Free Republic

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. -- One Bloomfield Hills school is enforcing a new policy that will end the use of a popular Web site on the premises. St. Hugo of the Hills Catholic School students were informed recently that under a new school policy, Think First, Stay Safe, the use of MySpace.com will be prohibited at school and at home. The policy states that students enrolled in the school can't have a MySpace.com account or any similar type of personal site, according to a news release.

Judge Sides With Original Supernova In 'Rock Star' Suit Ruling requires Tommy Lee's band to change name following show's finale. David has defeated Goliath. According to a Tuesday (September 12) ruling by San Diego Judge John Houston, the producers of CBS' "Rock Star" are going to have to come up with an alternate name for Supernova, the band made up of Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee, Voivod's Jason Newsted and former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke. Last month, the original Supernova — an Orange County, California, punk trio — filed for a preliminary injunction in San Diego's U.S. District Court...

What would Jesus do? That's the question students at Sutherland Shire Christian School were asking themselves after a Bible-reading session last week. It's unlikely the son of God envisaged the scourge of modern-day music and film piracy. But the students decided their messiah would have considered copyright violation a breach of one of the all-important Ten Commandments from the book of Exodus: thou shalt not steal. By yesterday afternoon, a year 12 group had risen to the cause and handed into the school 2000 of their own illegally burnt CDs and DVDs. The school's business manager, Bob East, said the...

News Home - Help US Court Rejects Movie, Music Makers' Piracy ClaimsThu, Aug 19, 2004 By Ben BerkowitzLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Thursday delivered a stinging blow to the anti-piracy efforts of major movie studios and music companies, ruling that several online file-sharing software companies are not liable for copyright infringement.The three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found in favor of Grokster Ltd., among others, and held the relief from piracy sought by the movie and music studios would amount to a renovation of the existing copyright standards, which the court...

Missing RIAA figures shoot down "piracy" canard By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco Posted: 16/12/2002 at 20:15 GMT Research by George Zieman gives the true reason for falling CD sales: the major labels have slashed production by 25 per cent in the past two years, he argues. After keeping the figure rather quiet for two years, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) says the industry released around 27,000 titles in 2001, down from a peak of 38,900 in 1999. Since year-on-year unit sales have dropped a mere 10.3 per cent, it's clear that demand has held up extremely...

<p>WASHINGTON -- An antipiracy campaign by the recording industry is threatening lawsuits to try to force stores to pull pirated music from their shelves.</p> <p>The Recording Industry Association of America said Monday it is demanding a halt to illegal music sales at gas stations, convenience stores, groceries and some small music stores that the group has identified as offering illegal copies of music recordings.</p>

Crime syndicates have taken to the high seas to manufacture pirated music and movie CDs and VCDs for distribution in Malaysia, a top police official said today. The new trick was aimed at escaping intense police operations to smash their activities, said Mazlan Ayob, the Balik Pulau district police chief in the northern Penang state. "The manufacturers produce thousands of pirated copies on board ships anchored in international waters. They will then dock their vessels at the various ports or jetties along the state's coastline to drop off their products," he told AFP. Mazlan said the marine police had been...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop princess Britney Spears, the bubbly dancing spokesgirl for Pepsi, will soon be hawking again but on a more serious note in a commercial to warn people of the evils of online piracy. Spears, rapper Nelly, hip-hop diva Missy Elliott and other pop stars will be featured in coming weeks in TV spots funded by the world's biggest record labels to educate people about illegal downloading of music, which the music industry blames for a protracted sales slump. After falling more than 5 percent in 2001, CD shipments dropped another 7 percent in the first half...