For many moons one of the most persistent, and sometimes offensive, trolls spamming Big Music junque on p2pnet was Sam I Am, a copyright enthusiast who nonetheless didn’t hesitate to repeatedly infringe the name Sam I am, a character created by American writer and cartoonist Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr Seuss.
Not that I seriously think the Seuss family, or anyone else, would go after him — although you never know. 
Since he had so much to say, and so often, I asked him number of times to tell us who he was. I even asked him to let me know in confidence because I’d often wondered, as had many others, if he was actually an RIAA shill planted on p2pnet.
He never did come out of the troll closet. But I had Sam I Am’s email address and clues therein, plus references to his business and travels, were enough for me to identify him with reasonable certainty.
However, I got tired of his games and when I cut him off, I left it at that
He still emails me once in a while, but we’ve seen it all before so his missives get filed under G.
If you’re curious, do a search Sam I Am search in the upper left toolbar on p2pnet.net.
FAC facts?
To digress, I’ve been trying to get a list of the the names of Featured Artist Coalition members, so far without any luck.
The FAC, whose board members are, in order of appearance on their site, Billy Bragg; Kate Nash; Master Shortie; Ed O’Brien (Radiohead); Dave Rowntree (Blur); Howard Jones; Mark Kelly (Marillion); Hal Ritson (The Young Punx); Sandie Shaw; Annie Lennox; Nick Mason (Pink Floyd); Lucy Pullin (The Fire Escapes); Ross Millard (The Futureheads); and, Fran Healy (Travis).
I understand the FAC has more than 1,000 members, but good luck finding out who they are, although I did run a partial list a while back.
Nor am I the only one who’d like an accurate and full line-up.
Dreddsnik has also been wondering.
What an about-face !
“The inaugural meeting of the U.K.’s Featured Artists’ Coalition (FAC) in London resulted in a unanimous vote among its members against any measures that criminalize file-sharing”, said Billboard in March, 2009, going on >>>
As well as discussing the general aims and logistics of the new body, there was also a unanimous show of hands against the idea of criminalizing file-sharers, according to those present.
There was concern about any legal body taking action against fans who were involved in file-sharing and preventing them getting broadband access to be informed about the activities of their favorite acts.
Then, six months later came another FAC statement, this time declaring >>>
Our meeting … voted overwhelmingly to support a three-strike sanction on those who persistently download illegal files, sanctions to consist of a warning letter, a stronger warning letter and a final sanction of the restriction of the infringer’s bandwidth to a level which would render file-sharing of media files impractical while leaving basic email and web access functional.
Nice one.
‘Consultant at Digital Marketing, IP monetization’
So what’s Sam I Am got to do with all of this?
His real name is Gregory A. Roach and according to his Linked-in page unearthed by Dredd, he’s an “Interior/Lighting designer at GAR Associates” in the Greater New York City area.
He’s also a “Consultant at Digital Marketing, IP monetization”.
And an anonymous comment poster on behalf of the corporate music industry whose spams have appeared on sites other than p2pnet’s.
But more importantly, for the purposes of this item, his Linked in blurb also boasts >>>
UK Digital Initiative, London, England, February 20, 2009
Attendee and participant in the core focus group leading to the formation of the Featured Artists Coalition.
Interesting.
So is he a musician as well?
If not, what was he doing at the “core focus group leading to the formation of the Featured Artists Coalition”, particularly given his solid commitment to the corporate music industry?
Stay tuned.
Jon Newton