Right Here, Right Now, I Have To Hear Jesus Jones

While futzing around with "AccuRadio," an Internet music streaming service, I was attempting to customize, as their interface allows, the "Flock of Eighties" stream by "deselecting" from a long list of honored '80s artists who I maybe didn't want to hear so much of (OK, any of) in the stream. I had banished to the outer darkness Peabo and Roberta, Phil Collins (I kept Genesis!), Fine Young Cannibals (they sometimes drive me crazy), the Georgia Satellites (wanted to keep my ears to myself when it came to them), and INXS.

When I tried to add Jesus Jones to my list of anathemas, I got a popup telling me that pursuant to federal copyright law, only limited personalization of the stream was allowed. Five and only five artists could be eliminated from the list. I must admit, this is a new one to me, and while I've often fence-sat on matters of intellectual property rights, any law that dictates this absurdity should be subject to the very strictest scrutiny.

(Note to pedants re: this entry's headline. I know I could just shut off the AccuRadio if I really, really don't want to hear Jesus Jones.)