Moody Center
Not Roky, Not Sumner, It Should Have Been About Me, Me, Me
RECEIVED Thu., Jan. 5, 2006
Dear Editor,
Hi, Austin, my name is Kiloh, and I manage the Texas Psych Google group: www.groups.google.com/group/Texas-P. I read with bemusement your article, by Margaret Moser, on Sumner Erickson [“Starry Eyes,” Music, Dec. 30].
The first inaccuracy in the Sumner article is that we are doing something "illegal" by trading CDs among ourselves for free. This activity is protected under federal law, specifically the Federal Audio Home Recording Act (3).
The second inaccuracy in the Sumner article is that the Roky Trust has always been against this activity. Ms. Moser knows that this trading was set up as far back as 1999 with the help of the Roky Trust. This was when Rick Triplett was running things and Roky was living in abject poverty. We arranged to collect a "donation" for each disc traded and forward it to Mr. Triplett for distribution to Roky in the form of pocket money. People that now sit on the current Roky "Trust" were engaged in a lawsuit with the (then) Roky Trust, and all monies were being tied up in escrow. We had to call it a "donation" to get the money to Roky. That certain people now sit on the Roky Trust in positions of "Trust" galls us and we maintain that the Trust relinquished the right to legitimacy by putting these people on it.
The third inaccuracy presented by Ms. Moser in the Sumner article was that Sumner Erickson "tried" to mend fences with us. This event just happened and the "story" presented by Ms. Moser is wholly untrue as she well knows. It was our group who tried to mend fences with Sumner. We contacted Sumner and opened a dialogue with him. Alas, after a series of increasingly obtuse and bizarre e-mails from him we decided to cut him loose.
Hi, Austin, my name is Kiloh, and I manage the Texas Psych Google group: www.groups.google.com/group/Texas-P. I read with bemusement your article, by Margaret Moser, on Sumner Erickson [“Starry Eyes,” Music, Dec. 30].
The first inaccuracy in the Sumner article is that we are doing something "illegal" by trading CDs among ourselves for free. This activity is protected under federal law, specifically the Federal Audio Home Recording Act (3).
The second inaccuracy in the Sumner article is that the Roky Trust has always been against this activity. Ms. Moser knows that this trading was set up as far back as 1999 with the help of the Roky Trust. This was when Rick Triplett was running things and Roky was living in abject poverty. We arranged to collect a "donation" for each disc traded and forward it to Mr. Triplett for distribution to Roky in the form of pocket money. People that now sit on the current Roky "Trust" were engaged in a lawsuit with the (then) Roky Trust, and all monies were being tied up in escrow. We had to call it a "donation" to get the money to Roky. That certain people now sit on the Roky Trust in positions of "Trust" galls us and we maintain that the Trust relinquished the right to legitimacy by putting these people on it.
The third inaccuracy presented by Ms. Moser in the Sumner article was that Sumner Erickson "tried" to mend fences with us. This event just happened and the "story" presented by Ms. Moser is wholly untrue as she well knows. It was our group who tried to mend fences with Sumner. We contacted Sumner and opened a dialogue with him. Alas, after a series of increasingly obtuse and bizarre e-mails from him we decided to cut him loose.
Kiloh Smith
Phoenix, Ariz.
Phoenix, Ariz.
[Margaret Moser replies: 1) Sumner used the word "illegal." I did not. 2) Kiloh, who frequently calls himself "Satan" online, is correct in saying the Trust in its early days did not disapprove of the trading. However, when they were educated about it, their support was withdrawn. 3) The phrase "mend fences" doesn't suggest the action as much as participation. Sumner participated in an attempt to smooth over the rift with Kiloh, and Kiloh chose to end the effort.]