money. None of them do. My customers were broke. I knew how much *I* could justify spending on stopping the piracy of one of my own releases, and it wasn’t very much. That’s what I charged for services, and it just wasn’t very much. Especially given that some tracks had *literally* hundreds of download links out there by the time my service got involved. That’s a decent amount of man-hours. Another problem: none of these labels could afford repeat business. It was all piece-meal.
It was ill-conceived. Well-executed, if I do say so myself, but ill-conceived. And fatally so, it seems, when all those sites were finally shut down by the international powers-that-be. Good riddance. To both the leeches, and my service, actually.
Today, I finally completely let go of that website. It had been the main site for my current hosting package, the one that this very blog is located on. The domain had come up for renewal, and I just didn’t want to renew a website I had no intention of ever going back to. So, I didn’t, and I wanted to make sure my hosting stayed intact. So, now, Theincrediblog.com is my main account. Huzzah!
That was all a complicated walk through my personal history to say that today, I simplified things. Pruned away some dead weight, and my hosting is now reflective of my current priorities. Feels good.
Also did some agility today with the Coops, as you can see from today’s Vlog. Almost half way through that 30-day challenge. I’m very much enjoying it. Perhaps something I can continue with, I’m not sure. I definitely wouldn’t do vlogging OVER this journalling that’s written out. This blog is definitely much more my jelly jam. But…I *do* enjoy the vlogging…we’ll see. Right now, it’s exactly what I want. Extra little add-ons for this blog. Some moving visuals of each day.
We also went out to downtown and met another dog today. His name was Marley and he was very sweet. I don’t think we’re going to pull the trigger on him, he definitely seemed a bit tucked into his shell and very clingy with his foster parents, which isn’t necessarily what the Ho and I are looking for. A clingy dog is a nervous dog, and nervous dogs can definitely be a challenge. Lots of behavior issues that can come from being nervous. But…we’ll see. He was very, very sweet, and very quiet which are both HUGE things that we’re looking for. Plenty of pups out there, though, looking for homes.
A’s won today. Niners lost after having a 17-point lead in the first half. Watched some of both games. Niners are a tough team to peg this year. I really have no idea what to expect. I expect them to be good, I just don’t know how good. The A’s win was much more satisfying. First series they’ve won in freaking FOREVER. A month, I think. Maybe they can win 10 straight and get some respectability back. We’ll see. Long ways from that, still, and they’ve been shitty now for a really long time. I’m not going to hold my breath on it.
Tomorrow is a work day. Some apartment stuff to tend to on the phone, get some stuff scheduled. But, mostly, just work. I have my plan to finish the year strong, and I want to stick with it.
Oh! I also set up my new desk lamp (praise jesus) and balanced my checkbook. I spent A LOT of money in Maui on the wedding. It was totally and completely worth it, that’s for sure. But it was a lot 😛 It’s better to just stare that figure down for what it’s worth, and then move on from there, and that’s what I did.
That’s all for tonight. Getting sleepy. No naps today. Sad face. I wish I had another two or three days of nothing to do. But, I think the best thing for me is to buckle down and have a good solid work day tomorrow. Wish me luck!