So let me see if I get this straight....
People ass rape musicians by stealing music.
Gene gets angry because he has invested time, money, and energy into creating this music, only to have it stolen.
He says, "Let's find the people who stole it, and basically sue them into the ground, and hopefully we will deter people from stealing copyrighted material."
Then the theives say, "How dare him get mad that we steal his music (how he makes his living) every day! F#$& Gene Simmons, hack him to pieces!" and then a chorus of "YAY!" goes behind it?
It makes me sad that we live in a world where stealing from artists is celebrated on the grounds of "They don't need the money! They're rich!", "Everyone does it!", or "They should be happy that all these people are listening to their music!".
As someone who has been performing as a semi-professional musician for 20+ years, none of you have any idea what it takes to write songs in a band situation, record them, master them, duplicate CD's, get your music on iTunes (and other digital music dl sites), promote them, design and purchase swag (t-shirts stickers), market them, and go on tour. The expense, time and energy involved is insanity.
It's sad that musicians have resigned themselves to the fact that we're not going to make money on the album itself, because people will just steal it. Recording an album anymore is considered an instant loss. As a matter of fact, if you're not an already established artist, labels won't pay for you to record. A lot of bands pay for their own recordings now.
The only way you can make money anymore in music is to tour, and it's getting harder and harder to get into tours. A lot of bands, particularly independent bands, have to buy their way onto a tour for 10's of thousands of dollars if not 100's of thousands (depending on the length of the tour and draw and act).
Promoters know this, and have started lining their pockets with higher fees. Why do you think concert ticket prices are through the roof?
Artists have to make enough money to cover their overhead, as well as pay for all the albums and videos they make to get their music to you.
2real said: So you're going to destroy someones life and hope they get raped...all because they have a copy of your song, or because they did a DDoS attack on you
I think the better question is, "So you're going to destroy someones livelihood all because your cheap ass can't spend .79-.99 cents to buy the song instead of stealing it?"
This is a very personal topic for me because it effects me, my bandmates, and fellow artists directly. My band might even be known to some of you, we have music for sale on iTunes as well as other sites, and despite going on tours with bands I know you've heard of as an opening act, selling merchandise, and having a music video, all the members of my band have second jobs that we work when we get off the road. None of us even owns a house.
The only people playing music anymore are people who truly love their craft, it sure ain't for the money.
Gene Simmons was fortunate enough to have made his money BEFORE the age of digital music and piracy.
SUPPORT ARTISTS! BUY MUSIC!