Deadheads, in general, are an easygoing bunch. The exception to that rule is when there is a roadblock to accessing their beloved Grateful Dead's music.

That point was driven home recently when several websites, at the behest of the Dead's representatives, stopped allowing free downloading of Dead material.

These sites--most notably Live Music Archive–-were asked by Grateful Dead Merchandising just before Thanksgiving Day to pull their substantial catalogs of the band's concert recordings. That angered fans to the point where an online petition was circulated in hopes that the surviving members of the band would reverse the decision. The petition also threatened a boycott of both officially sanctioned Grateful Dead Merchandising releases and Dead concerts.

Whether due to the threat or not, the organization has backed off from its initial position. To the delight of Dead downloaders, the shows were reposted for free access earlier this week.

In an interview with the Associated Press, band-spokesman Dennis McNally said Grateful Dead Merchandising definitely heard the backlash from its loyal followers, many of whom have freely traded tapes of the band's concerts for decades.

" The Grateful Dead [ tickets ] remains as it always has--in favor of tape trading," McNally was quoted as saying.

He continued to say that the free access has been granted only to audience recordings. Soundboard recordings, he said, should only be available for free listening--not free downloading.

On Phil Lesh's website, the Dead bassist said that was not part of, nor was he notified about, the decision to pull the concert recordings from sites such as Live Music Archive. He also seemed to support the petition's point of view that the music should be widely accessible to all parties.

"I do feel that the music is the Grateful Dead's legacy and I hope that one way or another all of it is available for those who want it," Lesh posted. "I have enjoyed using Archive.org and found it invaluable during the writing of my book. I found myself being pulled back in time listening to old Grateful Dead shows while giggling with glee or feeling that ache in my heart listening to Jerry's poetic guitar and sweet voice.

"We are musicians, not businessmen, and have made good and bad decisions on our journey. We do love and care about our community as you helped us make the music. We could not have made this kind of music without you as you allowed us to play 'without a net.' Your love, trust and patience made it possible for us to try again the next show when we couldn't get that magic carpet off the ground. Your concerns have been heard and I am sure are being respectfully addressed."