BIOHAZARD Frontman: Downloading Music Illegally Is 'Stealing'

Metal Edge magazine recently conducted an interview with BIOHAZARD frontman-turned-porn-star Evan Seinfeld. An excerpt from the chat follows:

Metal Edge: Did the whole downloading issue influence your view of the business? And isn't that becoming a problem for porn as well? DVD sales are down because of free porn being available online

Evan: Downloading free music [illegally] is stealing. There's no other way about it. The same people who don't have the balls to walk into a record store, take things off the shelf and put it in their pocket because they are afraid that they are going to get busted think nothing about going online and downloading a band's music. That's the way the band makes a living. If you like that band, you shouldn't download their music for free, because it can make the band go out of business. I know it's not very rock 'n' roll to say that; all the kids are going, "Fuck METALLICA, we are going to steal their music." OK, how about if the guys from METALLICA go into your father's hardware store and steal a hammer off the shelf? We're seeing it in the adult industry as well It cuts into our revenues. We spend a lot of time and money on attorneys and policing the Internet. We employ special technology to make it harder. You will never get rid of theft completely, but we have to do everything we can to prevent it. There should be some honor amongst people. Do people wake up in the morning, look into the mirror and say, "I steal other people's shit all day?" If so, you should know that you are a scumbag, and if I catch you, I will kick the shit out of you.

Metal Edge: What can you do to prevent it?

Evan: We send out a lot of legal notices, and we have sued people. But usually by the time we send the letter, they have already taken the stuff down. The real problem is these P2P, BitTorrent sites, because the host of the site says they aren't legally responsible, even though they really are.

Metal Edge: Don't you think some people download porn because they're ashamed of going into a store and buying it?

Evan: I think that's part of it, but I think the nature of people is that they want to get something over on someone, see what they can get for free. Personally, as a creative guy, [I feel that] it's wrong. If you are going to steal from someone, steal programs from Microsoft 'cause they can afford it, but don't steal from creative artists who make movies and music and TV programs for your enjoyment, because you become part of the problem. You're a shoplifter. I know it's very heavy metal to get shit for free. That's why there are no more hardcore bands out there anymore. They are all out of business. Are you happy you killed it?

Metal Edge's entire interview with Evan Seinfeld can be found in the magazine's May 2008 issue, available on newsstands now.