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DMCA subpoena applications filed at courts in the United States provide a relatively inexpensive mechanism for compelling intermediaries to hand over the personal details of allegedly-infringing users. Since Cloudflare offers reverse proxy services to websites as part of its free tier, most subpoena applications filed in the United States target the company. They typically seek disclosure of pirate site operators’ personal details, and it’s not uncommon to see a dozen domains feature in one application or more in a bundle filed at the same time. As revealed in our report last month, South Korea’s Naver Webtoon filed a single application containing over 350 ‘pirate’ domains, easily the highest number we’ve seen in recent years, possibly the most ever. After remaining silent for several months, late last week Naver Webtoon issued a press release. It claimed that after obtaining the subpoena and taking unspecified action, the company “halted the activities of 150 overseas illegal sites.” That’s an eye-catching figure because in many cases Cloudflare has little useful information to pass on. It also represents a level of success currently enjoyed by no other rightsholders using the same process, which is highly unusual. That alone warrants a closer look but first, a brief summary of key statements in the release. Naver Webtoon’s Key Statements – After three months of hard work by Naver Webtoon, about 150 overseas illegal sites stopped operating. This is the result of Naver Webtoon’s action to issue a ‘Subpoena’ through a U.S. court, the first in the webtoon industry. – Illegal site operator information, such as address, email, and payment details, is essential information for tracking and arrest. Subpoenas also have the effect of discouraging the activities of illegal site operators. – According to the traffic statistics site ‘Similar Web’, the annual user traffic to about 150 illegal sites affected by Naver Webtoon’s action is approximately 2.5 billion. – Naver Webtoon plans to share the information on illegal site operators obtained this time with investigative agencies and respond strictly with a zero-tolerance policy. Right off the bat it’s worth highlighting that the subpoena listed 360 domain names, not 360 sites. To illustrate why that’s so important, one of the sites targeted appears to have begun life as ‘Newtoki’ but then registered subsequent domains that also include a number; newtoki1, newtoki2, newtoki3, etc. A total of 19 of these variants appeared in the subpoena, as low as newtoki17.org and as high as newtoki310.com. There appears to be at least another 100 domains in a similar format, hundreds in total (some apparently owned by an anti-piracy company), but none functioning as a pirate site. Persistence may have paid off here, but there are nearly always more domains than sites and that can significantly distort perceived outcomes. That being said, a bigger and perhaps more straightforward win may justify the campaign in its own right. Closure of Just One Site Suggests Campaign Paid Off Aquamanga.com was one of two sites mentioned specifically by Naver Webtoon following its press release last week. Traffic to Aquamanga was significant to say the least. SimilarWeb data reveals a site receiving considerable traffic on an upwards trajectory; 61 million visits in September, up from 52.6m in July. We’ve seen no evidence to show the site has reappeared under a different domain, and information suggests that the deterrent effect mentioned by Naver Webtoon may have done its job in this case. Overall, the closure of Aquamanga seems to be the highlight of the campaign and since it accounts for three quarters of a billion visits, understandably so. Another Big Closure But Less Satisfactory Outcome Another site that received a direct mention from Naver was Flamescans.org. The popular scanlation site was also doing well; SimilarWeb data for August and September shows between 18.1m and 18.7m visits per month, progress that was halted when the site suddenly went offline. “Thank you to all of our community members for their continued support. Unfortunately, this site has discontinued all services related to the function and content hosted as of October 19, 2023. We appreciate your steadfast engagement and commitment to us through the years,” a notice on the homepage reads. While the quality of the ‘artwork’ accompanying the goodbye message won’t keep Webtoon’s artists up at night, it strongly implies that things might not be over just yet. The image above shows Flamescans to the left of the goodbye message and Flame-Comics to the right. They appear identical and show that while domains are important, they’re not as important as sites. Interestingly, a bitcoin address on the Flamescans.org domain marked “Anonymous Donations” has received a total of 0.00000000 BTC ($0.00) thus far. It’s possible that pirate frugality and relatively complicated crypto transactions aren’t the best mix. Also listed in the subpoena but still online are five ‘Agitoon’ .xyz domains beginning agit571 and ending agit577.xyz. They carry the same epilepsy-inducing gambling advertising previously seen on the now-shuttered Noonoo TV. Naver Webtoon says that in addition to sending direct warnings to “selected” illegal sites, it also works to undermine their ability to do business. Domain registrars, hosting companies, ISPs, social media platforms and payment services are among the potential targets. Due to these efforts, 23 unnamed sites witnessed a 30% fall in traffic in October when compared to July, the company reports. ‘Good News’ For the Entire Webtoon Industry Summing up, Naver Webtoon says that its anti-piracy work isn’t just good for the company, it’s good for everyone involved in webtoons. “This achievement is helpful not only to Naver Webtoon but also to the entire webtoon industry, which is suffering damage from illegal webtoon sites,” says Kim Gyu-nam, Naver Webtoon’s legal affairs chief and anti-piracy task force leader. “The platform will do its best to eradicate illegal webtoons. We will continue to actively take all possible measures.” Given the constantly shifting nature of many pirate sites, especially those that operate multiple domains and/or move to new ones hoping to evade various measures, it’s difficult to determine whether Naver Webtoon really did shut down 150 sites. In its press release it actually notes that “about 150 sites were completely deleted or temporarily suspended operations” which does change things somewhat. Still, if putting domains out of action was part of the mission, that seems to have been quite effective. The image below shows a screenshot/preview image of every domain in the subpoena. In the majority of cases, those with no image are out of action. Whether any have moved to new domains is another question, but none will have welcomed the disruption and won’t welcome the future disruption Naver Webtoon is already promising. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article
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How to host a hit holiday feast, even if it’s your first time
NelsonG posted a topic in General News
Want to tackle hosting duties for the ultimate holiday feast? Walmart has all the gear you need to prepare and serve the food, plus set the perfect ambience.View the full article -
Stephen King trolled Elon Musk's announcement about Grok, his new AI chatbot.View the full article
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'Chicken Shop Date' host Amelia Dimoldenberg interviews 'Hot Ones' host Sean Evans for "the greatest crossover of all time."View the full article
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Save on a lifetime license to PDF Expert at the Mashable Shop through Nov. 9.View the full article
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The JASHEN V18 350W cordless vacuum cleaner is on sale for $169.99. That's 49% off its regular price of $336.View the full article
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Original Photo by Ivan Meneses for Insomniac Events It’s been a week since Escape Halloween took over the NOS Events Center for its 12th edition, and like most things Insomniac, the festival just got bigger and better. Featuring mind-blowing production, sick attention-to-detail, immersive Halloween experiences, blistering sets, immaculate vibes, and plenty of space to move and groove to; Insomniac pulled out all the stops for the largest Halloween festival on the continent. It was our first time back at the NOS Events Center since last year’s Countdown and our first Escape since 2019! One of the things that definitely stood out is how wide open and easily accessible everything was. Insomniac has definitely taken steps to make it easier to access all of the vast NOS Events Center where their events take place. At no point at all did I deal with bottlenecks or crowd congestion. The other thing that, of course, stands out upon entering the Escape festival grounds is just how immersive it is. With the exception of EDC, (the flagship festival) Escape has without a doubt the highest production values, the most performers, the most Easter Eggs to explore for. Escape is simply massive, and, if you ask me, is the best of Insomniac’s Southern California festivals. It certainly didn’t hurt that the weather was absolutely perfect for the weekend too. Original Photo by Jake West for Insomniac Events I’m not wrong when I say that this was the biggest Escape to date, they actually added a fifth stage inside the Citrus building, Wicked Woods. Crazy Town, which ostensibly serves as Downtown Escape, is a perfect meeting spot. Its location is easily accessible from all stages, and its landmarks are unmistakable. The fire organ is a sight to behold and always has a performance popping off, it’s the perfect place to sit and take in the splendor of the festival grounds. The Crazy Town fountain is also a perfect spot to reunite with your crew and figure out the next move. Oh, and of course, they’re all great photo ops too. As far as the stages go, they were all top notch. The main stage is, of course, The Grimm, a massive cloaked skeleton with its two hands stretched out clutching two spherical stones. Again, outside of EDC, this has to be the best Insomniac stage around. The lasers got major reinforcements and the huge video panels lining the ceiling of the mega-structure helped to create an even more immersive experience. Even if you were seated on the fake grass or at the tables outside of the mega-structure, you still felt like you were immersed in the stage. Sound and video production were A+ this weekend. Original Photo by Jamal Eid for Insomniac Events The second stage was Feeding Grounds, also inside a mega-structure. This stage’s theme was a massive spider web. White canvas adorned the ceiling of the mega structure and instead of a disco ball, there was a massive black widow spider hanging above the stage in its place. The third stage was Sanitarium, a slightly smaller mega-structure, its rectangular video panels would play macabre and disturbing images of a mad surgeon conducting unsound experiments. The stage that probably got the best treatment of all though was Sewer District, the Factory 93 stage. When I went to Escape in the past this was not a stage I gave much thought to. I figured let the techno snobs hang in the back. Well, techno has now permeated the mainstream and I was keen to check out a set at Sewer District. Insomniac fully leaned into shipping trailers and an underground warehouse type of vibe. The light panels were just right and the sound was pitch perfect. I talked to several headliners who said that Sewer District had some of the best sets of the weekend. Original Photo by Marlene Sanchez for Insomniac Events Speaking of the sets, let me tell you about them. Every single DJ absolutely brought it this weekend. Everyone’s got to go a little bit deeper, a little bit darker, especially the closers, to match that Halloween vibe, and that’s exactly what we got. Friday night really didn’t get going until I watched AFROJACK’s set at the Grimm. The Dutch legend did not disappoint, dropping a massive set that ignited the crowd. This was the set that truly set the night off as AFROJACK took full advantage of the Grimm’s production capabilities. After that I caught a little hardstyle over at Sanitarium, then headed back to the Grimm for Above & Beyond. Much like AFROJACK’s set, the crowd packed in the stage to overflow capacity. Jono & Paavo threw down a captivating set that had the crowd enraptured. Above & Beyond always strives for “moments like these” and they certainly achieved it at Escape. After A&B, I headed over to Feeding Grounds, which was hosted by Bassrush for the night, to have my face just melted off. ATLiens were well into their set of wonky dubstep, rap mashups and trap beats. It’s always nice to see the different vibes at different stages, but aside from the Grimm, the Basscon stage was bringing better vibes than the Bassrush stage. Zomboy followed up ATLiens and also proceeded to ignite the crowd. Original Photo by Felicia Garcia for Insomniac Events I proceeded back over to the Grimm, but I made a quick stop at the new stage, Wicked Woods. I’m always a sucker for an indoor stage, and Insomniac made the most of the space they were given. Setting up a mini forest behind the DJ booth as well as a circular video board, Wicked Woods was a huge come up if you happened upon it. Not too crowded, but still stellar production. I watched a little bit of K?d’s Throwback Set and I wish I had caught more. Finally back to the Grimm, Kaskade closed the night with an incredible set that saw him lean into the REDUX sound and turn the Escape mainstage into an underground club. The lasers and stage production could not have been more on point. We got there nice and early on Sunday. As I mentioned before I started things out at Sewer District and caught Charles D. Despite the early time slot and smaller crowd, the vibes were on point for Sewer District. I was now prepared for techno on Halloween weekend. I flitted between stages and sets checking out TOBEHONEST at Sanitarium, Ship Wrek at the Grimm, who drew a massive and rowdy crowd for such an early time slot, and Rossy at Feeding Grounds, who killed it with her blend of bass house and trap. Original Photo by Ivan Meneses for Insomniac Events After that, it was back to the Grimm for Matroda’s massive house set. Along with the permeation of techno into the mainstream, the re-eruption of house music has to be noted too. My god, people absolutely love house music. I didn’t recognize a single song Matroda dropped, but it was still a dope set and the vibes were unmatched. Tchami came on next and dropped a set for the ages. Opening with the AC Slater x Chris Lorenzo (Fly With Us) track “Seismic”, Tchami’s mix of French house was absolutely perfect. The lasers and pyro also started taking over. DJ Snake took the stage next and turned the Grimm into an absolute trap house. The beats were coming hard and fast with DJ Snake, and the packed crowd was more than ready for all of his hits. “Southside”, “Trust Nobody”, “Lean On” and he even dropped Knock2’s “dashstar”. A memorable set indeed. Zedd was up next and he thrilled the crowd by opening with his “Where You Are” remix. The packed out crowd was chanting along with the lyrics. Zedd was also one of the few DJs to dress up for Halloween as he sported a Super Saiyan outfit (from Dragonball Z). Zedd dropped a masterful set consisting of his hits like “I Want You to Know” and “Stay the Night” on top of his energetic live edits and some EDM classics like Eric Prydz’s “Call on Me”. Original Photo by Ivan Meneses for Insomniac Events Finally, Armin van Buuren closed out the weekend. Armin perfectly blended trance and techno for the best Halloween set imaginable. Armin maintained his signature sound while seamlessly blending in some dark techno beats that were perfect for the spooky season. It was an absolute joy to be back at Escape after three full years away, the longest drought we’ve had between Insomniac festivals. The Pandemic denied headliners festivals in 2020. I didn’t get to Escape in 2021 because there was the Fall Edition of EDC a week before. I could have gone in 2022, but I didn’t. I’m elated to have made it back in 2023. Although no announcement has been made, I would expect Escape to return for its spookiest 13th edition next year. Original Photo by Scott Hutchinson for Insomniac Events This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Insomniac Outdoes Itself for the Biggest and Best Escape Halloween to Date [Event Review] View the full article
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With more than a billion impressions per month and over 30,000 active advertisers, PropellerAds is a serious player in the online advertising industry. The Cyprus-based company works with advertisers and publishers from all over the world and while many are legitimate companies, Hollywood believes there are some bad apples too. MPA’s List of Notorious Markets Last month, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) nominated PropellerAds for inclusion on the US Trade Representative‘s annual list of “notorious markets”. In the overview, the advertising outfit is flanked by traditional pirate sites such as The Pirate Bay, Fmovies, and YTS. According to the MPA, PropellerAds is used by many pirate sites to generate millions of dollars in revenue. “Although primarily based in Cyprus, Propeller Ads is an ad network operated by Russian individuals that has subsidiary offices in the Czech Republic, the Isle of Man, and the United Arab Emirates. The company is a significant ad provider to streaming cyberlockers,” MPA wrote. The movie industry group added weight to its claim by referencing reports from the Digital Citizens Alliance (DCA), which show that illicit actors use pirate sites to display dubious or even harmful ads. “According to DCA, Propeller Ads is among the biggest facilitators of malvertising on piracy sites, accounting for a quarter of their malvertising. Propeller Ads has been offering its services to dozens of illegal and infringing sites such as French-Stream.gg, Supervideo.tv, Vidlox.me, and Filmpertutti.lat, helping those sites generate significant revenues through advertising,” MPA writes. MPA’s nomination This isn’t the first time that PropellerAds has been nominated for an appearance in the “notorious markets” overview; the MPA previously submitted almost identical recommendations to the USTR. These claims are a thorn in the side of the advertising company which has just responded with a scathing rebuttal in which it openly criticizes the MPA. PropellerAds Responds In a letter to the USTR, PropellerAds, represented by Boston Law Group’s Val Gurvits, describes the MPA’s characterization as baseless and libelous. “In short, there is no basis to claim that Propeller Ads can be or should be alleged to be taking part in piracy. The assertions by the MPA that Propeller Ads is willfully funding piracy websites are not only factually wrong, but also legally baseless and libelous,” the letter reads. The advertising company sees itself as an intermediary between advertisers and publishers, who use its platform to show billions of ads. It has no control over what’s offered on its clients’ websites, nor does it endorse or support any of the content. In this intermediary role, the company believes that it’s not responsible for potentially problematic content. That’s in line with how courts in the US have ruled on this matter, the response notes, citing various legal precedents. “In stark contrast to the MPA’s suggestion that advertising services somehow make Propeller Ads complicit in copyright piracy occurring on certain Internet websites, United States courts have explicitly found that an advertising network like Propeller Ads is not responsible for the infringing activities of its publishers.” Reckless, Baseless, Inaccurate, and Misleading As the rebuttal continues, the wording gets stronger. PropellerAds openly discredits the DCA research the MPA relies on, describing it as “reckless, baseless, inaccurate, and misleading.” “The DCA Report not only fails to include Propeller Ads, but it does not even allege that any online advertisers or ad networks, in general, are responsible for illicit acts of piracy, credit card fraud, malware nor for any other potential risk to the health and safety to American consumers,” PropellerAds insists. The MPA’s reliance on the DCA research to back up their “attacks” is “reprehensible and self-interested,” the advertising company notes. It stresses that there are close ties and financial links between the film industry and DCA, as previously reported by Vox. PropellerAds indirectly suggests that DCA’s reports are used as ammunition for lobbying efforts. For example, the research is often referenced in legislative and policy commentary, without proper attribution and unbiased data. “Indeed, all evidence demonstrates that the DCA created the DCA Report simply by relying on the unsubstantiated allegations of self-interested parties without conducting any reasonable independent research, with the clear intention of reaching a predetermined conclusion, defaming Propeller Ads,” the company adds. “The DCA Report and all information therein about Propeller Ads is based on unconfirmed, farfetched, and false allegations without any actual evidence or justification whatsoever. “The DCA Report provides no statistics or other real evidence proving that advertising intermediaries are in any way responsible for these bad actors. Therefore, all declarations, data, and numbers in the DCA Report as it relates to Propeller Ads are nothing more than mere speculations, expressions of malevolent opinions, and invalid assumptions.” Harassment and Defamation Propeller Ads says the MPA uses the USTR process to put pressure on third-party intermediaries, which can be seen as harassment and defamation. “While the MPA holds itself out as a party eager to combat illegal activities on the internet, in reality, the MPA is using its platform and influence to baselessly harass and defame Propeller Ads and other major industry participants.” If the MPA truly believes that PropellerAds is breaking the law it can take the matter to court; thus far, however, that’s yet to happen. While the MPA may not like some of the sites the company works with, that doesn’t make it liable. For this reason, the USTR should not list the advertising company as a notorious market in its final report, the letter concludes. “Propeller Ads respectfully cautions USTR to not adopt the MPA’s unfounded allegations and manufacture of evidence. The MPA’s cynical strategy is quite clear. The MPA is attempting to launder their own allegations through the USTR to advance the MPA’s own interest against Propeller Ads and other online advertisers.” — A copy of PropellerAds full response, submitted to the US Trade Representative, is available here (pdf) From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article
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India’s Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill was first introduced in 2019 with the aim of updating the Cinematograph Act, 1952, to better protect filmmakers. In April 2023, India’s Union Cabinet gave the bill a green light and during July it was passed by both Houses of Parliament. The primary goal of these amendments is to reduce rampant online movie piracy, but also contains measures related to the certification of films. This ultimately determines the content that citizens are allowed to view and under what circumstances, and the content they must not view at all. This process is handled by India’s powerful Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), a body within the government’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B). An announcement from the latter on Friday reveals new anti-piracy powers for the CBFC under the recently passed legislation. CBFC Empowered to Order Intermediaries to Stop Piracy The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting begins by drawing attention to section 6AB of the amended Cinematograph Act. 6AB. No person shall use or abet the use of an infringing copy of any film to exhibit to the public for profit— (a) at a place of exhibition which has not been licensed under this Act or the rules made thereunder; or (b) in a manner that amounts to the infringement of copyright under the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957 or any other law for the time being in force With that established, the Ministry notes that since a newly-inserted amendment allows the government to get involved to ensure compliance with the above, that’s exactly what it intends to do. “Further, the newly inserted section 7(1B)(ii) in the Cinematograph Act provides that the Government may take suitable action for removing/disabling access to such an infringing copy exhibited/hosted on an intermediary platform in a manner in contravention to the section 6AB referred to above,” the announcement adds. Suitable Action As Follows Tackling the distribution of pirated movies in India takes place under the Copyright Act, as one might expect. However, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting notes that since there is no “institutional mechanism” to “directly take action” against pirated movies, section 7(1B)(ii) mentioned above will now provide one. The Ministry says it has “established an institutional mechanism of Nodal Officers to receive complaints against piracy and direct the intermediaries to take down pirated content on digital platforms.” Appointed by the Ministry, the ‘Nodal Officers’ will be found at the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) headquarters in Mumbai and at various regional offices in major film production centers. From there they will receive complaints about piracy taking place online and then instruct platforms to take offending content down. Which Platforms Are Affected and Who Can File a Complaint? In a statement on Friday, officials mentioned YouTube and Telegram directly but there seems no obvious barrier to content being taken down from any social media or video hosting platform. “As per the amended Cinematograph Act, regional officers in CBFC have been empowered to issue orders to remove pirated films from any source such as Telegram and YouTube following a complaint. The platforms will need to act and remove the unlawfully reproduced content within 48 hours,” an official said. In respect of who is able to file a complaint, original copyright holders or those authorized to act on their behalf are clearly defined, as one might expect. However, the government announcement states that non-copyright holders may also file complaints, with the same applying to those who have no authorization from copyright holders to take infringing content down. The offer to consider complaints, filed by non-copyright holders that have no authorization from copyright holders, is certainly interesting. While not everyone involved in movies is a copyright holder (some will be licensed, for example), having no authorization to act sounds a lot like having no permission, but there may be some exceptions. Lots of Complaints May Cause a Few Issues Since the ‘Nodal Officers’ may consider a hearing to handle such complaints on a case-to-case basis, the numbers will need to be extremely low so as not to outstretch capacity. For the whole of India, just 12 members of staff have been allocated to deal with complaints filed under this initiative. To put that into perspective, there are anti-piracy companies in India filing complaints with Google at a rate that exceeds 300K per week. It’s unclear whether complaints will be accepted online but the official announcement on Friday was accompanied by a sample complaint form which seems like it’s intended to be filled in manually, presumably with a pen. One can only imagine the chaos if that remains the case but at least the lists are likely to be quite short, if ‘enclosing’ an Excel spreadsheet isn’t an option. Friday’s announcement is available here (pdf) From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. View the full article
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The Australian musician had been living with cancer since 2019View the full article
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MiTiS Shares Exclusive Groove Cruise 20th Anniversary Playlist
NelsonG posted a topic in Electronica
2023 is far from over, but we wanted to look forward to the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Groove Cruise. Taking place Jan 24-28, 2024 and departing Miami and going to Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas, the most iconic music festival at sea will take place on the Norwegian Encore, the largest and most luxurious ship to date. To get you Groove Cruisers ready to set sail in a couple of months, we’re happy to share this exclusive playlist from MiTiS, curated just for the upcoming 20th anniversary sailing. The lineup for the upcoming edition of the cruise fest is absolutely stacked. Tiësto, Diplo and John Summit will headline the cruise. Other featured acts include MiTiS, Aly & Fila, Disco Lines, Gem & Tauri, Joel Corry, Kyle Walker, LP Giobbi, Markus Schulz, Trivecta, VNSSA and many more. Additionally, Groove Cruise has also announced it’s 2025 edition, taking place Jan 23-27, 2025. Again departing Miami, the 2025 edition will sail to Labadee, Haiti on the Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas. So, even if you miss out on this year’s sailing, you can still reserve a spot on the 2025 cruise for only a $99 deposit. Check out MiTiS’ exclusive Groove Cruise playlist and the 2025 announcement video below. Click here for Groove Cruise 2025 tickets. This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: MiTiS Shares Exclusive Groove Cruise 20th Anniversary Playlist View the full article