AT&T Admits Error In Censoring Pearl Jam Song

by Terrence O'Brien on August 10, 2007 at 10:06 AM

AT&T has come out and said it was wrong to censor a live Pearl Jam song that featured a pair of lines a pair of lines criticizing George W. Bush. Last weekend, AT&T streamed live performances from the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago through its Blue Room website. It was during Pearl Jam's performance that a pair of lines critical of President Bush, sung to the tune of Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall,' were censored by an AT&T vendor.

The two lines, "George Bush, leave this world alone" and "George Bush find yourself another home," were edited out by a monitor who was supposed to block excessive profanity and nudity, but, according to AT&T, not political speech.

AT&T has said it is working with the vendor to avoid future confusion. It is also trying to acquire the rights to the full song so it can post the complete and unedited performance.

Meanwhile, you can find the full, uncensored webcast on Pearl Jam's official site. "What happened to us was a wake-up call, and it's about something much bigger than the censorship of a rock band," said the band on its website, where it urged citizens to learn more about and join the debate on Net Neutrality, the movement that wants to keep free and open access to the Internet (versus many Internet providers, including AT&T, that want to control which sites and services get download-speed priority).

From AOL News (AP)

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Tags: net neutrality, NetNeutrality, pearl jam, PearlJam, webcasts

Comments

MistyJan 29th 2008 9:42PM

Neutral

Jason Lovejoy, how dare you to compare George Bush to Adolf Hitler??!! I don't see any concentration camps anywhere, so I don't know where you're living. How about,you and all the other morons, move to a another country and let them deal with you. Here in America we don't care about your opinion so keep it to yourself.

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brendaFeb 6th 2008 6:23PM

Neutral

Misty,
He keeps his concentration camps offshore.......think Gitmo

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bobJan 26th 2009 7:53PM

Neutral

I had to laugh at several comments from the "Progressive" Haters.
Apparently, most of you don't know the difference between Fascism and Socialism. And, you are apparently ignorant of what National Socialism was, and what its' aims were...and are.
Obama is a Socialist as is Nancy P. and Harry R. They think the government knows how to run everything, from production to sales. They think you are so ignorant and stupid you cannot run your own life without government assistance.
They may be correct.

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CloeyAug 22nd 2007 2:00PM

Neutral

They were right to censor it, people like this band and other loud mouths are just out to cause division. You can hate the president all you want, but keep it to yourself! They don't care about offending the people who approve of the president, just their narrow-minded point of view.

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AllisonSep 24th 2007 9:26PM

Neutral

In case you forgot, WE LIVE IN AMERICA, NOT UNDER A DICTATORSHIP. you do NOT have the right under any circumstances to edit political speech. first amendment morons.

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Jason LovejoyOct 22nd 2007 5:39PM

Neutral

Without dissent, it is NOT a democracy. It's too bad that the "vendor" can't be thrown in jail for putting his conservative political views above the Constitution. Cloey, you are an idiot. Please, move to a dictatorship or at least a SOCIALIST country, you are clearly living in the wrong country. Bush is a jackass and one step shy of Hitler, and don't you ever forget it. Plus, we'll see how much your life improves after the GIVEN democratic party victory for President. That's the best part, ya know of the change of leadership in the White House. We just LOVE to see republicans suffer. Sweeeeeeeeet!!

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SJAmes6621Nov 27th 2007 1:23AM

Neutral

If we can't get rid of these homophobic, militaristic, totally greedy right wing republicans you better practice your German "Seig Heil, Mein Fuhrer "

And we will have become just like Bin Laden. A theocratic militaristic state bent on world domination, of which stealing Iraqs oil is just the first step. And bin ladens dream will come true - a WWIII between two religions. And the right wing extremist Christiansget us into an Apocalypse where they believe Christ will return after the final battle. The only problem is he will be standing over the bodies of a billion people, and Bush and his religious buddies will be smiling at what they have accomplished, pathological liars that they are. So now you should understand that what we have in the white house is a greater menace to us then the Islamic nut cases in Afghanistan, though they do think in the same way, just with different names.

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jjo316Dec 3rd 2007 8:09PM

Neutral

Cloey must be a code name for Karl Rove.

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Alexander Michael FischerDec 14th 2007 7:49PM

Neutral

Think about this:
To declare that the actions of the President must never be questioned, we limit free speech. If we limit free speech, we inhibit democracy. Which is exactly the goal of the terrorists.
The terrorists want to destroy all those who are different than they, which in this case, means destroying democracy.
There are more ways to destroy deomcracy than with guns and bombs; there are more ways to undermine freedom than with highjacked airliners.

If we here in the U.S. help destroy democracy by demanding that all those who hold different opinions than the President just "keep it to themselves" then we are removing the very attributes that distinguish our great country from them.

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