Cen Blackwell 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (3) comment rss

  • On the post: EU Politicians Send Letter To US Congress Warning Of 'Extraterritorial Effects' Of SOPA And PIPA

    Cen Blackwell ( profile ), 19 Jan, 2012 @ 03:20pm

    Amazed!

    Following the eventually anti-democratic way in which the EU parliament dealt with ACTA, I'm frankly amazed at this step. SOPA / PIPA must indeed be terrible to prompt this response.

  • On the post: Johnson & Johnson Refuses To License Three HIV Drugs To Medicines Patent Pool; Invites Patent Override

    Cen Blackwell ( profile ), 31 Dec, 2011 @ 09:12am

    Alternative?

    One must conclude that by almost any neutral metric that J&J's prioritisation of profit over the lives of their customers is morally indefensible. No doubt the counter-argument would be that the company must recoup development costs.

    In relation to the latter, I would posit firstly that the R&D figures quoted by pharma companies are exaggerated. Secondly, is HIV medication not a case for government funded & directed research? The argument against is usually that peer-reviewed scientific research is both more effective and more efficient, but surely the moral imperative that exists in this case overrides any spurious concerns regarding the degradation of government granted monopolies.

  • On the post: Iron Maiden Connects With Fans And The Fans Buy

    Cen Blackwell ( profile ), 12 Sep, 2010 @ 05:29am

    Allways forward thinking.

    I've allways thought of 'Maiden as being a very forward-thinking band. Disclosure - I've allways been a massive fan of theirs. Years ago their CDs also featured web-based content such as band interviews, mini games, tour photos, access to their on-line shop etc. etc. One of their singles also came with a PC game (Ed Hunter). The game wasn't very good compared to offerings from the likes of ID Software or Epic Games, but the above is evidence that Maiden have allways dabbled with, if not embraced, the "connect with fans + reason to buy" business model. The result? Over 80M albums sold.

    The other thing that surprised and pleased me was that a glance at the back cover of their latest CD (of which I bought the special edition precisely due to the offered extras) revealed that the copyright owner for the music is not EMI records but by the band's own company - Maiden LLP. The music is merely licensed to EMI. Another example of a forward-thinking band who obviously like to engage with their fans in (for the music industry) innovative ways.

    Lastly, I remember watching a concert that Maiden did in Sweden or Finland years ago. Bruce Dickinson was speaking to the fans and instructed all those bootleging the concert at home to remember to send it to *all* their friends, rather than just their friends who were allready fans. Sure, technically it probably violated some stupid copyright law, but the end effect was more 'Maiden fans and hence more albums sold.

    'Maiden deserve fan's suport for being so forward thinking about this sort of thing. Plus of course their music is awsome...