] The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to
] overturn controversial rules adopted by the Federal
] Communications Commission that would greatly increase
] the number of television stations a single company is
] allowed to own.
]
] The FCC last month voted to ease ownership restrictions,
] lifting the national broadcast "cap" -- or reach of any
] single company -- to 45 percent of the national market
] from 35 percent and letting TV, radio and newspaper
] companies buy each other more freely.
]
] But by a vote of 400 to 21 the House rejected those
] changes.

Thank GOD!!! Stick THAT in your pipe and smoke it, Clear Channel.

US House of Representatives nixes FCC rules expanding ownership

Lessig is back now, but Howard Dean's guest blogging was quite interesting, especially for the 'wired' population.

] So it is time for me to take a break from this space too.
] But I’ve arranged for a much more interesting guest
] blogger while I’m gone: former governor, and presidential
] candidate, Howard Dean.

Howard Dean guestblogging for Lawrence Lessig

] With the record labels at war with online song swappers,
] PC users who wanted to go straight and do the right thing
] had no inexpensive, easy-to-use way to buy songs
] legitimately until today.
]
] Online retailer Buy.com, which sells computers, books,
] gadgets, CDs and DVDs, adds downloads to its mix today.
] BuyMusic.com will stock 350,000 songs for as little as 79
] cents each, though most sell for 99 cents or $1.19. All
] can be transferred to portables or burned to CDs.

But I hear the encryption scheme sucks, and if you make a coaster with Windows Media Player, which is what you have to use if you're not doing anything 'illegal' to the data you receive, you've used up one of your optional burns for that track. All in all it needs some work to be more user friendly.

Unlimited downloads are now PC

Except that a few things are very wrong. First, my gin and tonic is tinkling softly on the center console. Second, my copilot is an orange-and-white tabby. Third, a car alarm keeps going off nearby. Fourth, I don't have a pilot's license. Fifth, I'm not wearing pants.

An article raising the question that I've been wondering for quite some time - why bother taking flying lessons on a Cessna and asking how it differs from a 727 when you could just get the lastest copy of Flight Sim and see for yourself?

So far, The FBI doesn't seem concerned about the threat posed by flight-simulation games, but that may be because they've been focusing their attention elsewhere. The bureau's Civil Aviation Unit doesn't actively patrol the industry, relying instead on tips from concerned citizens. When I called the public relations office to ask them about the realism of my A320 simulation experience, an agent fielded the inquiry with a slightly patronizing tone until I directed her to a Web site featuring several screen shots of the virtual A320 flight deck.

There was a long pause. Then, with a nervous laugh, she said, "I've never seen this before."

Air Osama

] The following questions and answers are being presented
] as a public service of RattleHead Records, to help people
] understand the New World Order as it is being created by
] the Universal Artists Group. The questions below seem
] irrelevant only because it is not the current reality;
] but sometime in the very near future, if these people
] remain unchallenged, it will be the reality.

Anyone want to comment on how true these statements may/may not be?

SDMI and You

] Australia (CNN) -- Ever wanted to wish upon a star? Well,
] you have 70,000 million million million to choose from.
]
] That's the total number of stars in the known universe,
] according to a study by Australian astronomers.
]
] It's also about 10 times as many stars as grains of sand
] on all the world's beaches and deserts.
]
] The figure -- 7 followed by 22 zeros or, more accurately,
] 70 sextillion -- was calculated by a team of stargazers
] based at the Australian National University.
]
] Speaking at the General Assembly of the International
] Astronomical Union meeting in Sydney, Dr Simon Driver
] said the number was drawn up based on a survey of one
] strip of sky, rather than trying to count every
] individual star.
]
] The team used two of the world's most powerful
] telescopes, one at the Anglo-Australian Observatory in
] northern New South Wales state and one in the Canary
] Islands, to carry out their survey.
]
] Within the strip of sky some 10,000 galaxies were
] pinpointed and detailed measurements of their brightness
] taken to calculate how many stars they contained.

Mind you - this is only the universe visible to earth! Who knows what that figure might really be?

QUICK! Someone register "sextillion.com" before the pr0n sites or squatters catch on. DOH! Too late!!

LB

Astronomers pick a sky high number

] The movie industry announced a broad new anti-piracy
] public education campaign today, with commercials set to
] appear on all six broadcast television networks, more
] than two dozen cable channels and in 5,000 movie theaters
] nationwide.
]
] The ads are scheduled to launch at the same time on all
] participating channels during prime-time telecasts on
] Thursday. They also are slated to run between previews
] showing before Friday night's movies. Encompassing one
] 30-second and five 65-second spots, the campaign asks
] consumers not to digitally download unauthorized versions
] of movies they may find on the Internet.
]
] The spots feature actor Ben Affleck and "Titanic"
] director James Cameron, but they focus on
] behind-the-scenes movie employees, such as set painters,
] security guards, costumers, editors and theater
] concessionaires who make up the bulk of the industry's
] 580,000 workers. The point of the campaign is to persuade
] illegal downloaders that they are stealing paycheck money
] not just from multi-millionaire stars but from regular
] working folks -- folks like them.

Now, I understand that this may be the case. I sympathize with "the little guys." And when Hollywood puts out a film I like, I go to the theatre and see it, and later I buy it on DVD - I don't get a crappy pirated copy, I want quality. But if they're putting out the same old crap, well, I'm not going, and I'm not buying.

But this blatant heart-string-ing makes me ill. "Aw, look at these poor guys... but don't mind us millionaires/billionaires over here, though." If they really felt so bad about the little guy, they wouldn't fight union contracts so hard, and they'd be more open to independent filmmakers. And maybe some of these CEOs would take a pay cut to up the wages for the guys who aren't able to "put together 12 straight months" (from the article). There was a meme not too long ago about Keanu Reeves giving something like 75% of what he made back to his stunt crew because he didn't feel they were compensated enough - maybe Big Hollywood should take a cue.

Screw you, Big Hollywood. I don't buy your play.

Movie Industry Unveils Anti-Piracy Public Education Campaign (TechNews.com)

] We all know about the Napster issue, the perfume company,
] the lipstick company, the tire makers... Metallica has
] sued them all. Rightly or wrongly, no one is judging
] that. However, the idea behind this parody was to gauge,
] after all that litigation, just how willing America was
] to buy a story as extraordinay -- as outlandish -- as
] them claiming ownership of a 2-chord progression.

A follow-up on the Metallica lawsuit. It was all made up. Now get back to work.

Unfaith On Metallica Hoax, 7/18/03

Hijexx wrote:
] MONTREAL — Metallica are taking legal action against
] independant Canadian rock band Unfaith over what they feel is
] unsanctioned usage of two chords the band has been using since
] 1982 : E and F.
]
] "People are going to get on our case again for this, but try
] to see it from our point of view just once," stated
] Metallica's Lars Ulrich. "We're not saying we own those two
] chords, individually - that would be ridiculous. We're just
] saying that in that specific order, people have grown to
] associate E, F with our music."

OK, that is truly ridiculous.

RE: Metallica Sue Canadian Band over E, F Chords

] "I suppose as long as the officers have had their shots
] and don't bite, I'll allow them to continue that
] technique," Moon said.

Would this really work anywhere but in Tennessee?

WPVI.com: Police Impersonate Dog - Catch Suspect