Threatening artists only encourages them

[A random Friday-afternoon round-up of artsy things that - if nothing else - I found on the Internet....]

So I mentioned earlier a (perceived) trend towards anti-authoritarianism. Although I wanted to point to Banksy, I couldn't remember his name - so let's rectify that and file it under the DIY clause. (And in the tech-related realm - I wouldn't know about this if it weren't for massive cross-linking to The W. Collective's "content-rich" website - not to be confused with the W. Group.).

This could also arguably be applied to the P2P file-sharing movement - we currently have much better file-sharing technology, for a wider range of media types, because Napster was shut down. And I'm not talking about illegitimate uses either....

Then I read about a cease-and-desist notice from major play-publisher Samuel French - for a production they already OK'd - that resulted in a new satire of the whole thing being created by the theatre company. [Original discussion here. Follow the dotted links to see variations on the theme.]

At first I was very proud - try to control the artists and they just get more creative.

Then I read about the Secret Service getting involved in intimidating arts shows and people posting collages to online galleries. So far, even subsequent efforts to post similar types of collage photos have been removed....

"Free speech." Free as in beer, but not as in speech?

I'd like to think that the artists will eventually win out over intimidation.

If not, I might have to warn my boss about a possible trip by the .... SS? Better get out my rolodex of EFF friends.