Free Republic

The recording industry is providing its most detailed glimpse into some detective-style techniques it has employed as part of its secretive campaign against online music swappers. Court papers including those disclosures were filed against a Brooklyn woman who is fighting RIAA efforts to identify her for allegedly sharing nearly 1,000 songs over the Internet. The recording industry disputed her defense that songs on her family's computer were from compact discs she had legally purchased. Story Tools See also RIAA Target Appeals for Anonymity Vague Limits Vex Music Traders RIAA: We'll Spare the Small Fry RIAA Methods Under Scrutiny SBC Sues...

Fact or fallacy: Sexy tree too much for some Westside neighbors By DAN WHITESentinel staff writer A Westside resident called the cops Monday to report an allegedly phallic tree. Officers responded to the Liberty Street home but found no wrongdoing. They said the 20-footer — actually an evergreen hedge of the Luma genus — is protected by its owner’s right to artistic freedom. "We contacted the city attorney," said Sgt. Brad Goodwin. "It could be interpreted anywhere from being free speech to being artistic. It’s really nothing we have control over." All trees can be seen as "phallic," but some...

RIAA nails 1,000 music-lovers in 'new Prohibition' jihad By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco Posted: 19/07/2003 at 11:26 GMT The Recording Industry Association of America's attack on US culture has escalated at an alarming pace this week. On Friday the lobby group that works on behalf of the large, mostly foreign-owned, music conglomerates that own the music copyrights and distribution channels confirmed that it was serving subpoenas at the rate of 75 a day on US citizens for the crime of sharing the music they love. This signals a change of tactics for the RIAA: as now each individual file...

Congress mulls prison terms for KaZaA users By Thomas C Greene in Washington Posted: 17/07/2003 at 12:40 GMT Not satisfied with hacking P2P networks, or destroying the computers of file sharers, House Hollywood sock puppet Howard Berman (Democrat, California) is now sponsoring legislation that would jail people who trade as little as one MP3 on the Internet. Berman has hooked up with House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers (Democrat, Michigan) to produce this Hobbesian proposal. "While existing laws have been useful in stemming this problem, they simply do not go far enough," Conyers is quoted as saying. Details are...

<p>Maybe it was hyperbole; maybe it was just frustration. But at a recent town hall meeting at the Santa Clara County Office of Education, state schools chief Jack O'Connell uttered a surprisingly stark pronouncement. The California lottery, he said, ``has done more to hurt public education than almost anything.''</p>

OTTAWA -- Defence Minister John McCallum says buying a military plane is as easy as time-sharing a condo. McCallum said the Canadian Forces are looking at pooling their money with other NATO militaries to lease a fleet of huge transport planes. "It's kind of like a time-sharing condominium," he said after a cabinet meeting. "You get the time in proportion to the money you put in. It's certainly worth looking into." McCallum said only the U.S. and United Kingdom have large transport planes, so other NATO countries decided last week to look into sharing a fleet. McCallum said he'll insist...

TAIPEI: The United States has agreed to "conditionally" share its military satellite data with Taiwan, a move expected to irritate China, it was reported on Monday. Once linked to the US satellite system codenamed "Defense Support Project" (DSP), Taiwan would be able to allow up to seven more minutes in advance while its Patriot anti-missile weaponry prepared to intercept any incoming missiles, the United Daily News said. It said the Taiwan military plans to set up ground stations over the next five years to plug the island's Patriot systems to the US military satellite system. The defense ministry was tight-lipped...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The European Union is expected to reach an agreement with the United States later this year to exchange personal data on terror suspects, Denmark's justice minister said Wednesday. The 15-nation bloc and the United States agreed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to beef up anti-terrorist cooperation with a deal on sharing more information. But the agreement stopped short of U.S. desires to include personal data on suspects. Danish Justice Minister Lene Espersen, whose country just took over the rotating EU presidency, said she believes an agreement on that point can be reached this year. ``I...