Thursday, August 9, 2007

Did ATT Censor Pearl Jam Lollapalooza Show?

As many of you know At Att's Blue Room you can stream live shows from many of the popular festivals throughout the year, Coachella, (Our Favorite) Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, etc. During Pearl jam's performance this past Sunday AT&T conveniently muted a portion of the show in which Eddie utters these lyrics to Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall"

“George Bush, leave this world alone.” and
“George Bush find yourself another home.”

The band posted the letter below on their website today, in which ATT claims it was a mistake by their content monitor.

When asked about the missing performance, ATT informed Lollapalooza that portions of the show were in fact missing from the webcast, and that their content monitor had made a mistake in cutting them. During the performance of “Daughter” the following lyrics were sung to the tune of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” but were cut from the webcast:
- “George Bush, leave this world alone.” (the second time it was sung); and
- “George Bush find yourself another home.”

Eddie used this opportunity to bring up net neutrality and whether companies have the right to determine what is and is not broadcast on their sites.

All we have to say is that ATT picked the wrong band to mess with. Pearl Jam is now asking it's fans to report any other examples they have witnessed of performances with political content being censored.

The band has posted the complete version of the song on their website and ATT clams it will put up the complete performance at some point in time.

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