If you’re a Pulse reader/listener, then it’s a pretty safe bet you’ve heard about the recent crackdowns and closures in Ibiza. You might have even been there when some of them happened, and you’ve almost definitely got an opinion about them.
Police raided a number of clubs at the beginning of the 2007 season, busting hundreds of clubbers with "sustancias estupefacientes" (drugs, basically). The clubs that were determined to be the worst offenders when it came to condoning drug dealing and use, namely Bora Bora, Amnesia and DC10, were given hefty fines and orders to close their doors immediately.
DC10 were deemed to be the worst of the worst, and ordered to close their doors for two whole months (a month longer than either Bora Bora or Amnesia), effectively killing their season (and their clubbers’). They were allowed to appeal, and ended up being closed for just twenty days.
Perhaps it was naïve to think that their troubles would end there. Just days after the 2008 opening of DC10’s most famous party, Circo Loco, the Spanish courts ruled that DC10 would in fact have to complete the rest of 2007’s ban – calculated at 57 days. Days before the end of this ban, they were hit once more with an order to close for an entire year for over-crowding and noise pollution, with a 300,000 Euro fine to boot.
Legal quagmires continue. DC10 have been allowed to appeal this year’s ban, and are allowed to open for another month, but pessimism about the club’s future is growing. Their Myspace hosts an “almost obituary” for the club.
“After two years of problems and many more skirting on the edge of the law, it would take a complete overthrow of the current political powers to rein in the force of their mission to turn this island into St Tropez. And I can’t really see that happening this side of elections.”
DC10 started out ten years ago as an alternative to the rest of the island’s polished and overtly glamorous clubs. DC10 has been proud to be the hard partying, underground, more fun Bathing Ape to Pacha and Space’s glamorous Yves saint Laurent. Where the latter two present themselves as clubs for the beautiful people, DC10 is proud to be a club for the “beautifully wasted”.
Born out of a disused building in the middle of a field near the airport, DC10 never pretended to the airs and graces of the other clubs on the island – its stock in trade has always been serious music and serious partying, with the Circo Loco parties their best and brightest.
The parties took on a life of their own. They became a Balearic Monday morning institution – when Space’s 24 hour Sunday parties closed. They quickly gained a reputation for being among the craziest and most debaucherous parties on the island – very much living up to their name (Circo Loco means crazy circus in the Queen’s English).
There are now Circo Loco parties around the world, and it is one of the world’s best known clubbing institutions. Like most people who get punished, DC10 feels it has been unfairly singled out. Circo Loco chief Andrea Pelino says
“I feel like DC10 is the monster of the island, like they hate us… We bring people to the island all yearround. People charter jets to fly to our New Year’s Day party.The club was open all winter, and we were talking to the authorities, asking for their decision. You have to ask why they chose to shut us now.”
It is a fair question: investigations were carried out in 2005 and 2006, legal prying continued through 2007, but the new orders have only been imposed after the start of the 2008 season. On the face of it (and in the absence of any justification from the authorities), it does seem designed to cause the biggest possible headaches for everyone involved.
Whatever might be said about the timing, you can see why a government wanting to be seen to cracking down on the drug problem would make an example out of a club that proudly proclaims itself as being for “the beautifully wasted people”.
Despite all appearances to the contrary on the White Isle, drugs are still illegal, and to flout their prevalence at the club does seem to be asking for trouble.
But surely the authorities themselves are also asking for trouble by clamping down on the island’s primary source of tourism income. If Spanish authorities are, as many people suspect, trying to turn the island into another St. Tropez, they have far more work to do than removing the nightclub element. Facilities that might be classed as ‘family-friendly’ are second rate at best, and no drawcard in comparison to the world famous clubs and parties that bring in thousands of young tourists (and their money) every summer. It is also worth noting that there is a ‘new Ibiza’ declared every week – be it in Romania, Hungary or Finland. Ibiza can ill afford to lose its clubbing crown - without it, it may very well be relegated to just another holiday island for sunburnt British families.
In what is becoming almost a parody of the Spanish legal system, during the one month they have been given to appeal their latest closing order, DC10 were allowed to open their doors again on August 15, and celebrated with a raucous reopening party. Only time will tell what will become of DC10 – although its days as the carefree and hedonistic black sheep of the island family are numbered, if not over. Says their Myspace, “Get here. Get a flight, by hook or by crook, get yourself to Ibiza in the next few weeks and experience what might be the last chance to go completely Circo Loco at DC10.”
20/11/08 Journey Southward: Sirius Shares Hit 20 Cents
20/11/08 Journey Southward: Sirius Shares Hit 20 Cents
When is a stock officially a dog? On Monday, shares of Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) hit a bottom-scraping 20 cents, an all-time low for the company. The depressed valuation comes alongside a string of fundamental problems, including a massive $4.8 billion write-off and future loan obligations crossing into the billions.
Others continued to limp on Wall Street. The broader Dow improved 151.17 points, or 1.83 percent, to land at 8,424.75 after a late-stage bounce. During the day, traders digested news of falling wholesale prices, a sign that inflation is not a near-term threat; and a surprisingly positive forecast by Hewlett-Packard. Elsewhere, American automakers made their case for a bailout in Congress, and investors adjusted for a deeper recession.
That created a volatile day, one that see-sawed music-related shares. Apple (AAPL) inched upward 2.01 percent to $89.91; Live Nation (LYV) dropped 4.06 percent to $4.73; Ticketmaster (TKTM) gained 3.93 percent to $6.08; Warner Music Group (WMG) jumped 10.83 percent to $2.66; and The Orchard dropped 12.99 percent to $2.21.
20/11/08 Cuban Bites Back Against SEC Charges...
20/11/08 Cuban Bites Back Against SEC Charges...
In the face of a Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) insider trading investigation, most would assume a low-key demeanor. But brash billionaire Mark Cuban is pursuing a more confrontational route, one that uses the pulpit of the blog.
The SEC recently filed suit against the broadcast.com founder, alleging that Cuban illegally dumped shares in Canadian search engine Mamma.com after acquiring confidential information related to an upcoming dilution.
At first, Cuban declined to delve into specifics. But Cuban now appears ready to battle through Blog Maverick. In a Tuesday post, Cuban acknowledged that Mamma relayed information related to an upcoming offering. But Cuban denied that there were confidentiality aspects attached. "The SEC knows their case centers on one telephone conversation between two individuals - 4 years ago," a posted letter from attorney Stephen A. Best stated. "There was no agreement to keep information confidential."
20/11/08 French Labels Suing Limewire, Morpheus, Others
20/11/08 French Labels Suing Limewire, Morpheus, Others
A consortium of French labels is now suing file-sharing applications Limewire, Morpheus, and Vuze, according to details revealed by Torrentfreak. The action also includes Sourceforge, an open-source repository that offers hosting to Shareaza. The lawsuits are being coordinated under the Société Civile des Producteurs de Phonogrammes en France, or SPPF.
The lawsuits are being delivered under the DADVSI copyright law. An amendment to DADVSI prohibits any company from distributing software that facilitates the illegal transfer of content, and penalties ramp towards three years in jail and a 300,000 euro fine ($378,780). That contrasts with the United States, where copyright holders can only pursue application developers for overtly encouraging and driving profits from copyrighted content.
Earlier, French courts were grappling over issues of jurisdiction, specifically whether a foreign company could be sued for distributing applications that are inherently global. That placed previous lawsuits on hold, though courts have now authorized the actions.
20/11/08 Mexican Tycoon Grabbing Major Circuit City Stake
20/11/08 Mexican Tycoon Grabbing Major Circuit City Stake
Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego is now purchasing a large percentage of Circuit City shares, according to recent regulatory filings. Pliego grabbed allotments of 5.3 million, 5.2 million, and 19.8 million shares starting last week, on top of an existing stronghold of 16.8 million. That makes Pliego the largest shareholder of Circuit City, at roughly 28 percent.
The purchasing activity started November 12th, just two days after the company declared bankruptcy. In Mexico, Pliego controls a diversified portfolio of companies that span retail, consumer electronics, mobile, and media sectors. He is the chairman of Grupo Elektra SA, a consumer electronics retail giant; TV Azteca SA, a massive television broadcaster in the region; and Grupo Iusacell SA, a major mobile group.
Pliego is ranked as the fourth-richest Mexican, and one of the richest individuals in the world. Circuit City is currently closing stores and restructuring amidst a serious consumer spending downturn.
17/11/08 Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind: More Rockiness Awaits
17/11/08 Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind: More Rockiness Awaits
A difficult rearview is now prelude to more turbulence ahead, and investors are exercising caution. Instead of heady optimism and bottom-scraping scrappiness, most are girding for another rollercoaster week, including those carrying music-related shares.
That includes Warner Music Group (WMG), a company that bottomed an all-time low of $2.74 last week, only to resuscitate to $2.77 by Friday. Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) also tested the trough by landing at 26 cents at the end of the week, a depressed valuation that betrays a host of serious ills.
Those companies have fundamental issues, though broader headwinds remain unfriendly. On Friday, the Dow shed 337.94 points to 8.497.31, a 3.82 percent drop on Friday. Overall, the Dow dropped 4.2 percent on the week, based on a bearish mix of bad earnings, layoffs, tightening consumer confidence, and pending meltdowns of mega-corporations like GM.
Other music-related stocks felt the pressure. Live Nation (LYV) landed at $5.50, a 36.6 percent drop on the week, based on negative analyst projections related to concert attendance. Irving Azoff-helmed Ticketmaster Entertainment (TKTM) also ended sharply down, dropping 24.7 percent to $5.87. The Orchard edged downward 1.9 percent, landing at $2.54; and Apple (AAPL) slipped 5 percent to $90.24.
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Police raided a number of clubs at the beginning of the 2007 season, busting hundreds of clubbers with "sustancias estupefacientes" (drugs, basically). The clubs that were determined to be the worst offenders when it came to condoning drug dealing and use, namely Bora Bora, Amnesia and DC10, were given hefty fines and orders to close their doors immediately.
