Paul McCartney, or Sir Paul as he's strangely known across the Atlantic, sent a message to Google: "Please, please me."
"Please, please me by removing images of my house from your Street View service," that is.
According to the Sun newspaper, one of the world's most famous left-handed guitarists, was concerned that Google Street View offered a 360-degree view of his house. So his security detail contacted Google in order to remove all details of his property.
Fine lighting or fine highlighting? You decide.
(Credit: CC John Packer/Blank Slate Photography/Flickr)However, if you go to the Street View in question (now blacked out), and then move around, you will see that Google's house numbering appears to be slightly and strangely imprecise. When Google says you're looking at number 7, you're looking at number 3. So, if you happen to be looking for number 7, look at number 11.
The house in question is in the rather nice--but difficult to park in-- area of St. John's Wood. McCartney bought it in 1965 for a mere 40,000 pounds and, so legend has it, wrote "Penny Lane" and "Hey Jude" there.
It is not clear whether he wrote either of these songs on the circular bed, a gift from Groucho Marx, which adorns the meditation chapel in the garden of the home.
It would be most concerning if anyone could just go online and espy your circular bed, wouldn't it?
Singer Paul McCartney has voiced his support for the verdict rendered in The Pirate Bay trial.
"If you get on a bus you've got to pay," the former Beatle told the BBC. "And I think it's fair, you should pay your ticket."
On Friday, a court in Stockholm convicted four men connected to The Pirate Bay--Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, and Carl Lundstrom--of charges related to copyright infringement. The court sentenced each to a year in jail and fined the group the equivalent of $3.6 million. On Thepiratebay.org, a blog post indicated that the men have filed an appeal.
Fans of The Pirate Bay have condemned the verdict as many in the entertainment industry celebrated the decision. McCartney, who helped produce--along with bandmates Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and John Lennon--such classic songs as "Yesterday," "Help" and "Let it Be," said he thinks people should pay for music, especially when it comes to work from start-up bands.
"The problem is you get a lot of young bands coming up and some of them aren't going to last forever," McCartney said during the interview. "So if they have a massive hit, that's going to pay their mortgage forever. They're going to feed the children on that, and if they don't get that money, if they don't see that money, I think it's a bit of a pity."
These statements are unlikely to be very popular in the file-sharing community. Such members have often said the world doesn't owe recording artists a lifetime salary. Among other the arguments most often cited for downloading music illegally, they say art should be free and major record labels are greedy, overcharge, and don't compensate artists fairly.
Talks to make The Beatles' catalog available on Apple's iTunes have "stalled," according to Paul McCartney.
Apparently the impasse is between the band's representatives and record label EMI, McCartney told the Associated Press in London on Monday. EMI, the smallest of the four top recording companies can't close a deal with iTunes or any new music formats without the authorization of the Beatles: McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the estates of the late George Harrison and John Lennon.
McCartney made the comments at an event to kickoff his new album, Electric Arguments, the AP reported.
"The last word I got back was it's stalled at the whole moment, the whole process," McCartney said. "I really hope it will happen because I think it should."
Apple Corps has long declined to allow Beatles music to be offered over the Web and things looked bleakest after Apple Corps sued Apple over a trademark dispute. The case was resolved last year.
An EMI representative told CNET News late Monday that it hopes to have an agreement soon.
"We have been working very hard to secure an agreement with Apple Corps to make The Beatles' legendary recording catalog available to fans in digital form," An EMI spokesperson. "Unfortunately the various parties involved have so far been unable to reach agreement, but we really hope that everyone can make progress soon."
Update at 8:55 p.m. PST: Changed to reflect that NPR Music had the streaming debut of Paul McCartney's album.
Guns N' Roses fans who have waited 17 years to hear the rock band's new album are mere hours from having their patience rewarded with a free Web debut before it goes on sale next week.
Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy will make its debut on the band's MySpace page starting Thursday, according to a Reuters report Wednesday. Fans will be able to stream the album for free before it goes on sale Sunday in an exclusive deal with Best Buy. Listeners, however, will not be able to download tracks from the site.
Also reported to be debuting Thursday was Electric Arguments by Paul McCartney's side project group, The Fireman. However, Eliot Van Buskirk at Wired.com noted that NPR Music got the jump on MySpace by beginning its streaming of the album Tuesday.
The News Corp.-owned social network launched its MySpace Music service in September with the backing of the four largest recording companies. The service represents the most significant challenge to Apple--at least in terms of firepower--in some time. The site offers free streaming music and sells unprotected MP3 downloads, ringtones, and merchandise.
MySpace has long been a place where bands market their wares to the Web. According to MySpace, 65 percent of its users already have streaming music on their profiles and 6 billion songs are played every month.
The free exposure for fledgling performers sometimes has big payouts. The rock band Boston recently hired its new lead singer from a fan's tribute page on the social-networking site.
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