You can listen in to hear the new song starting at 1am – 6am tomorrow night.  I’m very excited to release this song! It will be available for purchase via the internet following the debut at my Bandcamp page, found at brianbotkiller.bandcamp.com, where you can also purchase my previous album, “Welcome to Postwar USA”, and other goods.

I hope to hear from you about what you think of this song! Thank you all for your support!

-brian

Recently, the FBI shut down Megaupload and Megavideo, both well-known file sharing services. These shutdowns happened under the pretense of copyright infringement by the company’s owners, and the FBI’s belief that the website was hosting and sharing large amounts of pirated videos and music.

Well, this is partially true, I mean, we all know that Megavideo hosted plenty of videos which shouldn’t have been up there; but, here’s a truth – Youtube hosts thousands upon thousands of videos and audio files which contain copyrighted work.  ”How dare he attack Youtube!”, you say; but the truth of the matter is that Youtube is not at all innocent in the world of piracy.  In fact, no one is, if they’re on the internet. We are are all going to come across some kind of pirated material one way or another as we traverse the net.  It’s going to happen.  So, why does Youtube get to keep going, yet Megavideo has been shut down?

Firstly, no website can track all of the user uploaded data which it hosts.  To assume that one could, is silly.  Therefore, to arrest the site’s founders under the pretense that they knowingly participated in copyright infringement, is quite silly.  If we’re blaming site owners for user uploaded content now, we’d better start arresting a lot of people at Youtube, Vimeo, and other sites which host user created data.  Even with a team of people checking videos, and unless you institute a human filtering process to check every video before it goes live, there is no way to ensure that everything uploaded to a site like Megavideo will be legit.  While this seems like a cop-out, Youtube uses it everyday as an excuse.  The law will say otherwise, of course; but the law bends to the highest bidder.  Plenty of large scale media corporations have a stake in Youtube.  None had such stake in Megavideo.

So that brings us to the REAL reason that Megaupload was likely shut down, and that is Megabox:

Megabox was meant to be a music cloud hosting and publishing format for independent artists. Megaupload had stated that they had partners in Amazon mp3 and Gracenote, and were planning to launch the service to allow artists to upload their own work, sell it in a cloud based format, and keep 90% of the profits.  This doesn’t sound like a model that a big record label would very much like, does it?

“But they were pirating!”, you say.  ”They would have done that with music, too!”.  Again, this argument doesn’t make sense.  There is no fool proof way to control user uploaded data.  However, controlling music for copyright would be even easier, thanks to services which can identify a song and tag it (such as that used by Youtube, although Youtube’s algorhithm for doing so sucks BAD), and then mark it for deletion if someone does not own the copyright.  This is harder to do with Video, hence why Youtube still has such a plethora of content not owned by the uploaders.   So, using a tagging and recognition system, copyrighted music could have been found and tagged, while artists could have uploaded and sold their music in a cloud based format in which they would get the most money back over any deal they can currently enter with a digital aggregator such as iTunes (in which an artist gets roughly 70% of a sale of an mp3).  This service was slated to roll out this year, and Megaupload was shut down on January 20th. Does that sound like reason for a shutdown? It does to me.

The shutdown triggered Anonymous’ cracking of the MPAA and RIAA’s websites, as well as the Department of Justice.  Shots fired, kids. You want to see what will happen if you keep fucking with the Internet? You’re going to find out, real fast.

Listen, we all know that piracy is more rampant now, than ever.  We know that plenty of people aren’t paying for things they get on the Internet.  But, we also know that people WILL pay for things on the internet, if paying for those products is easy, fast, accessible and affordable.  I personally believe that $10 for a digital album is too much (and I’m a musician!), and it stops me from buying many albums.  For $10, I would rather purchase a CD from an artist and support them directly.  So, I believe that to sell our products digitally and reduce piracy, we must find a good price point to sell at, and make the product very, very accessible.  Megabox would have been another offering that could have done that.  There are others, of course, such as Bandcamp.com, which make it easy for an artist to upload and sell their works – but Megabox would have been a first in cloud-based music which was easily accessible to the artist.

Whether this is truly the reason that Megavideo was shut down or not, we’ll never know; but the fact is that the FBI works as the police for the RIAA and the MPAA, and major media corporations, who DO NOT like the democratization of tools for creative people to share their work with the world. Why would they? If they don’t control all the ways money can be made from created works, they don’t make all the money.  If an artist can self-publish to millions without a record label, why would that record label stay viable, unless they were to change and evolve their model?  The record labels won’t do that, and so they instead get the FBI to do their dirty work, and do it under the pretense of copyright infringement, which only drives piracy up.  More sites like Megavideo will appear, more material will be freely shared, and you WILL NOT stop this process.  You MUST adapt, or die. The Record labels refuse to do this, and therefore, need to die.  They’ve had their time, and they’ve overspent, underpaid artists, and they cling to a dying business model as if it will someday be viable again.  It will not. It will be the independent artists, doing things without these huge, monolithic labels, who will create the new market.  We are more educated about the music business than ever at this point, and we’re not getting screwed anymore.

I leave it to you to make up your own mind about this situation, which you of course should. I as always ask that you support independent artists, and continue to support yourself, and be educated.  This is how we can be viable and successful, unlike our corporate counterparts, who are currently riding a quickly sinking ship to the bottom of the sea.

I ask you to consider what your life would be like if the internet were a sterile environment, its information controlled by the highest bidder and what is allowed on it bought and sold. I ask you to fight against these proposed laws. I ask you to be educated and to take five minutes to call representatives, sign a petition, and tell a friend.

I ask you to help save the greatest tool for freely available information known to modern man.

Please read below to find more information, and take action. Thank you.

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

My Protest song against SOPA and the like:

Happy Holidays, ya’ll.  Here’s a techno jam tape I did when I was 16 or so.  Rough, kinda wack, etc. etc. ENJOY.

DOWNLOAD:
brian botkiller – Cassettes and drum machines

STREAM:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BRIAN BOTKILLER ANNOUCES THE “BOT BOX” ANTHOLOGY BOX SET

(ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO) brian botkiller, electronic musician and producer, has announced the release of the BOT BOX, an anthology and collection of his works from 2002 to present.

The limited edition box set Includes brian’s first CD, “The Sky EP”, a limited run copy of the “Against all odds” EP, “Welcome to Postwar USA”, (brian’s 2010 release, the title track of which features a collaboration with En Esch, Slick Idiot frontman and former KMFDM member), a live concert DVD, and a copy of Vertigo Venus’ “SOS” (brian is the drummer In the band).  It also includes buttons, stickers, a t-shirt, and a USB flash drive containing over 20 unreleased and rare tracks and remixes, not available anywhere else.  The music explores many musical styles, including Industrial, Techno, Chiptune, Acid-Jazz, and more.

The box set is limited-edition, and hand made by the artist for each fan who orders one.  As such, the production of the box can take up to a week.  It Is handsomely priced at $50 (or more, if the buyer wishes), and available via brian’s bandcamp site at http://brianbotkiller.bandcamp.com .  brian will donate 5% of All BOT BOX purchases before December 31st, 2011 to a charitable organization helping animals.  In addition, all buyers will receive a one-year subscription to brian’s digital releases.  They will receive rare tracks, pre-releases, and more before the general public.

A video overview of the BOT BOX is available here: http://bit.ly/botboxvideo

As the box set is limited edition, press copies will not be available.  However, digital copy is available for review.

###

Tonight I am DJing for Burlesque Noir, and my band, Vertigo Venus, is playing live to open for Burlesque Noir at the Launchpad in Albuquerque (6th and central ave.).  The show is 21+, tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. You can get tix in advance here: http://holdmyticket.com/event/19988

We will be playing a live set at 8:30pm, so please get there early! I will be DJing all night.

Hope to see you tonight!

http://diymusician.cdbaby.com/2011/10/dealing-with-band-politics-why-it-doesnt-have-to-be-so-complex/

I will, however, say that his passing saddens me, as we watch the world of technology grow and change so rapidly. While I am not entirely fond of Apple as a company at times, nor do I consider myself an Apple fanboy, I have to give credit where it is due. I started using an apple IIe in elementary school, I learned BASIC, PASCAL, and other coding languages on one. I remember that familiar Apple boot tone so well that I can probably whistle it. I even used a piece of Apple’s 1984  commercial as the in introduction to a live set of mine, many years ago.

“And you’ll see why 1984, won’t be like 1984″.

Jobs changed a lot about computing, and how it affected the everyday person. For that, he deserves a mountain of respect. He built a company that now has more reserve cash than the federal government.  He knew how to seek out talent, and he knew how to use his.  He was hard nosed, stubborn, and outspoken.  He caught a lot of flack for these things, but then again, everyone who is successful does.

I think it’s important that we remember, as well, that Jobs didn’t do all of this alone. He worked with brilliant people through the years that helped to bring his visions to light.  This is something we must always remember; we can’t do it all ourselves.  We must enlist the help of others to reach our goals.  As we remember him, let us also remember those who have worked with him, who also deserve respect for the great things they’ve created.

As a geek, technolgist, and avid computer user, I will boot my macbook (and yes, My PC), with pride today, and hope that I am able to make a mark on the world as he did.

Godspeed, fellow geek. Make sure they design stuff right where ever you might go next.

Click this link now to help protect the Internet and your rights:

http://act2.freepress.net/go/5979?akid=2873.9823309.OaaNNr&t=2

I don’t want you to protest, I don’t want you to write, I don’t want you to write you congressman because I wouldn’t know what to tell you to write. I don’t know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the streets. All I know is that first, you’ve got to get mad! You’re got to say, I’M A HUMAN BEING, GOD DAMMIT! MY LIFE HAS VALUE!”

-Peter Finch, “Network”, 1976

I can’t explain how true these words are now, more than ever.

I really shouldn’t stay up this late and watch “Zeitgeist”. It only reminds me how incredibly angry I am at this government we’ve allowed to become our overlords, at the inane closed-mindedness of the average American.

I remember watching this film years ago, late one night, on a whim. Two hours later, I was so angry, so fired up, that all I could do was write a song to express myself. That song was “Wake up call”:

The unfortunate state of things at this time, is such; Any opposition to the machine we’ve begat isn’t even met with opposition in return – it’s simply ignored. #occupywallstreet is proof of exactly that. People are currently encamped on Wall Street for the purpose of bringing to light what bankers have done to our economy and our lives. Does the average person realize this? No. Why? Because the media machine, which controls their flow of information, has chosen to hide that from them.

This barely matters, though . The media has never been in the practice of reporting the truth. There’s no money in it. If you want information that’s real, you damn well better go out and get it yourself. Would the average American care? No. They’ve been too buried in debt, fear, and misinformation to be able to care. They can only care about protecting themselves, and their family – and they continue to do so under as many pretenses as they possibly can.

Everyday, people rationalize this by saying that it’s the only way to do things; they spend money on inane bullshit they don’t need, because they think they have to. They buy new TVs because their neighbor bought one newer than theirs. They buy new cars, houses, and more bullshit they don’t need, because they’re told that they’re not worth anything if they don’t. They pour their money into markets outside of their local economy, because it’s cheaper, easier, faster. Then they complain that they lost their job, or that their local small business is going under due to non-support. They complain that no one supports them or cares about them. They moan, whine, and bitch as if they knew anything about what’s going on around them – when in reality, they have not one single clue. They think that every single person on welfare is a freeloading lout, they think they understand the rules, policies, and systems which govern their everyday lives and let them keep living in blissful ignorance. They believe that their government actually cares about their well-being, as if the government really has some vested interest in keeping you alive.

Well, I suppose it does – but it’s not because human life is important. It’s because each human is a source of income for Government, Banks, and private institutions. YOU are a singular source of money to these institutions. NOTHING MORE. If you die, these groups have simply lost a way to make money. Nothing more. These institutions have absolutely NO interest in your well-being, and you need to stop thinking for one second that they do. The sooner you do that, the sooner you’ll wake the fuck up.

The Rockefellers, Warburgs, Morgans, and Rothschilds of this world have done one thing; they have imposed a lifetime of debt and slavery on the American public, and the world, in the name of one thing; money. They have utilized their spidery tendrils to control media to keep you engaged, watching bullshit shit out by the machine, instead of paying attention to what’s really going on. This makes it easy for them to own you, own your thoughts, and make sure you don’t pay attention, while your rights are sold out to the lowest bidder.

If you DO wake up, you’ll be maced, jailed, and told to shut the fuck up. But is slavery any better?

*FUCK THAT.* Wake up. It’s time. As the quote I referenced above states, I don’t want you to protest or write, that’s up to you. What I do want you to do, is wake up. Get mad. Realize that right now, we’re being sold out, pushed further into debt and slavery, and it’s all being done for a group of individuals who stand to make money as long as we allow them to.

So, what do we do? Educate ourselves. I’m not telling you to take all your money and convert it into gold and horde it in a vault in the countryside. I’m not telling you to burn things down. I realize that we can’t all make drastic changes in the name of making a blip on the radar of the banking industry. But, we can educate ourselves, and others, to know what is being done with our money.

Our money is currently being used to continue wars around the world, wars which benefit us in absolutely no way, except to keep us contained in fear. It’s being used to bail out corporations who make the worst financial decisions they possibly can, paying CEOs millions of dollars, while workers are laid off left and right. It’s being used to pay bankers, politicians, and dictators, all of whom have NO vested interest in helping you, your family, or anyone you know. They only care that your money gives them more power than they even know what to do with. They only care that without you, they lose a thread of income in a vast sea of dollar bills.

The first thing you need to realize is that NO external entity cares about you. Insurance companies WANT you to die. They make more money if you’re dead. The IRS wants you to continue to pay your taxes, which get higher every year, to continue to finance wars and campaigns which will never benefit you – although you’ll be told they will, to keep you in fear. Banks want you to think that they care about you, with shiny websites and brand new ATMs. Never mind, of course, that Bank of America is laying off 30,000 American workers. These entities DO NOT CARE about you. You are a number to them. You are a dollar sign, a meaningless, faceless unit of measure in a self-replicating, self-sustaining machine.

Unless, of course, you make yourself known.

Nothing to see here, move on. Everything is fine.

No, it’s not. It’s time to wake up.