Former G'N'R & Velvet Revolver bassist, Duff McKagan, has hit out at online campaigners opposed to the recent SOPA uprising, reports RockNewsDesk
The outburst follows a recent hack-attack on government and industry websites in response to an FBI raid on filesharing website Megeupload in the aftermath of the online 'blackout'.
McKagan labels the online blackout as a "dog pile" and says in his column for the Seattle Weekly:
"When I turned to the Twitter and Facebook, I saw an overwhelming dog pile of support against the bills. Excuse me, but where were you all when piracy started to decimate the music industry? Why didn’t you take a stand against that? Those free records felt good, huh?
"It almost takes my breath away. Internet piracy has claimed half of the recorded music business, and made the prospect of making a living as a musician harder for artists of all rank and file.
"This is all boring, right? It’s typical that the ‘rich rock guy’ would be spouting from his golden pulpit. But let me tell you something: the working stiffs at recording studios and record stores that have had to close thanks to rampant internet piracy never were rich, but they are out of a job.
"Are people really actually pissed off because Wikipedia is ‘going black’ for a day? Because people feel that their First Amendment rights are really being threatened? Or is it because they’re afraid of losing free access to Deadwood and the Black Keys?
"As a practicing musician who has seen his industry turned upside down, and see how piracy has hurt every artist from chart-toppers to indie start-ups, this PIPA upheaval is a slap in the face."
It is estimated that over 7000 websites voluntarily blocked themselves on January.18 in attempt to show just what the internet could become if the SOPA & PIPA legislations were passed.