Weeks after Sumerian Records founder Ash Avildsen launched a YouTube video speaking out on music piracy, TheGauntlet.com has accused Avildsen of being a member of warez groups in the mid-90’s.
“What Ash doesn’t tell you is that when he was in high school, we ran in the same circles, the software piracy/hacking circles,” The Gauntlet’s Jason Fisher wrote in an editorial. “The quick background version is he gained control of a release group called Release on Rampage which folded, he later started another release group called Reflux (which later became the name of the band he fronted). Both groups sole purpose was pirating video games and spreading the games to as many places before they hit store shelves, sound familiar?”
Fisher added, “People can grow and change and this includes viewpoints, but what I think Ash fails to point out in his post is that he was once one of these people with no regards for the companies that spent millions of dollars on a product to have some kid give it away for free.”
Avildsen responded today to the accusations, “Congratulations on bringing traffic to your site by exploiting my name and childhood. I like the House of Blues Ad you have there next to my name. Yes, from ages 11-15 in the days of dial-up modems, BBS and IRC, before cell phones and websites, I pirated PC video games. I also stole cigarettes from convenience stores when I was 13, but later realized smoking cigarettes were bad for my health and that stealing is stupid. Care to do an article on that?”
“Regardless, I am not 13 years old anymore and I do not condone stealing… Good to hear from you dude, even if it’s by this. You live in California, don’t be a stranger.”
Avildsen’s anti-piracy video follows: