Spillover Censorship: The Globalization of US Corporate Music Self-Censorship

AbstractThis article discusses how current practices of corporate self-censorship within the US record industry, originating in a local legal and political context and moral climate, spill over into foreign markets as a side effect of the global operations of dominant multinational entertainment and media conglomerates. A specific case, the dissemination of D12’s “Purple Pills” in various versions on the Danish market since its release in 2001, illustrates the release policies and practices of national or regional divisions of transnational record companies and other commercial agents and leads to reflection on broader ethical issues pertaining to the now widespread phenomenon of censorship in “the cloud.”