~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eye WEEKLY June 30 1994 Toronto's arts newspaper ...free every Thursday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EYENET EYENET THE WRATH OF .COM by K.K. CAMPBELL Former MTV VJ Adam Curry has lost his battle against the Mother Ship. About a year ago, while Curry worked for MTV, the "net.savvy" VJ created an Internet domain called mtv.com. A domain is a computer, or "host," directly on the 'Net. For instance, eye uses the mighty Internex host, io.org -- when you write us email at eye@io.org, the email whisks off to the Internex Online host, and then looks for an account called "eye" there. When we log in, it's waiting for us. Anyway, Curry registered mtv.com and it quickly became a net.hangout, averaging 35,000 "calls" daily from music lovers around the planet. During the first months, Curry conversed with MTV execs, explaining exactly what he was doing -- all of which was financed by himself, incidentally. "VPs from MTV Programming as well as [parent company] Viacom New Media were aware of what I was doing on the Internet," he wrote in a recent article for net.zine Computer Underground Digest -- a must-read computer privacy news source, by the way (check out Usenet newsgroup comp.society.cu-digest). MTV's position was: We have no interest in this cute little Internet thingie of yours, Adam, so you just go run along and play with the geeks, now. Of course, once the mainstream media exploded with news coverage of the Internet at the beginning of 1994, MTV quickly hit the breaks. A Fhrer directive came down fast: Curry was to stop using the name mtv.com -- despite all the money and time he'd put into establishing it in cyberspace. On April 21, the MTV vet of six-and-a-half years quit right on-air. He was VJ'ing the Top 20 Countdown and dropped the bomb just before announcing the No. 1 video. MTV edited out that section and ran the rest of the show. The Boys of 1515 Broadway (MTV HQ in NYC -- someone stop me before I acronym again) filed a lawsuit against Curry for copyright infringement of their "trademark." Curry, vowing never to give up mtv.com, raised the catchy slogan: "Death to the corporate hogs, I say!" But it was inevitable he'd break under the lawyer-laden weight of MTV. And so Adam Curry is expected to pull the plug on his beloved mtv.com site today (June 30). He contends he quit MTV because the Internet is the prototype of future media. "The 'Net is surpassing all traditional media, with its ever increasing global audience, the power is unlimited and it's in the hands of the people, finally!" the visionary VJ exhorts. "I felt totally wrong being part of such a revolution -- if I may call it that -- while at the same time clinging to an icon of the '80s... a video channel." You can write Adam Curry at adam@mtv.com or curryco@panix.com . Or gopher to the site at mtv.com -- it's a great hangout indeed. "Keep The Vibe Alive." DIGITAL DISEASE Meanwhile, on a much smaller scale, an indie Vancouver band is using the 'Net to spread its local sound internationally. Pop-rock band The Flu started its own form of "electronic fanzine," called Flu-List. It's a chatter/news email list about the band. You get stuff sent to your private email box. Flu List has been operating since mid-February. The four-member band was formed in mid-1992 and has been performing around Vancouver since. "As far as we can tell, we're the first and so far only band to set up one of these email lists ourselves," band drummer Derek Miller says. "A lot of independent bands will find this is a good way to reach people." The qualitative difference here is that, unlike regular fanzines, one talks to rather than about the subject, a rather revolutionary development. The list is run directly by the band. Subscribe to Flu-List: send email to flu-list-request@unixg.ubc.ca . Or write drummer Miller directly at dkmiller@unixg.ubc.ca . DIGITAL PRUDES The recent report, "The Status of Women at the University of Waterloo," recommends the university "adopt a Zero Tolerance policy with regard to the use of university resources for the display/dissemination of pornographic materials that have nothing to do with bona fide academic activities via electronic media on campus." In other words -- the weasels at Waterloo want any excuse to ban those horrible alt.sex groups. As one Internetter noted: "Why the fixation on electronic media? Why not a Zero Tolerance policy for all media? For those who might have forgotten, Waterloo recently banned five newsgroups including alt.tasteless and alt.sex.bondage ." DIGITAL PARKDALE UUNET Canada has donated a UUCP Internet feed for the PARKDALE community server -- which means lots of free email and news for residents and organizations in the Bathurst/Bloor/Parkside area. This is to be applauded because Parkdale is usually called last to the dinner table when it comes to perks like the 'Net access. PARKDALE server administrator Bob Allisat just awaits the domain to be registered ("domain name" explained above -- mtv.com is a domain name and eye strongly suggests Bob not pick it) and PARKDALE will expand its current service in a big way. Allisat says his goal is to provide real grassroots connectivity, rather than the "elitist, titled academics who dominate most Internet projects." He envisions a web of community servers connected directly to the Internet, creating a "complex locally centred mosaic of Toronto's many neighborhoods." You can visit PARKDALE now. By modem, call 588-4574 and login as "Parkdale" and use the password: "parkdale." It's 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. For voice info, call 588-0670. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright Full issue of eye available in archive ==> gopher.io.org or ftp.io.org eye@io.org "Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421