*HOT* Tech News And Downloads, I Would Read This Thread And Post Any Good Info

this is some bad news for people in Germany

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/13396
Germany caves in to entertainment cartels

p2pnet news | Politics:- Entertainment cartel lobbyists can chalk up a clear victory in Germany.

They’re been collectively and singly agitating for changes to copyright laws in countries around the world and Germany’s Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament, is the latest to cave in.

It’s approved a copyright law which makes it all but illegal for individuals to make copies of films and music, even for their own use, says Variety.

“Consumer groups and the Green Party had campaigned in vain to include a ‘bagatelle exemption,’ so youngsters and other private users wouldn’t be criminalised, says the story, saying the law, slated to go into effect, goes beyond previous legislation brought in by the German government to help the entertainment industry.

“Germany’s federal justice minister Brigitte Zypris claimed that the legislative reform brought German law into line with European Union codes,” it says.

This should, of course, read, “the new German law is line with EC (Entertainment Cartel) dictates”.


Copying of DVDs, CDs verboten
Digital copies of TV programs banned
By ERIK KIRSCHBAUM
Talk Back - post a comment
BERLIN — Germany's upper house of parliament on Friday approved a controversial copyright law, which makes it all but illegal for individuals to make copies of films and music, even for their own use.

The Bundesrat pushed aside criticism from consumer protection groups and passed the law, which makes it illegal for anyone to store DVDs and CDs without permission. The law also covers digital copies from IPTV and TV broadcasts.

Consumer groups and the Green Party had campaigned in vain to include a "bagatelle exemption," so that the measure would not "criminalize" youths and other private users. The law is set to take effect in 2008.

The law goes beyond previous legislation brought in by the German government to help the entertainment industry. Germany's federal justice minister Brigitte Zypris claimed that the legislative reform brought German law into line with European Union codes.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117972434.html?categoryid=19&cs=1

 

Windows on the cheap with Open Sauce

Comment I want to break Free

By Liam Proven: Friday 21 September 2007, 17:49
YOU'VE PROBABLY seen a lot of articles going on about how great Linux is. This isn't one of them.

Typically, these pieces sing the praises of free software. They talk about the advantages of never paying licence fees, no restrictions on use, rapid security fixes, no danger of being tied into proprietary file formats or commercially-motivated upgrade cycles... All that sort of jazz.

Which would be fine, but changing operating systems means getting rid of Windows and starting over with a clean slate. No more "Start" button, no more C: and D: drives, and you kiss goodbye to all the software that you've painfully learned to use.

To be fair, it's easier than you might think, especially these days, when Linux distros are mostly quicker and easier to install than Windows and come out straight off the bat with everything you'll need preloaded, but it's still a big, wrenching transition.

However, you don't have to go Linux to get the benefits of free software. These days, you can get pretty much everything you might need for day-to-day computing for nothing, right at home on Windows. You don't need to pay a penny. Some of the biggest names in free and open-source software are available on Windows, and where there either aren't offerings or they don't exist because Linux doesn't need such things, there are proprietary but no-cost native Windows products which you can download and use, gratis.

Of course, the Linux evangelists will protest that this won't help you break free of the shackles of commercial software. You even might have to put up with the odd advert for upmarket paid-for offerings. Still, you can save a lot of money and hassle. What's more, by moving away from familiar big-name programs, you're getting a step closer to leaving the security blanket of Windows behind one day.

There's another advantage, too: security. Microsoft's tools are the most widely-used in the world, and especially online. As such, they are the target of most of the Internet-borne malware out there: viruses, spyware, trojans and so on. This isn't helped by the problem that historically, Microsoft's Internet clients have been among the most insecure around. Its products are gradually getting less bad, but there are still good reasons for using alternative programs.

"But I need Office and Photoshop!"

It's easy to get seduced into thinking that you need to run the same applications as everybody else, but it's not true. There are millions of people using Macs and Linux PCs happily interworking with their Microsoft-based colleagues. All you really need is to be able to read and write the most widely-used file formats, and that's a given these days. For instance, Microsoft Office documents are the lingua franca of the commercial world. The alternatives are no harder to use and you don't need to relearn everything - for example, OpenOffice resembles Office 2003 dramatically more closely than Microsoft's own Office 2007.

Everyone needs different things from their PC. It's what's called the Pareto Principle, or more familiarly, the "80:20 Rule". Eighty percent of people only use twenty percent of the functionality of their tools. The problem is, not everyone uses the same twenty percent – so to cover all the bases, software ends up becoming bloated, trying to cover the 80% of the functions that 80% of its users need. Which means that we all end up with huge, complex programs of which each of us only needs a fraction. And usually, they're very expensive, too.

Now, I can't predict everything that you might want to do with your computer. All I can do is aim at the basic tasks that pretty much everyone wants out of a modern PC: web access, email and Internet chat; media playback and CD and DVD burning; office productivity; security software, including anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall; and image editing and management.

Over the next few articles in this series, I'll look at a range of free alternatives for these tasks. They might not be the big-name tools you're used to, and in some cases, they might not do everything that their paid-for big brothers can, but the chances are, they'll do everything that you actually need.

Where possible, I'll favour Open Source software, stuff that's Free with a capital "F": i.e., Free as in freedom. With Free or Open Source Software - FOSS for short - the apps are not the confidential intellectual property of some faceless company, they're written and maintained by volunteers and given away for the benefit of the Internet community. This means you'll never get trapped into having to pay for a new version or for updates and fixes, and any files you create with FOSS apps can be read and handled by their rivals - the formats and descriptions are published, rather than being kept secret and defended by patents. Finally, with FOSS, you never have to consent to restrictive licence agreements and sign your rights away. After all, your computer is your own, to do with as you wish; shouldn't your software be the same?

Sadly, though, in many cases, there isn't an open source offering available just yet, or it's there but it's not yet quite up to scratch with its proprietary rivals. In which case, I'll recommend some proprietary tools that will get the job done.

One bundle that I must mention is the Google Pack: this is a selection of useful Windows apps presented by the search company. Sadly, some are only trial versions, and when they expire you must pay, which I think is a raw deal. In other places, Google offers proprietary apps when there are excellent FOSS alternatives. So I don't agree with all Google's choices, but its Pack is certainly an easy start.

If you want to jump straight into the world of FOSS apps on Windows, the GNU Project maintains a list of some of the most popular offerings.

L'Inqs
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=42541

 

Microsoft to Allow PC Makers to Downgrade to XP
Posted by Zonk on Friday September 21, @06:31PM
from the going-back-in-time dept.
Microsoft Businesses Windows IT
mytrip pointed out a News.com story about a new Microsoft program to allow PC makers to downgrade from Vista to XP if they so choose. They're still pushing the new version of Windows very hard, but the option now exists for PC resellers to offer the now venerable OS. This is especially interesting as the article points out that OEM licenses for XP officially run out at the end of January.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default.mspx

"Hewlett-Packard also started a program in August for many of its business models. 'For business desktops, workstations and select business notebooks and tablet PCs, customers can configure their systems to include the XP Pro restore disc for little or no charge,' HP spokeswoman Tiffany Smith said in an e-mail. She said it was too soon to gauge how high customer interest has been. 'Since we've only been offering (it) for about a month, we don't really have anything to share on demand.' A Microsoft representative confirmed there were some changes made over the summer to the options computer makers have with respect to XP, but the representative was not immediately able to elaborate on those changes."


The XP alternative for Vista PCs
Microsoft is quietly telling PC makers they can offer a Windows XP "downgrade" to customers buying systems preloaded with Vista.
Image: Lenovo's XP 'downgrade' program
By Ina Fried
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: September 21, 2007, 12:11 PM PDT
Last modified: September 21, 2007, 3:51 PM PDT
Tell us what you think about this storyTalkBackE-mail this story to a friendE-mailView this story formatted for printingPrint Add to your del.icio.usdel.icio.us Digg this storyDigg this

update While Microsoft is still pushing Vista hard, the company is quietly allowing PC makers to offer a "downgrade" option to buyers that get machines with the new operating system but want to switch to Windows XP.

The program applies only to Windows Vista Business and Ultimate versions, and it is up to PC makers to decide how, if at all, they want to make XP available. Fujitsu has been among the most aggressive, starting last month to include an XP disc in the box with its laptops and tablets.

"That's going to help out small- and medium-size businesses," Fujitsu marketing manager Brandon Farris told CNET News.com.

Hewlett-Packard also started a program in August for many of its business models. "For business desktops, workstations and select business notebooks and tablet PCs, customers can configure their systems to include the XP Pro restore disc for little or no charge," HP spokeswoman Tiffany Smith said in an e-mail. She said it was too soon to gauge how high customer interest has been. "Since we've only been offering (it) for about a month, we don't really have anything to share on demand."
Lenovo page

A Microsoft representative confirmed there were changes made over the summer to make it easier for customers to downgrade to XP. Under Microsoft's licensing terms for Vista, buyers of Vista Business and Vista Ultimate Edition have always had the right to downgrade to XP, but in practice this could be challenging. In June, Microsoft changed its practices to allow computer makers that sell pre-activated Vista machines to order Windows XP discs that could be included inside the box with PCs, or shipped to customers without requiring additional activation. Microsoft noted in a statement that neither it nor the PC makers are "obligated to supply earlier versions to end users under the end user licensing terms."

While there is always resistance by some to move to a new operating system, there appears to be particularly strong demand, especially from businesses, to stick with XP.

One of the challenges, for both businesses and consumers are Vista's hefty graphics and memory needs.

Lenovo, for its part, has details for its downgrade program on its IBM ThinkPad Web site.

Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden said Dell has been offering businesses that have a Premier Page set up the option to order systems with XP, Vista or Vista with XP downgrade rights. There is no extra charge for the downgrade rights.

"We've been offering it and we're still offering it," she said.

HP, Gateway and others also still sell machines with XP on them, nearly a year after Microsoft first started offering Vista to businesses. Vista went on sale broadly to consumers in January, at which point XP largely disappeared from retail shelves.

However, demand for XP has remained. In April, Dell brought XP back as an option even on consumer PCs.

There is an issue, though, over how long PC makers can keep selling machines with Windows XP as the preloaded operating system. Microsoft is requiring large PC makers to stop selling XP-based systems as of January 31, though some PC makers would like to sell XP machines for longer.

"We're all lobbying for it," Farris said.
http://www.news.com/The-XP-alternative-for-Vista-PCs/2100-1016_3-6209481.html?tag=nefd.lede

 

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/13397
MediaDefender boss Randy Saaf arrested



p2pnet news | Crime:- MediaDefender boss Randy Saaf (left) and sidekick Octavio Herrera are being questioned by Las Vegas Police.

The pair, shown here in handcuffs, were arrested following the online publication of confidential MediaDefender documents, including a transcript of a phone call with US police authorities.

Saaf’s MediaDefender has been posting fake download files on behalf of entertainment cartel hit organisations, principally Hollywood’s MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), which then releases statements claiming the ’spoofs,’ as they’re called, are the work of ‘pirates’.

In one of the most recent examples, “Pirates frequently make ’spoofs’ of titles available on peer-to-peer networks, so what you think you are downloading might in fact be a fake,” says the MPAA’s MPA (Motion Picture Association).

Saaf and Herrera will be arraigned next week on 10,00,324 charges of illegal uploading with intent to deceive, bandwidth theft, and grievous misrepresentation.

Meanwhile, MediaDefender-Defenders, the site carrying the leaked MediaDefender documents, remains defiantly online.

This is a list of the famous leaked MediaDefender e-mails, displayed neatly in both thread and chronological order. Enjoy!

Click here for
http://www.mediadefender-defenders.com/

* View by threads
* View by date
* (NEW) MediaDefender.Source.TrapperKeeper-MDD Torrent
* Transcript for MediaDefender.Phonecall-MDD (Enhanced OGG (V1), 11.4 MB)
* Upload stats for Gnutella/etc decoy files
* List of all IPs that MD has used (14.3 MB)
* List of all IPs that DDoS us that are MediaDefender Owned

And definitely stay tuned.

.SlashdotSlashdot it! Add to Technorati Favorites

Also See:
online publication - MediaDefender fiasco: update III, September 19, 2007
recent examples - Hollywood invades Taiwan schoolss, September 20, 2007

 

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/13371

NPR’s long, hard look at the RIAA

p2pnet news | RIAA News:- “I don’t think we’ve suddenly had a massive morality shift, where tens of millions of Americans who wouldn’t shoplift a CD in a store have suddenly lost their moral compass and are rampaging out there, eager to break the law.”

Or …..

“There are tools, in terms of, uh, uh, authentication here, and, uh, uh, I’m not a technician so I’m, I’m, I really can’t go into that in great detail.”

The first remark came from leading EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) lawyer Fred von Lohmann in a documentary on American Public Media’s Marketplace.

The second was from RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) spin-doctor-in-chief Mitch Bainwol, both of whom were interviewed for a three-part American Public Media Marketplace series which kicks off:

The recording industry has gotten serious about illegal file sharing. In the last four years it has filed thousands of lawsuits. But, as Bob Moon reports in a special series, even those targeted by mistake, like Tanya Andersen, get no reprieve.

It takes a long, hard - and commendably objective - look at Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG’s bitter and relentless assault on the men, women and children who keep the money rolling in and whom the Big 4 are calling criminals and thieves. But even as the major labels desperately try to sue them into once again becoming the compliant cash-cow ‘consumers’ of the physical 1970s, the technically intelligent customers of the 21st digital century are dangerously determined to exercise their rights to choose freely.

Part I, No pause in music industry’s tough play, aired on Monday, Part II, Free? Illegal? … What’s the difference? Music biz’s future rests on key changes, was broadcast on Tuesday, and Part III, Music biz’s future rests on key changes, was heard yesterday afternoon, wrapping the three-part series.

Featured, in addition to von Lohmann, are:

* Tanya Andersen, the disabled Oregon mother who’s looking for class-action status in a case she wants to bring against the Big 4’s RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) .
* Lory Lybeck, Andersen’s lawyer, a deft hand who’s consistently challenging the Big 4 enforcement organisation’s legal teams
* Ray Beckerman, the New York attorney who was one of the first to act for RIAA victims and who today runs Recording Industry vs The People, a blog caring detailed reports of cases, together with links to stories and commentaries covering them
* Bainwol
* Peter Jenner, the former Pink Floyd manager who currently represents an artists’ coalition in London
* Felix Oberholtzer from the Harvard University Business School, who, with colleague Koleman Strumpf from the University of Kansas School of Business, first firmly gave the lie to corporate music industry claims that files shared equal sales lost. Their paper, The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales: An Empirical Analysis, remains a milestone

“It was challenging to try to sort through a lot of seemingly contradictory angles to all of this, coming from different directions, frankly,” the series presemnter, Bob Moon, told p2pnet shortly after the final segment aired.

“One example is something we just didn’t end up with enough time to explain as we were heading into production,” he said, going on:

As we know, the recording companies have now stipulated - and a judge has ruled “with prejudice” - that there was no case against her. It just adds yet another confusing layer if you try to explain that they’re now arguing their motion to have her countersuit thrown out, at least in part, on the idea that she really was an online pirate who should have had no expectation of privacy.

It really raises the problem of how detailed can a story be before your listener starts losing track of everything.

The answer to that is probably: as detailed as necessary, and that’s exactly how it’s starting to be, thanks entirely to the Net which gives online citizen media and reporters the space and the freedom to be as verbose is they need to be.

In Part I, No pause in music industry’s tough play

—- Tanya Andersen relates how she reacted to a letter, “warning that she had breached undisclosed copyrights and owed hundreds of thousands of dollars” which she initially believed was a scam, “until she phoned someone at what the industry calls its “settlement support center’,” says Marketplace, going on:

ANDERSEN: You know, I told them, “Look, take my computer. Look at that. I can prove to you I didn’t do this.” And he said, “What do you guys expect us to look at everyone’s computers that says they’re innocent?”

The first lawyer she consulted offered some advice that turned her stomach:

ANDERSEN: “Just let ‘em take a judgment against you and file bankruptcy.” And I told him, “Why should I have to do that? That’s not fair.” And he said, “I didn’t say it was fair. It’s how you have to deal with those people.”

So it was back on the phone to the “settlement center,” where she says a support rep listened sympathetically.

ANDERSEN: He ended up telling me, “Well, you can write a letter to my bosses, but no guarantee. Once they start a lawsuit, they just don’t back off.”

LORY LYBECK: And that’s when her life went down the rabbit hole.

That’s Lory Lybeck. Andersen’s lawyer:

LYBECK: Lo and behold, somebody shows up at her door with a federal lawsuit, saying “We’re going to ruin you. We’re going to sue you for over a million dollars.”

He bases that on the industry’s past demands for up to $750 per song. He says Andersen was accused of trading 1,046 music files.

Lybeck responded with a counterclaim in the fall of 2005, and Andersen says after that things really got ugly. It was right around the time she moved to a new home, and her apartment manager got a call:

ANDERSEN: He told them he couldn’t release my personal information. They told him that he would either give it to them or he was going to get in a lot of trouble. It terrified me. Come to find out, they were trying to serve Kylee.

Her daughter, who was just 7 years old when the file-sharing supposedly happened. Andersen’s lawyer says he was able to confirm that call came from the recording industry’s law firm. What remains a mystery is something else that he says happened around the same time:

LYBECK: Calls were made to Kylee’s elementary school, under the pretext of somebody calling saying they were Kylee’s grandmother, and was she there that day? I haven’t tracked that call directly back to the law firm, but it was most disturbing, especially since Tanya checked, and grandma made no such calls.

The head of the Recording Industry Association of America refused to comment on any specific case, but Mitch Bainwol did tell us this.

MITCH BAINWOL: I would remind you that folks, when they have a legal dispute, often can be creative with the way they portray the facts.

In Part II, Free? Illegal? … What’s the difference?

“I often run into musicians and artists who say, ‘Thank you for what you’re doing,” states Bainwol. ” ‘We know you take hits for this, but it’s about my future, it’s about my dream. And I know that our property has to be respected’.”

Says Jenner:

It’s the same way that when you see lots of civilians being killed in a war, you know that’s bad for your war. And I think it’s the same if you’re harming individuals randomly.

No one disputes that millions around the world continue to engage in unauthorized sharing of music. But critics complain the industry is using desperation tactics that haven’t solved the problem and, they charge, are both legally and morally dubious.

Say Beckerman:

The RIAA doesn’t conduct an investigation to find out whether someone committed a copyright infringement. It conducts an investigation to find out who paid the bill for an Internet-access account. And that’s where their investigation should begin, but in their weak minds that’s where it ends.

Lybeck picks up the thread:

Parents are falsely accused of downloading music and are sued inappropriately for downloading music every day.

MOON: Aren’t they responsible for what their kids do?

LYBECK: No, the law certainly doesn’t support that, unless they’re benefitting from it in some way.

When parents do decide to fight, he says, lawyers show no shame training their legal guns on the children. Lybeck points out the industry has sued kids as young as 12 — nevermind something the head of Warner Music, Edgar Bronfman, told an interviewer.

LYBECK: He was being questioned as to whether his children had downloaded music, and he frankly admitted they had. “But don’t worry, I’ve had some very stern conversations with them, and they’re not going to do it anymore.” Which, out of fairness, a lot of parents would like to have that opportunity, rather than being pestered and abused and threatened with financial ruin with a federal lawsuit.

The industry might actually be tempting youngsters, and even adult fans, to try out the very file-sharing sites it’s battled for years to shut down.

You can hear this confusion as the head of the RIAA lays out his case for us. Initially, he argues flatly that “free” means “illegal.”

BAINWOL: The reality is, almost everybody understands that the practice of taking copyrighted works for free is illegal.

But what about when the industry is giving away its own free songs? . . . This summer, a deal was announced to flood file-sharing sites with 16 million free downloads, reportedly from the popular rapper Plies.

Trouble is, fans were left guessing exactly which track would be legally free. And until the file is actually downloaded, there’s no way to be sure that it’s the “authorized” version that includes an embedded ad. Sprint pays for its logo to appear whenever the song is played.

The label that’s reportedly offering these free songs is one of the same companies that’s been suing to discourage file sharing. Question the head of the RIAA on this haziness and — listen closely — Mitch Bainwol starts making subtle exceptions.

BAINWOL: Teenagers today understand that if you get something for free, in all probability, unless it’s explicitly legal, it’s not.

FRED VON LOHMANN: How’s the fan supposed to know?

That’s Fred Von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He complains the moving lines could lure unsuspecting fans into being sued. And it’s not just the file-sharing sites that leave him confused. Some online bulletin boards also offer free MP3 music files, seemingly with the industry’s blessing:

VON LOHMANN: Promotional CDs get sent to these MP3 bloggers all the time, really encouraging people to post some stuff on the Internet, get some buzz going. There are some independent artists who take a much more open-minded view to file sharing. Many fans have no idea whether their favorite artist is on an independent label or on a major label. This is just an area of continuing confusion.

We tried asking the industry’s top representative how the average law-abiding teenager — or even his own organization — might tell the difference between what’s legal and what’s not. But even Mitch Bainwol didn’t seem to know clearly:

BAINWOL: There are tools, in terms of, uh, uh, authentication here, and, uh, uh, I’m not a technician so I’m, I’m, I really can’t go into that in great detail. I’d be happy to get you somebody who can.

Check the press release http://investor.news.com/cnet?GUID=2554371&Page=MediaViewer&Ticker=ARTD announcing those free ad-supported downloads we mentioned and it simply says, “The tracks are indistinguishable from illegal, pirated content.”

Despite this left-hand, right-hand confusion, and questions about his industry’s tactics, Bainwol told us he’s convinced the ongoing lawsuit campaign against music fans continues to be a valuable educational tool.

In Part III, Music biz’s future rests on key changes,

—- the recording industry’s “top lobbyist, Mitch Bainwol,” insists his organisation is trying to adapt and support the technologies fans have embraced, “even in the face of ridicule that it’s too little, too late”:

Mitch Bainwol: We are seeking to monetize all sorts of distribution channels. I find it ironic when we do what critics want us to do, we get criticized for that.

Online sales are steadily rising, and Bainwol sees that as a reason to keep on suing unauthorized file-sharing fans. He says that legal pressure helps give legitimate Internet sales what he calls “the traction they need.” He’s convinced history will record his industry’s tactics as pivotal.

Bainwol: It took some pretty gutsy actions by the music industry and others to establish that, in fact, intellectual property is worthy of protection.

‘Cowardly’ might be a better word than ‘gutsy’, and meanwhile, Von Lohmann sums in an opinion Bainwol and the people who pay his salary will do well to consider deeply:

I think 10 years from now, everyone will look back at this entire episode with shame. I can’t believe it ever got so bad and we were so unimaginative, unable to transition to a new model, that we actually started treating our customers - our fans - as the enemy.

If nothing else, the series will sensitise people who may never have heard of the bizarre RIAA sue ‘em all marketing campaign to some of the issues.

Each segment attracted the largest number of listeners as Marketplace aired them and this morning, all three were at the top of the online lists.

Moon says flagship afternoon show Marketplace and the early Marketplace Morning Report are heard by an audience of more than 8.1 million unique listeners during the week, and on more than 330 public radio stations nationwide.

The program is also distributed worldwide by American Forces Radio and also has the largest audience of any business program in the United States, on radio or television, says American Public Media.

Definitely stay tuned.

 

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/13400
Sony drops Sunncomm/Amergence lawsuit

p2pnet news | Music:- “Under the, ‘You knew it was coming sooner or later’ heading, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is suing The Amergence Group,” p2pnet posted recently.

Amergence? Never heard of them?

That could be because it was formerly SunnComm International, “the company which developed MediaMax, a spyware DRM application which, included on Sony music CDs, sparked an international scandal that’s still reverberating around the world.,” p2pnet went on.

Now, “We have recently received notice that Sony-BMG has withdrawn its lawsuit against The Amergence Group,” says an investor’s statement, continuing:

Although the music giant can decide to re-institute the lawsuit at a later time, Amergence shareholders should know that we are prepared to defend the action. In addition, the Company is currently contemplating a counter-suit against Sony-BMG for the damage they’ve caused by bringing the action against the Company and through what we believe to be the reckless introduction of rootkit technology utilized in a competitor’s technology (First4Internet’s XCP copy protection).

“Jon,” Astrid emailed me, “Unbelievable as it might seem, the people at SunnComm fell for your spoof piece and felt the need to write a denial - Astrid.”

We’d posted a lampoon which among other things said:

From December 1, all iTunes downloads will carry a new kind of Fair Play DRM, a direct negative feedback ‘watermark’ recognized by Fair Play earbuds and, ultimately, by other audio devices from manufacturers who sign up for the code, which was created under a joint SunnComm and Macrovision venture.

When an iPod (or other) user wearing the new audio devices plays an iTunes track not sanctioned by Organized Music (EMI Group, Vivendi Uiversal, Warner Music), Fair Play feedback ‘instructs’ the buds to emit a piercing, high-pitched scream in stereo at 250 decibels.

Microsoft’s PowerHit system is a DRM application keyed to the company’s Power Management technology. Starting at midnight on December 1, all users of Windows 2000 and higher will receive automatic system updates which will instruct desktops, laptops and PDAs running appropriate MS OS software to release a 125-volt anti-p2p DRM ‘charge’ into computer chassis every users attempt to play unauthorised iTunes tracks.

Amergence/Sunncomm boss Peter Jacobs (right) felt compelled to rush out an international press release declaring:

There are published reports circulating online that state SunnComm is creating a new kind of DRM under a joint venture with a competitor named Macrovision (NasdaqNM:MVSN - News).”

It added:

At this time SunnComm is not involved, in any way, with Macrovision as it relates to development projects or other discussions with Apple Computer. Executives at MediaMax Technology Corp. (OTC BB:MMXT.OB - News), the seller of MediaMax, have confirmed that they are not currently working with Macrovision in relation to the development of a new kind of DRM for Apple(r).

(Thanks again, Astrid)

SlashdotSlashdot it! Add to Technorati Favorites

Also See:
p2pnet - Sony BMG sues SunnComm (Amergence), July 12, 2007
statement - Sony-BMG withdraws suit against Amergence, September 21, 2007
posted a lampoon - Apple, Microsoft p2p collaboration, November 5, 2005
international press release - SunnComm falls for p2pnet spoof, November 9, 2005

 

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/13399

Make better music, major labels told

p2pnet news | Music:- “The music industry needs to concentrate on making better music if it wants to revive its fortunes, says veteran entertainment journalist and music historian Larry LebBlanc.

Interviewed during a nationally televised CTV Canada A.M. show, the major labels should perhaps, “take a look at the stores,” he told CTV’s Seamus O’Regan.

“There’s a lot of crappy music out there. There’s a lot of music that people aren’t interested in.”

LeBlanc also said CD sales or radio airplay aren’t the only barometers of determining how well the music industry is doing.

Bands selling music at shows is an example of music being made available outside of traditional music retail channels and wouldn’t show up on industry charts, he pointed out, going on that the selling of music through digital avenues will continue to grow but online music retailers need to decide on a consistent pricing system.

But LeBlanc also believes the current model won’t be completely phased out.

“I think the CD is still alive,” he said. “It will thrive but not in the way that we see it right now. It might be extra value - I think people still like the shopping experience. I’ll tell you what is dead. The bad album with only one track is dead.”

LeBlanc added catalogue sales had masked the fact that new music releases were in decline for years.
When catalog sales slowed and ‘big box’ stores competitively drove the price of music down, according to LeBlanc, it made the music industry’s struggles more apparent.

But ultimately, LeBlanc says the feels the problems facing the music industry are
directly linked to its product, adding:

“I think what the industry has to get back to is good music.”

 

FREE,CDBurnerXP Pro 4.0

http://www.freewarefiles.com/program_6_205_9600.html
Size: 1.93MB

Publisher: Visit Website
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/
Release Date: 2007-09-22

Submit Date: 2007-09-22

OS: Win 2000/XP/2003/Vista

Publisher's Description
CDBurnerXP Pro is a freeware burning solution with many features. It can burn any Data on CD-R / CD-RW / DVD+R / DVD-R / DVD+RW / DVD-RW, including double layer mediums, Blu-Ray discs and HD-DVDs. It can also burn and create ISO files and burn audio discs.

Features:

* burn all kinds of discs
* audio-CDs with or without gaps between tracks
* burn and create ISO files
* data verification after burning process
* create bootable discs
* multi-language interface
* bin/nrg to ISO converter, simple cover printing and much more!
* Operating Systems: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista

CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs.
It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a
multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free. It does not
include adware or similar malicious components.

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

http://www.freewarefiles.com/downloads_counter.php?programid=9600

 

i did not try this,no coffee yet

Windows
Find Out If Your Computer Is Secretly Connecting to the Web

If you are trying to track down why your computer is running so slooowwwly, try using this simple DOS command from Digital Inspiration to uncover a possible problem:

* Type cmd in your Windows Run box.
* Type "netstat -b 5 > activity.txt" and press enter.
* After say 2 minutes, press Ctrl+C.
* Type "activity.txt" on the command line to open the log file in notepad (or your default text editor)

This .txt file will have a record of everything that has made an Internet connection in the last couple of minutes; you can then check your task manager to find out where it is and take care of it.
Is Your Computer Connecting To Websites Without Your Knowledge [Digital Inspiration]

 

MediaCoder 0.6.0.38.80
Author: Yi-Chun Huang
Date: 2007-09-22
Size: 16.9 Mb
License: Freeware (GPL)
Requires: 98/ME/NT4/2000/XP/2003

MediaCoder is a free universal audio/video batch transcoder, putting together lots of excellent audio/video codecs and tools from the open source community into an all-in-one solution, capable of transcoding among different audio/video formats with many extra features.

Typical applications:
- Improving compression / reducing file size
- Converting from lossless/high-bitrate audio to low-bitrate audio to play with portable DAP
- Converting to device (mobile phone, PDA, MP4 player, PSP, VCD/DVD player)
- Extracting audio tracks from video clips
- Ripping CD/VCD/DVD

Supported source formats:
- Audio: MP3, OGG/Vorbis, AAC, MusePack, WMA, RealAudio, FLAC, WavPack, APE/APL, WAV
- Video: AVI (Xvid/DivX/H.264), MPEG1/2/4, QuickTime (mov), WMV/ASF, RealMedia (rmvb), MP4, Matroska (mkv)
CUE Sheets, CD, VCD, DVD

Supported target audio formats:
- Lossy: MP3, OGG/Vorbis, AAC, AAC+/Parametric Stereo, MusePack, WMA
- Lossless: FLAC, WavPack, Monkey's Audio (APE), WMA Lossless, WAV

Supported target video formats:
- H.264, Xvid, DivX 4/5, MPEG1/2/4, H.263 etc.

Supported target container formats:
- AVI, MPEG, Matroska, MP4, PMP (PSP Media Player Format)

DOWNLOAD
http://www.majorgeeks.com/MediaCoder_d4987.html

 

Vista SP1 “tries to hide the Ultimate Extras shame”
Sep 23, 2007 - 10:33 AM - by Digital Dave
Yea, the Ultimate Extras we were all promised with Vista are not going to make it. Kinda sad if you ask me.

If you’re still holding out hope for any exciting Extras, you might as well give up now because it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing any. Face up to it, if you bought Windows Vista Ultimate because you hoped to get your hands on cool Extras, you were conned, and being conned sucks.

September 23rd, 2007
Vista SP1 “tries to hide the Ultimate Extras shame”
Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 5:09 am Categories: Microsoft, Vista Tags: Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows Vista SP1, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Operating Systems, Software, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

While many are waiting on Windows Vista SP1 to come along to knock off some of Vista’s rough corners, it seems that some at Microsoft will welcome the release too - specifically Microsoft’s Windows Ultimate group.

Long Zheng explains why:

On a related note, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 even tries to hide the Ultimate Extras shame by removing much of the information in the Control Panel applet. This is what you see in the current RTM version about Ultimate Extras.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/images/ultimateextras1_sm.jpg

This is what you see in Service Pack 1.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/images/ultimateextrassp1_sm.jpg

This dramatic change to the wording is basically Microsoft’s way of trying to pull the curtain on the cornucopia of Windows Ultimate Extras that were initially promised to customers. Forget the “cutting-edge programs,” the “innovative services” and “unique publications” because there aren’t any. If you’re still holding out hope for any exciting Extras, you might as well give up now because it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing any. Face up to it, if you bought Windows Vista Ultimate because you hoped to get your hands on cool Extras, you were conned, and being conned sucks.

So far the Extras that we have seen have been dismal and the ones that are allegedly still in the pipeline (a final release of DreamScenes and a handful of language packs) are even more dreary and uninspiring, and that’s if we ever see them (actually, not seeing them might be better). The unofficial Powertoys that Microsoft made available for previous versions of Windows were a lot more exciting (and useful).

Anyone else feel conned?
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=806

 

Sony DVDirect MC5
Video-transfer device is a quick, convenient way to get content onto DVD without firing up a PC.
Recommend this story?
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The $230 MC5 is the latest in Sony's DVDirect series of stand-alone video transfer devices, and for quick, easy burning of photos and video to DVD without using a PC, you can't beat it. The big news is that the MC5 is the first DVDirect model to support HD video.

However, it doesn't create Blu-ray or HD DVD discs, but rather the AVCHD format, which is basically h.264/MPEG-4 video burned to DVD (still high-definition, but the discs won't hold much). Nonetheless, it looks good. Other new features include the ability to import a JPEG file from a memory card to serve as the DVD menu background, or an MP3 file to provide background music for photo slide shows.

Unlike past versions, though, the MC5 won't talk to a computer--despite having both USB and FireWire ports. You can pick up a DVD burner for $50 or less, so this is not a huge consideration. It immediately recognized the Sony HDR-SR7 camcorder I attached and started the AVCHD disc creation wizard.

I burned two test DVDs with the MC5: One was a slide show created from files on an SD flash memory card (the MC5 also reads Compact Flash, xD-Picture Card, and all Memory Stick media); the other contained HD footage from the camcorder. (To view the AVCHD discs that the MC5 creates, you need software like Cyberlink's PowerDVD, a Blu-ray player, or a DVD player that supports the format.) Both projects required virtually no intervention on my part, burned quickly, and looked great--especially the AVCHD disc.

Though the MC5 is easy to use, I had to search for a format function hidden in the setup menu to reuse Nero-burned +RW and -RW media. The MC5 does nothing you can't do with a PC and a DVD burner, but for videographers on the go, it's both quicker and more convenient.

-- Jon L. Jacobi
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,137362-c,dvddrivesmedia/article.html

 

Disability Advocates Gripe to FCC About iPhone
Hearing loss group says Apple didn't ensure the iPhone works with hearing aids, violating disabilities laws.
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Sunday, September 23, 2007 10:00 AM PDT


A group representing people with a hearing loss filed complaints with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last month, accusing Apple Inc. of not making its iPhone compatible with hearing aids.

The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), a Bethesda, Md. advocacy group, filed formal complaints with the FCC in August, Brenda Battat, the HLAA's associate executive director, said in e-mailed comments about Apple's iPhone. "The phone [is] not usable with a hearing aid, either on the microphone or telecoil setting," said Battat. "Clearly it was not designed to be hearing aid compatible. It should have been."

Under its Section 255 regulations, the FCC requires phone manufacturers, including those selling mobile handsets, to make their products accessible to people with disabilities, if such access is "readily achievable." That standard is defined by the agency as "easily accomplishable without much difficulty or expense."

The FCC has also set benchmarks that spell out what percentage of a handset maker's line must be hearing aid compatible. Currently, each manufacturer must offer at least two hearing aid-compatible models.

People with hearing loss often rely on an induction coil, dubbed a "telecoil," in their hearing aids to use telephones, including cell phones. The telecoil detects magnetic energy and converts it into sound, amplifying the conversation as well as shutting out external noise; when the telecoil is switched on, the hearing aid's microphone is generally switched off.

In its complaint, the HLAA said Apple, when designing the iPhone, should have tested it for hearing aid compatibility (HAC) standards so that it could be used by hearing aid and cochlear implant users. "It was probably tested for HAC prior to release," said Battat. "As soon as they got the results they would have known it was not accessible to hearing aid and cochlear implant users."

Battat has met with Apple representatives twice since the iPhone's debut, including one meeting where the company demonstrated the iPhone. The demo left a poor impression, said Battat. "When held up to a cochlear implant and or a hearing aid it gives out a loud buzzing interference," she said.

Apple's designated FCC Section 255 contact, Mike Shebanek of its worldwide product marketing group, did not reply to a request for comment.

"Apple is well aware of the accessibility problems, not just for hearing aid users but for people with low vision or who are blind," said Battat. "They state a willingness to get up to speed with accessibility. Too bad they did not do it prior to release and not after."

Several bloggers have called on hearing aid users to complain to Apple, either by calling its public relations section or by posting comments on the company's iPhone support forum. Some followed the latter advice.

"As a long-time Mac user, a professional working with people with hearing loss and hearing aid wearer myself, this is HORRIBLE," said someone identified as LongTimeUser2 on the Apple message forum. "I love you Apple, but this one has to be rectified. Let's do it the easy quiet way. I'm sitting on $300 or so wanting an iPhone. You want it?"

According to documents posted on the FCC's Web site, however, Apple may not be required to make changes to the iPhone. "Handset manufacturers that offer two or fewer digital wireless handsets in the U.S. need not comply with the hearing aid compatibility compliance obligations," the FCC states.

Managers of the FCC's Disability Rights Office did not respond to calls for comment and clarification.

"In my opinion, Apple set itself up for the dissatisfaction from the disability community," said Battat. "Expectations were huge and they let us down. All the marketing hype just made it worse for them when they finally unveiled it and it was lacking so much access needed for people with disabilities."

Apple has until the end of this month to respond to the complaints filed with the FCC, Battat said.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,137433-c,iphone/article.html

 

Pirate Bay fires a salvo

File sharers pursue the content companies

By Alice Winter: Monday 24 September 2007, 13:46
SWEDISH buccaneers The Pirate Bay seem to have been galvanised into action by the success of yet another International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

It appears that in addition to juicy revelations about the MiiVi file sharer honeypot site, the recently leaked MediaDefender documents also contain the first solid evidence that the content industry have been paying people to hack the popular Torrent tracking site.

On Friday The Pirate Bay announced that they have reported 10 companies representing some of the biggest names in software, music, and film publishing to the Swedish police. They allege that the companies employed professional hackers, presumably MediaDefender themselves, to perform various acts of cyberterrorism, including hacking and denial of service attacks.

While The Pirate Bay have thus far been successful in fighting off considerable legal challenges to their operation, no-one disputes that many of the torrents that they track are illegal to download in most juristictions.

The evidence upon which they are making their accusations has a questionable legal status itself, having been obtained by hacker group MediaDefender-Defenders. It remains to be seen whether this development will result in anything more than a brief spurt of publicity for The Pirate Bay. µ
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=42580
L'INQ
The Pirate Bay's announcement


TPB files charges against media companies

Thanks to the email-leakage from MediaDefender-Defenders we now have proof of the things we've been suspecting for a long time; the big record and movie labels are paying professional hackers, saboteurs and ddosers to destroy our trackers.

While browsing through the email we identified the companies that are also active in Sweden and we have tonight reported these incidents to the police. The charges are infrastructural sabotage, denial of service attacks, hacking and spamming, all of these on a commercial level.

The companies that are being reported are the following:

* Twentieth Century Fox, Sweden AB
* Emi Music Sweden AB
* Universal Music Group Sweden AB
* Universal Pictures Nordic AB
* Paramount Home Entertainment (Sweden) AB
* Atari Nordic AB
* Activision Nordic Filial Till Activision (Uk) Ltd
* Ubisoft Sweden AB
* Sony Bmg Music Entertainment (Sweden) AB
* Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nordic AB

Stay tuned for updates.
Posted 09-21 21:50 by bkp
http://thepiratebay.org/blog/86

 

The Gimp 2.4.0 RC3 Beta
Author: The Gimp Team
http://www.gimp.org/

Third Release Candidate for GIMP 2.42007-09-24
GIMP 2.4.0-rc3 fixes most of the bugs that were reported for the earlier release candidates. Have a look at the NEWS file for the changes made in this release. If you want to help by testing this release candidate, you can grab the source code from ftp.gimp.org. The release notes for the development releases still apply.

Date: 2007-09-24
Size: 14.7 Mb
License: Freeware
Requires: Win All

GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc. GIMP is expandable and extensible. It is designed to be augmented with plug-ins and extensions to do just about anything. The advanced scripting interface allows everything from the simplest task to the most complex image manipulation procedures to be easily scripted.


link
http://www.majorgeeks.com/The_Gimp_d4485.html

 

Victorious RIAA defendant gets attorneys' fees, turns to class-action plans

By Eric Bangeman | Published: September 24, 2007 - 09:39AM CT

Calling the RIAA's case unjustified "as a reasonable exploration of the boundaries of copyright law," a federal magistrate judge late last week awarded former RIAA defendant Tanya Andersen attorneys' fees for her nearly two-and-a-half-year fight against a copyright infringement lawsuit.
Related Stories

* RIAA spends thousands to obtain $300 judgment
* Judge deals another blow to RIAA's war against on-campus file-sharing
* RIAA's final tab for Capitol v. Foster: $68,685.23
* RIAA backtracks after embarrassing P2P defendant

Andersen is a disabled single mother living in Oregon with her now 10-year-old daughter. In February 2005, she was sued by the record labels, which accused her of using KaZaA to distribute gangster rap under the handle "gotenkito." From the outset, she denied all wrongdoing, and in October of that year, filed a countersuit against the record industry, accusing it of racketeering, fraud, and deceptive business practices.

The RIAA continued to press its legal claims against Andersen, despite any evidence other than an IP address tying her to the alleged infringement. Andersen even provided the name, address, and phone number of the person she believed was responsible for the "gotenkito" account. Inexplicably, the RIAA chose not to contact him for over two years, then chose to take his denial at face value, choosing instead to continue prosecuting the case against Andersen.

Throughout its prosecution of the case, Andersen accused the RIAA of underhanded investigative tactics. These included what Andersen describes as inappropriate attempts to contact her daughter. In one instance, the RIAA's investigators allegedly contacted her elementary school, posing as a relative in an attempt to speak with then-eight-year-old Kylee Andersen about the alleged infringement. Even the RIAA's own forensic investigator reported that he could not find "any evidence whatsoever" that Andersen had used KaZaA.

In June of this year, the RIAA finally came to the conclusion that it had an unwinnable case and decided to drop the case prior to its going to trial. The parties stipulated to a dismissal with prejudice—unusual for the RIAA, since it made Andersen the prevailing party and eligible for attorneys' fees. Andersen dismissed her counterclaims without prejudice (meaning she can refile them) after she filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit against the RIAA.

In his order awarding Andersen attorneys' fees, US Magistrate Judge Donald C. Ashmanskas noted that he had to make a decision on this case "without ever addressing the merits of the claims or the counterclaims." Despite that, Judge Ashmanskas noted that there had been a "material alteration of the legal relationship of the parties," and that with the sole exception of attorneys' fees, Andersen had gotten "all the relief available to a defendant of a claim for copyright infringement."

Judge Ashmanskas also cited the RIAA's admission that the "evidence uncovered during discovery proved inconsistent and inconclusive," a fact for which the labels could provide no explanation. He concludes that the RIAA lacked the prima facie evidence to support the claims of infringement.

"Whatever plaintiffs' reasons for the manner in which they have prosecuted this case, it does not appear to be justified as a reasonable exploration of the boundaries of copyright law," wrote the judge. "Copyright holders generally, and these plaintiffs specifically, should be deterred from prosecuting infringement claims as plaintiffs did in this case."

While Andersen's attorney adds up the bills, Andersen is seeking class-action status for her malicious prosecution lawsuit. Saying that the RIAA "has engaged in a coordinated enterprise to pursue a scheme of threatening and intimidating litigation in an attempt to maintain its music distribution monopoly," Andersen wants to make a class from those who have been wrongfully sued by the RIAA; if successful, the RIAA could find itself locked in a long and costly legal battle.
Further reading:

* Copyright attorney Ray Beckerman has been on top of Atlantic v. Andersen from the beginning; you can read get a copy of the judge's ruling from his site, Recording Industry vs The People.
* NPR ran a three-part series on the RIAA's legal campaign last week. Part one features an interview with Andersen and her attorney. EFF senior staff attorney Fred von Lohmann and RIAA head Mitch Bainwol are also featured in parts two and three.
* You can also read our previous coverage of Atlantic v. Andersen, including the RIAA's deciding to drop its fight and news of Andersen's countersuit.
* Learn more about why the RIAA doesn't want defendants exonerated.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...torneys-fees-turns-to-class-action-plans.html

 

Apple: firmware update likely to make unlocked iPhones "permanently inoperable"

By Jacqui Cheng | Published: September 24, 2007 - 05:03PM CT

Apple said today that a firmware update to the iPhone due to be released later this week "will likely result" in SIM-unlocked iPhones turning into very expensive bricks. "Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed," said Apple in a statement issued this afternoon.
Related Stories

* GUI version of free iPhone unlock in the works
* Instructions for iPhone hardware unlock revealed
* Support the iPhone Dev Team for a free software unlock
* iPhone set free from AT&T with first full software unlock

Apple CEO Steve Jobs last week reiterated the company's stance on unlocked iPhones: Apple will work against them. "It's a constant cat and mouse game," Jobs said. At that time, we also said that we had reason to believe that the next update to the iPhone would brick iPhones that had been unlocked to use SIM cards from other GSM carriers, which Apple's press release has confirmed. Sources familiar with the matter have told Ars that the company did not decide to cause such irreparable damage to the iPhone intentionally, however, and Apple's statement appears to confirm this as well.

Apple says that it "strongly discourages" users from installing these unlocking programs, and that doing so violates users' iPhone software license agreements as well as voids their warranties. This is corroborated by individual user accounts of being turned away at Apple Stores after having various hacks installed on their iPhones. "The permanent inability to use an iPhone due to installing unlocking software is not covered under the iPhone's warranty," warns Apple.

So what are users of SIM-unlocked iPhones to do? Not run the latest software update, that's for sure. Users can instead pray to the hacking deities—the famed iPhone Dev Team that released the free software unlock, and iPhoneSIMfree, which released a commercial software unlock—to write applications that will undo the unlocks, as it were, if those users want to run the latest iPhone software. And then the teams get to start anew with their hacking efforts on the new firmware. What was that about a cat-and-mouse game again?
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...-unlocked-iphones-permanently-inoperable.html

 

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/13414
Dear RIAA: stuff it

p2pnet news | Music:- Here’s a thought for American students thinking of caving in to blackmail-cum-extortion letters being fired at them by Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG’s RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), with a little help from student administrations.

It’s from a brilliant article written by Anders Bylund for the Motley Fool, a site not normally known for this kind of observation:

Even if the Internet service provider keeps very detailed access logs, it’s nearly impossible to prove that a certain IP address was used by a particular person at any given time.

University of Chicago professor Mike O’Donnell would agree.

On IP addresses, “by itself an IP number on a packet has only suggestive value and is not reliable evidence at all,” he said recently.

Print it out and stick it on the main door to your dormitory.

And when you’ve done that, pass it on to your university legal department —- you know, the one that’s passing the RIAA letters on to you.

Very little payoff

Bylund also has a couple of thoughts which might interest all the organised music cartel employees such as Mitch Bainwol and Cary Sherman who are being handsomely paid for making so many people, so miserable.

Of the sue ‘em all lawsuits:

It’s a great way to alienate music fans, with very little payoff. The lawsuits have so far failed to stem the illegal downloading tide, and the costs must rival the settlement payoff by now.

And of Copyright:

It’s, “meant to encourage the creative process, not to fatten corporate coffers or limit the available means of distribution. Again, we haven’t seen any payouts to the actual artists and composers here, only to legal teams and company bankrolls.

SlashdotSlashdot it! Add to Technorati Favorites

Also See:
brilliant article - RIAA and the Music Luddites, September 24, 2007
Motley Fool - RIAA’s Day in Court Nearly Over, September 24, 2007
not reliable evidence at all - RIAA student victimisation campaign, July 21, 2007
so many people, so miserable - The RIAA and Rae-Jay Schwartz, September 24, 2007

 

Unlocker
Sep 24, 2007 - 3:13 PM - by soxrocker
...This puppy has found a permanent home in my desktop toolbox...

Unlocker enables you to delete, move or rename files or folders that are locked by other processed (Access is denied, Sharing Violation etc.). It integrates into the Windows right-click menu, and opens a dialog that shows you the processes that are currently locking the file, thereby preventing it from being deleted. You can choose to terminate and unlock the processes, or otherwise delete the file on the next reboot.

Snapfiles


Unlocker
delete files that are locked

Our Rating: 4 stars (Very Good)

Unlocker enables you to delete, move or rename files or folders that are locked by other processed (Access is denied, Sharing Violation etc.). It integrates into the Windows right-click menu, and opens a dialog that shows you the processes that are currently locking the file, thereby preventing it from being deleted. You can choose to terminate and unlock the processes, or otherwise delete the file on the next reboot.
Download Unlocker
Freeware
Publisher Cedrick Collomb
File Size 191 kb
Version 1.8.5 (history)
Last updated Sep 23, 2007
License Freeware
Windows 2000/XP
Requirements None

download
http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/Unlocker/Unlocker.html

http://www.snapfiles.com/php/download.php?id=109766&a=7128842&tag=195645&loc=2

 

Microsoft: XBOX 350 Fixed
Sep 24, 2007 - 6:51 AM - by Digital Dave
Old ones are to be replaced with new ones. Now that's a reason to send yours in.

Are the dreaded days of seeing the Xbox 360 three red rings of death a thing of the past? Obviously, they're not ancient history yet since there are still too many people having to send in their 360 for repairs.

However, Microsoft has now come out saying that every single 360 now on the market are all improved models; implying the bad ones have been taken off the shelves.

xboxtoday.ca

Are the dreaded days of seeing the Xbox 360 three red rings of death a thing of the past? Obviously, they're not ancient history yet since there are still too many people having to send in their 360 for repairs.

However, Microsoft has now come out saying that every single 360 now on the market are all improved models; implying the bad ones have been taken off the shelves.

"We have made all the improvements in our manufacturing process," explained Group Marketing Manager Aaron Greenberg to Kotaku.

"All the consoles on the market have those improvements. [We will] repair the console sent to us with these. It should be similar to buying a new console off the shelf."

If true, this would be fantastic news for gamers. Xbox 360 is consistently outselling PlayStation 3 right now, and that's with the problem of defective units. Imagine how much farther ahead in sales Microsoft will be once they've finally solved the problem and fear and trepidation for new buyers was kept to an absolute minimum?
http://www.xboxtoday.ca/09212007/20/microsoft_latest_xbox_360_consoles_are_improved