] Attorneys Howard Ende and Melissa Klipp said the
] settlement was reached between the Recording Industry
] Association of America and 18-year-old Princeton
] University student Daniel Peng. Under terms of the
] settlement, Peng will make a monetary payment to the
] recording industry over a period of several years.

I wonder how many people will wind up paying tax to the RIAA in the next few years..

Wired News: Song Swapper Settles With RIAA

] Widespread inbreeding in Saudi Arabia has produced
] several genetic disorders, Saudi public health officials
] said, including the blood diseases of thalassemia, a
] potentially fatal hemoglobin deficiency, and sickle cell
] anemia. Spinal muscular atrophy and diabetes are also
] common, especially in the regions with the longest
] traditions of marriage between relatives. Dr. Sakati said
] she had also found links between inbreeding and deafness
] and muteness.

Its not just the deep south..

Saudi Arabia Awakes to the Perils of Inbreeding

] There’s a standard dance that the IP extremists do
] well: When they lose in Congress, they go overseas
] and negotiate a treaty that imposes on the US the
] same obligation they just lost in Congress; then
] they come back and say, “we must do this to live up
] to our international obligations.”

] So here we go again: The US Trade Representative is
] negotiating trade agreements with Chile and Singapore.
] The agreements essentially require these two countries
] to adopt the DMCA, and make it a violation of “our
] international obligations” if we were to change the
] DMCA. Representatives Lofgren and Boucher — who both
] have bills introduced to amend the DMCA — have written
] a strongly worded letter to the USTR asking for
] clarification. For consistent with this policy making
] process, just what is being promised is never made
] clear — until it is too late. Here’s the letter.

Lawrence Lessig | We’ve seen it all before

] Doctors at Chimkent Children's Hospital in Kazakhstan
] originally believed Mourat Zhanaidarov was suffering from
] a cyst.
]
] But during surgery, they discovered he was in fact
] carrying the dead foetus of his twin brother.
]
] The foetus had developed into a tumour but was found to
] have hair, nails and bones.

] Valentina Vostrikova, chief surgeon at Chimkent
] Children's Hospital, told the newspaper: "It was
] remarkable. For seven years it lived like a parasite
] inside the boy's body."

BBC NEWS | Health | Boy 'pregnant' with twin brother

First of a three part interview with Google's Eric Schmidt. Covers a number of topics.. Pyra Labs, micropublishing, blogging, online privacy, and Google's revenue sources..

AlwaysOn | About Google's Eric Schmidt

] Chief executive for the Recording Industry Association of
] America, Hilary Rosen, is helping draft copyright
] legislation for the New Iraq, according to investigative
] journalist Gregory Palast.
]
] "Who's really going to win this war? It looks like
] Madonna," Palast told Democracy Now radio. "Where before,
] they feared Saddam Hussein, now they have to fear Sony
] Records will chop off their hands if they bootleg a
] Madonna album."

] Under Iraqi copyright legislation, passed by The
] Revolution Leadership Council in 1971, a copyright lapses
] 25 years after the death of the author, but no more then
] fifty years after the publication of the work. It's
] shorter for private works, and there are several public
] interest exemptions.

Iraq, Mickey Mouse would like to have a few words with you..

The Register | RIAA's Rosen 'writing Iraq copyright laws'

] An American citizen detained for more than a month as a
] material witness in a terrorism case in Oregon was
] charged today with plotting to fight against American
] soldiers in Afghanistan.
]

] The American, Maher Hawash, a 38-year-old software
] designer in Portland, was accused of conspiring with a
] group of six others who had already been charged with
] trying to provide material support to Al Qaeda and the
] Taliban.

Hawash Charged With Plotting to Fight U.S. in Afghanistan

] Jack Osbourne, the 17-year-old son of heavy metal star
] Ozzy Osbourne, has checked into a drug and alcohol
] rehabilitation clinic, People magazine reported.

] ``I got caught up in my new lifestyle and got carried
] away with drugs and alcohol,'' Osbourne told the
] magazine. ``Once I realized this, I voluntarily checked
] myself into a detox facility for my own health and
] well-being.''

Hahaha.. He is 17, and already in rehab.. HAHAH!!

Jack Osbourne enters rehab

] It seems this morning that bloggers have taken over the
] world.
]
] Or at least the 2004 presidential campaign. Or at least
] the not-so-invisible primary leading up to the campaign.
]
] The pundits are blogging. The journalists are blogging.
] And now the candidates are blogging.
]
] Who needs television? Let's just eliminate the middleman.
]
] Here's the deal: ABC's The Note (which went AWOL during
] the war but is now back) has gone beyond offering its
] cheeky interpretation of campaign spin. It now offers
] free space (hey, it's all free in cyberspace) to the '04
] contenders to add their own cheeky interpretation of
] their own campaign spin.
]
] Getting dizzy yet?
]
] So now we have the following exciting scenario: Candidate
] gives speech. ABC News reports speech. ABC's Note blogs
] speech. Then candidate blogs his own speech, knocking
] down any negative interpretation by other bloggers. And
] we blog the whole incestuous process.

Modem Madness (washingtonpost.com)

Tycho's comments (from site news):
] Have you heard that old saw where somebody says that
] "children today recognize less than ten plants, but
] over a thousand corporate logos"? Putting aside the
] fact the logos have the name of the company on them
] and plants typically don't, you're supposed to be just
] shocked by that plants/logos thing, and I've just never
] been able to muster the indignation over it. Here's
] where it starts to get tricky: when I want to tell
] people where something is, I don't tell them to look
] for the largest poplar, so it doesn't matter if they
] can recognize its tulip-shaped leaves. I tell them to
] turn right at the Texaco. Or the Pizza Pipeline. Or
] Jack In The Box. They actually determine geography.
] I actually can't describe my surroundings without
] using these brands.
]
] I can hardly have thoughts without utilizing brands.
] So, American McGee's creative propensities amuse us.
] What would happen if he turned his dark gaze on one
] of those sweet girls' toys from the eighties, like
] Rainbow Brite or Sweet Secrets or My Little Pony? No,
] I've got it: Strawberry Shortcake. Counting American
] McGee, a single train of thought requires no less
] than five products. Look at Penny Arcade, for Christ's
] sake. I can't even express concepts without leveraging
] some organization's coveted intellectual property. In
] the case of the now infamous strip, it wouldn't have made
] sense to use anything but a commonly known product. So
] now that these Goddamn characters and concepts and
] products are completely intrinsic to our language and
] thought processes, they are, in fact, inextricable, they
] can effectively police speech. I'm not even trying to
] make a value judgement about that. I'm simply amazed
] by it.

This comic is PA's response to American Greetings flawed understanding of Fair Use, Parody, and Satire. Needless to say, its funny as hell.

Writing software, speaking at conventions, using the internet, making webcomics, finding a job, etc.. Wow, we are really getting screwed on all fronts these days, arn't we? Starting to see posts to articles about these incidents with comments like "where do we draw the line?", and its not in reference to where fair use begins and ends, rather its more like "when do we start showing up at the offices of these companies with chainsaws and gasoline cans?"..

[ Update: The Comic Book Defense Fund has lept into action.. http://www.cbldf.org/ ]

Penny Arcade - 10 o'clock ass fucking