i don't know who couldn't believe that /. picked up this story, but I just saw it on the business segment on CNN. Apparently what they are banking on is that the vast majority of people won't actually redeem the free songs. The companies do not have to pay for them unless people actually use the vouchers. However, they did confirm that they paid full price for the songs (when they are eventually used).

inignoct wrote:
] [edit] i'll leave my original post below, but take w/ grain of
] salt. this is the NY Post after all, and i've seen no
] corroboration yet. perhaps i got over excited
] [/edit]
]
] man. looks like i'll be ordering me some mcflurry's.
]
] and also, holy shit !
]
] " Both Pepsi and McDonald's are paying Apple's retail price of
] 99 cents per song, sources say. And McDonald's has arranged to
] buy up to a billion songs to meet customer demand."
]
] That's some nice extra revenue, even if reality pushes the
] number down to, say, 300 million. that's amazing that they're
] paying full price, AND paying marketing. it's almost like,
] McD's and Pepsi are acting like Apple is a stronger trademark
] to capitalize on. or, at least, that iTunes/online music
] offers them some special benefits. Damn.

RE: New York Post Online Edition: business

] In 2002 the hole suddenly shrank, raising hopes it had
] turned the corner and was starting to close. But Shanklin
] said scientists now believed this was an abnormality due
] to atmospheric conditions, and that the 2003 expansion
] was back to more normal activity.

CNN.com - Report: Antarctic ozone hole sets record - Sep. 12, 2003

] The mishap was caused because 24 bolts were missing from
] a fixture in the “turn over cart”. Two errors occurred. First, technicians from another satellite program that uses the same type of “turn over cart” removed the 24 bolts from the NOAA cart on September 4 without proper documentation. Second, the NOAA team working today failed to follow the procedure to verify the configuration of the NOAA “turn over cart” since they had used it a few days earlier.

Earth Science Missions Anomaly Report: GOES/POES Program/POES Project: 6 Sep 2003 | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

] uncovered "an actual election file containing actual
] votes on election day from San Luis Obispo County,
] California"

Slashdot | Electronic Voting: Your Worst Nightmares are True

But the history here is fun. Here’s a quote from a 1967 House Judiciary Report, considering a modification to the law as it existed then:

[T]he record producers argued vigorously that the compulsory license system must be retained. They asserted that the record industry is a half-billion-dollar business of great economic importance in the United States and throughout the world; records today are the principal means of disseminating music, and this creates special problems, since performers need unhampered access to musical material on nondiscriminatory terms. Historically, the record producers pointed out, there were no recording rights before 1909 and the 1909 statute adopted the compulsory license as a deliberate anti-monopoly condition on the grant of these rights. They argue that the result has been an outpouring of recorded music, with the public being given lower prices, improved quality, and a greater choice.

Copyright Law Revision, Committee on the Judiciary, 90th Cong. 1st, Sess., Rep. No. 83 66 (March 8, 1967).

Lessig's Blog: The recording industry vs. compulsory licensing- now and then.

Dear Friends and fellow Wesleynauts,
We are deeply saddened to report that one of our artists, Wesley
Willis passed away yesterday, Thursday, August 21st. Wesley will be
greatly missed by all that had the privilege to know him, as well as
the fans who have been fortunate enough to experience his genius.

...

Rock on Wesley Willis.

R.I.P Wesley Willis

] U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said the book — "Lies and the
] Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right"
] — is a parody protected by the First Amendment (search).
]
] "There are hard cases and there are easy cases," the judge said.
] "This is an easy case. This case is wholly without merit, both
] factually and legally."

Ahhh, victory! The First Amendment still wins over corporate interests. Thank you Judge Chin...

Judge Denies FOX's Injunction

Sterling Ball, a jovial, plain-talking businessman, is CEO of Ernie Ball, the world's leading maker of premium guitar strings endorsed by generations of artists ranging from the likes of Eric Clapton to the dudes from Metallica.

But since jettisoning all of Microsoft products three years ago, Ernie Ball has also gained notoriety as a company that dumped most of its proprietary software--and still lived to tell the tale.

In 2000, the Business Software Alliance conducted a raid and subsequent audit at the San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based company that turned up a few dozen unlicensed copies of programs. Ball settled for $65,000, plus $35,000 in legal fees. But by then, the BSA, a trade group that helps enforce copyrights and licensing provisions for major business software makers, had put the company on the evening news and featured it in regional ads warning other businesses to monitor their software licenses.

Humiliated by the experience, Ball told his IT department he wanted Microsoft products out of his business within six months. "I said, 'I don't care if we have to buy 10,000 abacuses,'" recalled Ball, who recently addressed the LinuxWorld trade show. "We won't do business with someone who treats us poorly."

Ernie Ball Rockin' on without Microsoft