331499
submission
Damocles the Elder writes:
Well, the RIAA won, but now a Minnesota woman is appealing the judge's decision on the basis that $222,000 is unconstitutionally expensive for 24 songs. FTA:
The petition to U.S. District Judge Michael Davis, among other things, challenges the constitutionality of the 1976 Copyright Act, the law under which the RIAA sued Jammie Thomas of Minnesota, as well as over 20,000 other defendants. The $750 to $150,000 fines the act authorizes for each download is unconstitutionally excessive and against U.S. Supreme Court precedent, wrote Brian Toder, Thomas' attorney.
Naturally, the RIAA is claiming the argument is "baseless", but if this gets set as a precedent, it won't matter if the RIAA wins the lawsuits if they're only getting a couple dollars a song. Needless to say, many people will be following this with interest.
300053
submission
Damocles the Elder writes:
According to the NYTimes, a new web start-up, Pudding Media, is offering a toll-free internet phone service. The catch? They're eavsdropping on your calls to place ads.
FTA:
Voice recognition software monitors the calls, selects ads based on what it hears and pushes the ads to the subscriber's computer screen while he or she is still talking. A conversation about movies, for example, will elicit movie reviews and ads for new films that the caller will see during the conversation. Pudding Media is working on a way to e-mail the ads and other content to the person on the other end of the call, or to show it on that person's cellphone screen.
"We saw that when people are speaking on the phone, typically they were doing something else," said Ariel Maislos, chief executive of Pudding Media. "They had a lot of other action, either doodling or surfing or something else like that. So we said, 'Let's use that' and actually present them with things that are relevant to the conversation while it's happening."
297033
submission
Damocles the Elder writes:
Apparently Boston remains a place where you shouldn't show off your computer parts. According to a pair of local news outlets, an MIT student was arrested for wearing what's being called "fake bomb art" in a Boston airport. FTA:
Star Simpson, 19, had a computer circuit board and wiring in plain view over a black hooded sweat shirt she was wearing, said State Police Maj. Scott Pare, the commanding officer at the airport. "She said that it was a piece of art and she wanted to stand out on career day," Pare said at a news conference. Simpson was "extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used...[s]he's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue."
294709
submission
Damocles the Elder writes:
Apparently NBC realized that people on the internet do watch TV, because after breaking up with Apple over iTunes pricing schemes, they're setting up their own free service. FTA:
NBC first contracted with Amazon to offer its programs for sale to downloading devices like MP3 players. Now it is establishing its own downloading service, which NBC executives say they expect to become a viable competitor to iTunes.
"With the creation of this new service, we are acknowledging that now, more than ever, viewers want to be in control of how, when and where they consume their favorite entertainment," said Vivi Zigler, the executive vice president of NBC Digital Entertainment. "Not only does this feature give them more control, but it also gives them a higher quality video experience."
