Gene Simmons Threatens Anonymous Again and Gets DDoS'd 403
BussyB writes "Rather than shutting him up, the 'Operation Payback' DDoS attack on his websites only made Simmons more angry and outspoken. None of those threats seemed to bother Anonymous, however, and the group promptly launched another DDoS attack on both of Simmons' websites and rendered them inaccessible once again."
How to handle Anonymous (Score:3, Insightful)
Wait until they get bored of you and move on.
Doing anything else will extend the attacks, because your actions just make it that much lulzier.
Gene should really love Anonymous (Score:5, Insightful)
What is it about old rock stars who disavow their youthful ways?
He'll have to learn the hard way... (Score:5, Insightful)
You simply don't win an argument with a group of trolls by feeding them.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
Absolutely not. Without highly knowledgable producers/engineers, most mainstream artists wouldn't be given a glance.
When it comes to music, high production values and experience can trump talent.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
The largest and most successful musicians are the ones that most effectively act as employees of powerful record companies. Part of being an effective employee of those companies is believing them when they say "X is the reason why your sales are down".
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:3, Insightful)
Again though, the amount of money earned from album sales is piss compared to everything else (merchandising, touring, etc.) Why be so vocal about something that doesn't bring in much money, yet risks pissing off your fans...you know, the people that buy your merchandise and go to your concerts.
Just doesn't make sense.
Internet Terrorism (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:3, Insightful)
Nothing against artists, but they really need to get out there and perform more. Earn a living like everyone else you lazy bums.
I wonder if Simmons pays royalties to the designers and builders of his website?
Re:Internet Terrorism (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
Marketing triumphs high production values, experience, and talent.
Re:Be careful about what you say (Score:4, Insightful)
(Now why won't my mother join the boycott of the RIAA?)
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
Gene Simmons has always been a businessman first a performer second and an artist a distant third. He has stated in interviews he had ideas for merchandising KISS paraphernalia long before they had a record deal. It's not surprising at all that his instinct is to sue anything that hurts his enterprise.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:3, Insightful)
That's pretty much the case with me as well. There are a TON of "bedroom" and "local studio" musicians out there, putting out original and interesting music. I see no reason to line the pockets of rich fatcats who throw crumbs at the people that earn them money.
I'd much rather support only the musician.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:1, Insightful)
Does the guy who designed your car have to go drive a racecar every weekend so he gets paid? Does the guy who designed your clothes have to go work at WalMart so he gets paid?
Re:How to handle Anonymous (Score:3, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
It doesn't make sense because it isn't a reasoned position, just an emotional one. Gene Simmons has gone as far as endorsing prison rape for file sharers. That's, simply put, psychotic. It used to be I didn't buy Kiss merchandise because I didn't particularly like Kiss (and I didn't and still don't infringe their copyright either). Now, the way Mr. Simmons is talking, I don't buy Kiss merchandise because I'm concerned he's so far over the edge he'll use the money to try and get draconian revenge, far beyond any proportionate concept of justice, on some kid he elects to make an example of.
Re:Internet Terrorism (Score:2, Insightful)
You do realize that the internet is an international community, and pointing out certain actors in your local village really fails to convey any meaning to that far greater number of people who really don't know or care who this person you mention is, right? Believe it or not there are more people in the world who don't know this Glenn Beck than people who do.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Gene should really love Anonymous (Score:4, Insightful)
What is it about old rock stars who disavow their youthful ways?
Money, and the pursuit for more of it. Plus an inflated ego. Everyone must love Gene!
This genuinely isn't Gene's fault. It's yours. You're the ones thinking that his youthful endeavors were EVER about anything other than becoming a successful, AND WEALTHY, musical icon.
He doesn't lead the choir at his local church here, folks. He's a rock legend. The distinction is greatly about how far you're willing to go to make a buck.
Re:How to handle Anonymous (Score:5, Insightful)
The RL equivilent would perhaps be announcing that every day one random person caught littering shall be executed - it's also hugely excessive as a punishment, but it's a whole lot cheaper than hireing enough police to give every litterer a small fine, and you can be sure that the streets would get a lot cleaner.
Re:How to handle Anonymous (Score:3, Insightful)
Thus the only way to stop them is indimidation, or the Simmon's method: Pick a few at random, and totally destroy them. Take their money, destroy their careers, throw them in jail, and in general hit them with a punishment grossly disproportionate to their crime in order to scare others away.
You give Simmons too much credit... the *IAA came up with that tactic.
Amusingly, if it had worked for the *IAA, Simmons wouldn’t need to be working himself up over this...
Love Gun (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Free Speech. (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't be ridiculous, of course they believe in Free Speech. They just place some conditions on that speech.
Free Speech requires the following for Anonymous to support it:
*It must be done Anonymously, otherwise you're obviously a shill or something
*It must be obnoxious and ultimately without purpose
*It must be done by somebody who isn't rich, famous, educated, poor, unknown or uneducated... all of those groups are stupid (see first bullet)
*It must not criticize Anonymous in any way, ever, for any reason, doing so makes you a fascist who hates Free Speech
*It must not violate any of Anonymous' other stipulations which may or may not exist and may or may not be made known before they begin enforcing them
That's pretty ringing support, in my book. Actually, it looks pretty similar to the conditions most major Western political parties put on their support for Free Speech. Perhaps it really is time for the Dramacratic Party to step forward and seize the mantle of power... they've got the requisite hypocrisy in place, and they certainly have enough skilled operators to start rigging elections like the big boys. How about it gaiz?
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
I think having been paid he will continue to design more cars or clothes in order to get paid again. I've been designing stuff all day today, and I got paid for it, just like I did yesterday and the day before. If I stop designing stuff tomorrow I'm fairly certain I'll stop getting paid...
Arguably I'm designing the wrong stuff, but to me it seems that 'art' is the only industry that gets away with being so far up it's own arse as to assume that everything these creative types create should be paid for by society forever. I'm willing to bet the guys who designed the Statue of Liberty, or the Viaduc de Millau Bridge, or the Aston Martin Vantage don't get paid every time someone looks at their work. It's not that I don't think they should get paid at all, it's just that they seem to expect to be paid regardless. I can't afford to buy a BMW M5, and at the moment I can't afford to buy £15 CD albums. If a friend had a car and lent it to me I wouldn't say no, and I certainly wouldn't expect to give BMW a royalty for the privilege. For some reason though if I borrow a friends CD and listen to it I should be paying someone though. If I sit in a pub listening to the radio on on a personal stereo that's fine, but if the pub has the radio playing they're supposed to pay royalties? If it was all about the music then they'd just play it. These guys are just like the bankers complaining about not getting bonuses when the economy collapses. We all could do with earning some more money, most of us seem to think we should work for it...
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:4, Insightful)
You don't have to pay them anything.
In fact you can completely shun them, and pay them nothing.
But you need to get a clue. 'Shun' means you don't listen to their music or pass copies of it around.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
That's the exact, pinpoint moment when they switch sides from the "let's be rebellious and brake a window" attitude to the "that window is expensive and I'm gonna sue your for all you got"...
Really? Take people's homes and cars over piracy?! Wish for jail rape for copying songs?! I wonder if this "big rock star" would have the same attitude if his kids (does he even have kids?) were doing it (if?! I'm yet to meet a teen nowadays that doesn't do it).
Or perhaps, maybe, that's his exact position regarding drug abuse... How's that? Take the cars and homes and wish for jail-rape, for all the people caught with drugs, or using drugs, or selling drugs, or enjoying drugs. Now that's a crime with *real* consequences for other people, stuff that people might actually *die* from. I bet the "big rock star" agrees with me.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:3, Insightful)
Nonsense! With Kiss it used to be about the music, man! Well, that and the lunchboxes, posters, cartoon shows, movies, guest appearances, fast-food tie-ins, TV specials, KISS Army fan club, clothing line, Halloween costumes, makeup line, books, toys, and probably a whole lot of other stuff I'm forgetting about. But the music was in there somewhere, I'm sure of it.
The only real difference 30 years ago was at least the music was good and the voices were real. Other than that, your irony (and Hanna Montana) have only proven one thing; same shit, different decade.
Something for every business to keep in mind (Score:3, Insightful)
There is no law on the Internet, except the "Law of the Internet".
The Law of the Internet is simple: you can get away with anything as long as you don't brag about it. Oh, and if you piss someone off you may face unimaginable consequences.
So, there are two lessons from this:
Don't brag about your exploits as you will be punished if you do.
The thing to realize about point 2 is that you are always going to piss people off. It is unavoidable if you have any interaction on the Internet. Posting a picture of your dog on Facebook will piss people off that hate dogs. Posting a picture of a cat on Facebook will piss people off that hate cats. There is no escape from this. All you can hope is that the pissed-off person has better things to do than make your life hell.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:3, Insightful)
Gene Simmons has gone as far as endorsing prison rape for file sharers. That's, simply put, psychotic.
No, that's actually just heavy metal talk. As someone who has been involved in the punk, metal, and hardcore scenes for quite awhile, I can attest to that fact that metal-heads talk in these kinds of extremes pretty regularly. Saying the most outlandish, controversial, politically incorrect thing that comes to mind is pretty much par for the course of anyone speaking in the metal, punk, or hardcore languages. Hell...the Misfits wrote a song about raping mothers and killing babies....soooo, yeah, prison rape was actually a pretty tame threat coming from a band like Kiss.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
Marketing triumphs high production values, experience, and talent.
Wouldn't it be great if artists became popular because they were good?
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:3, Insightful)
I'd have to disagree with this. With sites like Last.FM and Pandora getting more and more popular, not to mention how most radio stations are streaming their broadcasts on the web, I think the mass consumption has just changed. People are starting to tolerate ads (and even paying for premium subscriptions) more because the medium is convenient, even more convenient than popping in a CD.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:2, Insightful)
Marketing triumphs high production values, experience, and talent.
Wow! You just summed up Gene Simmons entire career in eight words.
I have seen this story 3 times in 2 days. Who's pwning who?
Make it Personal (Score:2, Insightful)
The personal, as everyone's so fucking fond of saying, is political. So if some idiot politician, some power player, tries to execute policies that harm you or those you care about, take it personally. Get angry. The Machinery of Justice will not serve you here - it is slow and cold, and it is theirs. Only the little people suffer at the hands of Justice; the creatures of power slide out from under with a wink and a grin. If you want justice, you will have to claw it from them. Make it personal. Do as much damage as you can. Get your message across. That way you stand a far better chance of being taken seriously next time. Of being considered dangerous. And make no mistake about this: being taken seriously, being considered dangerous, marks the difference - the only difference in their eyes- between players and little people. Players they will make deals with. Little people they liquidate. And time and again they cream your liquidation, your displacement, your torture and brutal execution with the ultimate insult that it's just business, it's politics, it's the way of the world, it's a tough life, and that it's nothing personal. Well, fuck them. Make it personal.
Quellcrist Falconer, Things I Should Have Learned by Now. Volume II
From Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:3, Insightful)
Wow, you really don't know how this works in the real world, do you?
In the real world, anyone with actual talent quickly gets weeded out. Next goes actual production experience, in favor of mastering the album way too fucking loud so that everything clips out (yeah, looking at you Metallica [wsj.com], you fucking tone-deaf retards).
Next, if you don't have "the body" or "the look", forget it. Shitney Spears [youtube.com] and the teenybopper whores get millions despite being worthless and talentless, because the marketing machines pump all their crap out, put it in boxes, and sell to brainless, clueless idiots.
Actual music is almost dead in America. As for the world, actual music is more endangered than the Panda.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
That's the exact, pinpoint moment when they switch sides
Normally you are right, but not in this case. Gene Simmons was never in it for the music. Right from the start, it was a business venture to him (y'know, showBUSINESS) -- it was always about the money.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:5, Insightful)
Actual music is almost dead in America. As for the world, actual music is more endangered than the Panda.
If your talking about the big labels, and the top 40 machine, then you are absolutely correct on all your points, but, luckily, this is only a very small portion of modern music. Yes, it is the most visible, and has the highest share of public consciousness, but that scene still represents a tiny minority of the music that is out there.
Right now, in your town, there are hundreds (maybe thousands, depending on population and culture) of small bands, some of which are VERY good. Most are crap, but some of them are better than anything the major labels have churned out in years. Finding which ones are worth the time is a bit daunting (currently, in my town, we have an obnoxiously ubiquitous metal scene, which aspires to recapture the most idiotic parts of 90's metal...), but I guarantee that there is something out there that you will like.
Thanks to the internet, major labels are largely insignificant. It is trivial to find an acquire music from small labels, or individual bands, without ever touching the ancient media dinosaurs, this is now, and not in the future. Of the last 100 or so music purchases I've made in the last 5 years, only two were from major labels, this was completely accidental, I did not have the desire to "stick it to the man". The independent music is just better, at least to my taste.
I would recommended some bands that are awesome and have nothing to do with big labels, but taste is subjective.
I would guess that the big labels make around 90% of the profit, but only represent around 10% (if even) of the artists out there. In ten years they will be almost completely irrelevant. Yes, they are nice for marketing, and promotion. This is generally the case made against independently distributed music around here, small bands can't go on their own because they can't afford to be Lady Gaga (whose branding efforts might rival those of CocaCola and Nike). But who cares? If a band can't become huge without marketing they don't deserve to be huge. And small labels work wonders, insteading of having 10 labels with 10,000 artists, why not have 1,000 labels with 100 artists? Smaller labels have funds for promotion, and smaller labels allow more artist control (the only thing that matters). This is how things are going to develop.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:3, Insightful)
How's that? Take the cars and homes and wish for jail-rape, for all the people caught with drugs, or using drugs, or selling drugs, or enjoying drugs. Now that's a crime with *real* consequences for other people
Selling certain drugs has consequenses for other people, but OTOH a runner is little different than a heroin junkie. Heroin only works becsuse it fits the brain's endorphin receptors and gives an almost identical high. However, I much prefer heroin junkies to runners, because the junkies don't run out from behind a FedEx truck right in front of my car. How about the people selling the drug that has more overdose deaths than all other drugs combined -- alcohol? Jack Daniels should be in prison? They tried that, its illegality caused gang wars and massive death, just like the current day drug prohibition.
Your drug use doesn't affect me at all. Your "pirating" my work may affect me, but it will likely be in a positive way; nobody ever went broke from piracy, but lots of talented artists have had to get real jobs because of obscurity. Piracy sells art.
Re:Something I find interesting (Score:3, Insightful)
Source. [plagiarismtoday.com]
You can also do a Google search for Nick Simmons plagiarism and you'll get lots more on the story.
Re:Gene, you may want to stay quiet (Score:2, Insightful)