[06. 23. 2002]
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is reporting that a mass grave has been discovered in Afghanistan. Eyewitnesses are reporting
that U.S. military personnel are responsible while human rights groups are urging that the mass gravesites be secured and investigated for evidence of possible war crimes.
(Read More)
[06. 21. 2002]
Yesterday marked the beginning of the end for many webcasters as the U.S. Copyright Office and Librarian of Congress James Billington announced
the new royalty rates for webcasting music online.
(Read More)
[06. 19. 2002]
As we mentioned earlier this month, Siouxsie and the Banshees will be returning to the U.S. to play the Hollywood Palladium on Sunday, August 11, 2002.
Tickets
will go on sale to the public on Friday, June 21, 2002 at 5:00 PM. Tickets are $35.00.
[06. 18. 2002]
Blaming piracy once again on the declining sale of new music CDs, record label executives have now focused their attention on used-CD retailers. They're worried that the popularity
of the used-CD market is hurting new CD sales because it allows consumers to buy, copy, and sell the CDs back. To remedy this, they're considering federal legislation which would
require retailers to pay royalties on the sale of used CDs. This would be achieved through an agency that would "exert a flat royalty rate -- say, 6 percent or so -- on retailers'
sales of CDs sold over and over again."
If the U.S. government allows this, then the labels will continue to receive a royalty each and every time a CD is re-sold, even though they were already paid their fair share
during the first original sale. And of course, these royalty payments would force store owners to pass their costs onto the consumer. Will the recording industry ever stop trying
to get the federal government to guarantee them their profits even during a period of slowing sales?
Since the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the impact it has had has been devastating. Having observed the harm "to consumers, artists, concert goers, local radio station
owners and promoters," U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) criticized the act in a statement
before Congress, while also revealing plans to introduce legislation to address his concerns.
(Read More)
[06. 07. 2002]
Another sad day in music history. It's being reported that Dee Dee Ramone, co-founder of the 1970's punk band the Ramones, was found dead by his wife in his Hollywood home,
the victim of an apparent drug overdose. According to a police report, drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in his apartment. The Los Angeles County Coroners office said
that Dee Dee, born Douglas Glenn Colvin, was pronounced dead at 8:40 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, June 5, 2002. His death comes 14 months after the death of the Ramones' lead singer
Joey Ramone (born Jeff Hyman). R.I.P.
[06. 06. 2002]
CNET finally has a review of
Mozilla 1.0. "The good: Fast; stable; free." But we've known that all along. "The bad: Incompatible with some sites built for Internet
Explorer." What they fail to mention is that it's those sites (and IE) who are not W3C standards-compliant, not Mozilla.
Does the entertainment industry have you believing their lies that piracy is getting out of hand and that it's responsible for the huge decline in their profits? Well, don't feel
too sorry for them yet. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Vivendi Universal CEO
Jean-Marie Messier was awarded a bonus worth 250% of his base salary last year. In total, Messier
got $4.8 million, all because his company's earnings rose more than
30% in 2001.
Looks like the record labels have been up to no good once again. Word has leaked out that employees at MCA Records and other labels were "coerced" into signing form letters asking
California lawmakers to reject Senator Murray's Senate Bill 1246
which would limit recording artists' contracts to seven years, bringing them in line with movie actors and other personal contracts in the state. This occurred earlier
in the week when RIAA representatives visited the offices of AOL Time Warner, BMG, EMI Group, Sony Music, and Vivendi Universal.
(Copy of e-mail sent to employees of Universal Music Group)
Related Stories:
[06. 05. 2002]
Hurrah! Hurrah! After more than four years in development, Mozilla 1.0 is officially here. More than just a full-fledged cross-platform Internet
browser, Mozilla is also a toolkit for developing Internet-based applications. Check out the release notes, then grab the
lizard here or from one of the many mirrors. Thanks to all
those who contributed to the project.
[I've been running Mozilla for almost two years now and even back then it kicked ass. Probably the best, stable browser out there. Sorry, IE (Internet Explorer).]
(Read More)
Reports were leaked today that Attorney General John Ashcroft, with the full support
of the Bush Administration, is planning to dramatically expand the tracking and registering of hundreds of thousands of lawful visitors -- including those already in the U.S. According
to the reports, those who will be registered and tracked are predominantly from Muslim nations. Despite heavy opposition from the State Department,
those on the list will be required to provide fingerprints to authorities upon arrival and register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service
after 30 days in the country. Those who fail to comply will face fines and/or deportation. We wonder what other discriminatory actions the Bush Administration will target Muslims
and people of Middle Eastern descent with next -- aside from the round-ups, dragnet questionings, and illegal detention of more than a thousand Muslim and Middle Eastern people.
Slightly old news, but important nonetheless... On Friday, May 31, 2002, all 15 European Union countries unanimously ratified the Kyoto Protocol, a pact aimed at reducing pollution
and global warming. The U.S., the biggest polluter in the world, is the only country to reject the treaty. According to (p)Resident G.W. Bush, the treaty would have cost the U.S.
too much money. (Translation: All the big oil companies who funded his campaign were against it because it would have costed them too much money).
[06. 03. 2002]
Napster today announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This comes as part of its planned sale to Germany's Bertelsmann AG,
who will be acquiring the company for $8 million. Once the transaction is complete, Napster will re-emerge as a wholly-owned unit of Bertelsmann.
[06. 02. 2002]
Siouxsie and the Banshees are to return to the U.S. in August to play the Hollywood Palladium on Sunday, August 11. Ticket details to be announced.
On Friday, May 31, a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia rejected the governments Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), ruling it as unconstitutional.
Passed in December 2000, the federal law attempted to censor the Internet by forcing libraries to deny its patrons access to constitutionally protected speech online through filtering
software or be denied federal funding. The court ruled that the governments attempt violates the First Amendment because it would restrict substantial amounts of protected speech
"whose suppression serves no legitimate government interest."
(ACLU Press Release | Court Decision)
