Massimo Pupillo (ZU - Roma)

i'll try to answer to your questions from
my point of view...(it's also 3.30 in the night!): and its not very easy sincerly as this MP3 kind of "ethic" troubles are very new...

1/ I still feel very politically engaged in many ways, and above all i really think that culture and information should be free access.No copyright!

2/ On the other side you are also engaged as a so-called-artist, if you try to create something, you try to do it in the best way, which means a lot of time working a lot more than a normal job, and having to make a living from it. So the 2 points shouldnt annihilate each other. I dont have any problem with my music on MP3, its at
least diffusion and free promotion, if you see it on the commercial way..also, NO musician i know earns from the records , usually , they're
just useful to find gigs!


- Did Lukin have the right to forbid the access to the free mp3s ?

I dont know how the laws are about it. I suppose not, even more if he's not the composer! I can think of him being upset of not having
told, or having one of the "turns" that some have at one point, that usually is:"i did the
underground and i didnt see any money, now fuck that all and give me my $ !"

- Can such a behaviour of once a rebellionist now a trader be called rectionist (sorry for being brutal in terms)?

An old story, isnt it? We see it every day in Italy,old revolutionaries are now in the power seats....

- Can an mp3 site be understood as a free library (only three songs from an album) ?

I use it also to decide if i buy a cd or not! It starts first because cds are damn expensive! You know already. Theres too much difference between the real cost and the "plusvalor" of it! One cd is meant to make a living of some hundreds people, in the case of a major company, and
this is too much.
Otherwise none would think of MP3...

- Can live-recordinds from the past system be put on the Internet or published by the organiser of the concert?

Its like the bootleg lp in a way...maybe its wise to ask the musician about it (there are some gigs that you just want to forget!!) But
i wouldnt mind....

- Should the government support the author rights in these cases or is it a utopia (they have never so far)

In these cases it looks to me more like a private thing than a public performance with copyrights...



- Does the term underground have any sense after the changes ?

Of course as its mostly made by people and not by numbers, by tastes and not by polls and charts .....


Is underground the same as non-commercial, or rather politically critical ?

This term is like a huge umbrella under which many different people stay...some are just there for some time, hoping to escape and go
mainstream,other just hope to find their little niche of surviving...other are sincerly critical on a political or spiritual or philosophical
way..its one of those words that become useless because they are abused!



- Whats your general opinion on music on the Internet ?

Its all very new, and in many ways it has some nice sides: i'm always late in all the technological upgrades, and from what i saw, big
music companies have been like this as well, totally understimating the power of internet
and the freedom of people! And they dont know what to do now! Will they BUY internet? Its out of control! I use it, to check some names that i read about. I would have some ethic problems downloading Peter Brotzmann on Okka disc
because i know that the Okka disc guy is doing a hard job alone for this kind of music, but i wouldnt have any if i download a major
label product that just make them richer..

- Is the situation common in other East/European
countries?


I dont know about it but we all saw Metallicas drummer fighting Napster, they closed it, now Napster is still on, there are many other sites like it and it was all a good ad for it... i'm not a big fan of technological progress in itself but it has nice sides: sharing music is like sharing wealth and im happy if that happens. There will be always someone who thinks to stop the tide with one finger..

I was truly moved when i saw on a webpage about nazi death camps that the people who stayed there have now a search engine to look
for other people that they didnt know how to contact....even only for this reason we can be
glad there is internet.....

4:05 in the morning
truly your friend!

Massimo