We, the undersigned, are musicians, actors, directors, authors, and producers. We make our livelihoods with the artistic works we create. We are also Internet users.

We are writing to express our serious concerns regarding the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

As creative professionals, we experience copyright infringement on a very personal level. Commercial piracy is deeply unfair and pervasive leaks of unreleased films and music regularly interfere with the integrity of our creations. We are grateful for the measures policymakers have enacted to protect our works.

We, along with the rest of society, have benefited immensely from a free and open Internet. It allows us to connect with our fans and reach new audiences. Using social media services like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, we can communicate directly with millions of fans and interact with them in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.

We fear that the broad new enforcement powers provided under SOPA and PIPA could be easily abused against legitimate services like those upon which we depend. These bills would allow entire websites to be blocked without due process, causing collateral damage to the legitimate users of the same services – artists and creators like us who would be censored as a result.

We are deeply concerned that PIPA and SOPA’s impact on piracy will be negligible compared to the potential damage that would be caused to legitimate Internet services. Online piracy is harmful and it needs to be addressed, but not at the expense of censoring creativity, stifling innovation or preventing the creation of new, lawful digital distribution methods.

We urge Congress to exercise extreme caution and ensure that the free and open Internet, upon which so many artists rely to promote and distribute their work, does not become collateral damage in the process.

Respectfully,

Aziz Ansari
Kevin Devine, Musician
Barry Eisler, Author
Neil Gaiman, Author
Lloyd Kaufman, Filmmaker
Zoë Keating, Musician
The Lonely Island
Daniel Lorca, Musician (Nada Surf)
Erin McKeown, Musician
MGMT
Samantha Murphy, Musician
OK Go
Amanda Palmer, Musician (The Dresden Dolls)
Quiet Company
Trent Reznor
Adam Savage, Special Effects Artist (MythBusters)
Hank Shocklee, Music Producer (Public Enemy, The Bomb Squad)
Johnny Stimson, Musician

Source: stopthewall.us

Trent Reznor And Neil Gaiman Pen Open Letter Regarding SOPA is a post from: The Inquisitr

…wait for it, wait for it… wait for it… Reznor! (You must be 30 or older to get this joke.)

Vent… is a post from: The Inquisitr

Call me an old, but I feel like the kids of today can totally not understand how Trent Reznor articulated our complex souls in the 1990s.

Still, the king of searing internal pain translated to industrial rock is still churning out albums, and has shared released information about his newest effort, titled “How To Destroy Angels.” Reznor talked about the new album- a collaboration between Reznor, wife Mariqueen Maandig and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo co-composer Atticus Ross- to Rolling Stone, pegging the first few months of 2012 for a release date:

“[We are] finishing our full-length record, which has fully matured our sound into something that is very unique… I can’t wait for that record to come out, actually probably [in the] first quarter of next year.”

Reznor, who also confirmed that the couple is expecting a baby in “a couple of weeks,” also reflected upon the creative outlet provided by working on new NIN material. He said that he’d felt boxed in in the past, and explained:

“Really, why I stopped Nine Inch Nails as a live entity was because it started to feel like I’ve done it, I’ve done it, and I’ve done it again. [I] started to feel like I needed reinvention and I needed to force myself into that… How to Destroy Angels has been an interesting creative outlet. I think when people hear what we’ve been up to, it will be very validating on my part.”

You can follow Trent Reznor over on Twitter for new information on “How To Destroy Angels” as it becomes available.

Trent Reznor Confirms Release For How To Destroy Angels Early Next Year is a post from: The Inquisitr

Ah, “Pretty Hate Machine,” the soundtrack of early high school breakups.

Twenty-two (!!) years after its 1989 release, the epic debut album of Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails is being rereleased, but Reznor has warned fans the new version is not worthy of repurchase. The musician took to Twitter to alert his followers that the album was coming out again, but that there was no new material on the reissue and that none of the tracks had been remastered.

On the microblogging service, Reznor tweets:

NIN fans, don’t waste your money on this version of PHM that was just released: http://www.nincatalog.com/item.asp?key=01-00275

He adds:

… a record label bullshit move repackaging the old version. Ignore please.

If your cassette version of Pretty Hate Machine is getting pretty worn down from replay or coming unraveled in your backpack, the album was remastered last year and released in November. Reznor stated plans earlier this year to release new NIN material at some point soon.

Trent Reznor: “Don’t Buy Pretty Hate Machine Reissue!” is a post from: The Inquisitr

Are you watching the 2011 Golden Globes tonight?

The Oscar warmup is on, and we’ve got the results live, as they happen. So far we have random British people interviewing celebrities on the red carpet, and Claire Danes and Catherine Zeta-Jones are discussing their dresses. Did you know if you’re Claire Danes, Calvin Klein makes dresses for you?

7:50 Anne Hathaway is twenty feet tall. The moar you know. She’s subtexting about totally banging Jake Gyllenhaal. Jimmy Fallon says the Golden Globes is like “one of the coolest parties.” Random British lady says Michelle Williams, Natalie Portman and Olivia Wilde are the hottest bitches on the red carpet tonight. Natalie Portman looks all pregnant and stuff.

7:58 Random British lady says January Jones has a “bangin’” body, and also would like to add she has “Bieber fever,” and he side hugs. Carson Daly is still insufferable. How is is still on TV?

8PM Yay, no more Carson Daly! Ricky Gervais is out. He is still smarmy. Opens with a gratuitous Charlie Sheen joke. LEAVE CHER ALONE, RICKY. Oooh, he called the Sex and the City girls old. Burn.

OMG he just called Tom Cruise and John Travolta and Scientologists “gay.” On the subject of Lost, Gervais said he’s not sure what happened, but he thinks “the fat one ate them all.”

8:05 Scarlett Johanssen is presenting, and her hair is insane. Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, Christian Bale wins! No idea what he’s saying.

LL Cool J and some blonde are presenting Best Actress in a TV Series (Drama), which goes to Katey Sagal for her awesome portrayal of Gemma in Sons of Anarchy. She is very cute and surprised. Her first Golden Globe. Shocking. They are musicing her after like five seconds!

8:16 Kevin Spacey and Julianne Moore are presenting Best Mini-Series or Movie (Television), along with Joe Mantegna’s daughter. And the winner is… Carlos? They are musicing the French guy, but he will not be cowed, and continues to be French at us.

8:21 Bwahahaha, Ashton Kutcher’s dad, Bruce Willis. Now he’s gone, and Leighton Meester is presenting Best Supporting Actor (Television), along with some dude. The Golden Globe goes TO CHRIS COLFER FOR GLEE! Yay, Kurt! OMG, he is so cute and excited and said he dropped his heart between Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. Now he’s shouting out the baby gays and he talks so fast! This is, of course, Chris Colfer’s first Golden Globe. So sweet!

8:30 Michelle Pfieffer is talking about Alice in Wonderland. Now Eva Longoria is coming on to present something, I think. She’s presenting some guy with creepy hair. Like Nicholas Cage’s “your argument is invalid” hair. Kevin Bacon and some chick Milla Jovovich are presenting Best Actor in TV Series (Drama).

How is this Steve Buscemi’s first win? He’s so awesome as Nucky Thompson in Boardwalk Empire. They’re already musicing him.

8:37 Boardwalk Empire also takes Best TV Series (Drama). Which it deserves, but The Walking Dead is awesome, too. (Weirdness, the Ted Williams Mac & Cheese commercial just played! Do they have the Golden Globes in rehab?)

8:44 Some British guy from The Social Network cannot read the teleprompter. Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Lopez are awkward. Did she just criticize his singing? This is the most outrageous thing I’ve seen all night. Best Original Song goes to “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from Burlesque, and some lady named Diane Warren. She dedicated her win to murdered publicist Ronni Chasen.

Best Original Score goes to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Social Network. Trent Reznor looks exactly the same as he did when I was in high school.

8:55 Justin Bieber takes the stage to present Best Animated Feature Film. Toy Story 3 wins. Ricky Gervais lost his jacket. He’s implying all the stuff Robert Downey Jr. has done is gay, and threw in a crack about RDJ’s drug use. RDJ snarked back. Now he’s saying he tried to sleep with all his former co-stars. Oooh! He said “I’d give it to all five of you. At once.” Dirty.

The award RDJ is presenting is Best Actress (Comedy or Musical), which goes to Annette Bening, for The Kids are Alright.

9:10 That was a long commercial break. Sylvester Stallone is inexplicably on stage, presenting a montage of The Fighter. Now Geoffrey Rush and Tilda Swinton are presenting, and Tilda Swinton looks reliably insane and is wearing a bedsheet and no lipstick. The Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Mini Series or TV Movie goes to Al Pacino, for You Don’t Know Jack. Apparently, Al Pacino gets to talk as long as he wants with no music, so screw you Steve Buscemi.

Claire Danes wins Best Actress in a Mini Series or TV Movie, for Temple Grandin- her second win after My So Called Life. Temple Grandin is in the audience. “Everyone was so viiiital,” Danes whines.

9:23 Oh, hello, Zac Efron. Looking inappropriately handsome. Ricky Gervais introduces Tina Fey and Steve Carrell by saying Carrell is ungrateful for leaving The Office. Aaron Sorkin wins Best Screenplay for The Social Network. I think he’s on mushrooms. Sorkin says elite isn’t a “bad word,” which I think is a bit of a political jibe there.

Two boys are presenting Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, and the Golden Globe goes to Jane Lynch! For her awesome Sue Sylvester!

9:37 Olivia Wilde and Robert Pattinson derp the Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe to In a Better World. Helen Mirren just said “inseminated.” She is still very old.

Vanessa Williams is now presenting with an action figure of Blair Underwood for Best Actress in a TV Series (Drama), and Laura Linney, who was too cool to show up, wins.

9:46 Jane Fonda is onstage, presenting a Burlesque montage. Now there are two people presenting Best Actor in a TV Series (Comedy), and Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory wins.

Jeremy Irons is presenting Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, and Melissa Leo wins for The Fighter.

9:58 Matt Damon is presenting the Cecil B. DeMille award to Robert DeNiro, who looks exactly like my dad. Who is Cecil DeMille? Look it up on Wikipedia, like everyone else is going to do tonight. Montage time. I guess we forgot about Focker Babies or whatever that movie was called. (Update: he said he did it for the money.) Oooh, off color immigrant joke! He gets a standing O.

10:13 Megan Fox is talking about The Tourist, and she looks amazing. Annette Bening is presenting Best Director for a Motion Picture, and the Golden Globes goes to David Fincher, for The Social Network.

January Jones and Jimmy Fallon are presenting. She is wearing red tape on her boobs. January Jones’ boobs. They’re presenting Best TV Series (Comedy or Musical), and Glee wins!

10:25 Halle Berry is presenting Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical), and Johnny Depp has been nominated twice. However, Paul Giamatti wins.

10:32 Is Joseph Gordon Levitt faking a British accent? Inception montage. Jeff Bridges is presenting Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama). The Golden Globe goes to Natalie Portman, for Black Swan.

Tim Allen and Tom Hanks are presenting Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical), and The Kids are Alright wins.

10:46 Sandra Bullock is presenting Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama). Colin Firth wins for The King’s Speech.

10:54 Michael Douglas is presenting the last award of the evening, and jokes that there “has to be an easier way to get a standing ovation.” He is presenting Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama), and the award goes to, unsurprisingly, The Social Network. It is official, Facebook has completely usurped our lives and entertainment industry.

10:59 Wrapped! Are you excited for the Oscars?

Liveblogging: 68th Annual Golden Globes 2011 results is a post from: The Inquisitr

Trent Reznor, who is currently 45 years old, finds the usage of Facebook to present a carefully crafted record of likes and similar activity is distasteful, shallow and he thinks you’re a total poser.

Much like the guy in high school who quizzed you on b-sides to determine whether you were qualified to wear a band’s t-shirt, Reznor thinks there is no way to be sure people on Facebook actually own every record put out by an artist and that there is a high chance folks are merely claiming to be into certain styles of music to impress their friends.

Gawker quotes an interview in which the Nine Inch Nails frontman explains his frustration with the ease in which people can get credit for liking music without actually doing the legwork:

“…in the age of over-sharing and hyper-real versions of people presenting and representing themselves on the web, that if as many people really listened to Joy Division as list them on their Facebook page, Joy Division would be bigger than U2.That sense of, ‘here’s the books I’m supposed to have read for the social archetype I want to fit into, so I’ll portray myself this way.’ I’ve seen that with people I know in real life, and I check them out online, it’s not always the same person… I’m just coming from an older school of when you met people you met… a real person and not some avatar of themselves.”

Reznor collaborated on the score for The Social Network, a recently released movie about Facebook.

[Drowned in Sound via Gawker]

Trent Reznor complains of posers on Facebook is a post from: The Inquisitr

I will say right off of the bat that I was really disappointed when I read this morning that Trent Reznor is taking an indefinite break from social media after seeing it become polluted by some of the worst kind of people he had ever come across in his life. While blog posts around Reznor’s writing on the NIN.com community pages referred to social media in general Trent didn’t seem to make such a wide ranging statement.

From what I have read and tried to understand, Reznor seemed to be specifically targeting Twitter as the showcase of where social media was going off the rails. At first it was a way for him to find an equal footing with his, and Nine Inch Nails, fans and in turn for them to gain a new understanding of the band.

When Twitter made it’s way to my radar I looked at it as a curiosity, then started experimenting. I thought it through and in light of where I was / am in my career I decided to lower the curtain a bit and let you see more of my personality. I watched some of you get more engaged because you started to realize there’s a person (flaws and all) back there, and I watched some of you recoil in horror because I’m not what you projected on me. All expected. I’m not as concerned about "breaking" your idea of NIN at this point. It is what it is and I am what I am. The relationship between artist and fan is changing if you haven’t noticed, along with the way we consume and experience music and even communicate since the internet arrived.

However as with all cool and interesting things it wasn’t long before it experience became distracted by people who wanted to tear down the band and Reznor

Back to Twitter. I approached that as a place to be less formal and more off-the-cuff, honest and "human". I was not expecting to broadcast details of my love life there, but it happened because I’m in love and it’s all I think about and that’s that. If this has bummed you out or destroyed what you’ve projected on me, fair enough – it’s probably time for you to leave. You are right, I’m not the same person I was in 1994 (and I’m happy about that). Are you?
 
Looks like the Metal Sludge contingency has discover Twitter! Finally! For those of you that don’t know what this is, please let me explain. Metal Sludge is the home of the absolutely worst people I’ve ever come across. It’s populated mainly by unattractive plump females who publicly fantasize about having sex with guys in bands. Kind of like a role-playing game where people NOBODY will fuck make up stories about their incredible sexual encounters with people they WISH they could fuck. It would be kind of funny in a sad and pathetic way except the fun doesn’t stop there – hate and good old-fashioned outright blatant racism are also encouraged to spice things up and remind you how truly ugly these scourges are. TRULY ugly on the inside (the outside is obvious).

Cutter’s tip for my friends there: remember to cut along the length of vein, not across. Bigger payoff. So when you see the new accounts that pop up daily on Twitter spewing exactly the kind of thing I just discussed, usually from picture-less creatively named profiles, spewing hate at Mariqueen and I, take a moment to visualize the sad couple people behind them.

As sad as this is Trent is making exactly the same mistake that just about everyone makes with it comes to Social Media. The common misconception is that tools like Twitter, Friendfeed or even Facebook is what Social Media is all about and in my opinion this couldn’t be further from the truth. Social Media doesn’t need Twitter or Facebook to be relevant. We could use – and have used things like IM, IRC or even web forums.

It really sucks that Trent has been haunted by this dregs of humanity and that he feels that it time to take a break from Twitter. That doesn’t mean though that he will be abandoning Social Media for one simple reason – he and NIN have built their current business model around the concept of Social Media.

This is just another case of where the idea and philosophies of something have been destroyed by the misuse of the tools we use to be a part of that movement. As much as the believers and proponents of Social Media might like to think otherwise the fact is that Social Media isn’t immune from this type of destructive behavior. If anything with the increasing push into a real-time Web we will only see the speed by which this type of behavior happens.

Think not? Then just think back to even this past week to the explosive bullshit that happened after the Laporte and Arrington had their blowup.

I don’t blame Trent for wanting to walk away from Twitter but that doesn’t mean that he has walked away from Social Media because for him that would just be a bad business decision and he’s not that stupid.

Trent Reznor says enough is enough and breaks from Social Media is a post from: The Inquisitr

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor has become engaged to girlfriend and fellow musician Mariqueen Maandig.

The announced was made on the West Indian Girl website (Maandig’s band) next to a photo of Reznor and Mariqueen.

“In case u havent heard the news, mariqueen got engaged. everyone in the west indian girl camp is super excited and happy for her. q’s an awesome person, friend and bandmate and she couldnt be marrying a cooler guy. talk about analog and digital love – their kids might all have moogs for arms.”

The pair only went public with their relationship last week.

Mariqueen Maandig Trent Reznor Engaged is a post from: The Inquisitr

You gotta hand it to Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame. First it’s reported that even though he gave away Ghosts I-IV it was also the biggest selling MP3 album on Amazon for 2008 now he’s sharing the fact that some 400 GB of HD quality raw concert footage has been <ahem>leaked</ahem> onto the net. In a post on the Nine Inch Nails fan forums he is quoted as saying

Your gift…
The internet is full of surprises these days.
I was contacted by a mysterious, shadowy group of subversives who SOMEHOW managed to film a substantial amount (over 400 GB!) of raw, unedited HD footage from three separate complete shows of our Lights in the Sky tour. Security must have been lacking at these shows because the quality of the footage is excellent.
If any of you could find a LINK to that footage I’ll bet some enterprising fans could assemble something pretty cool.
Oh yeah, you didn’t hear this from me.

You can read the whole thread here on the NiN forums yourself but for those of you who know how to use torrents they provided some download links to share for the torrent files

Here are the links
:
Victoria
Portland
Sacramento

The included README files have some further notes about the footage, which has been conveniently formatted for easy editing and even includes Final Cut Pro sequences with the footage pre-organized for editing.

While NiN aren’t my cup of tea musically I am sure more than a few of you out there might be interested – so have at and you can thank me later.

400 GB of Raw NiN concert footage out in the wild is a post from: The Inquisitr