Wired fans find it hard to forgive Metallica

Like elephants, rock fans don't forget. In May 2000, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich personally delivered to the U.S. Senate judiciary committee a 60,000-page printout of Napster users who'd downloaded his bands' songs, resulting in the banning of more than 300,000 users from the service and ultimately, Napster's demise.

Eight years later, the heavy metal act is ready to jump on the digital bandwagon, but music fans don't seem to be making things easy for them.

The quartet has launched an online fan program called Mission: Metallica, which offers fans all sorts of goodies, including the ability to hear new tracks from its upcoming album, set for release this fall.

Membership costs anywhere from nothing to $125.

With a platinum membership, you can get an early copy of the album, plus high-quality MP3 tracks, a five-LP box with sleeves, and the ability to download video clips from live concerts.

Unlike Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and a slew of indie bands (Victoria's Jets Overhead, for one), Metallica won't be releasing its album for free, but the step away from DRM (digital rights management) music is a massive step for them, as it makes the music easily shareable on many websites.

Too bad people are viewing the move with a jaundiced eye. After news was posted on Wired.com, a slew of angry music fans posted their views about it, and they were anything but positive.

"(Expletive) Metallica," wrote a user named me not you. "These jerkwads helped kill the original napster and mp3.com. They single-handedly delayed the digital music revolution by at least 4 years. They sued little kids and grannies. Now after clearly losing the fight against progress they want to suddenly join the winning side. Go to hell, Metallica."

Another sample: "Oh I get it, now that your careers are in the (expletive), you finally wanna open up to this 'new & hip' digital world only NOW in 2008 after years of alienating thousands of your fans by suing the pants off them & treating them like criminals for spreading your music. Too little too late."

And my favourite: "You wanted me to pick between mp3s and metallica? i did. you lost."

If you've any thoughts on the matter, send me an e-mail and we'll try to print it in a future edition of Digital Culture.

PS3 Sucks . . . Juice

File this under "Things you don't want your environmentally friendly girlfriend to find out about."

When on and running, the PlayStation 3 sucks up five times more energy than a fridge and about 10 times more than a Wii, according to Australian consumer agency Choice. Left on all day, it would cost near $250 a year to run.

So if you'd like to reduce your energy consumption, your choices are to either turn off your PS3 completely when not playing or to play Call of Duty 4 on your fridge.

Health Update

Thanks to everyone who sent in e-mails last week following my column about Google and Microsoft each launching online health sites, and my concerns about the online security of these. Although a fair many e-mails encouraged me to host my medical records on alternative sites they considered safer (yeah, still won't be doing that), here's a sampling of what some people had to say:

"We feel that anything sent out into cyberspace is NOT SAFE!!! God Bless, All the Best." -- Al and Julie and Pet.

"As CEO of MyMedicalRecords.com I appreciate the issues you raised in your article.

"However, I hope you will take a few moments to log into our site and take a 30-day free trial. Our patented image based system may not be as accessible to summer time hackers as you suggest." -- Robert H. (Bob) Lorsch.

"Many consumer portals are being met with skepticism because of safety issues, but Kryptiq's secure messaging solutions ensure the security of all communications between physicians and their patients." -- Anita

Nick