A Pirate's Tale

2011-02-24T13:20:00.000-08:00

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From:     mountaintop@taconic.net
    Subject:     Once again, mad, marauding nincompoops tagging PERFECTLY INNOCENT files as pirated
    Date:     February 20, 2011 6:54:30 PM EST
    To:     support@4shared.com
    Cc:     Michael.Blaut@warnerbros.com

Hey there,

Thanks again for the amazing service you offer.

Here is one to make any sane person flip their wig. I notice that someone has moved this file into the "abuse" folder on my page:

"Violin solo from The Lark Ascending" -- Sage City Symphony.mp3

I tell you, these people, whoever they are, if they think they're performing some service that's achieving anything positive, give me a break.

Now, level with me: it's really the case that there's a program that, at random, identifies files as "pirated," yes? Which operates completely free of any human intervention or control?

If you said, yes, that's what's happening, then this all makes sense.

The violin solo from The Lark Ascending is my test of the new CAD E-100S microphone, which I recorded on November 16, 2009, ALL BY MY LONESOME WITH MY REMOTE RIG ONTO AN ALESIS HD-24, in Bennington, Vermont at a performance of the Sage City Symphony.

Could you inform me who the GENIUS was who somehow thinks this file is pirated?

Thanks!

Joel Patterson

Mountaintop Studios ~the peak of perfection~
Petersburgh NY 12138

518 - 658 - 9549

From:     support@4shared.com
    Subject:     Re:Once again, mad, marauding nincompoops tagging PERFECTLY INNOCENT files as pirated [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 20, 2011 7:47:10 PM EST
    To:     mountaintop@taconic.net

Hello,

Your account has been reported to offer unlicensed copies of, or been
engaged in other unauthorized activities relating to copyrighted works.The
abuse report came to us from [IFPI]. Storing and sharing of such
material violates proprietary rights of the file copyright owner as well as
4shared Terms of Use.

The account has been reported due to the link:
http://4shared.com/audio/-15I4I7R/Violin_solo_from_The_Lark_Asce.htm
The file was moved to the 'Abuse' folder then.

Please consult our Terms of Use which you have accepted by signing up for
your free account with 4shared: http://www.4shared.com/terms.jsp. If you
have any remarks on the copyright abuse report or you feel the abuse was
reported by a mistake, please get in touch with the reporter via email
[Notices@ifpi.org] and figure this out.

If you need any other help or have a question, please let me know. I will be glad to help you!

Best regards,
Kateryna
support@4shared.com

From:     mountaintop@taconic.net
    Subject:     Re: Once again, mad, marauding nincompoops tagging PERFECTLY INNOCENT files as pirated [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 20, 2011 8:02:05 PM EST
    To:     support@4shared.com

Thanks, Kateryna, I will get in touch with these clowns.

We've been through this before a few times, I think you may remember... I would hope it's sinking in at this point-- I am not uploading anything other than mp3's I have recorded, live, myself, at the concerts I am paid to record.

Let me put this in caps, because reality has a way of seeming meek and mild sometimes, and I sure want to avoid that. I AM NOT UPLOADING ANYTIHNG OTHER THAN MP3'S I HAVE RECORDED, LIVE, MYSELF, AT THE CONCERTS I AM PAID TO RECORD.

Thanks, I do realize you are in the ridiculous position of having to pay attention to these idiots, and you have all my sympathy.

Joel Patterson

Mountaintop Studios ~the peak of perfection~
Petersburgh NY 12138

From:     mountaintop@taconic.net
    Subject:     You have mistaken identified a file on my page at 4shared.com as pirated.
    Date:     February 20, 2011 8:06:47 PM EST
    To:     Notices@ifpi.org
    Cc:     support@4shared.com

Hey there,

Good day. Let me state, first off-- I know you have an impossible job, and that internet piracy is a big problem.

A related big problem-- the random, senseless, tagging of PERFECTLY INNOCENT files as pirated and the dislocation that this causes.

For some reason, God knows why, you have decided that this file...

The account has been reported due to the link:
http://4shared.com/audio/-15I4I7R/Violin_solo_from_The_Lark_Asce.htm
The file was moved to the 'Abuse' folder then.

...is pirated? Let me tell you something: I recorded this mp3 on November 16, 2009, at a performance of the Sage City Symphony in Bennington, Vermont, as part of a test of the CAD E100S microphone.

Let's begin a dialog, I'll start:

WHY DO YOU THINK THIS IS A PIRATED FILE?

Thanks, your turn.

Joel Patterson

Mountaintop Studios ~the peak of perfection~
Petersburgh NY 12138

From:     support@4shared.com
    Subject:     Re: Once again, mad, marauding nincompoops tagging PERFECTLY INNOCENT files as pirated [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 21, 2011 5:41:42 AM EST
    To:     mountaintop@taconic.net

Hello,

Soon after you get a confirmation from IFPI that your files were banned by mistake,
we will be glad to reactivate the links to your files. Please, forward us a letter from
[Notices@ifpi.org] and we will be glad to proceed.

Best regards,
Natalia
support@4shared.com

From:     mountaintop@taconic.net
    Subject:     Re: Once again, mad, marauding nincompoops tagging PERFECTLY INNOCENT files as pirated [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 21, 2011 7:22:25 AM EST
    To:     support@4shared.com

Thank you, Natalia.

Again, I am very grateful for the wonderful service you provide.

Here is a kind of a question for you: In the event that Notices@ifpi.org shrink away like the worthless cowards they obviously are, and never reply to my inquiry, and leave their trail of destructive stupidity as a kind of monument and calling card... what then?

Is there a time frame that will pass, and then we can agree they are, how can we put it... morons?

Thanks.

Joel Patterson

Mountaintop Studios ~the peak of perfection~
Petersburgh NY 12138

From:     support@4shared.com
    Subject:     Re: Once again, mad, marauding nincompoops tagging PERFECTLY INNOCENT files as pirated [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 22, 2011 4:39:58 AM EST
    To:     mountaintop@taconic.net

Hello Joel,

I cannot reactivate the links to the banned files unless you provide me with
a letter confirmation from IFPI. We are not responsible for any losses or
damages that may have caused by using 4shared services.

Thank you for understanding!

Best regards,
Natalia
support@4shared.com

From:     mountaintop@taconic.net
    Subject:     Re: Once again, mad, marauding nincompoops tagging PERFECTLY INNOCENT files as pirated [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 22, 2011 8:44:14 AM EST
    To:     support@4shared.com
    Cc:     Notices@ifpi.org

Hi Natalia,

I am extremely appreciative of the service you provide, it's really great.

Thanks for the advice. Guilty until proven innocent... and I need to track down my vaporous, marauding accuser. Well, I love a challenge.

Like anyone else, I am wondering if my childhood fascination with Kafka has somehow brought on this reign of terror? That's not really possible... I don't think. I mean-- the guy was prophetic, that's all. I was responding to his insightfulness about the direction the modern world was taking. It's not that by absorbing his dark, mechanistic, nightmare vision of a future run by robots, I was dooming myself to inhabit that future?

After all, computers are not robots, and people who slavishly beckon to their edicts are not robotic people.

Thanks again,

Joel Patterson

Mountaintop Studios ~the peak of perfection~
Petersburgh NY 12138

From:     support@4shared.com
    Subject:     Re: Once again, mad, marauding nincompoops tagging PERFECTLY INNOCENT files as pirated [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 22, 2011 9:28:47 AM EST
    To:     mountaintop@taconic.net

Hello,

Thank you for using 4shared.com! Your membership is very important to us!

Shall you have any other questions, or need our further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Best regards,
Irina
support@4shared.com

From:     mountaintop@taconic.net
    Subject:     Re: Once again, mad, marauding nincompoops tagging PERFECTLY INNOCENT files as pirated [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 22, 2011 9:59:34 AM EST
    To:     support@4shared.com

Thanks, Irina, I feel like this whole exchange has a "classic, timeless" element about it-- however trivial it may seem to all of us, it really illuminates a variety of issues and competing impulses, too many to name almost-- not that it'll stop me from trying-- pro bono mp3 web hosting, customer service, ritual... We, you and I and Natalia and Kateryna, we are on the cutting edge of exploring how all these things play out in daily life.

I am most grateful for having "shared" all of this with all of you-- and our friend Notices at IFPI.

Thanks again, I look forward to watching how this all unfolds, and again, I am so pleased with the service you offer.

Joel Patterson

Mountaintop Studios ~the peak of perfection~
Petersburgh NY 12138

From:     mountaintop@taconic.net
    Subject:     Ridiculous, ridiculous, accusation of piracy [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 23, 2011 2:05:58 AM EST
    To:     Notices@ifpi.org
    Cc:     support@4shared.com

Hey Notices,

Just to jog your memory, a while back you lodged a preposterous claim with 4shared.com-- this one:

The account has been reported due to the link:
http://4shared.com/audio/-15I4I7R/Violin_solo_from_The_Lark_Asce.htm
The file was moved to the 'Abuse' folder then.

Whatever you may think this file is, it IS a recording I did of a violin soloist on November 16, 2009, at a performance of the Sage City Symphony in Bennington, Vermont, USA. I recorded in onto an Alesis HD24, using the E100S, Oktava MK-012 and Groove Tubes GT-55 microphones. Preamps were Syteks, going through Presonus CL-44 compressors.

Reality is going to have to take a back seat, here, though, because as insane as it seems-- and we may be living through an era where insanity definitely has the upper hand-- the mere ACCUSATION of piracy, unfounded, unsupported, is treated as truth. Can you imagine?

And get this-- your refusal to address this... your sullen silence... is the trump card that seals the deal! The excellently attentive and helpful staff at 4 shared inform me that your persistence in your fantasy life, imagining that when you hear a solo violin you are really hearing something else, is uncontestable and there is no appeal.

Okay-- there is a school of thought that claims that these Patrick Henry diatribes of mine are so amusing that someone is triggering these utterly absurd "piracy" claims just for the entertainment value. Cynics! Although-- they certainly are priceless, and I admit they'll find their way to my blog, I mean, it is exactly the kind of thing my public eats up.

For good reason, this is the cutting edge of the craziness of modern life, you agree? Hey, wake up, I'm talking to you...

Joel Patterson

Mountaintop Studios ~the peak of perfection~
Petersburgh NY 12138

From:     support@4shared.com
    Subject:     Re:Ridiculous, ridiculous, accusation of piracy [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 23, 2011 5:00:39 AM EST
    To:     mountaintop@taconic.net

Hello Joel,

As we told you already, we need the confirmation letter from IFPI that
the file in question was banned by mistake. You can get in touch with IFPI
via e-mail Notices@ifpi.org. Just after that we can react on this matter.

Thank you for understanding.

Best regards,
Ivanka
support@4shared.com

From:     mountaintop@taconic.net
    Subject:     Re: Ridiculous, ridiculous, accusation of piracy [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 23, 2011 7:41:50 AM EST
    To:     support@4shared.com
    Cc:     Notices@ifpi.org

Hi Ivanka,

Thank you very much for the wonderful service you provide.

I am pursuing this futile quest to get some response out of Notices@ifpi, and I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Again, great site, thanks very much.

Joel Patterson

Mountaintop Studios ~the peak of perfection~
Petersburgh NY 12138

From:     Notices@ifpi.org
    Subject:     RE: Ridiculous, ridiculous, accusation of piracy [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 23, 2011 1:11:46 PM EST
    To:     mountaintop@taconic.net
    Cc:     support@4shared.com

Dear Sir

Thank you for your email. We have investigated the matter internally
and it appears that, despite our earlier good faith belief, the file you
uploaded to 4Shared at
http://4shared.com/audio/-15I4I7R/Violin_solo_from_The_Lark_Asce.htm
does not infringe our member's rights. We have informed 4Shared
accordingly.

Yours faithfully
IFPI

From:     mountaintop@taconic.net
    Subject:     Re: Ridiculous, ridiculous, accusation of piracy [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 23, 2011 1:59:23 PM EST
    To:     Notices@ifpi.org
    Cc:     support@4shared.com

Thank you for your diligence and disarming honesty. I hope that this can be the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship between us, built on mutual trust and respect.

Joel Patterson

Mountaintop Studios ~the peak of perfection~
Petersburgh NY 12138

From:     mountaintop@taconic.net
    Subject:     RE: Ridiculous, ridiculous, accusation of piracy [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 23, 2011 2:19:32 PM EST
    To:     support@4shared.com

Dear friends of mine,

I have just gotten a very professional, apologetic communication from the staff at IFPI.

You might recall they mistakenly identified this file as having something to do with their purview of interest:

http://4shared.com/audio/-15I4I7R/Violin_solo_from_The_Lark_Asce.htm

I screamed and battered my fists on the table [as much as it's possible to do in an e-mail], called them names, and demanded that this graven injustice be rectified.

Here is the e-mail from them that appeared this afternoon in my inbox:

**************************
Dear Sir

Thank you for your email. We have investigated the matter internally
and it appears that, despite our earlier good faith belief, the file you
uploaded to 4Shared at
http://4shared.com/audio/-15I4I7R/Violin_solo_from_The_Lark_Asce.htm
does not infringe our member's rights. We have informed 4Shared
accordingly.

Yours faithfully
IFPI
**************************

Given this turn of events, I am wondering, and I should ask you now... is there some way to move this file from the "abuse" folder back into the "my shared" folder?

Thanks again for the fabulous service you provide

Joel Patterson

Mountaintop Studios ~the peak of perfection~
Petersburgh NY 12138

From:     support@4shared.com
    Subject:     RE: Ridiculous, ridiculous, accusation of piracy [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 24, 2011 2:46:37 AM EST
    To:     mountaintop@taconic.net

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us concerning the issue.

We have unbanned the file. Please feel free to use it again -
http://www.4shared.com/audio/85GoiKN6/Violin_solo_from_The_Lark_Asce.html

Best regards,
Marina
support@4shared.com

From:     mountaintop@taconic.net
    Subject:     Re: Ridiculous, ridiculous, accusation of piracy [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 24, 2011 8:47:26 AM EST
    To:     support@4shared.com

Thank you, Marina. It's really a pleasure to be able to use your service-- and a privilege-- I get that.

Joel Patterson

Mountaintop Studios ~the peak of perfection~
Petersburgh NY 12138

From:     support@4shared.com
    Subject:     Re: Ridiculous, ridiculous, accusation of piracy [ST-570516]
    Date:     February 24, 2011 10:09:23 AM EST
    To:     mountaintop@taconic.net

Hello,

Thank you for using 4shared.com! Your membership is very important to us!
Shall you have any other questions, or need our further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Best regards,
Marina
support@4shared.com