Any sort of goodwill remaining in my heart towards the music "industry" is now _gone_. Fuck the RIAA and fuck each and every label that co-operates with them for allowing them to flat-out take advantage of a naive college student running a search engine. The fact that the settlement provided that the student was allowed to _refute_ the claims the RIAA made (effectively, in exchange for the RIAA saying he wasn't stealing anything) in exchange for his $12,000 says two words to me...

Shakedown

...and...

Terrorism.

Fuck the RIAA.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Make a donation to help him recoup his $12k that was stolen here...
http://chewplastic.com/

ABCNEWS.com : Record Industry Targets Teen Programmer

] A lottery winner who scooped a jackpot worth almost £2
] million has failed to come forward in time to claim the
] life-changing prize.
]
] A luckless south Wales winner missed last night's 11pm
] final deadline, despite efforts over six months to trace
] the owner of the winning ticket.

This story shortly to be followed by a suicide report somewhere in south Wales.

Of all the dumb luck...

Ananova - Lottery jackpot winner misses deadline

] Ikea has apologised after accidentally naming a child's
] bunk bed after an obscene German expression.
]
] The Swedish firm didn't realise the problem until after
] the £110 bed went on sale across Europe.
]
] The wooden bed is called the "Gutvik" which means "Good
] f***" in German.

Why market research is so important.

Ananova - Ikea's new bed shares name with German obscenity

] Thomas Woolston's recent $35 million victory in a patent
] infringement suit against Internet colossus eBay has
] brought both vindication and vilification.
]
] Last month, a federal jury in Norfolk ruled that eBay
] willfully infringed on Woolston's patents, which devised
] a method for people to buy a product over the Internet
] for a fixed price. EBay's "Buy It Now" feature, which
] allows Web surfers to do the same thing, infringes on
] that patent.

WTF?? How do you patent "Buy it now"? It was a logical next step in evolution for Ebays site. Its a check out feature not unlike what you would find on any other "shopping cart" system - agree to pay a fixed price and you proceed to "checkout" to buy the merchandise. What the hell did this jury think was actually "invented" here?

Quick - someone patent "sexual intercourse" then sue the human race for infringement.

Laughing Boy

USATODAY.com - Va. inventor vindicated, vilified after verdict against eBay

] Bands come and go from record labels in a revolving door
] of euphoria and dejection, so when the news came out that
] Pearl Jam had fulfilled its contract and was leaving Epic
] after 12 years, many in the industry shrugged and went
] back to their Mocha Malt Frappucinos. But this is more
] than just another band leaving just another label.

The music biz in a Pearl Jam

crankymessiah wrote:
] ] Beginning July 1, Tennessee motorcyclists can legally run
] ] red lights -- if they stop first and "exercise due care"
] ] -- under a bill signed into law by Gov. Phil Bredesen.
] ]
] ] Motorcyclists had complained they were forced to wait
] ] excessive periods of time at stop lights because sensors
] ] that control the lights did not recognize motorcycles,
] ] which are now made mostly of aluminum and fiberglass, not
] ]

Cant motorcyclists make a right turn (and in spots where there is no right on red, let motorcyclists be exempt), then find an area where they can make a U turn? Thats what I do in my car when I'm at a light where the sensor is obviously broken. Yea - it takes a few seconds longer. But when your on a cycle, your generally saving time in traffic and parking anyway.

I just think letting people run red lights sets a very bad precident and motorcyclists are going to DIE "I can gun it and beat that oncoming traffic".

Laughing Boy

RE: ajc.com | News | Law allowing motorcycles to run red lights effective July 1

] The Verizon internet service provider (ISP) was ordered
] to surrender the names to the Recording Industry
] Association of America (RIAA) by a court of Appeal in
] Washington.
]
] On Wednesday the court rejected Verizon's request for a
] delay, pending a final decision in the case.

Uh oh...

BBC NEWS | Technology | File-swappers face the music

] The Bush administration distorted intelligence and
] presented conjecture as evidence to justify a U.S.
] invasion of Iraq (news - web sites), according to a
] retired intelligence official who served during the
] months before the war.

gee. what a surprise.

Ex-Official: Evidence Distorted for War

A little pricey but definitely unique

Inflatable Church

]An American doctor has claimed that cheese can be as addictive as
]morphine.

]Dr Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee on
]Responsible Medicine, says cheese is addictive because it contains
]small amounts of morphine from cows' liver.

THATS IT! Thats what was wrong with the cheese-heads I lived among in Wisconsin - they were all morphine addicts! And here I just thought they were inbred morons.

Laughing Boy

Cheese can be as addictive as morphine