Free Republic

The nation's oldest conservative group has become the latest and most vocal critic of an anti-file-swapping bill that foes say could target products like Apple Computer's iPod. The American Conservative Union (ACU), which holds influential Republican activists and former senators on its board of directors, is running newspaper and that take a humorous jab at the so-called Induce Act--and slams some conservative politicians for supporting it. "This is the Hollywood liberals trying to crush innovation," said ACU deputy director "What's sad is that they've got Republicans on their side." A Senate committee vote on the bill is scheduled for Thursday....

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge dismissed charges against a New York record store owner on Friday who had been selling unauthorized recordings of concerts, saying a law against boot-legging was unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Harold Baer ruled that the statute banning boot-legging was unconstitutional because it says that copyrights on live performances are protected forever. This, he said, conflicts with the "limited time" requirements of copyright law. The 18-page ruling relates to charges against Jean Martignon, who owns a record store, a catalog service, and an Internet site. Federal prosecutors brought a single criminal charge against the store...