Last week, we reported that all Grateful Dead soundboard recordings had been removed from popular live concert download portal, Arhcive.org. Now it seems that a group of Deadheads are rallying to reverse the policy set forth by Grateful Dead Merchandising. In an open letter, a group of fans issued the following statement:

It is our understanding that in November 2005, the internet archive(archive.org) was asked to remove all Grateful Dead soundboard concerts from their site. The internet archive has been a resource that is important to all of us. We use it to experience the Grateful Deads growth and transition throughout the years. Between the music, and interviews in the archive we are able to experience the Grateful Dead fully. This technology has opened doors to introduce new fans to the real Grateful Dead. It has allowed us to experience different eras of the Grateful Dead, and made us more anxious to purchase releases as they came out.
Now it appears doing the right thing for the fans, has given way to greed.
So here is our resolution. You want to change the rules as you go along, so will we. We dont care anymore; Weve lost all respect for this organization. Between the utter disgust of your decisions with Jerrys guitars, and now taking away our access to the music we care about most, we refuse to support any aspect of GDM until we see change. No more CDs, no more tickets, no more merchandise. We ask all deadheads to join us in this protest.
Fans who wish to join the protest can do so by adding their name to the online petition (although an alternate petition affirms, ‘We support you in your decision to restrict unlimited free downloads if you see the need and hope that person to person trading will remain permissable’).