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Closing Down A Bootleg Audio Site

By Dan Siciliano, April 13, 2002 | Other
The recent shut down of "Jordans Elvis World - bootleg mp3" website last week sparked my curiosity into the "Elvis and the Internet" combination. Is the internet really an "anything goes" domain. Can we really expect to have the "right" as some call it to post and do anything we want on a website. One can argue that point forever, but the fact remains, Elvis' music does belong to somebody, doesn't it? RCA realized this two years ago when they came up with their own "bootleg label" FTD, to try to pacify the fans who wanted more than just the main stream Elvis stuff, and they have done a hell of a good job at it!

Hey, don't get me wrong, I own several "bootleg" recordings and have downloaded songs from several websites, stuff you can't get anywhere, but at what cost? Who eventually pays for all this "unauthorized" selling and redistributing of Elvis' music. How naive can anyone be to think that having a large collection of "bootleg" songs on a website (one that is very well known , by the way) and not expect someone associated with E.P.E. or RCA/BMG to find out sooner or later, and then to blame it on a "rat"!


Most of the websites I found that have bootleg mp3's on them, I found by doing a simple search on many search engines like Yahoo and AOL, or by the links pages on over a dozen other websites. If the true dedicated websites who are "officially" recognized by Graceland and E.P.E. are to continue, they must be trustworthy enough not to blatantly advertise illegal bootlegs for download or for sale.


This day was coming, it was just a matter of time, and I'm sure that more will be "asked" to remove their song bases as well. I for one, appreciate being able to listen to these "rare" recordings we probably would never get to hear, but let's not advertise it all over the world! Other websites can be just as helpful without crossing the line, for example the "For CD Collectors Only" website offers a wonderful database of bootleg CD's and reviews, and they clearly state that they do not sell or know where to obtain these and that the content on this site is for information purposes only.


This will keep the info going and at the same time they are not doing anything illegal. I'm sure that E.P.E and RCA/BMG have their hands full trying to keep this down to a minimum, but aren't we, as website masters or hosters, responsible as well for keeping up our end of the bargain? Well, aren't we ... but that's just my opinion.

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