The following is the Future of Music Coalition’s statement on AT&T silencing portions of Pearl Jam’s lyrics during the webcast of the band’s Lollapalooza performance on Sunday, August 5, 2007. The statement should be attributed to Jenny Toomey, executive director of the Future of Music Coalition.
"This event shows that companies like AT&T will risk the appearance of censorship by turning off the sound on a webcast that’s being viewed by thousands of people, just because it works counter to their financial interests. What do you think they will do to protect their financial interests on the web when no one is looking?
"It’s time for every musician in America to demand protection from the telecommunications companies and their ‘self regulation.’ We need strong net neutrality laws to protect the openness of the Internet, or our music, our views, and our freedoms will be as silent as the second half of the muted Pearl Jam song."
Jenny Toomey is available for interviews. Please contact Justin Jouvenal at 202-822-2051 to arrange.
For more information about the incident, see:
Uncensored version of "Daughter" |
AT&T’s censored version of "Daughter" |
About the Future of Music Coalition
Future of Music Coalition is a national non-profit education, research and advocacy organization that identifies, examines, interprets and translates the challenging issues at the intersection of music, law, technology and policy. FMC achieves this through continuous interaction with its primary constituency — musicians — and in collaboration with other creator/citizen groups.
Future of Music Coalition is a national non-profit education, research and advocacy organization that seeks a bright future for creators and listeners. FMC works towards this goal through continuous interaction with its primary constituency — musicians — and in collaboration with other creator/public interest groups. More