• by John Capone , May 17, 2010

With the May 31 deadline looming, a LaLa member who calls himself "The Big Lebowski" (About me: I went out and achieved anyway...) has taken it upon himself to blast Apple's decision to shutter LaLa and its compensatory package. Besides spreading a petition protesting the move, this Dude has authored what amounts to a manifesto outlining his complaints. In precise and surprisingly lucid language he outlines the injustices if the situation. Shades of the Port Huron Statement -- the original Porty Huron Statement, not the compromised second draft.

Lebowski is understandably angry that he'll no longer have access to the cloud-based music library he purchased and uploaded, and, in no uncertain terms, he rejects the offer of iTunes credit for money spent on LaLa.com purchases, saying they are not equivalent.

And to spread his point of view he's been using, well, LaLa.com, posting his treatise in the space provided for comments and reviews all over the site. His objections fully illustrate how LaLa undermines Apple's iTunes pricing model and why the company had to kill it.

The full text is as follows:

I am saddened to hear that lala.com is ending.  The service was one I had grown to enjoy thoroughly, unparalleled with all other online music services.  While I understand business nuances, etc. I am frustrated at the amount of time I lost on lala.com.  It took several days to upload my songs, then the songs for my wife.  I spent many hours helping her recreate a playlist that she wanted on lala.com.  I told friends and family members about lala.com, the future of music, I made purchases with the expectation that I would be able to listen to them in perpetuity, provided I had an internet connection. Now, I have lost that time, and the products I purchased are not being provided to me.  I am requesting that I receive all web songs I purchased as MP3's, or access on another online service provider in perpetuity. I understand that you are offering credit on itunes in the amount of what we purchased, but I would not have spent these dollars on MP3's, and I don't intend to in the future.  Therefore, I do not accept the offer of itunes credit in the amount of my purchases, instead, I request reimbursement at MP3 cost (in dollars to me personally), or the songs I purchased in MP3 format. I think this is a reasonable request that I will be sharing with other lala.com members past and present.

I thank you for your time and consideration. I urge you to consider the viewpoint of a consumer who was purchasing a product as described and is no longer receiving that product.

Sincerely,

The Big Lebowski