boycott-riaa.com - Article: In The News

In The News - March 2008

Posted by Mike (Shmoo) on March 2, 2008 at 4:17 PM (printer friendly)

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independentm...	Date: March 2, 2008 @ 9:26 PM OBIT: Jeff Healey :candle: RIP

independentm...	Date: March 2, 2008 @ 9:27 PM Wyrd Sisters still suing to block release of Harry Potter movies and video games.

independentm...	Date: March 2, 2008 @ 9:30 PM OBIT: Reggae producer Joe Gibbs

independentm...	Date: March 2, 2008 @ 9:34 PM Trent Reznor's first 9 of 36 songs from the new album are free. Rest of album $5 to download, $10 for the standard double album CD. $300 for the super deluxe limited edition 4 vinyl LP boxed set. How can he do this? Well, duh, he's no longer tied to the RIAA.

brenthannah	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 3:26 AM What the hell happened this weekend? I go to boycott-riaa and get Dmusic AND a big snootfull of malware! WTF?

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 7:34 AM All I know is that they were transferring data from the old server to a new server. As for why there was malware I haven't a clue. My guess is that it was some nasty stuff probably lingering on the old server? I noticed a few folks at DMusic complaining about malware at DMusic the other day (and I myself experienced malware a couple weeks ago.) Check the DMusic forums. Jack or somebody there might know.

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 7:35 AM YouTube is supposedly improving the audio/video quality. Right now I know DailyMotion, MetaCafe and others have them beat hands down.

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 7:48 AM Well, YouTube supposedly got around to re-encoding one of my band's vids. See if you can tell a difference: old - http://youtube.com/watch?v=OY2Dkl7TbjE new - http://youtube.com/watch?v=OY2Dkl7TbjE&fmt=18 I am listening thru crappy speakers right now and can't tell a difference. The picture looks a slight bit better tho maybe.

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 7:50 AM Vista has been cracked - but who'd want it anyways?

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 7:53 AM Microsoft creates reverse karaoke. Microsoft Research presented a paper at CHI 2008 about MySong, an application that chooses chords to accompany melodies that a user sings into a microphone. You can change the chords by adjusting the "happy factor" and "jazz factor" sliders.

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 1:07 PM Amazon now has a Linux downloader for .mp3 sold.

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 1:18 PM More audiobook publishers drop DRM: will Audible follow suit?

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 1:23 PM At Hunter College, professors are debating the ethics of a course in which an industry group paid for a class to develop a fake student who would write a fake blog to discourage other students from buying knockoff products. The controversy involves both commercial interference with academic freedom and the ethics of 'guerilla marketing. They are attempting to create a counterfeit person to persuade people to dislike counterfeit goods. lol

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 1:28 PM a new survey reports that 70% of UK broadband users would stop using P2P if they received a warning from their ISP

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 2:36 PM Finnish company wants to pwn the word "pwnage" with a trademark

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 3:06 PM Jill Sobule Turning to fans to finance CD Contributors can choose a level of pledges ranging from the $10 "unpolished rock," which earns them a free digital download of her disc when it's made, to the $10,000 "weapons-grade plutonium level," where she promises "you get to come and sing on my CD. Don't worry if you can't sing — we can fix that on our end." For the $500 "gold level," Sobule will mention your name in a song, maybe even rhyme with it. The $750 "gold doubloons level" is "exactly like the gold level, but you give me more money."

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 3:08 PM OBIT: Italian tenor Di Stefano dies aged 86

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 3:12 PM Wal-Mart, the largest retailer of music with an estimated 22 percent market share, has proposed a five-tiered pricing scheme that would allow the discounter to sell albums at even lower prices and require the labels to bear more of the costs.

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 3:14 PM Nokia opens online German music store

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 3:19 PM Warner to sell mp3's thru 7 digital in Europe. Boycott!

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 3:25 PM Twitty's children sue Sony for royalties The children of the late Conway Twitty have sued Sony/ATV for a share of royalties and publishing copyrights for the country artist's music.

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 3:27 PM Micheal Robertson at it again SyncWizard software collects contacts, appointments, music, and documents online and makes it available on PCs, PDAs, and smartphones.

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 7:59 PM Unless Michael plays by RIAA rules this time I predict they will sue him yet AGAIN. I haven't researched the details of this SyncWizard endeavor, but he has a long history making the mistake of thinking that the RIAA's music is all that will "sell" via his ventures. Mp3.com coulda been a contender ...but he HAD to go and poison it with that "MyLocker" crap and RIAA's "famous already" favoritism over the independent artists who GAVE him his shot years ago.

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 8:00 PM ...and upon whom's backs he built his fortune.

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 8:00 PM What? Me? Bitter still? lol

ChillinBuzz	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 8:06 PM Why not? I bet he'd do it again in a heartbeat. Maybe they should make him the RIAA president... Now that could get interesting, unlike mp-snooze-3.com

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 9:50 PM Chillin' - that would be a cosimic joke... ...just imagine, Michael Robertson as CEO of the RIAA (Y'know what? I think that's been his GOAL all along!) LOL (with capitol letters!)

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 9:51 PM OMG... now that I think about it...

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 9:52 PM ...

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 9:55 PM ...

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 9:55 PM ... ...damn, this stuff I'm smoking is strong

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 9:56 PM :)

independentm...	Date: March 3, 2008 @ 10:57 PM A Note to the DMusic "regulars" (you SHOULD know who you are) is in the forums about the sucky site performance issues lately. It's by ME and IMHO only. (I can't/don't speak directly for leflaw ...but, I am on his side still and for now.) READ IT!

independentm...	Date: March 5, 2008 @ 1:26 AM Nine Inch Nails Sells Out Of $300 Deluxe Edition In Under Two Days "Now, before some people start complaining that this will only work for big name bands, there's an easy response to that: these days, the way to become a big band is to get your music out there. Newer bands can easily give away music as a promotion to get attention, build up a following, and throw in these types of options as they get bigger. Besides, smaller, less-well-known acts still have plenty of other offerings they can use to make money, even as a smaller band."

independentm...	Date: March 5, 2008 @ 1:35 AM I'm not complaining that Trent Reznor uses his fame to leverage this kind of success. Not at all! However, the fact remains that you do gotta have that kind of name recognition before you can sell on anything approaching that level. My complaint is that the RIAA stands in the way as the gate-keeper. You STILL have to go thru them too often to get known. (And they continue trying to be the ONLY option using illegal, immoral, monopolistic tactics!) Radio and Tv and the trade magazines are SHUT! The internet is all that's left (and they want to dominate that too!) It's why I fight.

independentm...	Date: March 5, 2008 @ 1:43 AM Should RIAA Investigators Have to Disclose Evidence? The issue at hand is whether the RIAA's investigator SafeNet now needs to disclose its digital files, validation methodology, testing procedures, failure rates, software manuals, protocols, packet logs, source code, and other materials, so that the validity of its methods can be evaluated by the defense. SafeNet and the RIAA say no, claiming that the information is 'proprietary and confidential'.

independentm...	Date: March 5, 2008 @ 1:48 AM Facebook Scrabble Rip-off Capitalizes on Mattel's Lethargy ...according to an NYTimes article, 'Scrabulous has already brought Scrabble a newfound virtual popularity that none of the game companies could have anticipated,' and according to one consultant to the entertainment industry, 'If you're Hasbro or Mattel, it isn't in your interest to shut this down.'

Distilled1	Date: March 5, 2008 @ 5:59 AM http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080225-riaa-fails-again-to-get-default-judgment-in-uncontested-case.html?rel

gfmlcka	Date: March 5, 2008 @ 10:39 AM Of squatters and filesharers: http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/copyright-crusade.ars another good Ars article.

independentm...	Date: March 5, 2008 @ 7:01 PM Bjork pisses of China ...she shouted "Tibet, Tibet," after performing her song "Declare Independence"

independentm...	Date: March 6, 2008 @ 2:46 AM The Last Things Pop Stars Need Is Singing Ability George commented on this one briefly at AzOz, but I think he missed the point because the article's title leads you to believe that there is only one style of "singing ability." The critic is defending certain singers (Bob Dylan for example) who may not "be able to sing well" - but who nevertheless are valid, and can be considered "good singers."

independentm...	Date: March 6, 2008 @ 2:49 AM ...and, the critic also points out the contrary. Someone like "Brittney Spears" may have once been able to sing well, but is NOT worthy as singer. It's all a question of semantics.

independentm...	Date: March 6, 2008 @ 2:58 AM Fred Von Lohmann of Electronic Frontier Foundation to participate in oral argument of Atlantic v. Howell

independentm...	Date: March 6, 2008 @ 4:42 AM Cheater's on YouTube? For some odd reason, a fan-made video of unknown Brazilian band Cansei De Ser Sexy getting 40 million views on YouTube (and taking the #1 all time video spot) is making some people suspicious

independentm...	Date: March 8, 2008 @ 4:54 PM US Air Force's use of the DMCA

independentm...	Date: March 8, 2008 @ 5:28 PM Bank Julius Baer has moved to withdraw suit against Wikileaks.

independentm...	Date: March 8, 2008 @ 5:36 PM BBC drops DRM from iPlayer video on demand service

independentm...	Date: March 8, 2008 @ 6:48 PM If an artist puts out free mp3's, will fans still buy the album?

independentm...	Date: March 8, 2008 @ 7:20 PM YouTube continues as the preferred online video site of U.S. users, with a popularity that dwarfs its closest competitors, according to Nielsen Online.

independentm...	Date: March 8, 2008 @ 7:24 PM Did iPods cause a crime wave?

independentm...	Date: March 9, 2008 @ 4:03 PM Society of Automotive Engineers kills DRM on its journal following MIT boycott MIT dropped its subscription to the database of past articles from the Society of Automotive Engineer because SAE had was using anti-copying DRM technology on the papers that made them less useful for scientists and researchers. After a presentation from an MIT professor about the boycott, the SAE publication board eliminated DRM for its papers. Boycott's work!

independentm...	Date: March 9, 2008 @ 4:08 PM German Police Raid 51 CeBIT Stands Over Patent Claims Most of the patents concerned were related to devices with MP3, MP4, and DVB standard functions for digital audio and video, blank CDs, and DVD copiers, police said."

independentm...	Date: March 9, 2008 @ 4:09 PM video games are launching the careers of top musical artists

independentm...	Date: March 9, 2008 @ 4:15 PM Jonathan Zittrain says the Net is in danger: the openness that allowed it to flourish sows the seeds of its closure.

independentm...	Date: March 9, 2008 @ 4:23 PM he folks at Wikileaks are calling for a boycott against eNom, Inc., one of the top internet domain registrars, which WikiLeaks claims is involved in systematic domain censoring.

independentm...	Date: March 9, 2008 @ 4:24 PM Despite all the emphasis on protecting Olympic copyrights in China this year, the official web site of the Beijing Olympics features a Flash game that is a blatant copy of one of the games developed at The Pencil Farm.

independentm...	Date: March 9, 2008 @ 4:25 PM An interview with Lessig He talks about money, politics, money in politics, and his decision not to run for an open seat in Congress.

independentm...	Date: March 9, 2008 @ 4:33 PM "One of the biggest targets of reform that we should be thinking about is how to blow up the FCC. The FCC was set up to protect business and to protect the dominant industries of communication at the time, and its history has been a history of protectionism — protecting the dominant industry against new forms of competition — and it continues to have that effect today. It becomes a sort of short circuit for lobbyists; you only have to convince a small number of commissioners, as opposed to convincing all of Congress. So I think there are a lot of places we have to think about radically changing the scope and footprint of government. Most interesting to me was when I was doing research very early on about this, and I talked to someone who was in the Clinton administration. They were talking about Al Gore’s original proposal for Title VII of the Communications Act. Title II deals with telecom and Title VI deals with cable and Title VII was going to be an Internet title. And Title VII was going to basically say, no regulation except for minimal interconnect requirements — so it would be taking away both DSL and cable and putting them under one regulatory structure that minimized regulation of both. When this idea was floated on the Hill, it was shot down. The answer came back was, “We can’t do this! How are we going to raise money from these people if we’ve deregulated all of this?”" ------ "I think if you look across the history of regulation, you get this time after time. Look at copyright regulation. It is a massive invasion in the innovative process that has been pushed and extended by special interests inside Washington, who have done nothing more than try to use government to protect their business models against new forms of competition. And I think you can see this in a hundred different areas. "

independentm...	Date: March 10, 2008 @ 4:19 PM Happy 10th birthday to the first commercial mp3 player! :cake: :toot: --the MPMan F10, manufactured by Korea's Saehan Information Systems with 32MB of Flash storage, enough for a handful of songs encoded at 128Kb/s.

independentm...	Date: March 10, 2008 @ 4:57 PM Google tells media companies "we are your friend!"

independentm...	Date: March 10, 2008 @ 4:59 PM Does Your Site Fall Short for Consumers? When visitors come to your organization's Web site, are they finding what they're looking for? It may seem a basic question, but it's an urgent one: If visitors don't find what they need quickly and easily, your competitor's Web site is just a click away. ----- an arguement for the "K.I.S.S" principle.

independentm...	Date: March 10, 2008 @ 5:00 PM In a deal with FaceBook, Paramount Pictures will become the first major studio to make clips from thousands of its movies available for use on the Internet.

independentm...	Date: March 10, 2008 @ 5:00 PM Too many goofy people out there are still interested in American Idol

independentm...	Date: March 10, 2008 @ 5:03 PM :yawn: This has been a SLOW news week! :)

independentm...	Date: March 10, 2008 @ 11:47 PM Book Publisher's phasing out DRM Main reason they say? "It just doesn't work!"

gdZiemann	Date: March 12, 2008 @ 8:00 AM Re: Pop stars and singing ability I didn't say it wasn't true. I've just been part of the host band at too many open mic nights to want to tell people that it doesn't matter if you can't sing.

gfmlcka	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 2:11 AM http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2008/03/music_levy RIAA wants ISP's to collect a 'piracy' tax for them. Well, isn't that special.

pessimist	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 4:54 AM They need to tell the RIAA where to go (somewhere where it never snows).

independentm...	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 5:08 PM Rate My Cop censored by GoDaddy.

independentm...	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 5:11 PM http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/11/pirated-cd-seller-ab.html A 38-year old mom in Arkansas went to court on a Thursday to plead innocent on charges of selling pirated music CDs at a local flea market. But the bailiff locked her up in solitary, then forgot about her and went home for the weekend.

pessimist	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 5:12 PM Next phase: death penalty for uploading copyrighted files. :)

independentm...	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 5:14 PM Canada's DMCA: unnecessary, ill-starred and doomed Charlie Angus, a Member of Parliament with Canada's New Democratic Party, has written a blistering open letter to Industry Minister Jim Prentice over the issue of Prentice's proposal to ram through a Canadian version of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Prentice has consistently refused to allow public consultation into his bill, and instead has drafted a kind of wish-list representing the fondest fantasies of US entertainment giants.

independentm...	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 5:22 PM Congress to turn up the heat on FCC's Kevin Martin? 'This request has got to be turning the FCC completely upside down. Significantly, it appears to reflect a bipartisan discontent with Martin's performance. Democrats and some Republicans are upset over his recent move to relax one of the agency's key media ownership rules, as well as the rushed manner in which he handled the matter late last year. Other Republicans dislike what they see as Martin's persecution of the cable industry, especially Comcast.' The Committee originally announced its intention to investigate the FCC in January."

independentm...	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 5:23 PM Ars Technica has an interview with Rick Cotton, the general counsel for NBC Universal who is best known for saying that piracy is a more serious offense than robbery. ...but NBC plans to use p2p themselves.

independentm...	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 5:25 PM A suit was filed Wednesday against Apple over the possibility that the iTunes music store and iPod are 'illegally using a patented method for distributing digital media over the Internet.' ZapMedia Services filed the suit

independentm...	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 5:26 PM The LA Times is reporting that the MPAA's Dan Glickman has taken another swipe against net neutrality Glickman argued in his speech that neutrality regulations would bar the use of emerging tools that ISPs can use to prevent piracy. That's what some studio lobbyists have been telling lawmakers, too, in their efforts to derail neutrality legislation.

independentm...	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 5:28 PM Activision Inc. has asked a federal court to declare that its popular "Guitar Hero" game does not violate a patent held by real-guitar maker Gibson Guitar Corp. Gibson's 1999 patent covers a virtual-reality device that included a headset with speakers and that simulated participating in a concert, according to a complaint filed on Tuesday

independentm...	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 5:35 PM Princeton University music theorist Dmitri Tymoczko has applied some string-theory math to the study of music and found that all possible chordal music can be represented in a higher-dimensional space. Deep stuff!

independentm...	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 5:36 PM 2008 turning out to be the "Year of Lawsuits" by the IFPI.

independentm...	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 5:39 PM Is Media Sentry operating illegally in your state?

pessimist	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 9:04 PM "Glickman argued in his speech that neutrality regulations would bar the use of emerging tools that ISPs can use to prevent piracy. That's what some studio lobbyists have been telling lawmakers, too, in their efforts to derail neutrality legislation." So, we Americans living in the land of the free, are supposed to accept the scuttling of net neutrality just because some developing fingerprinting technology might be useful for isps to reluctantly help thwart movie piracy on the web? Don't make me puke. Clickman & company, you and your ilk are a crock of shit.

pessimist	Date: March 13, 2008 @ 9:08 PM Re: "Is Media Sentry operating illegally in your state?" MediaSentry is functioning on very shaky ground; it's an RIAA can of worms whose demise is imminent.

gfmlcka	Date: March 14, 2008 @ 8:20 AM This should be fun: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080313-andersen-attorney-on-riaa-suit-they-cant-run-now.html

gfmlcka	Date: March 14, 2008 @ 9:00 AM http://www.betanews.com/article/Defendant_in_RIAA_suit_files_amended_complaint/1205509900

pessimist	Date: March 14, 2008 @ 3:51 PM Gfmlcka, the RIAA will most likely try to settle rather than have the discovery phase kick in.

gfmlcka	Date: March 15, 2008 @ 5:23 AM Oh, I'm sure they will. But don't be so pessimistic, God hath no wrath like a womans scorn. And Tanya is seriously pissed off at the RIAA.

pessimist	Date: March 15, 2008 @ 5:47 AM That's a good one (I like it!) telling pessimist not be pessimistic. I suppose I could try to run counter to my nature occasionally . . . but not in cases where probability or the prospect of reality is too strong. It's one thing for me to try to force an optimistic smile, but quite another to go against the odds. The RIAA has too much to lose to take the risk for what might be revealed during a discovery phase. I'll have to abide my usernamesake on this issue. Sorry.

independentm...	Date: March 15, 2008 @ 4:27 PM House votes against telcom immunity for illegal wiretapping Bush said he'd veto, but will he?

independentm...	Date: March 15, 2008 @ 4:35 PM The Swedish Culture & Justice ministers are preparing to give new power to Swedish courts to let them force ISPs to give up subscriber IPs. "The end goal is trying subscribers in court for copyright infringement. As the one-time home of the Pirate Bay, which is now internationally distributed, they face both US pressure and push-back at home. The Swedish arm of the Pirate Party is calling this move a 'sanctioned blackmailing operation', but hopefully the Swedish courts won't allow the IFPI to use as many tricks as the RIAA has in US courts."

independentm...	Date: March 15, 2008 @ 4:44 PM Class Action Complaint Against RIAA Now Online 109 page .pdf document The complaint includes federal and state RICO claims, as well as other legal theories, and alleges that "The world's four major recording studios had devised an illegal enterprise intent on maintaining their virtually complete monopoly over the distribution of recorded music."

independentm...	Date: March 15, 2008 @ 5:01 PM I used to be disgusted, now I find I'm just amused. -- Elvis Costello Sounds like something George might say. :)

independentm...	Date: March 15, 2008 @ 5:12 PM Once Rock's Rebels, South by Southwest Becomes 'The Man'

independentm...	Date: March 15, 2008 @ 5:19 PM The British heavy metal band Iron Maiden is allowing its new album "Somewhere Back in Time" to be downloaded for free on a trial basis. Aww, the damn thing's DRM infected. "Fans can listen to the music three times for free before the download expires. "

independentm...	Date: March 15, 2008 @ 5:24 PM Wired magazine reports R.E.M.'s “Accelerate” will be available for listening and embedding starting March 24 through iLike.com The album can be listened to free of charge, then embedded into other social networking sites. Having fans spread the word via embedding not only gives the album extra online promotion, but theoretically will heighten demand for paid downloads via iTunes and Amazon mp3 once “Accelerate” is officially released April 1.

independentm...	Date: March 15, 2008 @ 5:54 PM In an evil joint effort by NBC and News Corp, Hulu launches with overhyped "YouTube Killer" acclaim.

independentm...	Date: March 15, 2008 @ 6:32 PM Sony execs who jacked up the prices due to no competition jump for joy over the end of the HD movie format war.

independentm...	Date: March 15, 2008 @ 9:18 PM What Type Of Web Video Ad Is Best? Two types of online video ads have emerged as the clear leaders, though which one will lead the way is open to debate. For at least a few years, the emerging online video advertising market will be dominated by TV-like video ads and by small text ads that appear near the bottom of a video as it plays. Google so far has ruled against adding pre- and post-roll video ads to its YouTube and Google video sites. It says most consumers won't sit through a 30-second pre-roll ad to view a video online. Instead, Google is selling overlay ads that are similar to the text ads it sells and places with search results.

independentm...	Date: March 15, 2008 @ 9:21 PM Picture Is Murky For YouTube Wannabes

independentm...	Date: March 16, 2008 @ 4:35 PM China blocking YouTube again. Pissed at the Tibet protests.

independentm...	Date: March 17, 2008 @ 12:22 PM OBIT: Ola Brunkert The 62 year old ABBA drummer hit his head against a glass door in his dining room, shattering the glass and cutting himself in the neck. He managed to wrap a towel around his neck and left the house to seek help, but collapsed in the garden.

independentm...	Date: March 17, 2008 @ 12:24 PM Radiohead allowed fans to choose a price for their latest tunes. Now, the best-selling band is hoping fans will make them a music video, too.

independentm...	Date: March 17, 2008 @ 12:28 PM Google Inc, the world's leading search engine, said on Monday it was concerned about the free flow of information on the Internet if Microsoft Corp were to succeed in acquiring Yahoo Inc.

independentm...	Date: March 17, 2008 @ 12:41 PM F**k, the god-damned Supreme Court to Hear FCC Indecency Case. it will be hearing the FCC's appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision that the FCC has changed its policy on fleeting expletives without adequate explanation. It's now on the FCC to explain to the Supreme Court why its policy has changed. This is also the first time the Supreme Court has heard a major 'broadcast indecency' case in 30 years.

independentm...	Date: March 17, 2008 @ 12:46 PM Guy overdubs his atrocious guitar playing over famous guitar-god vids Late last year a Finnish media artist named Santeri Ojala got a lot of attention for a series of hilarious YouTube videos in which he lifted concert footage of various guitar heroes and overdubbed his own intentionally awful playing. The bad musicianship was funny enough, but the verisimilitude made it even funnier: Ojala was great at matching each player’s hand movements and timing, and he sprinkled lukewarm applause and other sound effects throughout. The videos were like alternate-universe versions of rock-god cliches. A month or two ago, YouTube yanked the videos and suspended Ojala’s YouTube account, apparently due to copyright complaints from several of the guitarists.

independentm...	Date: March 18, 2008 @ 11:40 PM Twisted Sister guitarist re-records "I Want to Rock" as "I Want Barack" and will release the track soon on YouTube.

independentm...	Date: March 18, 2008 @ 11:41 PM Duff from Velvet Revolver says they'll open for Zeppelin tour. Which is news to the guy from The Cult, who had said they would. Which is news to Zeppelin, who still have no plans to tour

independentm...	Date: March 18, 2008 @ 11:49 PM Little-known law allowing homeowners to force brass bands to move along to be taken off the books in Britain Hooray!

independentm...	Date: March 18, 2008 @ 11:59 PM Off topic (or maybe not) Americans have a right to own guns, Supreme Court justices declared Tuesday in a historic and lively debate that could lead to the most significant interpretation of the Second Amendment since its ratification two centuries ago. ...a majority of justices appeared ready to say that Americans have a "right to keep and bear arms" that goes beyond the amendment's reference to service in a militia.

independentm...	Date: March 19, 2008 @ 12:02 AM It is my opinion that the REASON for the 2nd amendment (as set forth by our founding fathers) was so that the populace could rise up against the government if things ever got too extreme or dictatorial. ;)

independentm...	Date: March 19, 2008 @ 12:08 AM Turns out that Spitzer girl already posed nude... for Girls Gone Wild

independentm...	Date: March 19, 2008 @ 12:13 AM Woman Sues RIAA For Racketeering, Spying Go Tanya! :thumbsup:

independentm...	Date: March 20, 2008 @ 5:40 AM He laughed. “I'm often asked why I didn't try to patent the idea of communications satellites. My answer is always, ‘A patent is really a license to be sued.' ” --Arthur C. Clarke, sadly in his last interview.

independentm...	Date: March 20, 2008 @ 5:42 AM DRM free BitTorrent Movie Store in Sweden download them as torrents (earn credits for seeding them)

independentm...	Date: March 20, 2008 @ 5:45 AM AWSOME NEWS! By the end of the year, EVERY issue of the Elf Quest comic will be online. FOR FREE! Between it and Love & Rockets, BEST comic evar! :bouncy: --Shmoo

Motomasa	Date: March 20, 2008 @ 11:33 AM aw crap... i forgot here it was url=...

pepe512000	Date: March 20, 2008 @ 7:31 PM Yeah Canada!

independentm...	Date: March 21, 2008 @ 2:53 AM Reposted from Motmasa: CBC-TV first in North America to release prime-time show on BitTorrent CBC Television plans to release its Sunday episode of Canada's Next Great Prime Minister on BitTorrent, a file-sharing service that would allow users to copy and share the show. The release, free and without ads or digital rights management (DRM) software, is believed to be the first release of a prime-time show in North America. "We're very aware that the broadcasting environment is changing," said Tessa Sproule, executive in charge of digital programming for factual entertainment at CBC Television. "We want to explore new ways to do what we do."

independentm...	Date: March 21, 2008 @ 2:58 AM Ok, gonna SPAM my own band's music now. :D We actually found a drummer we like and recorded a few tunes with him Thursday. Unfortunately, DMusic is still fubar for uploads from MY band (other DMusic user's report that things are FINE with their upload capability ...but OUR'S still don't work.) ...so, long story short, I spent all night uploading new music to YouTube. ...and the links to our new stuff can be found HERE! ( http://electricgypsy.info/NewStuff.htm ) :bouncy: GO!

kyodylee	Date: March 22, 2008 @ 3:43 PM Dolly Parton releases album on own label She has watched with interest as new technology has created opportunities without the big labels. "Now the majors are what they used to think I was: history," she said. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080322/ap_en_mu/people_dolly_parton

independentm...	Date: March 22, 2008 @ 4:56 PM Good for her. She's been an indie artist for quite some time now. Oh, BTW. Andrea's brother-in-law, banjo master Gary Davis was who produced and played on her Halo's and Horns album a couple years ago. He is a member of her band the "Blueniques" and still plays at the Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge Tn. Do a search on Gary (biscuit) Davis at YouTube if you want to hear a National Banjo champion!

independentm...	Date: March 22, 2008 @ 6:09 PM The BD+ anti-copying system used by BluRay disks has been cracked. BD+ has been held out as some kind of uncrackable answer to the DRM wars, and was cited by many pundits for BluRay's victory over HD-DVD in the recent format wars.

independentm...	Date: March 22, 2008 @ 6:13 PM Larry Lessig has offcially launched Change Congress, his followup to Creative Commons ...a movement to end the corrupting influence of, well, influence on Congress:

independentm...	Date: March 22, 2008 @ 6:18 PM Why your e-books are no longer yours. when you "buy" "content" for Amazon's Kindle or the Sony Reader, are you buying a crippled license to intellectual property when you download, or are you buying a book? If the latter, then the first sale doctrine, which lets you hawk your old Harry Potter hardcovers on eBay, would apply. Some law students at Columbia took a swing at the question and Gizmodo reprints the "surprisingly readable" legal summary. Short answer: those restrictive licenses may very well be legal, and even if you had rights under the first sale doctrine, you might only be able to resell or give away your Kindle — not a copy of the work.

independentm...	Date: March 22, 2008 @ 6:24 PM Gerard Kunkel, Comcast's senior VP of user experience, stated that the cable company is experimenting with different camera technologies built into its devices so it can know who's in your living room. Comcast wouldn't ever do anything nefarious with this capability ...naw?

independentm...	Date: March 22, 2008 @ 6:26 PM Ignore the "pirates". "'So here is the deal: When you develop for a market, you don't go by the user base. You go by the potential customer base. That's what most software companies do. They base what they want to create on the size of the market they're developing for,' Wardell writes on his blog. 'But not PC game developers.' Don't let people who aren't your audience control the titles you make, and ignore piracy. This is much like Trent Reznor's strategy, although the execution is different. Instead of worrying about pirates, just leave the content out in the open. The market Reznor plays to will still buy the music; he's simply stopped worrying about the pirates. He came to the same conclusion: they weren't customers, they might never be customers, so spending money to try to stop them serves no purpose."

independentm...	Date: March 23, 2008 @ 4:16 PM MPAA chairman says he wants to work with ISPs to police networks and fight copyright infringement.

independentm...	Date: March 23, 2008 @ 5:41 PM Beatles sue to block 1962 tapes' release The lawsuit contends that the recordings are of poor quality and that circulating them "dilutes and tarnishes the extraordinarily valuable image associated with the Beatles."

independentm...	Date: March 23, 2008 @ 5:51 PM `Chocolate Rain' claims a YouTube music video award Tay Zonday morphed from an unknown musician to an Internet superstar who got booked on national TV shows after his song "Chocolate Rain" — an amateur clip of his baritone crooning — went viral last year.

independentm...	Date: March 23, 2008 @ 6:20 PM Where are our pals from TechTv now? It has been almost 4 years since the demise of TechTV, the place where all the computer geeks in the world came together to drink, dance, and be merry. But since Comcast purchased the network and purged it into it’s awful G4TV network, most of us stopped watching, almost the entire TechTV cast was fired, and they all dispersed into world. So, what are they up to?

independentm...	Date: March 23, 2008 @ 6:40 PM Third-party tunes on iPhone may find discord Music services may not play well with Apple's software development kit "The real interesting test case will be Amazon," Rubin says. "Here's a music vendor selling songs that are clearly compatible with the iPhone. Unlike with Rhapsody or Napster, there's no DRM you need to make work." The same goes for eMusic. But both are considered iTunes challengers, and Apple could easily decline to make their applications available in the AppStore.

independentm...	Date: March 23, 2008 @ 6:56 PM Telecom lobbyists tied to McCain Republican presidential candidate John McCain has condemned the influence of "special interest lobbyists," yet dozens of lobbyists have political and financial ties to his presidential campaign — particularly from telecommunications companies, an industry he helps oversee in the Senate. McCain is a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the telecom industry and the Federal Communications Commission. He has repeatedly pushed industry-backed legislation since 2000, particularly during a second stint as committee chairman from 2003 through 2005. His efforts to eliminate taxes and regulations on telecommunications services won him praise from industry executives.

independentm...	Date: March 23, 2008 @ 6:59 PM Universal Music Group enslaves Gregorian Chanting Monks. sad.

independentm...	Date: March 23, 2008 @ 7:00 PM OBIT: Cuban-born bassist, band leader and mambo pioneer Israel "Cachao" Lopez died on Saturday in Miami, media reports said. He was 89.

independentm...	Date: March 23, 2008 @ 7:03 PM The settlement of a long legal dispute over rights to the Beach Boys' name has restored good vibrations among the three surviving original members

independentm...	Date: March 24, 2008 @ 9:06 AM The Justice Department approved Sirius Satellite Radio's $5 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio on Monday, saying the deal was unlikely to hurt competition or consumers. The Justice Department, in a lengthy news release explaining its decision, said the two companies compete not just with each other but also with other forms of radio and entertainment. ---- phhth! Just because we got the Internet, this administration thinks that's an excuse for everything else to become a monopoly. Don't expect to see any other choice in satellite radio for many many years to come. THE ENTIRE SHEBANG is being given to just one company. It's un-American.

pessimist	Date: March 24, 2008 @ 11:27 AM Re: "unlikely to hurt competition or consumers" That's a bowl of bullshit.

independentm...	Date: March 24, 2008 @ 7:13 PM Sorry, Ashley: Your 15 Minutes Are Almost Up Prostitute at Center of Spitzer Scandal Must Act Quickly if She Hopes to Capitalize on Her Instant Notoriety; She's Already Lost $1 Million An aspiring singer, Ms. Dupré's only move after the scandal broke was to upload her second song to the Amie Street online music store around 2 a.m. on March 13; she managed to get some radio airplay in New York on Z100 on March 14. But improper gubernatorial gusto isn't the same springboard as winning "American Idol." "If she was in the studio with a producer, her voice is not that much worse than Britney Spears'. ... It's not inconceivable that she could have a song as good as the stuff on the charts," said Andy Greene, assistant editor at Rolling Stone. "It's a really tough road for her to have a music career because she's a prostitute," he added. "She had sex with Gov. Spitzer, and that's fascinating to a lot of people. But people ultimately want to read her book or see her interviewed by Oprah or Barbara Walters. They don't want to listen to her third or fourth song." Ironically, by opting not to cash in, Ms. Dupré might prove herself classier than the common "celebrity."

autodidact	Date: March 24, 2008 @ 7:15 PM These satellite radio companies are in deep do-do. Hemorrhaging cash. Their services are largely duplicative, except for some exclusive content that is owned by Sirius or XM. A duopoly is not necessarily that much better than a monopoly, especially when both companies may crash, leaving a nothing-opoly. Or one may crash, leaving the other standing, in which case you have a monopoly by default. In this case, it seems like a rational decision was made. It can't really be said there is no competition anyway. DVD sales and video games "compete" with music CDs for the entertainment dollar. Likewise, terrestrial radio competes with satellite. And for the cost of a one or two year subscription to these satellite services and equipment, you could buy a nice iPod and hook it up to your auto sound system and play your own CDs. In other words, there are alternatives that act as competition.

independentm...	Date: March 24, 2008 @ 7:25 PM OBIT: Neil Aspenall Beatles roadie/fixer/confidant :candle:

INeedAlover	Date: March 25, 2008 @ 6:46 AM [url=http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080325-innocent-man-pinched-by-riaa-asks-scotus-for-attorneys-fees.html]Will The Supreme Court Even Bother?/url] Here is a perfect case to help even up the odds for anyone sued by the RIAA. Of course, us smarter people would never be sued by the RIAA, since we don't share RIAA music :-).

independentm...	Date: March 25, 2008 @ 5:01 PM Ms. Andersen claims she should be awarded approximately $300,000. The RIAA claims her fees should be limited to $30,000.

independentm...	Date: March 25, 2008 @ 6:46 PM The Canadian family-run ISP Teksavvy (which is popular among Canadian P2P users precisely because it does not throttle P2P) has started noticing that Bell Canada is throttling traffic before it reaches wholesale partners.

independentm...	Date: March 25, 2008 @ 6:56 PM "A bunch of chatter about muxtape today from various pals on different social networks I belong to. It's a pretty neat little service. Hand-roll your own MP3 mixtapes, and folks can listen to them with an intermaweb browser." -- Xeni Jardin of BoingBoing http://muxtape.com Probably gonna be sued out of existence by the RIAA. Sounds too much like the MyMp3Locker which Michael Robertson attempted several years ago (that subsequently got Mp3.com killed!)

independentm...	Date: March 25, 2008 @ 6:59 PM "Rickroll" Astley interviewed Over at the Los Angeles Times, David Sarno has posted a funny audio interview with the famed '80s singer after whom the Rickroll is named.

independentm...	Date: March 25, 2008 @ 7:02 PM "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations." (video lecture by Clay Shirky from his book of same name) hmm... something we perhaps need to read.

independentm...	Date: March 25, 2008 @ 7:21 PM Sheryl Crow's recent claim that she would be working with Fleetwood Mac surprised a lot of people -- including the members of the classic rock group.

independentm...	Date: March 25, 2008 @ 7:22 PM Smashing Pumpkins sue Virgin Records over Pepsi ads The alternative-rock band Smashing Pumpkins have sued Virgin Records, saying their former record label damaged the Grammy-winning band's image and reputation for artistic integrity by using it in a worldwide promotional campaign.

independentm...	Date: March 25, 2008 @ 7:23 PM "Recently they have ignored our pleas to give our fans special editions of our old albums, telling us they weren't interested so there is a tremendous amount of hypocrisy involved with them turning around and using us like this," Corgan said

independentm...	Date: March 25, 2008 @ 7:32 PM Songkick website guides music lovers to real-world concerts British Internet startup Songkick launched Wednesday with a vow to inspire digital-age music lovers to reclaim the joy of hearing bands play live in real-world venues.

independentm...	Date: March 25, 2008 @ 7:34 PM Songkick co-opts music bloggers directly with "Bandsense," an algorithm that automatically turns concert references in postings into links for online ticket purchases, with bloggers getting commissions for ticket sales. hmm...

independentm...	Date: March 25, 2008 @ 8:19 PM Henry Rollins said that Britney Spears doesn't completely sing her songs. A big fucking DUH. During an interview with the Sun Media, Henry said that he's heard stories from different sound engineers on how Britney comes up with her sound. Henry said, "They have the black chick come in and sing, and Britney sings over it, and they mix them together," said Rollins, who has his own talk show on IFC. (Britney) gets her phrasing basically from this older R&B woman. I found that out talking to an engineer. Britney apparently isn't actually the worst singer, she just has no feel. So they bring in this older black woman who sings the song, then Britney sings to it, and they kind of make a mix of the two voices, and that's what you hear on the records." http://dlisted.com/node/24780

pessimist	Date: March 25, 2008 @ 9:11 PM That's interesting information for those who didn't know Britney can't sing. That's got to be at least 1% of the population.

Motomasa	Date: March 26, 2008 @ 9:01 AM ISPs limit access to CBC download, users say Thousands of viewers have embraced CBC-TV's experiment with BitTorrent, but many Canadians have found their attempts to access a CBC show online restricted by their internet service provider... However, downloaders who blogged about the experience on the Canada's Next Great Prime Minister site complained about very long periods required to download the show. One user received a notice that it could take 2½ hours to download, while another was quoted 11 hours.

independentm...	Date: March 26, 2008 @ 6:54 PM RIAA vice president and Ray Beckerman to share dais on Friday, March 28th, at Fordham University Law School, to discuss statutory damages RIAA opposes dismissal motion in Priority v. Vines, asks Court not to follow Atlantic v. Brennan or Interscope v. Rodriguez http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com

independentm...	Date: March 26, 2008 @ 7:36 PM The continuing battle by the members of the Doors over the right to use the name. Ray Manzarek Wins Right To Appeal Breach Of Contract Lawsuit after Doors drummer John Densmore successfully won a legal battle to stop Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger from touring as The Doors Of The 21st Century.

independentm...	Date: March 26, 2008 @ 7:47 PM OBIT: Rapper "Kevlar" shot dead. Sad, but ironic, given his stage-name.

independentm...	Date: March 26, 2008 @ 11:41 PM Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan said his recent breach-of-contract lawsuit against Virgin Records comes on the heels of a lengthy feud with the band's former label over the handling of its back catalog.

independentm...	Date: March 26, 2008 @ 11:43 PM Richie Sambora Busted for DUI Don't drink and drive folks! (Especially if you are a rich rock star. USE YOUR DAMN CHAUFFER or HAIL A CAB!)

byteme	Date: March 28, 2008 @ 8:38 AM GTA IV Unveils New Music Download Model But remember, the music industry doesn't use violence to sell their wares. After all, they are so much more moral than the rest of us.

independentm...	Date: March 28, 2008 @ 4:57 PM Superman's creator's heirs awarded copyright in Action Comics #1

independentm...	Date: March 28, 2008 @ 5:03 PM Walmart looses trademark battle over :) (smiley face) "This ruling shows that even the biggest company in America is subject to parody, and that trademark rights must yield to the right of free speech. This is a resounding victory for First Amendment rights and sends a clear message to big corporations that would try to use their deep pockets to intimidate and silence their critics."

independentm...	Date: March 28, 2008 @ 6:35 PM One technical key to net neutrality: solving TCP congestion

independentm...	Date: March 28, 2008 @ 6:37 PM Is voting Republican a genetically inherited disease? lol

pessimist	Date: March 28, 2008 @ 8:36 PM Meekly being reluctant to change our nation's ruinous two-party political system is even more ubiquitous.

independentm...	Date: March 28, 2008 @ 11:38 PM true dat

autodidact	Date: March 29, 2008 @ 9:10 AM Thomas Sowell said that the only real reason for voting Republican is Democrats. Increasingly, I am finding that is true among my Republican-voting friends. It is essentially a "no" vote on Democrats, because they have no other choice. Personally, I think gridlock is our friend. If the government is tied up in knots, we are all much safer.

gfmlcka	Date: March 30, 2008 @ 2:59 PM http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/08/03/30/1856232.shtml More Sony-BMG crap.

independentm...	Date: March 30, 2008 @ 9:46 PM Comcast puts the squeeze on High Def Tv. The cable operator claims it is using improved compression techniques, so that most subscribers won't see any drop-off in picture quality. But A/V buff Ken Fowler claims the differences between some of Comcast's more highly compressed channels and Verizon's FiOS TV are indeed noticeable.

independentm...	Date: March 30, 2008 @ 9:49 PM Sony BMG Sued For Using Pirated Software The small software company PointDev learned that Sony BMG was using a pirated license for one of its system administration tools. PointDev got bailiffs to raid a Sony property and they found pirated software on four servers.

TrueAudio	Date: March 31, 2008 @ 5:42 PM Mukasey: "Terrorists" Behind Copyright Violations (soon to apply to Linux) http://darthchaosofrspw.wordpress.co...pply-to-linux/ http://www.infowars.com/?p=1143&cp=2#comments http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080328/...roperty?terror http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...-mukasey_N.htm http://www.wtopnews.com/?sid=1373622&nid=116

TrueAudio	Date: March 31, 2008 @ 5:44 PM Some broken links fixed: http://darthchaosofrspw.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/mukasey-terrorists-behind-copyright-violations-soon-to-apply-to-linux/ Mukasey: "piracy funding terror" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080328/ap_on_hi_te/mukasey_intellectual_property?terror

independentm...	Date: March 31, 2008 @ 8:08 PM EMI Suffers A Setback In Case Against MP3Tunes The record labels love to sue Michael Robertson, the founder of MP3.com (sold to Vivendi in 2001 for $372 million) who now incubates a number of Web startups. One of them is MP3Tunes, which is billed as a music storage locker. But the record labels still don’t like it. EMI is suing MP3Tunes for copyright infringement and demanded that the service turn over the more than 100 million music files stored in all 125,000 MP3Tunes accounts. (The argument is that even if there is no sharing between lockers, users are transferring music to MP3Tunes, which is the same as distributing the music—a right only EMI has). A court in New York has denied that request.

independentm...	Date: March 31, 2008 @ 8:09 PM "EMI is trying to eliminate online storage and take people back to a prehistoric time before Internet services existed." --Michael Robertson.