Kiss’ Gene Simmons Says ‘Sue Everybody’ Who Downloads Illegally

Like a gauntlet thrown down, the always vocal Kiss bassist and business guru Gene Simmons demanded a call to the legal arms to battle illegal downloading through websites and file-sharing torrent sites. While serving as the keynote speaker at Cannes, France's entertainment trade convention MIPCOM on Oct. 4, Simmons told the audience, "Make sure your brand is protected. Make sure there are no incursions. Be litigious. Sue everybody. Take their homes, their cars. Don't let anybody cross that line."

To continue on with the subject of branding, Simmons scolded the music industry for not following through on using legal measures to deter file sharing. He compared it to a farmer who allowed one fox -- "a cute fox," at that -- to get away. "That cute fox went back and told all the other foxes about it and then the foxes overran the farm, killed all the chickens, took all the eggs [and didn't pay for it]."

Simmons stood up like Gen. Patton, making a bold declaration. "The music industry was asleep at the wheel and didn't have the balls to sue every fresh-faced, freckle-faced college kid who downloaded material," he continued. "And so now we're left with hundreds of thousands of people without jobs. There's no industry."

The file-sharing community has now fought back against the rock god, making his website bleed. Not too long after Simmon's remarks made their way around the web, genesimmons.com was hacked. It subsequently redirected visitors to the controversial Pirate Bay site. Vocally taking the credit, members of Anonymous, a well-known internet "vigilante" collective, also made online attacks against the MPAA, the RIAA and the U.K. Intellectual Property Office.

According to peer-to-peer news site TorrentFreak, the takedown of Simmons' website was not fully supported by all the members of Anonymous.

But that's not stopping the Kiss bassist, who released a statement on his website once normalcy was restored. "Our legal team and the FBI have been on the case and we have found a few, shall we say 'adventurous' young people, who feel they are above the law. And, as stated in my MIPCOM speech, we will sue their pants off.

"First, they will be punished. Second, they might find their little butts in jail, right next to someone who's been there for years and is looking for a new girlfriend. We will soon be printing their names and pictures. We will find you. You cannot hide."