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Music

Obama DOJ Sides With RIAA Again In Tenenbaum 528

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Despite having had some time to get their act together, Obama's Department of Justice has filed yet another brief defending the RIAA's outlandish statutory damages theory — that someone who downloaded an mp3 with a 99-cent retail value, causing a maximum possible damages of 35 cents, is liable for from $750 to $150,000 for each such file downloaded, in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum. The 25- page brief (PDF) continues the DOJ's practice of (a) ignoring the case law which holds that the Supreme Court's due process jurisprudence is applicable to statutory damages, (b) ignoring the law review articles to like effect, (c) ignoring the actual holding of the 1919 case they rely upon, (d) ignoring the fact that the RIAA failed to prove 'distribution' as defined by the Copyright Act, and (e) ignoring the actual wording and reasoning of the Supreme Court in its leading Gore and Campbell decisions. Jon Newton of p2pnet.net attributes the Justice Department's 'oversights' to the 'eye-popping number of people [in its employ] who worked for, and/or are directly connected with, Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music's RIAA.'"

Comment Re:Multilayer WTF? (Score 2, Interesting) 926

One problem with this whole thing is that if the luggage owner doesn't know there is contraband in it, they will act differently than someone who knows what they're carrying.

Observing "suspicious behavior" is a big part of picking this stuff out.

I think this should be enough to invalidate their test unless they were intentionally isolating the behavior observation methods out.

Comment Re:Innovation! (Score 1) 525

BBV8s will likely be replaced by supercharged small block v8s in sports cars and diesel engines in trucks. At least until battery technology is developed to get 300 miles per 5 minute charge time with a $30k price point and a 100k mile lifespan. Electric motors are superior technology to the internal combustion engine - it's powering them that's the problem.

Look at the electric sports cars that are coming out - the Karma and Roadster have some decent performance characteristics. On the other side, there are a lot of industrial machines that use electric already for large amounts of power such as fork lifts, locomotives - even the Navy's ships. In all cases, the delivery of electricity to the motor is the difficult part.

Comment And as usual...... (Score 1) 268

Who is representing the consumer's interests? Does any of these people have a grasp on topics such as "fair use" - you know, that thing that the DMCA wasn't supposed to hinder (DMCA sec 1201(C)(1)). Well, I guess some do, but they're the ones trying to destroy that concept.

Reference: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap12.html#1201

Comment Re:All admins (Score 1) 502

I don't have a perfect understanding of law, but I thought that police had to charge you with an actual crime to keep you in the cage - not violation of employer's policy - as much as some employers think their word is law, it's just not so. Now, having said that, I have to believe that there is a credible accusation of a crime in order to keep him there - otherwise he's a political prisoner and the city should be under state/federal investigation on civil rights charges.

If this proves to be as much of a farce as it appears, I hope he bankrupts the city.

Comment Re:Google (Score 1) 131

It looks more like "market shaping" to me - streaming is a contradictory market strategy to the "pay per download" model that Itunes uses. If they can keep control of the market leader in that arena, driving out other startups until the business model goes belly up, they have not only eliminated a competitor, but any potential competitor of that type.
Microsoft

Black Screen of Death Not Microsoft's Fault 583

Barence follows up to the ongoing Black Screen of Death Saga by saying "Microsoft says reports of 'Black Screen of Death' errors aren't caused by Windows Updates, as claimed by a British security firm. The software giant claims November's Windows Updates didn't alter registry keys in the way described by Prevx, which said that the Microsoft Patches caused PCs to boot with just a black screen and a Windows Explorer window. Microsoft is now blaming the problem on malware. Prevx has issued a grovelling apology on its own blog."

Comment Re:Nurses Do (Score 1) 735

The point I was trying to make on the LoD issues is that they really can't wait. Most IT questions really can wait until business hours, the caller is just impatient or they have lost perspective.

Patient's new heart failing is not equivalent to the user's password failing. While the user wants to get some work done, the patient needs to have a working heart.

The only point I can see to be had on salaries is that physicians are typically closer to what we think of as "FLSA Exempt" than IT is. I wasn't intending to imply that the handling of LoD issues shouldn't be compensated, but I do see how you could draw that from what I said. I'll have to think about my logic on that. I definitely think that impatient people should be zinged for demanding service on petty issues though.

Comment Re:A contractor? (Score 1) 735

The Fair Labor Standards Act (In the USA) defines what is a salaried job and what is an hourly job. I have always wondered how IT folks can be considered salaried when the act defines any job that is measured by man-hours to be hourly. That's a really boiled-down interpretation, so YMMV.

If you're working for $20/hour and you're working 160 hour weeks without overtime pay, you may consider a position in fast-food. They typically pay better than minimum wage, so you may come out ahead by the time you consider that you're paid for all of your overtime.

Sorry, but I do have to put a slap in here for the original post - I've said it once and I'll say it again: never underestimate the arrogance of a lawyer.

Comment Re:Nurses Do (Score 1) 735

I always imagined that doctors being called off-hours were being called for honest-to-goodness life-and-death issues. I can think of few IT personnel that can say that they are being called for issues so serious. I can think of even fewer that make a physician's salary.

Am I off base here?
The Courts

Xbox Live Class Action Being Investigated 453

eldavojohn writes "Were you negatively affected by the recent ban on Xbox Live for modifying hardware you own? Did you modify yours for homebrew or altering things you paid for and not to engage in piracy? Abington IP would like to hear from you and may be able to help. From that page: 'If you are an Xbox Live subscriber, had your modified Xbox console banned from Xbox Live, were not refunded a prorated sum for the time left on your subscription, or have experienced other problems as a result of being banned, and would like to participate in a class action against Microsoft, please submit your information below.' Someone is finally standing up for the legitimate hobbyists. Should Microsoft worry?"

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