Nike Sucks
by Alex
Once again, it turns out that “Nike is trying to take punk rock away from the kids”:http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/nikes_major_lift.php. Ian Mackay has been active in copyright reform stuff over the years — in fact I bet a lot of people who are interested in copyright reform have an elective affinity for it based on their previous experience with indie rock, the DIY ethos, etc. etc. I know I do. At the same time he’s always been very concerned that the people who buy stuff from Dischord do right by Dischord, since it works so hard to do right by them — Dischord doesn’t give their recordings away for free or use CC licensing. They appreciate the importance of reform in the music industry, but still rely on their ‘brand’.
Frankly even though Nike apologized, I still think Mackay should give them their seven dollars back and tell them to get out of the club.
I wish to remark that I cheerfully endorse copyright reform while also detesting angrily smug Murkan hippypunk (the latter largely because IME it sounds so very bad). This may be a Yoorp thing, though.