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SXSW Tried to Silence Critics with Bogus Trademark and Copyright Claims

73 points by coloneltcb 3y ago

google234123 3y ago
[flagged]
mandmandam 3y ago
For a little context on how effective the 'critics' have been: Every Irish act has pulled out over the last week or two; twelve acts in total. Kneecap were the first to cancel their show, I think, and put it like this on social media: > "That the organisers of SXSW have taken the decision to mix the arts with the military and weapons companies is unforgivable, that they have done so as we witness a genocide facilitated by the US military and its contractors is depraved." The loss of earnings to these artists is significant, before anyone tries to claim they're doing this for attention or clout. Some will surely claim that this is because the Irish are so 'anti-semitic'. Having lived here for decades, I can promise you that there is fuck-all anti Jewish sentiment across the country. What we dislike is settler colonialist land-grabs and ethnic cleansing.
- easyThrowaway 3y ago
  Given the historical parallels between the troubles and the current gaza conflict, It's not exactly surprising specifically Irish musicians decided to boycott.
  - mandmandam 3y ago
    No, but a lot of money was left on the table. That's always a little surprising. What's surprising to me is that SXSW thought getting sponsorship from companies whose products have killed over 30,000 Palestinians in a matter of months was a smart and cool thing to do. To then have the additional hubris of trying to legally intimidate critics with farcical threats is actually a little surprising too. Like, dig up, dipshits. Time to donate to the EFF again.
    - easyThrowaway 3y ago
      In these kind of events it's not uncommon that those who actually run the show and those who handle the money side of things are usually very different groups, with very little communication between them. Pitchfork Music Festival had a similar incident a few years ago.
  - williamvds 3y ago
    Not to mention the centuries of oppression Ireland faced under English rule, where they became effectively slaves in their own country.
  - jojobas 3y ago
    [flagged]
- robin_reala 3y ago
  Kneecap standing up for the right thing, as per usual. See also https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/12/the-tale-of-the-northern-irish-rap-group-the-tories-and-the-sinister-censoring-of-anti-british-art https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/12/the-ta...
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
oldpersonintx 3y ago
[dead]
lupusreal 3y ago
Reminder to those who might think to justify Israel's enthic cleansing campaign by citing the actions of Hamas: The last election in Gaza was in 2006, 18 years ago. They did not receive a majority of votes then, and the majority of Palestinians in Gaza today were too young or not even born to have voted in 2006. Collective punishment of the Gazan people for the actions of Hamas is simply reprehensible.
- ohnoitsahuman 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - easyThrowaway 3y ago
    Hamas won't release them, and the IDF wouldn't stop even if they did. Neither party has any advantage at stopping the conflict right now. The current state of affairs has much bearing to the initial terroristic attack as the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand had with the entirety of WWI.
  - jedimind 3y ago
    Zionists love to smear the resistance as "rapists" while the IDF itself has a track record of raping Palestinian hostages.[0] Since Israel's brutal settler colonialism is indefensible their primary strategy is to concentrate on making up absurd atrocity propaganda like "40 beheaded babies" and "mass rape" all of which are baseless lies which have been debunked.[1][2] Israel forbids doctors from speaking to UN group[3], why would they behave in such manner when they claim to be speaking the truth? [0] UN experts condemn credible reports of executions, sexual assault by Israeli soldiers - https://thehill.com/policy/international/4477340-un-experts-reports-executions-sexual-assault-israeli-soldiers/ https://thehill.com/policy/international/4477340-un-experts-... [1] UN Report CAN'T Prove 10/7 Mass Sex Assault Claims - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in8u_VXi3gA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in8u_VXi3gA [2] Local Israelis DEBUNK NYT Sexual Assault Allegation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKgHaK-CoYs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKgHaK-CoYs [3] Israel forbids doctors from speaking to UN group - https://www.timesofisrael.com/government-forbids-doctors-from-speaking-to-un-group-investigating-oct-7-atrocities/ https://www.timesofisrael.com/government-forbids-doctors-fro...
maxlamb 3y ago
So the whole argument/protest is based on SXSW having “ ties to weapons manufacturers supplying Israel” but they don’t provide a single source or evidence for it?
- jedimind 3y ago
  "He cited the involvement of Raytheon and BAE Systems, two of the companies involved in this year’s SXSW festival. “These defense contractors make the weapons that the IDF uses to bomb Gaza. The IDF has now killed at least one in every 75 inhabitants of Gaza, [and] I refuse to be complicit in that,” Williams said. “I don’t believe that a music festival should include profiteers of war – I believe that art is a tool to create a better world and has no place alongside warmongers.” https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/06/sxsw-musicians-palestine-weapons-raytheon https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/06/sxsw-musicians...
- mynameisvlad 3y ago
  Well luckily we live in 2024 where finding any amount of information is literally a few clicks away and there’s more than enough media coverage to stay informed. Someone that might be interested in finding more can… look it up. The first results for “sxsw Palestine”: https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2024/3/13/artists-and-speakers-protest-sxsw-festival-over-defence-sponsors-gaza-war https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2024/3/13/artists-and-spe... https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/13/us/sxsw-army-sponsorship-protest.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/13/us/sxsw-army-sponsorship-... https://www.vulture.com/article/sxsw-palestine-defense-industry.html https://www.vulture.com/article/sxsw-palestine-defense-indus... https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/texas/news/dozens-of-artists-boycott-sxsw-over-military-sponsorship-israel-ties/ https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/texas/news/dozens-of-artists-boy... https://pitchfork.com/news/sxsw-addresses-us-army-sponsorship-as-artists-protest-2024-festival-in-support-of-palestine/ https://pitchfork.com/news/sxsw-addresses-us-army-sponsorshi... https://tribune.com.pk/story/2459328/more-than-80-participants-pull-out-of-sxsw-festival-in-solidarity-with-palestine?amp=1 https://tribune.com.pk/story/2459328/more-than-80-participan... https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/06/sxsw-musicians-palestine-weapons-raytheon https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/06/sxsw-musicians... https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/03/13/us/sxsw-military-sponsorship-artist-protest/index.html https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/03/13/us/sxsw-military-sponsors... I don’t think it’s reasonable that every single post needs to reference what’s going on with sources to make their point. We’re all adults, we all have access to the internet and news outlets.
altacc 3y ago
It would be nice if we could design a legal system (heck, any system!) that couldn't be abused by those with lots of money and lawyers to silence those with less money & lawyers, regardless of validity or legality of a claim.
- twen_ty 3y ago
  That would ultimately mean lesser litigation and lawyers. Sounds like a very commie thing to say.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

73 points by coloneltcb 3y ago

[flagged]

For a little context on how effective the 'critics' have been: Every Irish act has pulled out over the last week or two; twelve acts in total. Kneecap were the first to cancel their show, I think, and put it like this on social media: > "That the organisers of SXSW have taken the decision to mix the arts with the military and weapons companies is unforgivable, that they have done so as we witness a genocide facilitated by the US military and its contractors is depraved." The loss of earnings to these artists is significant, before anyone tries to claim they're doing this for attention or clout. Some will surely claim that this is because the Irish are so 'anti-semitic'. Having lived here for decades, I can promise you that there is fuck-all anti Jewish sentiment across the country. What we dislike is settler colonialist land-grabs and ethnic cleansing.

easyThrowaway 3y ago
Given the historical parallels between the troubles and the current gaza conflict, It's not exactly surprising specifically Irish musicians decided to boycott.
- mandmandam 3y ago
  No, but a lot of money was left on the table. That's always a little surprising. What's surprising to me is that SXSW thought getting sponsorship from companies whose products have killed over 30,000 Palestinians in a matter of months was a smart and cool thing to do. To then have the additional hubris of trying to legally intimidate critics with farcical threats is actually a little surprising too. Like, dig up, dipshits. Time to donate to the EFF again.
  - easyThrowaway 3y ago
    In these kind of events it's not uncommon that those who actually run the show and those who handle the money side of things are usually very different groups, with very little communication between them. Pitchfork Music Festival had a similar incident a few years ago.
- williamvds 3y ago
  Not to mention the centuries of oppression Ireland faced under English rule, where they became effectively slaves in their own country.
- jojobas 3y ago
  [flagged]
robin_reala 3y ago
Kneecap standing up for the right thing, as per usual. See also https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/12/the-tale-of-the-northern-irish-rap-group-the-tories-and-the-sinister-censoring-of-anti-british-art https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/12/the-ta...
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

oldpersonintx 3y ago

[dead]

lupusreal 3y ago

Reminder to those who might think to justify Israel's enthic cleansing campaign by citing the actions of Hamas: The last election in Gaza was in 2006, 18 years ago. They did not receive a majority of votes then, and the majority of Palestinians in Gaza today were too young or not even born to have voted in 2006. Collective punishment of the Gazan people for the actions of Hamas is simply reprehensible.

ohnoitsahuman 3y ago
[flagged]
- easyThrowaway 3y ago
  Hamas won't release them, and the IDF wouldn't stop even if they did. Neither party has any advantage at stopping the conflict right now. The current state of affairs has much bearing to the initial terroristic attack as the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand had with the entirety of WWI.
- jedimind 3y ago
  Zionists love to smear the resistance as "rapists" while the IDF itself has a track record of raping Palestinian hostages.[0] Since Israel's brutal settler colonialism is indefensible their primary strategy is to concentrate on making up absurd atrocity propaganda like "40 beheaded babies" and "mass rape" all of which are baseless lies which have been debunked.[1][2] Israel forbids doctors from speaking to UN group[3], why would they behave in such manner when they claim to be speaking the truth? [0] UN experts condemn credible reports of executions, sexual assault by Israeli soldiers - https://thehill.com/policy/international/4477340-un-experts-reports-executions-sexual-assault-israeli-soldiers/ https://thehill.com/policy/international/4477340-un-experts-... [1] UN Report CAN'T Prove 10/7 Mass Sex Assault Claims - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in8u_VXi3gA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in8u_VXi3gA [2] Local Israelis DEBUNK NYT Sexual Assault Allegation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKgHaK-CoYs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKgHaK-CoYs [3] Israel forbids doctors from speaking to UN group - https://www.timesofisrael.com/government-forbids-doctors-from-speaking-to-un-group-investigating-oct-7-atrocities/ https://www.timesofisrael.com/government-forbids-doctors-fro...

maxlamb 3y ago

So the whole argument/protest is based on SXSW having “ ties to weapons manufacturers supplying Israel” but they don’t provide a single source or evidence for it?

jedimind 3y ago
"He cited the involvement of Raytheon and BAE Systems, two of the companies involved in this year’s SXSW festival. “These defense contractors make the weapons that the IDF uses to bomb Gaza. The IDF has now killed at least one in every 75 inhabitants of Gaza, [and] I refuse to be complicit in that,” Williams said. “I don’t believe that a music festival should include profiteers of war – I believe that art is a tool to create a better world and has no place alongside warmongers.” https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/06/sxsw-musicians-palestine-weapons-raytheon https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/06/sxsw-musicians...
mynameisvlad 3y ago
Well luckily we live in 2024 where finding any amount of information is literally a few clicks away and there’s more than enough media coverage to stay informed. Someone that might be interested in finding more can… look it up. The first results for “sxsw Palestine”: https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2024/3/13/artists-and-speakers-protest-sxsw-festival-over-defence-sponsors-gaza-war https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2024/3/13/artists-and-spe... https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/13/us/sxsw-army-sponsorship-protest.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/13/us/sxsw-army-sponsorship-... https://www.vulture.com/article/sxsw-palestine-defense-industry.html https://www.vulture.com/article/sxsw-palestine-defense-indus... https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/texas/news/dozens-of-artists-boycott-sxsw-over-military-sponsorship-israel-ties/ https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/texas/news/dozens-of-artists-boy... https://pitchfork.com/news/sxsw-addresses-us-army-sponsorship-as-artists-protest-2024-festival-in-support-of-palestine/ https://pitchfork.com/news/sxsw-addresses-us-army-sponsorshi... https://tribune.com.pk/story/2459328/more-than-80-participants-pull-out-of-sxsw-festival-in-solidarity-with-palestine?amp=1 https://tribune.com.pk/story/2459328/more-than-80-participan... https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/06/sxsw-musicians-palestine-weapons-raytheon https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/06/sxsw-musicians... https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/03/13/us/sxsw-military-sponsorship-artist-protest/index.html https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/03/13/us/sxsw-military-sponsors... I don’t think it’s reasonable that every single post needs to reference what’s going on with sources to make their point. We’re all adults, we all have access to the internet and news outlets.

altacc 3y ago

It would be nice if we could design a legal system (heck, any system!) that couldn't be abused by those with lots of money and lawyers to silence those with less money & lawyers, regardless of validity or legality of a claim.

twen_ty 3y ago
That would ultimately mean lesser litigation and lawyers. Sounds like a very commie thing to say.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]