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Submission + - Pay up for playing CDs (theglobeandmail.com)

Submitted by on Friday July 20, 2007 @10:41AM

An anonymous reader writes: From the Globe & Mail — http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM .20070720.whair0720/BNStory/National/home

"Hair salons should pay up before they turn on the tunes for their customers, the organization that collects copyright fees in Canada says. The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, known as SOCAN, is sending letters to salons countrywide reminding them that under Canadian copyright law, they are supposed to pay royalties for playing recorded music on their premises. And that's got some people stickier than a well-coiffed beehive. "Where is that going to stop, as far as extracting money from the consumer?" said Raffaello Marrello, owner of Raffaello Salon in Toronto's Yorkville area, adding that salons already paid for the CDs once, when they bought them. Many salon owners say they had no idea they were supposed to pay to play their background music.

The organization launched public-awareness campaigns to remind people of their obligations."

Submission + - Pay up for playing CDs (theglobeandmail.com)

Submitted by on Friday July 20, 2007 @10:34AM

An anonymous reader writes: From the Globe & Mail:
"Hair salons should pay up before they turn on the tunes for their customers, the organization that collects copyright fees in Canada says.The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, known as SOCAN, is sending letters to salons countrywide reminding them that under Canadian copyright law, they are supposed to pay royalties for playing recorded music on their premises.And that's got some people stickier than a well-coiffed beehive. "Where is that going to stop, as far as extracting money from the consumer?" said Raffaello Marrello, owner of Raffaello Salon in Toronto's Yorkville area, adding that salons already paid for the CDs once, when they bought them.Many salon owners say they had no idea they were supposed to pay to play their background music.

The organization launched public-awareness campaigns to remind people of their obligations."

Submission + - Joint releases to jolt open source: Shuttleworth

Submitted by StonyandCher on Tuesday July 03, 2007 @10:36PM

StonyandCher writes: Ubuntu Linux founder Mark Shuttleworth has declared more publicity would be generated for open source software if the three large desktop projects of KDE, GNOME, and OpenOffice.org agreed on a common and regular release cycle.

From the article: "During his keynote address at this year's aKademy KDE conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Shuttleworth suggested that KDE move to a more predictable, preferably six-month, release schedule.

"He said differences in packaging open source software, while once meaningful, should now be consistent as differences are just barriers to broader adoption of the free desktop and lead to a lot of duplication and useless work."

Granny Sues RIAA Over Unlicensed Investigator 206

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday July 03, 2007 @08:43PM from the more-ways-to-hit-them-back dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "An elderly, non-file-sharing grandmother from East Texas, who had been sued by the RIAA after being displaced by Hurricane Rita, has sought leave to file counterclaims against the RIAA record companies for using unlicensed investigators. In her counterclaims (PDF) Ms. Crain claims that the record companies 'entered into an agreement with a private investigations company to provide investigative services which led to the production of evidence to be used in court against counterclaim plaintiff, including the identification of an IP address on the basis of which counterclaim defendants filed their suit... [They] were at the time of this agreement aware that the aforementioned private investigations company was unlicensed to conduct investigations in the State of Texas specifically, and in other states as well... [T]hey agreed between themselves and understood that unlicensed and unlawful investigations would take place in order to provide evidence for this lawsuit, as well as thousands of others as part of a mass litigation campaign... [T]he private investigations company hired by plaintiffs engaged in one or more overt acts of unlawful private investigation... Such actions constitute civil conspiracy under Texas common law.'"

Submission + - Bill Gates no longer world's richest man. (guardian.co.uk)

Submitted by

rapidweather

on Tuesday July 03, 2007 @08:38PM

rapidweather writes: "Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim has overtaken Bill Gates as the world's richest man. Bill Gates has held that title for over 10 years. Also referred to as Carlos Slim Helu, he is a widow with 6 children, and is 66 years old. The story in the Forbes link outlines his wealth as follows:
Latin America's richest man added more than $6 billion to his fortune this year. He sold off his stakes in MCI and Altria and used the proceeds to up his holding in Saks Inc; in his fixed line operator, Telmex; and in America Movil, his flagship wireless telecom outfit. The latest was a particularly smart move as America Movil's stock has almost doubled in the past year. He also owns 71% of a new public company, Impulsora del Desarollo Economico de America Latina, which he spun off from financial services giant Grupo Financiero Inbursa. Inbursa also invested in a start-up budget airline called Volaris. An art collector, Slim houses his Rodin sculptures in Mexico City's Museo Soumaya, the museum he funded and named after his late wife. His Grupo Carso is reportedly a combination of his first name and his late wife's.
According to the Guardian's story, one of the reasons given for Bill Gates falling to second place is that he is rapidly becoming as well known for giving his money away as he is for accumulating it. I would say that the wealth that Carlos Slim has accumulated is spread over a diversified portfolio, and his management of his holdings indicate that he is a careful and timely investor, apparently paying close attention to market conditions. Carlos Slim did inherit some of his fortune, and undoubtedly is thinking of his 6 children, most likely wanting to make it possible for them to continue the investment empire that he has developed. One would wonder if Bill Gates losing the top spot in the Forbes list has anything to do with the lackluster sales and performance of the long awaited Windows Vista operating system, a key Microsoft product, or due to the fact that the Gates Foundation is simply giving away more money than Mr. Gates holdings in Microsoft can generate revenue."

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