Thieves score Score's solo album, Seagull kit

Coming to this late, but: A Flock of Seagulls had their van pinched in Downey, California.

The van has been recovered, but no sign of the equipment as yet. Amongst the musical instruments, there was also a hard drive featuring work Mike Score had pulled together for a solo album.

Record labels pirate football game

Oh, dear, major labels - don't you realise that copyright theft is a SERIOUS CRIME? Do we need to send Britney Spears over to remind you that illegally streaming a football game at a VEVO party is no different from stealing a CD from a store? Tut. Tut. Tut.

TechCrunch's Jason Kincaid saw ESPN streaming from an unlicensed feed:

My hunch is that the team hooked up a computer to the TVs throughout the venue so that they could accomplish this synchronized star-caressing — then, rather than rework their entire setup just to play the football game for a few hours, they opted for the easier route and looked for a stream on the web.

Which perfectly underscores everything wrong with the media industry’s approach to piracy. They’ve long made out pirates to be lawless thieves who think they’re entitled to receive everything for free.

But the reality is far less black-and-white. Sure, there are some people who will duck the bill when they can — but many of them were never going to buy the content they downloaded in the first place. And a huge swath of ‘pirates’ are driven to their ways because it’s easier to stream or download something via an illegal site, not because they’re averse to paying for content. Stick a bunch of DRM and ads in front of the media they’ve already paid for, and they may opt to go with the path of least resistance next time.

VEVO stutter that, you know, it's probably not them:

As for who actually decided to play the stream, or why, VEVO says the public had access to the computer being used so they can’t say for sure who exactly was responsible. Which is dubious (and almost certainly spin) — there was clearly someone actively controlling the computer, because they refreshed it when the connection stalled, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a random attendee who was taking the helm. Must have been one of those nasty pirates.

Now, remind me: what is the attitude of the music industry when someone says that somebody else must have been using the computer at the time of an illegal download? Like in the case of Patricia Santangelo, when the RIAA insisted that because she owned the house the computer alleged to have shared unlicensed files was in, she was liable.

I'm sure VEVO executives will be handing themselves in at the local cop shop. After all, piracy is a serious crime. They will want to be punished to the full extent of the laws their colleagues have had created.

Crimewatch: The Ambience Affair

The Ambience Affair had a guitar pinched after a gig in Cork last night:

This is what my stolen guitar from last night's Cork show looks like.Please spread the word, thank you. #fb twitter.com/ambienceaffair…

— The Ambience Affair (@ambienceaffair) December 10, 2011

Keep 'em peeled, and if you can help them, let them know.

My Chemical Romance dump their drummer

Apparently, My Chemical Romance are keen for people to not speculate over this:

Some shit happened last night and before the blogosphere gets all crazy with false statements and ridiculous opinions we want the true story to come from us... But please listen close because this is the only time we are ever going to talk about this. The relationship between My Chemical Romance and Michael Pedicone is over.

He was caught red handed stealing from the band and confessed to police after our show last night in Auburn, Washington. We are heartbroken and sick to our stomachs over this entire situation.

The band has no intention of pressing charges or taking this matter any further than we have to. We just want him out of our lives. The people who play in this band are a family, and family should not take advantage of each other like he did. We are currently moving forward, and hope to have a new drummer in place for our show in Salt Lake City, Utah. The show must go on.

Yes, that's not a statement which leaves any questions hanging in the air - like what was it he could possibly have "stolen" that was bad enough to demand a sacking, but not talking to the police? And is it entirely fair to dismiss an employee, brand him a thief, but not allow him either right of reply or the dignity of a proper investigation of the claims by the police?

Gordon in the morning: Stealing from Amy

Given the turmoil in London over the last few days, a headline announcing

Amy Winehouse home is robbed

might seem to be part of the riot coverage.

But it isn't.

Actually, it's not even entirely clear that there has been any robbing:

PERSONAL belongings were stolen from Amy Winehouse's house in the days after her death, it emerged yesterday.

Furious dad Mitch believes one of her acquaintances has taken copies of unreleased tracks, lyric books and letters.

It all sounds a little vague - does anyone know for sure that anything is missing? Does anyone know for certain that if anything, if missing, has been removed by someone and not simply lost? Does anyone know, if anything has been removed, that it's been stolen and not merely put somewhere safe?

Even the finger being pointed at "acquaintances" turns out to be a bit shaky:

Around 20 people - including family, friends, security and police - have had access to the home since Amy died.

Clearly, something murky is going on. I don't think we know yet what manner of murkiness.

South Africans rip up cables with bare hands to try and stop U2 gig

The police think that it's copper thieves who just happen to have pinched the cables around the FNB stadium in Johannesburg, coincidentally putting the U2 gig there next week at risk.

I suspect it's much more likely that the intention was to try and put the U2 gig at risk, and taking the cables was a means to an end.

Arrests in Noah And Whale case theft case

Apparently, a lot of the kit is still missing, but Greater Manchester Police have made arrests following the theft of Noah And The Whale's stuff.

Nicked from Noah

This is what happens when you leave it to the weekend to catch up with the Marc Riley programmes (cracking this week, by the way - Joan As Policewoman, Strike The Colours, First Aid Kit and Ambulances in session): I'd fallen down on the job by missing the news that Noah And The Whale had everything stolen in Manchester in the small hours of Wednesday morning:

We’re sad to report that last night Noah and the Whale had all of their instruments and tour equipment stolen from Trinity Way NCP car park in Manchester. At some point between midnight and 11am this morning, the band’s trailer was taken containing all the equipment listed below, most of which is of great sentimental value to the band.
Many of the instruments were packed in flight cases marked NOAH in 6” high stencil lettering, or gold marker pen lettering NOAH AND THE WHALE or NATW. If you were in the Manchester area and saw anything suspicious, or if you’ve come across any of the equipment listed, please contact the police immediately. You can also contact Coalition management on 020 8743 1000 or zac@coalitiongroup.co.uk

STOLEN EQUIPMENT

Gibson Les Paul Gold Top Deluxe
Fender telecaster – sunburst with black scratch plate

The above are both LEFT HANDED

Gibson Goldtone GA-30 RVS Amp
Voodoo labs power supply x3
Ernie ball volume pedal x2
Boss TU2 tuner x 7
Boss EQ pedal
Homebrew Electronics Powerscreamer
Ibanez TS-9 Tubescreamer
Line6 delay
Ebow x2
Electro Harmonix Holy Grail
Marshall Compressor pedal
Behringer acoustic DI box
Fender 66 P-bass
Vox F-hole 60’s sunburst bass
Ampeg B-15
Ashdown 2x10 cab
Z Vex wooly mammoth pedal
Little big muff
Mesa Boogie DC3 amp
Marshall 1 x 12 guitar cab
Line6 Digital delay pedal
MXR boost
Ibanez tube screamer
Fender 1965 Deluxe reverb
Ibanez AD9 Analogue delay
Keeley compressor pedal
Fender Telecaster 1963
Fender Jaguar 1963
Electro harmonix POG
Electro harmonix Holy Grail
ZVEX Distortron
Digitech loop pedal
Ludwig silver/white oyster finish drum kit consisting of:
22” kick drum (1966)
Rack Tom 13”(1966)
Floor Tom 16” (1970)
Zildjian 21” ride
14” Hi Hats
13” Hi Hats
16” Crash
17” Crash
Ludwig black beauty snare 14x5
Brady snare 14x6
Ludwig snare 14x5
2 snare stands
3 DW kick pedals, one with tamborine attachment
2 tamborines, cowbell
2 crash stands
1 ride stand
10 pairs wooden 5a sticks
1 pair brushes
2 pair hot rod brushes
2 pair felt beaters
Roland 88 note stage piano and x-frame stand

Peli-case toolbox
Contents:
Peterson strobo-flip
Boss tu2 tuner
Screwdrivers
Gas soldering kit
Various pliers /cutters
Nut-files/ various files
Music-stand lamp
Guitar Polish/cleaners/switch cleaners

Flightcases:
These are all marked NOAH in 6” high stencil lettering, some also have gold marker pen lettering NOAH AND THE WHALE or NATW
Fender Jag case
Fender Tele case x 2
Gibson gold top l/h case
Fender precision bass case
Vox F-hole bass case
Ampeg B-15 bass cab case
Ashdown 4x10 bass cab case
Fender Twin amp case
Fender Deluxe amp case
Gibson goldtone GA30 amp case
4 x Pedal board cases
Large drum traps Hardcase
Small tom case
Floor tom case
Snare case x 3
Kick drum case
Small traps case x 2
Kick pedal case
Guitar rack case x2

Tool box with various screw drivers etc.

Having all your stuff stolen is the extreme of being shat on (even if Feargal Sharkey would argue it's on a par with having someone download a couple of your songs without a licence) so let's hope that someone will be able to help out.

Anti-filesharing group take more relaxed approach to actual property

BREIN, the Dutch copyright group, have been throwing their weight around a bit lately. Because sharing a musical file is morally on a par with stealing somebody's property, right? Like pinching a laptop off somebody.

Funny thing, though, because Tim Kuik who runs BREIN has been bragging about how he uses a laptop "confiscated from a hacker".

When invited to explain how he came to be using somebody else's property, he went all vague:

“It was once confiscated from a hacker,” Kuik added, noting that he couldn’t give out any more info because of the type of people his organization deals with.

Odd that. If he legitimately owned the laptop, I can't see there'd be any reason to not be a bit more explicit about how that ownership came about. Likewise, if he has some sort of way of making it seem alright in his head - although isn't the ability to construct a moral justification for their behaviour what the Intellectual Property industry condemn filesharers for?

Dears: Oh dear

Montreal is turning in to a music crime blackspot. The Stooges and Clinic have had stuff pinched from there, and now The Dears tourbus has been lifted.

Luckily, it was empty of both equipment and band members when it got pinched, but they'd still like it back:

A plea for information on the missing bus has been put out, the vehicle was a Prevost model, Series 60. Accuride Alcoa; license plate: V957YW.

The bus was taken from outside the Saint Jean Comfort Inn.

Kills reunited with their bus

At least it didn't turn out to be Pete Doherty: The Kills' tour bus disappeared, apparently with the driver still behind the wheel, after a Los Angeles gig. The bus - and all the equipment - has been found; the driver is still unaccounted for.

Truck found; still empty

They've found the truck that was stolen from Iggy and the Stooges; trouble is, it was without the kit.

And Courtney's been back on

Courtney has - despite having had all her computers removed on account of her AOL being violated - gone back on to her MySpace blog, this time to, erm, accuse Ryan Adams of funding the Rock & Roll album by stealing USD858,000 from Frances Bean's trust fund.

Yes, it came out five years ago. Courtney has only just noticed:

But i was sitting with some people going thru the 29 american express cards that i didnt know existed that were connected to a few HUNDRED bank accounts,and there were all the bills for Ryan Adams worst record and one of the worst records i can think of in rock and roll history ironically called"Riock and Roll " and it was paid for by ME and mostly by my child.

Now, let's be fair: it might be true that Adams did this. Somehow. Even if he did, you could probably argue that the best way to deal with it might not be posting a barely-legibile rant on MySpace. If he didn't, let's hope Adams is the sort of man who will swallow down being accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a child with good grace and won't, you know, instruct lawyers or anything.

We say "stealing hundreds of thousands from a child" - Courtney puts it slightly differently:

stealing from a suicide? A MARTYRED HERO? fun for you. big man. wow. impressive.
Yeah well theres nothing good about suicide and i should know- but to take my near suicidal depression and use it on my daughters paying fo ryour shit record

Um... was Kurt actually a martyred hero? Perhaps it's best not to ask.

Courtney claims to have all these Amex bills as proof of what went on. But since her post doesn't really make sense, it could be that the people who are failing to help her now failed to help her back then. And even if there is paperwork detailing this, it's a bit of a leap to suggest Adams knew what was going on. After all, if Love can't keep track of her own money, why should she expect Ryan Adams to know about it?

More to the point, if the cash was Frances Beans, shouldn't it have been in some sort of trust? Where were the trustees?

Is there nobody who cares about Love enough to suggest that she stops washing her laundry like this?

Sex Pistols tickets vanish

About a thousand tickets for the Loch Lomond festival have vanished. The line up includes the Sex Pistols, Pete Doherty if he can be arsed to show up, and the Happy Mondays - like it's some sort of festival of drug-addled wastage down the centuries.

Tickets had been entrusted to a courier firm; the organisers are insisting that they won't let anyone in with stolen tickets and have "increased security" to ensure that won't happen.

Love will tear up the stone - again

Someone has pinched Ian Curtis' headstone from his grave. Not quite as bad as what happened to Gram Parsons, certainly, but still incredibly disrespectful.

Burnham: Music business is like a canary

PaidContent UK has picked out some choice chunks from Andy Burnham's speech to the Convergence Think Tank last night, including this bit:

"The music industry has been the canary in the internet coal-mine in terms of the consequences of piracy and illegal file-sharing. There is a lot of thinking yet to be done on this question. But we have signalled in our creative economy programme that if the policy and creative industry insiders don't solve this problem, we will bring the same values of the real world – the values that say shoplifting of a CD is unacceptable - to the internet."

Hmm. As we observed earlier, Sony-BMG is worth some three billion dollars, which is a pretty healthy looking canary.

Burnham's metaphor is wrong, though: it assumes that there's no reason why the old companies shouldn't suddenly be in the middle of a totally new industry and still doing as well as they were in their old industry. It's like assuming that the companies which used to deliver coal should suddenly have transformed into gas distribution when natural gas started to be piped to homes with no loss of equity or profitability. In effect, if you want to see the music industry as the test for something in the new economy, they're the first fish on land - they might evolve beyond gills or they might not. But there's no reason to assume that they must do so.

It's also slightly uncomfortable seeing Burnham just blithely slap on the "stealing a CD" metaphor, like he's reading from a script prepared for him by EMI. Apart from being hackneyed (Burnham effectively covering a five-year old Britney Spears routine - perhaps he'll cover himself in Pleather and do I Did It Again for us next), it's philosophically suspect. People don't take CDs from shops because depriving people of their physical property feels wrong - the morality seems pretty clear-cut, and certainly the 'not thieving stuff' impulse wasn't 'brought' to us by government. It's just there. All the government can do is get involved when someone deviates from the generally accepted line that it's wrong to do so.

Downloading a file you might not have paid for from the internet isn't transgressive of the same moral code, though, is it? However much the music industry might wish it was, however much they may get their stooges in parliament to squeak that it is, people really don't view it like a bad thing in quite the same way. Cheeky, perhaps - like nipping in to a parking space someone else had clearly been waiting for - but not a bad wrong. And, much as the government might like to, it's not in a position to change that viewpoint. Given they're attempting to bring in a form of internment even while I'm writing this, it's probably no surprise that Burnham believes he can do so, but you'd hope that he's wise enough to know his time would be better spent trying to find ways to encourage artists to make money in the world we live in, rather than protecting conglomerate's interests from a world we have flown.

Gabriel loses servers

Peter Gabriel has been knocked off the web by the theft of servers from his ISP. Claims that it was the BPI who seized them to inspect suggestions that there were music files on them are, of course, wide of the mark.

IFPI aims for children's soft heads

In its pointless battle to try and persuade kids not to use illegal sources of music, the music industry is now burning through money it could be investing in credible business models on an educational booklet aimed at 21 nations' schools and colleges.

We've tried to draw up a list of 21 nations whose cultures are identical enough to make a single booklet viable across all of them. We came up blank. Still, we guess the IFPI is trying to use up all its money before it closes down.

RIAA anti-crime hero been caught stealing

Back when the RIAA still probably believed there was a better side amongst their customers to which they could appeal, they wheeled out Britney Spears to make a video equating downloading tracks with stealing CDs.

Now that she's been filmed stealing lighters from gas stations, we'd love to hear from the RIAA if downloading an out-of-print song is as bad as, worse than, or not as criminal as that.

Britney: Tell me, do you like it in my hair?

In the never-ending cascade of Britney's over-the-falls-in-a-sieve lifestory, she's now accused of pulling a Winona Ryder - and, apparently, trying to pinch a wig.

The Mail's reporting of the story is a bit woolly, though:

Erratic Britney Spears has been accused of shoplifting a wig just hours after stripping down to try on a pair of briefs in an adult store in Los Angeles.

It is alleged that after an altercation with staff, the troubled singer snatched a wig off a mannequin and left without paying for it.

The incident happened in the adult shop Hustler shortly before 1am on 18 November, the American magazine Us Weekly is reporting.

But surely only the panties "incident" (although we're not quite sure that warrants description as an "incident") - presumably she didn't then return to Hustler to steal a wig?

The Mail has illustrated the story with pictures of Spears shopping at Target for some reason.

The original US magazine report suggests that, more plausibly, she stole the wig upon being asked not to try on knickers.