If you were like me as a little kid, you would use your tape player to make a mix tape from the radio. Little did you know that you could be sued for a lot of money for doing it. Now that technology has become more prevalent and flawless, it is becoming more dangerous for an individual to do such a thing.

The recording industry and Peer-2-Peer networks continue to play cat and mouse with each other. On one end the government and the recoding industry fight, a change in the social ideas of what music is becoming. It feels as if Napster, Fasttrack, and the Gnutella network, as young as they were, have become ghosts in the midst of BitTorrent. As music piracy progresses it is hard to say what will become of music in the future and how the music industry will react. We are in the middle of revolution that will influence music, even if it is illegal.

On October 23, 2007, Oink.cd was shut down. Oink, a free website and that did not accept donations depended on referrals from members. Once a member reached a certain download criteria they we be able to invite friends to use the network. Since the close of the website, some members have created their own networks for file sharing and started to branch off. The trial is pending to start and the upcoming years will create more legal change that alters music forever.

The past events like the close of Napster and the flooding of corrupt music files on the Gnutella networks echoed bitterness from both sides when Oink was closed. Shortly after Oink’s shutdown, the website posted a link to Google.com to indicate alternatives to Oink. They argue their technology is no different from that of the popular search engine. The media often portrays it as a network and as a resource to download popular music before it was released. It is true members could get an album weeks before it was set to release but many members enjoyed an extensive and astonishing database of rare and unknown artists as well.

The network thepiratebay.org has had its own legal battle and pressure from the recording industry. In 2006, its site server was raided in Sweden. However, pressure from protestors caused a backlash, because technology like BitTorrent networks are not illegal in Sweden. Swedish citizens became angry that an influence from the U.S. would tell their government what to do.

As other countries create social activism from its citizens and to not too much is happening in the U.S. with that regard, I realize how much we have not spoken out against important issues. When all the other issues in foreign countries present themselves, there is still tenacity to revolt against free music.. What has happened to civil disobedience? Although, the social change in the U.S., as with illegal music downloading in other countries too, seems to come out of simple apathy; moreover, a social change of ideas through not caring.
Isohut.com may have even more of an advantage in the battles with social change and illegal music downloading in the future. It claims to be the most comprehensive search engine for BitTorrent. Operating as a search engine with no membership required it does not host any of the files that individuals download but uses string search technology like Google to locate a file. With a legal battle from Hollywood in pursuit, the founder claims that he neither distributes nor hosts any copyrighted material.

It will be interesting in upcoming years to see what occurs with the legal battles and the change in power of the government, recording industry, and Hollywood. If music becomes more oriented toward the past, before the creation of the record, or if the industries win out, or it there is ever a meeting in the middle. In the spirit of this blog, here is some free Lindsay Lohan:

-Alexander the Geek

Spoken poetry competitions are nothing new. The Greeks held poetry contests and the Japanese had Haiku competitions. Though just recently, in the 1960s, American poetry began to draw upon this foundation, and in the 1980s slam poetry was put together in Chicago. It’s a new movement that is establishing credible poets as literature tends to move away from the written text with influence of the Internet and DVD.

Now, rather than mail your work to a publisher all you need is a webcam to post your self on YouTube. Some of my poetry teachers would cringe that I am referencing slam poetry. “What if they get on stage…and they’re terrible?” they said. However, some are rather fantastic including the nerds and geeks of the slam.

Slams are starting to be held all over the country including the National Poetry Slam each year. The general rules are that poets, within a team of poets from their local area, get three minutes to read an original work. There are no props, and a panel of judges, usually picked from the audience, score each poem from one to ten. The team with the most points wins.

Featured in the documentary SlamNation, Taylor Mali is a teacher and poet who has become one of the most successful individuals in the slam. He has lead six teams to the National Poetry Slam. He was also one of the original poets to be featured on Def Poetry Jam.

His style often derives from his teaching. Generally, he will poke at the faults of the public school kid and make a call to become greater. He enjoys the semantics of the English language and exploits English as a tool for humor and protest.

Big Poppa E, Eirik Ott, is a comedian and poet who delivers high energy rants. His most famous spoken word poem is The Wussy Boy Manifesto where he proclaims Duckie from Pretty in Pink an icon. He was fired from Apple Computer after he delivered a rant at the employee talent contest. The video, Why I Got Fired from Apple Computer, was added to YouTube and has over a million hits. Another equally entertaining poem is Frat Boy Poetry, where he manifests anger against Buck the frat boy.

Warning: strong language

Originally from Ohio, Shappy Seasholtz has dabbled in a little bit of everything: being in a high school punk band, a college Forensics champion, actor, and comedian. He has gone to one National Poetry Slam and travels to slams and speaking events over the world. He is a lover of Scrabble and comic books, while pursuing his mission of spreading the power of the nerd worldwide.

Warning: strong language

Dr. Geek is not a slam poet but he is worth including for a chuckle. He tokens himself as a “wordologist”. Comic and campy in style he has been featured on the Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and the Dating Game.

Beau Sia is another poet featured in SlamNation as he has made a name for himself with his poetry and by appearing in small roles in movies. As Asian American often get a stereotype of being geek, Beau Sia uses race and satire to dismantle the idealisms that pervade his race. His style is often self-deprecating while also uplifting. He is by far one of the funniest slam poets out there.

Warning: strong language

If you are a poet or a writer and want a traditional way to publish your work I recommend www.dustbooks.com. You can obtain the latest copy of The International Directory of Little Magazines & Small Presses or The International Directory of Poetry Publishers. As summer comes closer many magazines and publishes will be accepting your collections and writing samples for scholarships and cash prizes.

Best Regards,

Alexander the Geek