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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 1996)
Concerns arise over musical Internet site By Cliff Hicks Staff Reporter Some say it’s a violation of copy right. Some say it’s nothing more than friends swapping information. Either way, it’s still a hotbed of dis cussion on the Internet—the On-Line Guitar Archive, nicknamed OLGA. OLGA is a storage site for guitar tablature, or TAB for short. TAB is a form of writing that guitarists use to display the chords and notes used to play a song, with six lines used to rep resent the six strings on a guitar. Earlier this year, music publishing giant EMI sent a letter to the Univer sity of Nevada demanding that OLGA be shut down, claiming that it was an infringement on their copyrights for published sheet music. Such action has enraged OLGA’s representative, Cal Woods, who is now a second-year graduate philosophy stu dent at Tulane. “Originally, people would post on the newsgroups, requesting a song and after a week or so, the post gets aged off,” Woods said. “The next week people would come looking for the same song, which caused the archive to be created.” OLGA was started in the summer of 1992 by a University of Nevada stu dent named James Bender. In June 1994, Bender turned the project over to Woods. When OLGA began, it was accessible to people who knew how to use File Transfer Protocal, or FTP. Since then, World Wide Web access has become relatively easy. In October of 1995, EMI UK , forced the closure of OLGA’s British mirror site. “It’s my understanding that EMI and EMI UK are almost separate enti ties. There was no direct follow-up so it seems EMI UK was acting indepen dently,” Woods said. Things were all quiet until Febru ary 1996, when EMI sent the letter to the University of Nevada. OLGA was suspended while the university looked into the situation. “I had the letter read to me over the phone,” Woods said. “It said, basically, that holding OLGA was a breach of copyright and that they would use all available measures to enforce their copyright unless the university took ^ down the archive.” Then, in April 1996, the site was permanently taken off the University of Nevada’s server. But the University of Nevada wasn’t the only place to get to OLGA. Since keeping everything on only one page would have put an immense amount of strain on the system, OLGA was mirrored. When a site is mirrored, other iden tical sites pop up on other servers that users can access to lighten the load of the main server. Since the University of Nevada shut down the site, all of the mirror sites that were housed at academic institu tions have closed. In their place, how ever, many private sites have gone up. At that point, the protests began. It began with a boycott list. The list has grown to more than 2,500 people. “If you look at it, 2,500 people, who all refrain from buying one CD, at $ 15 a CD that’s a lot,” Woods said. Not only does the boycott list in clude students and musicians, it also includes a karaoke distributor who will not purchase anything from EMI. Beyond this, one of the mirrors put up an automated fax. What would hap pen is that a user would go to the page, enter their information and then a fax would automatically be sent by com puter to EMI. Since then, the number nas been struck from EMI’s fax, meaning that the calls will not be put through. At present, there are 21 sites that house OLGA, and they are' now being up dated. Woods says there are several argu ments for the archive and very few against. The most substantial argument springs from a recent court ruling that, according to Woods, defines the Internet as “an ongoing conversation.” One of the other major points is the fact that much of what is on the archive is unpublished music. “At a very rough guess, I’d say less than 5 percent of what is on OLGA is published music,” Woods said. On top of all of this, what OLGA holds is what people have figured out on their own, not copied sheet music. “A lot of people have said they hear a song on the radio, then they get the song from OLGA,” Woods said. “Usu ally, if they want to get it perfect they have to go out and buy the sheet music or the CD, so it makes commercial sense for EMI to leave OLGA alone.” EMI did not return several calls to their office. According to Woods, they have said almost nothing since the let ter to the University of Nevada, even with the private mirrors open. “No formal contact has been made. No threat has been made to me as a representative of OLGA. I sent them an index of everything on OLGA and we have not heard back since,” Woods said*. “Maider cast adds strong emotion By Liza Holtmeier Theater Critic In an intimate apartment in New York City’s West Side, audiences be held a powerful portrayal of a Jewish family continuing life after the Holo caust. The story of the Weiss family was brought to life this weekend by the UNL theatre department’s cast of “A " ShaynaMaidel,” which translates into English as “pretty girl.” The play tells the story of Lusia Weiss Pechenik (played by Amy Gaither-Hayes), who has been reunited with her father Mordechai (Robert Hurst) and her sister Rose (Jacque Camperud) after years of separation. *** Mordechai and Rose have lived in America since before the Depression while Lusia and her mother remained in Poland. From the beginning, it was evident that the cast had the ability to provide the depth that the play demanded. Hurst commanded the audience’s attention from the moment he entered. His walk, his facial expressions, his stage presence and the fluidity of his accent created the vivid image of a stem but loving Jewish father. Camperud’s ability to translate her character’s complex emotions into her gestures and physical form shined through in her role as Rose. She passed naturally through states of pain, ner vousness, happiness, excitement and confusion. This ability became more pro nounced with the entrance of Gaither Hayes. The two women served as per fect contrasts of one another. On one side was Rose who displayed her emo tions for all to see, and on the other side was Lusia who constantly masked her feelings. The role of Lusia also showcased Gaither-Hayes’ naturalness on stage. There were no awkward pauses before movement or lines; everything seemed to flow out of her. She made smooth transitions from child to adult in the dream scenes, while making visible the progress her character made as she became comfortable around her sister and moved on with her life. The tenderness and chemistry of Lusia and her husband Duvid (Brad ley Mausbach) brought smiles to the audiences faces. The two perfectly portrayed young, hopeful love. However, the scene where the two were reunited left something to be de sired. The full extent of the characters’ mixed emotions in this scene did not Please see MAIDEL on 13 i I MX • JimMehslincVDN Haisin’ brought to life by exceptional cast, modest set By Bret Schulte Theater Critic Hie Lincoln Community Playhouse has brought a contemporary American classic of poverty, racism and hope to town with their current production, “A Raisin in the Sun.” Written by Lorraine Hansbury at the age of 29, “A Raisin in the Sun” was recognized as Best Play by the New York Drama Critics in 1959. Now, almost 40 years later, “A Rai sin in the Sun” is regarded as one of the foremost pieces of modem black literature. Set in Chicago’s inner city, Hansbury’s play focuses on a black family cramped into a small apartment with only each other and their dreams to sustain them. Walter Lee Younger, zealously played by Calvin Haywood (who also appeared in the theatrical release of “Driving Miss Daisy”), Is a man trapped by his color and frustrated by his dreams. The recent death of his fa ther is bringing an insurance check for $ 10,000, due the next day, to the apart ment where he lives with his mother, sister, wife and son. This insurance money represents hope to all the family members. For his sister, Beneatha, it is a chance to attend medical school. His mother sees it as a chance to escape the concrete claustrophobia of the ghetto. And for Walter, it is power, enabling him to Please see RAISIN on 14