Francis Hwang is Director of Technology at Rhizome.org in NYC. The profits from the sale of his pre-loaded iPod were intended to benefit Downhill Battle. The archive of the shuttered eBay offering is here:
http://fhwang.net/art/uiuvnse-archive.html

Here's a note from Frances Hwang:

On Tuesday, November 30, I offered a conceptual art project for sale
on eBay. Titled the "Unauthorized iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special
Edition", my work was basically a U2 iPod that I had bought from
Apple, pre-loaded with most of the Negativland back catalog, and sold
with modified box art.

Given the unsettled history of the Negativland "U2" single, in which
Island Records sued Negativland and SST Records into submission in
the early '90s, I thought this would make a good commentary on the
ongoing struggles over ownership of culture, not to mention a
Duchampian poke at the issues of authorship in a world of industrial
manufacture and easy recombination.

Apple Computer, however, didn't see it that way. On Monday, December
6--only one day before the auction was scheduled to close--I was
notified by eBay that my auction listing was being shut down at
Apple's request. Apple had told eBay that my work was in violation of
their intellectual property rights. I have emailed Apple asking for
an explanation, and am waiting for a response.

You can see an archived copy of the listing here:
http://fhwang.net/art/uiuvnse-archive.html . Whether or not you think
it's funny, I hope you can agree with me that the work is clearly
satire, and goes to great pains to avoid deceiving or confusing
customers. I certainly didn't want anybody to think they'd be buying
a standard U2 iPod.

I don't believe Apple has ever before wielded a legal threat to shut
down a dissenting opinion, especially by a lone artist. As Apple gets
closer to the music industry, is this a harbinger of things to come?

I hope you find this case interesting, and can give it some coverage.

Francis Hwang
http://fhwang.net/

In 1991, the experimental sound collage band Negativland released a single called “U2”, which extensively sampled both U2’s hit single “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and colorful studio recordings of Top 40 disc jockey Casey Kasem. This offbeat recording would have languished in obscurity if weren’t for Island Records, U2’s record label, which decided to sue Negativland and their independent label SST Records for deceptive packaging and copyright infringement. After a protracted legal battle, Negativland’s legal funds were exhausted and they settled out of court. Today, it is illegal to produce the “U2” single in the United States. (U2, on the other hand, would go on to use unauthorized samples of appropriated satellite video in their Zoo TV tour.)

Now you can commemorate this ignoble episode in intellectual property history with iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition. From its packaging to its pre-installed content, this unauthorized iPod modification is an artful mash-up of the forces of corporate megarock and obscure experimental music, and a provocative symbol of the ongoing struggle between those who would confine culture and those who would free it.

The package design of iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition is inspired by Apple’s unparalleled focus on every last detail of the shopping experience. This iPod comes packaged in a standard “cube” box that will be familiar to iPod owners around the world. However, one side of the box has been subtly modified to show the two bands in opposition, with U2 on top and Negativland on the bottom. On another side, the box label has been modified to read “iPod/Special Edition/U2 vs. Negativland.”



Inside the cube, you will find iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition. Physically, this is Apple’s standard iPod U2 Special Edition; no functional or physical changes have been made. This means that you get all the great features you’d expect from Apple’s iPod U2 Special Edition, including:

Use the iPod with Mac OS X or Windows 2000/XP
Custom red-and-black enclosure, with the signatures of the four U2 band members on the back
Integrates seamlessly with iTunes and the iTunes Music Store
Hold more than 5,000 songs in a sleek, 5.6 oz. package
Find songs quickly and easily with the iPod’s Click Wheel
Includes a coupon for $50 off of The Complete U2, a digital boxed-set containing more than 400 U2 songs
Exclusive U2 poster

To get you started in your subversive listening habits, iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition also comes pre-loaded with these Negativland albums:

Points (1981)
Free (1993)
Fair Use (1995)
Dispepsi (1997)
Happy Heroes (199
The ABCs of Anarchism (1999, with Chumbawamba)
Deathsentences of the Polished and Structurally Weak (2002)
You will also receive physical copies of these albums in Compact Disc format. Fair Use includes a 270-page book about the “U2” single and its legal repercussions, and Deathsentences of the Polished and Structurally Weak includes a 64-page full-color book.

All profits from the sale of iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition will be donated to Downhill Battle, a not-for-profit organization working to build a fairer music industry.

With the recent release of Apple’s iPod U2 Special Edition, and the continuing legal battles over the sampling and copying of music, there has never been a better time for such a tribute to the impact of technology on the flow of culture. Buy the unauthorized iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition and become a part of intellectual property history today!

iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition is designed and produced by Francis Hwang. It has not been licensed or authorized by Apple, Downhill Battle, Island Records, Casey Kasem, Negativland, or U2. iPod, iPod U2 Special Edition, iTunes, Mac OS X, Windows 2000/XP, and other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Payment will be accepted via PayPal, check, or money order. Buyer pays shipping.
Cost of materials for iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition is $449.50; this amount will be deducted from the final auction price before the donation to Downhill Battle is made.



Questions from other buyers



Q: Why doesn't this include Negativland's "U2" single? You can get it here: http://www.negativland.com/audiogadgets.html answered on: Dec-04-04
A: It's my understanding that the "U2" single is still illegal to sell or produce, even if you can find it online at various places. I decided to be ...more




Q: This rocks so SO hard. You are awesome! answered on: Dec-01-04
A: Well, thanks a lot. You forgot to ask a question, though. So let me ask one: Q: Hey, Francis, how did you get your hands on all those awesome Negativland...more

Ask seller a question

As I said... you no longer have the right to tinker with your own hardware and resell it if you want.

I want to know when copyright suddenly became a right to govern devices after they were purchased.

Tell me what part of even the DMCA that violates.

i quote from that letter:

"From: ended@ebay.com
Subject: VeRO NOTICE: eBay Listing(s) Removed - VeRO Program
Date: December 6, 2004 4:35:50 PM EST
To: sera@fhwang.net

Dear Francis Hwang (sera@fhwang.net),

**PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT EMAIL REGARDING YOUR LISTING(S)**

We would like to let you know that we removed your listing:

2290680118 Unauthorized iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition

because an intellectual property rights owner notified us, under penalty of
perjury, that your listing infringes the rights owner's copyright......


OK.. WE JUST NAILED APPLE ON PERJURY! GET TO IT GUYS!

Picasso was lucky not to have our copyright laws. I bet the merchant who sold the frame and the "fabric"(???) could sue him nowadays, the same way Apple did.
What's the difference between this modified ipod sale, and people who modifies cars and resells them?

There's two problems in USA:
1- So many stupid restrictive laws, like those in DMCA.
2- Even when no laws exists, big corporations acts like if there was. And they are most of the time successfull cause they target people who cant fight.

These guys are from England and who gives a sh!#?!

U2 suck and always have. They are part of the corporate hooliganism.

Ebay is not the only online auction on the block. Maybe they should try Yahoo auctions or one of the other competitors.

The trouble isn't trying another eauction. The trouble is now that this is a law, any and every corportation or individual that has a beef can simply complain to the host and have your item removed. This is another of those laws that would only be used by the music and trade industries to protect their product. As you can readily see, it has over stepped the bounds of what they should be able to do.

Here is the problem with those laws the RIAA assures us will only be used for copywrite protection. Isn't only them that can use the laws and once made can easily be turned into just such a nightmare.

What ever happened to the Right of First Sale?

Guess that too was eliminated by the DCMA. Shame on eBay for rolling over in response to Apple when the seller is clearly NOT in violation of their IP rights.

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss"... or "Corporate is as corporate does"...

A lot of people backed Apple through their low years specifically because they weren't the monopolizing, corporate MS-like bandits. This is the thanks we get?