Pratyatosa Dasa, Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 10:49 AM: In less than a week, the number of signatures on the petition requesting that the Bhaktivedanta Archives make available the audio recordings of Srila Prabhupada for which the time and place of the recordings have been lost, which are of poor quality, and which are “too controversial” is well over 800! This is big! I think that we’ve touched on a raw nerve!
“One of the things that I liked about this service was the idea that for every tape we were sending out, many more copies were being distributed because of the many ‘bootleg’ copies that were being made. It bothered me, however, that the bootleggers often didn’t take the time to copy the information on the cassette labels, so I was afraid that future generations might be denied the information on when and where the lectures took place. This was the main reason why I began announcing the lectures on the tapes themselves.”(http://pratyatosa.com/BTM_Founding.htm?TP=7053)
The above demonstrates, in my humble opinion, the proper preaching spirit, a spirit that the present day Bhaktivedanta Archives seems to be sadly lacking. Instead of being happy that Srila Prabhupada’s MP3 files and his VedaBase are being distributed for free on the Internet, they seem to be depressed about it. Maybe this is why they are no longer motivated to do anything: because they know that soon after they come out with a new set of MP3 CDs, all of the MP3s will be made available as free downloads on the Internet, and as soon as they come out with a new version of their copy-protected VedaBase, the copy-protection will be cracked, and it will also be made available as a free download.
This is material consciousness, and it is further evidence that the old “preaching spirit” associated with distributing Srila Prabhupada’s priceless legacy has been lost, and that his legacy has been “taken over” by a few self-motivated rascals who are simply using Srila Prabhupada as their “sugar daddy.”
Your servant, Pratyatosa Dasa
Question for the Bhaktivedanta Archives: When???
Dear Nitya-Trpta Prabhu, Hare Krishna! Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Here is an excerpt from an email from Madhudvisa Prabhu, the creator of the “Srila Prabhupada MP3 Audio Library” (also being sold for a slightly higher price by the BBTI):
On Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 8:48 PM, Madhudvisa dasa wrote:
Dear Ekanatha Prabhu,
. . .
Five years ago you assured me that you would release all of Srila
Prabhupada’s audio recordings within two years. Now you have no idea when
you will be able to release them?
Now, Parama-rupa Prabhu is saying:
On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 2:44 PM, Nitya-Trpta wrote:
On Apr 6, 2010, at 1:10 PM, Pratyatosa Dasa ACBSP wrote:
> Dear Parama-rupa Prabhu,
…
> Are you saying that you are willing to make all of the archival audio
files
> available as free downloads on the Internet once the archiving process is
> completed?
Parama-rupa dasa wrote:
I don’t know about free at this point; there is always a cost involved. But
as a concept, yes, that is our position as an archives, to make available as
freely as possible so long as monies are coming in from somewhere to support
the Bhaktivedanta Archives day-to-day operations now and into the future. Of
course this would have to be approved by the copyright holder, the BBT/BBTI,
but in our talks with them they not have given any indication to the
contrary.
Now the obvious question is: When???
Judging from the 2200+ signatures on the
petition, I’m not the only one who wants to know the answer to this question.
Your servant, Pratyatosa Dasa