tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161959674556571617.post7001481244211117105..comments2024-02-21T18:19:28.239-05:00Comments on Queer-liberal: iTunes.ca pulls anti-gay dancehall songs from its online storeMatt Guerinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06307050875070980292noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161959674556571617.post-31767579751449278312008-04-09T00:36:00.000-04:002008-04-09T00:36:00.000-04:00It isn't a free speech issue. These artists have ...It isn't a free speech issue. These artists have the right to produce this hateful material and iTunes has the right to refuse to sell it. I'd have a problem if someone was trying to legally prevent the musicians from creating or releasing the material, but any company like iTunes or HMV has the right not to sell it. <BR/><BR/>I'm close to being a free speech absolutist when it comes to government sanctions, but freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from consequences. Produce hateful material maybe you won't have a venue to sell it and maybe that will have an economic effect on all your 'art'. Teach hate in a classroom maybe you'll lose you job and your teaching certificate. I'm all good with that.<BR/><BR/>Better that they be impoverished for their hate, dismissed as morons and convicted in the court of public opinion by their own crappy art and idiotic messages than revered as free speech martyrs for being targeted by the counterproductive overkill of heavy handed legal sanctions. <BR/><BR/>The Wiemar Republic had some of the most stringent hate crime legislation in the world - right up to the point when Hitler was voted into power.Cliffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03487395482670731681noreply@blogger.com