Jul 28th, 2003
From the NYtimes.com (registration required):
A blizzard of subpoenas from the recording industry seeking the identities of people suspected of illegally swapping music is provoking fear, anger and professions of remorse as the targets of the antipiracy dragnet learn that they may soon be sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
The Recording Industry Association of America has obtained close to 1,000 such subpoenas over the last four weeks to more than a dozen Internet service providers, including Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner Cable, and several universities, including Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, demanding the names of file swappers. Most Internet providers are notifying the unlucky subscribers by mail that they are legally required to turn over their contact information.
Some of the targeted Internet users expressed shock that they were singled out for an activity that tens of millions of Americans are believed to engage in. Others said they were unaware they were doing anything wrong. Most of those interviewed refused to be identified by name, citing privacy concerns and the potential impending legal action against them.
The mother of the 14-year-old boy said she had assumed that her son's file-swapping was all right because she knew that Napster, the company that drove the original wave of online music piracy, had been shut down after the record companies sued. Any other company whose software is used by so many of her son's friends, she reasoned, must have done something different to be allowed to continue operating.
“We've had extensive discussions about why it was wrong, and how it's kind of like plagiarism, taking someone else's words or someone else's music and not giving them credit for it,” she said. She added that her son stayed in his room all day, while her older daughter worried that her parents would not be able to pay for college next year.
The notion of paying up to $150,000 for each of the eight songs that the recording industry listed on the subpoena — not to mention lawyer fees of $200 an hour should the family decide to fight a lawsuit — still boggles her mind. “Hopefully when they find out he's just a kid, they'll drop it,” she said.
But not necessarily. Frustrated with the failure of warnings and educational campaigns to stem the flood of online music trading, the major music companies said on June 25 that they intended to sue hundreds of individuals as a form of deterrence.
To see if you are next in line for a subpoena from the RIAA's you can search for your filesharing username here. There's got to be better way for the music industry fight back than to sue 14 year olds for over a million dollars for 8 downloaded songs.
Jul 22nd, 2003
From CNN.com:
Michael Jackson says Congress should make no laws that could land music fans in jail for downloading songs illegally over the Internet.
“I am speechless about the idea of putting music fans in jail for downloading music. It is wrong to download, but the answer cannot be jail,” Jackson said in a statement released Monday.
“Here in America we create new opportunities out of adversity, not punitive laws …,” he said. “It is the fans that drive the success of the music business; I wish this would not be forgotten.”
Wow - I have to say I actually agree where with the former King of Pop on this one.
Jul 18th, 2003
From CNN.com:
The number of people killed in sport/utility rollover crashes jumped 14 percent last year as total highway deaths hit a 12-year high of nearly 43,000, according to a government report.
Meanwhile, car crash injuries fell to an all-time low last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in its report, issued Thursday. Child and pedestrian deaths also fell, as did fatalities involving large trucks.
But SUV rollovers killed more than 2,400 people last year, a 14 percent increase from 2001, the government said. It did not offer a reason for the increase. Nearly two-thirds, or 61 percent, of all SUV fatalities involved rollovers.
It’s absolutely shocking to me how unsafe many modern SUVs and trucks are. For a good example you have to look no further than the most popular vehicle on the US roads: the Ford F150. SUVs have a rollover fatality rate that is nearly three times higher than passenger cars and are much more likely to actually rollover. You simply can’t expect to drive a tall, heavy vehicle and not be susceptible to the laws of physics.
Jul 10th, 2003
From CNN.com:
It may have been inevitable. Now that cell phones with little digital cameras have spread throughout Asia, so have new brands of misbehavior.
Some people are secretly taking photos up women's skirts and down into bathroom stalls. Others are avoiding buying books and magazines by snapping free shots of desired pages.
“The problem with a new technology is that society has yet to come up with a common understanding about appropriate behavior,” said Mizuko Ito, an expert on mobile phone culture at Keio University in Tokyo.
You can read the entire article here.
Jul 3rd, 2003
I can't stress how much the White Stripes rocked the house the other night at the Aragon. But not only rocked the house but they rocked it with tons of stuff from their first two albums. There were songs played that I never thought I'd hear live again. Well done Jack.
It was interesting to see the Jack and Meg interact on stage. While it's obvious she's not a drummer by trade she can make a lot of noise in a John Bonham sort of way. That combined with Jack's quick moves in and out of one song after another make for a fantastic live show.
The only downside was the venue itself. While there's no better ballroom on the northside it's not an ideal place for a rock concert. Even though the Stripes had some of the better sound I'd heard in there it was still muddied by the horrible acoustics.
BTW the above photos were taken by my phone - sorry about the quality
