Prince continues his (purple) reign of terror

Prince hates the internet. At least, he hates the parts of the internet that are about Prince. Remember a few months ago when he went after his own fan site for posting unauthorized pictures of his royal purple self? Well, now his label is seeking out any and all Prince-related YouTube activity and blocking videos (including the one we posted in April of Prince covering Radiohead's "Creep"), and has even gone so far as to tamper with a homemade "PEEPle Rain" video made by local blogger Greg Swan of Perfect Porridge as part of a PEEPS Diorama Contest that he participated in last spring.

The set of "PEEPle Rain," constructed by Greg Swan

That's right, PEEPS, the little sugary marshmallow candies that emerge every Easter and spend the rest of the year hardening into bird and rabbit shaped rocks in our cupboards. Apparently, Prince and his management are so determined to protect the copyright that they are willing to spend the time blocking a 44-second video of PEEPS dressed up like Prince and his band.

"It’s totally fair that after more than a year enjoying 44 seconds of 'Purple Rain' they object," jokes Swan, who received a notification from YouTube telling him that Prince's publisher had blocked his video. The note, signed by the YouTube Content Identification Team, informed Swan that: "Universal Music Publishing has claimed some or all audio content in your video PEEPle Rain. This claim was made as part of the YouTube Content Identification program."

Oddly enough, despite the fact that Swan was informed that his video had been blocked and that a note on his YouTube page informs viewers that the audio has been disabled, the video is still in perfect working order. View the "PEEPle Rain" video here: