Incubus Promotes New Album With Misguided Anti-Piracy 8-Bit Video Game?

from the yeah,-that'll-win-fans dept

Thu, Jul 14th 2011 1:28pm — Mike Masnick

The band Incubus has decided that a way to attract fans to its new album is to release an 8-bit video game in which the point is to "fight music pirates," by literally punching them as they try to get and leak Incubus' new album.

However, as Rob Sheridan points out, the new album has already actually leaked in real life, "so I guess the game can't be won." I think Sheridan sums it up nicely:

Seriously? How about fighting the record label dorks or manufacturing companies who let the album leak in the first place? Maybe the boss battle should be with the label exec who can't come up with a modern release plan that avoids leaks entirely?

Oddly, Mashable claims that attacking fans who are interested in the band's music is part of the band's savvy "social-media flavored album release campaign." Sorry, but calling your fans pirates, and showing how you want to beat them up doesn't seem particularly social. The whole target of the campaign just seems weird and misguided.

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Filed Under: fans, incubus, leaks, pirates, video games

70 Comments

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DEF (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:25pm

Incu-busting pirates in the face
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:31pm

its a good thing incubus is a dinosaur from the 90s no one cares about anymore
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Rikuo (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:34pm

I'm going to sue for defamation here. I'm a "music pirate" but I do not have a thick black beard nor have I ever worn a combination of blue and red. I'm a brown-haired, white suburban male.
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crade (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:38pm

heh, thats pretty umm, odd :) love the skull and crossbones / electrical outlet on the floor.
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Hulser (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:39pm

Nothing good
I have to wonder if this was an idea from the band or from the studio or the marketing group. Even if Incubus loathe music pirates, why risk provoking your fans a la Metallica when you could just sit back and let the studio play its traditional role of bad buy?
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Dark Helmet (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:39pm

Re:
Huh, you know, I was wondering why the "music pirates" in the game were a series of clones of Kevin Smith....
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:40pm

Re: Nothing good
you think the studios could have come up with something like this? I'm fairly certain most of them don't have an internet connection at home....
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:41pm

Congratulations on falling for their tongue-in-cheek publicity stunt by helping promote their new album which they deliberately leaked.
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HothMonster, 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:42pm

Re: Re:
there not clones, did you notice how small they are? Kevin Smith fractured into hundreds of pirates. Or maybe he was just a bunch of pirates smashed into over sized clothes all along
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:42pm

I think that one day you guys will wake up and realize that the pirates aren't fans, they are just free riding culture. They will move to the next flavor of the week as quickly as they showed up at the door.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:45pm

Re:
citation needed
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Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:49pm

Re:
Okay guys! Were all done with pirating music now. Next week lets move on to pirating wood chips from public playgrounds.
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Jay (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:52pm

Re:
"they are just free riding culture"

You get to read these stories for free.
You can watch Youtube videos for free.

You have live streaming on Justin.tv for free.
You benefit from Supreme Court decisions for free.

Hell, it's already been documented that most pirates do more to spread the message on good and bad entertainment far quicker than Hollywood can spin it. What exactly is the problem?
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:53pm

Re: Re:
yer right i do feel entitled to those woodchips, i wish the woodchip czars didnt have such a strangle hold on the supply chain that i feel like they are reaching in my pocket and taking every dime i have for poor quality wood chips
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:54pm

Am I the only one who had an instant flashback to that Journey videogame in the 80's?
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:55pm

Re: Re:
good and bad entertainment far quicker than Hollywood can spin it. What exactly is the problem?

I found it!!!!!

emphasis mine
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:57pm

Re: Re:
do you watch south park? do you remember the tween wave episode, when stan goes to the movies? its because those previews where they shout "fuck you, you'll watch it anyway" are fucking true, no matter how shitty the content is they can trick a few million people into watching it and giving them a few bucks each.
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Huph, 14 Jul 2011 @ 1:58pm

Maybe the boss battle should be with the label exec who can't come up with a modern release plan that avoids leaks entirely?

How is this supposed to be accomplished? Discounting the purposeful leaks, most stem from the manufacturing plants that press CDs (that's how it happened to Kanye, for example) or critics who get advance tracks for review. I'm not sure you can avoid these scenarios without shooting yourself in the foot.

Then again, I heard that Kanye now has closed listening sessions for reviewers, and that he uses couriers to carry hard drives in person to collaborators. His studio is in Hawaii, so I imagine that gets pretty expensive.

But still, there's always going to be some period of time after recording for post-production. Tracks can't be released instantly, especially high quality productions. There's always going to be a potential for leaks.

And economically speaking, the labels are like any other business, they have to show quarterly profits. Some releases are held back for that reason Sometimes high profile artists threaten to do it so they can get better contract terms. The album is always there, but the exec might be gone next quarter if he can't show enough profit. And smaller labels have limited marketing budgets, they can't possibly promote 50 new releases at one time.
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Gwiz (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:02pm

The 80's called and they want their Commander Keen graphics back.
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out_of_the_blue, 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:11pm

Advertising just isn't your field.
"The whole target of the campaign just seems weird and misguided."

Only matters whether it works, and as AC already noted, you bit on it and are to some degree promoting this album. SO, you're helping a band with whom you disagree. That's called leveraging the opposition. Judo. -- Or as the commies used to say: you're a useful idiot.
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Atkray (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:11pm

Re:
Thank you, I knew I saw this before.
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crade (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:17pm

Re: Re: Re:
heh, my taxes paid for em :)
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reboog711 (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:18pm

Re: Re:
I Don't know anything about the band, but I was also wondering if it was a tongue and cheek style move.
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crade (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:20pm

Re:
Lol, like wake up in bizarro world :)

And the major labels will be heroes of the people, they won't try to circumvent democracy at all and won't have sucked the life out of all my favorite musicians.

What else happens in this bazarro world?
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mike allen (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:21pm

Who is this band i never heard of them so I guess they not worth listening too either in music or speech. as to this game I thought this type of game went out with pacman.
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Andrew, 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:23pm

Incubus the band and their manager reach out, communicate and engage their fans through web chats, twitter/fb, special events, tons of concerts and value add there. They seem to get the change in the industry. I don't know where the game came from.

If you watch the video of them from the SF MusicTech Summit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUiBb9ZVCTA), they DO get it. They talk about self promotion and the change in the industry in the past decade.

Specifically about the leak they said, "It was like, for about a day, where it felt like someone had broken into your house and had taken something you were making... kick in the balls a little bit. But a day later I realized that it took away the fear that people don't want music any more. That really reinforces that they really want it - they want to take it before you're even done with it.... we're in this weird middle zone, we don't get paid per record sold, out job is to make music and play concerts... we realized we're not the ones in control of it anymore... I'm just thrilled that people are not only enthusiastic about music, but love our music so much that they want to steal it".
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:29pm

Re:
If you have never heard of Incubus then I'm pretty sure you either:
a) Live in a Cave
b) Don't listen to modern music
c) Are lying
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IncubASS pirate, 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:36pm

I downloaded a version of this game months ago before it was released. Must have been a pirated version.
They could have at least tried to put some DRM on the game. That would have been awesome.
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crade (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:40pm

Re: Re:
huh? cave? modern? I just looked up incubus and apparently they are a band from the 90s, and I don't remember them from then either. wtf man?
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MrWilson, 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:41pm

Re: Re:
Your experience is not other people's experiences.

There are a lot more possibilities.

d) don't listen to the radio
e) only listen to non-RIAA bands
f) don't listen to alternative rock
g) et cetera
h) et cetera
i) et cetera
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MrWilson, 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:44pm

Re:
I was actually thinking of Aerosmith's Revolution X arcade game.

I always found the plotline ironic. The fans have to save the band from a corrupt corporate government and military.
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Greevar (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:48pm

Re: Re: Re:
Yeah, you can make a quotation say a great many things if you leave out the context, even something completely opposite of what it really says.

If you were paying attention at all, you'd realize Jay is talking about buzz, publicity, and word-of-mouth. But you'd rather try to find a way to score cheap points that you feel wins the argument for you, despite the fact that you are almost always wrong. But please continue, it's funny to watch you struggle.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:50pm

Re: Re: Re:
They didn't become famous until ~2000-2001. And they have had at least 4 songs reach #1 on the music charts in:
2001
2004
2006
2008

Saying they are a 90's band makes you look like a retard.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:50pm

I'd rather play my old Atari 2600 "Journey Escape" cartridge.
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MrWilson, 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:50pm

Wouldn't this game need to be about hacking since the pirates are leaking the music on the interwebs and not distributing around cassette tapes and CDs of the album?
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:51pm

Re: Re: Re:
d) lives in a cave
e) lives in mothers basement
f) ok, i'll give you that one :)
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A non-mouse, 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:57pm

Re: publicity stunt
"Congratulations on falling for their tongue-in-cheek publicity stunt by helping promote their new album which they deliberately leaked."

I don't think there is any "promotion" going on here, we're commenting on their incredibly poor attempt at making a statement. Suggesting that they're threatened by piracy and need their fans to help them fight it off is utterly hilarious! I think obscurity is a far bigger problem for them, but I guess that's just my opinion.

Which brings us to the "publicity stunt" angle. If that was their true motive, then they've failed miserably. Yes, their name is back in the headlines, but it just makes me feel a little sad for them. I'm no more interested in their new album now than I was before reading about their little game. Zero is still zero. Oh, it's been "leaked" you say? Yep, still zero.
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crade (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 2:59pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Lol, jeese sorry I don't recognize your favorite band. I said I just looked them up. If they were famous in 2000 I they only missed the 90s by 1 year. Whats your problem?
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crade (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 3:04pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Maybe if you played me one of their hit songs from back in the day it might ring a bell. Would that make you happier? Sometimes I only remember the songs when I hear them. Especially if I don't like the band much. I know the names of the ones I like though!
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crade (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 3:05pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
We have frickin ckua here, I don't need to listen to that tripe the riaa is trying to pass off as the next hit.
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Marcus Carab (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 3:31pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Dude, they aren't Elvis. They were pretty big, but it's not that crazy that some people missed them. They definitely hadn't crossed my mind in close to ten years, and even though I did recognize the name, I had to google it before I could remember any of their songs...
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 3:37pm

I think I'll download their album just to spite them, then delete it without listening to it just to spite them.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 3:41pm

I wonder how Red Hot Chili Peppers feels about Incubus stealing their style?
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 3:41pm

I wonder how Red Hot Chili Peppers feels about Incubus stealing their style?
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kryptonianjorel (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 3:49pm

Re: Re:
The 'Bad' entertainment part is the problem for the execs. Millions are gonna pirate, can't stop that, but when the thing they're pirating turns out to be shit, that leaks out to those who were actually going to buy, and thus even less buy. If pirates didn't buy or pirate, then when bad music hits the market, it takes a lot of sales for word to get around that the music sucks
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TOG, 14 Jul 2011 @ 3:53pm

Re:
Agree that the game could be tongue in cheek. Some king of inside joke where the band is making fun of the label for asking them to go against fans. But, I must agree that a citation is needed on the notion that the BAND (or its management) intentionally leaked the album. My basic research (TBH consisting solely of looking at the band's and the album's wikipedia pages), doesn't reveal this as true.
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crade (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 3:58pm

Re:
You should put up a framed pirated copy thats never been heard. Just imagine the losses they would incur :)
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crade (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 3:59pm

Re:
heh, some of that real good DRM that makes it so you can't play unless you are Prince.
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Marcus Carab (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 3:59pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Seriously? Because I haven't actively listened to the radio since I moved to the city and stopped driving... my apartment is kind of small but it's got better plumbing than a cave. I admit that it can be irritating when people wear "I don't listen to the radio!" like a badge of coolness - but it is true: lots of people don't, anymore. It's an increasingly obsolete technology when it comes to music...

And I really don't see what not listening to RIAA bands has to do with living in your mom's basement...? If anything, that would be more applicable to the radio thing, since reception isn't great in some basements...
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 4:03pm

WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!!!

Incubus still exists?!?!?!
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Nicedoggy, 14 Jul 2011 @ 4:29pm

Re:
When pigs flying do the Willian Shatner on your head?
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Nicedoggy, 14 Jul 2011 @ 4:31pm

Re: Re: Re:
Not anymore they don't LoL
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Nicedoggy, 14 Jul 2011 @ 4:33pm

Re:
Labels can't but the internet can promote anything people throw at it for free is that not marvelous?
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Nicedoggy, 14 Jul 2011 @ 4:41pm

Re: Re:
I do prefer a succubus though.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 4:46pm

Re:
Commander Keen was awesome.

Graphics are not the key to making ENTERTAINING games.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 5:46pm

Re: Re:
yeah but this game sucked
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Prashanth (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 5:50pm

Re: "Pirates Aren't Fans"
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you treat your fans like crap, of course they'll move quickly to the next flavor of the week. If you actually CwF + RtB, those customers will actually stick around longer and have a better chance of becoming loyal to you.
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nasch (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 6:57pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
I think you missed his point. If I'm not mistaken, he's saying one reason the establishment fears pirates is because they quickly spread the word about what is worth watching and hearing, and what is junk.
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btrussell (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 6:57pm

Re: Re: Nothing good
You're right. They don't have internet at home as they are afraid of being "labelled."
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nasch (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 6:59pm

Re:
I'm not sure you can avoid these scenarios without shooting yourself in the foot.

That's never stopped them before.
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btrussell (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 7:14pm

Re: Re:
We should all do this.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2011 @ 9:06pm

Re: Re:
Jay, I cannot do any of those things for free.

Except the Supreme Court, each and every one of them is "advertising supported". I pay with my attention.

The SC? Taxes my friend, taxes. Nothing is free.
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Greevar (profile), 14 Jul 2011 @ 11:09pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Ah! I see!
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PaulT (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 12:50am

Re: Advertising just isn't your field.
I saw the new album available to listen to on Spotify. I was going to stream it to listen to it. Now, I won't, because I refuse to fund people who think like this.

It works both ways, dumbass.
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PaulT (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 12:58am

Re: Re:
d) under 30
e) don't listen to this type of rock music
f) don't live in the US. Maybe in Europe, where this type of rock was never as popular (e.g. their highest charted UK single was at #23, although their albums were a little more popular).

Not having heard of a band *you* happen to know does not make one stupid, although asserting that makes you look foolish and arrogant.

As for them being a 90s band, they've been together since 1991 according to Wikipedia, and recording since 1995. Does that not make them a 90s band? Are you saying that, say, Jamiroquai and Foo Fighters don't count as 90s bands because they've had hits since the 90s? What's your criteria.
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Any Mouse (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 1:50am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
It's also a genre that not everyone listens to. I listen to the genre, but think they suck.
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Any Mouse (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 1:51am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
"I know the names of the ones I like though!"

Ha! I can't even say that, most times!
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2011 @ 1:02pm

Funny, I always thought Incubus's use of line "love is a verb" from their song "here in my room" is a complete rip off of the massive attack song "teardrop." But hey, i guess it doesn't count when you're stealing lyrics and using it to get paid millions.
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techflaws.org (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 10:21pm

Re:
So you really think this is gonna make me listen to the album, let alone buy it?
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Jul 2011 @ 7:04am

Pff, nothing worth listening to after S.C.I.E.N.C.E. anyway. They took the RHCP nerf-for-profit route.
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