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Saturday 26 March 2011
RIAA request for trillions in LimeWire copyright case is 'absurd,' judge says
The music industry's contention that file-sharing software maker LimeWire owes it trillions of dollars in damages for enabling the illegal distribution of 11,000 copyrighted songs is "absurd," a federal judge has ruled. In a scathing ruling filed earlier this month, Judge Kimba Wood of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York flatly rejected the industry's claims that LimeWire should pay up to $150,000 for each download of some 11,000 songs included in the RIAA lawsuit.
The plaintiffs' position on statutory damages "offends the canon that we should avoid endorsing statutory interpretations that would lead to absurd results," Judge Wood wrote in a 14-page ruling. "If Plaintiffs were able to pursue a statutory damage theory based on the number of direct infringers per work, Defendants' damages could reach into the trillions."
Judge Wood last October had ordered LimeWire to cease its file-sharing operations after agreeing with the music industry's claims that the company was enabling and inducing massive copyright infringement...
The plaintiffs' position on statutory damages "offends the canon that we should avoid endorsing statutory interpretations that would lead to absurd results," Judge Wood wrote in a 14-page ruling. "If Plaintiffs were able to pursue a statutory damage theory based on the number of direct infringers per work, Defendants' damages could reach into the trillions."
Judge Wood last October had ordered LimeWire to cease its file-sharing operations after agreeing with the music industry's claims that the company was enabling and inducing massive copyright infringement...
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Jaikumar Vijayan @'Computerworld'
It’s Time for the Recording Industry to Stop Blaming "Piracy" and Start Finding A New Way
As many — EFF included — have been saying for years, filesharing is not the reason that the recording industry has fallen on hard financial times. In fact, the recording industry’s complaints that the sky is falling really only apply to the recording industry, and not musicians and the fans, who have seen increased music purchases, increased artist salaries, and the availability of more music than ever before. And now two new reports further debunk the recording industry's myth.
First, the London School of Economics released a paper finding that while filesharing may explain some of the decline in sales of physical copies of recorded music, the decline “should be explained by a combination of factors such as changing patterns in music consumption, decreasing disposable household incomes for leisure products and increasing sales of digital content through online platforms.” And even if the sales of recorded music are down, there is an important distinction to draw: the recording industry may be hurting, but the music industry is thriving. For example, the LSE paper points out that in the UK in 2009, the revenues from live music shows outperformed recorded music sales.
We’ve also seen more and more artists making a go of it on their own. Rebecca Black, a 13-year-old, is reportedly netting nearly $25,000 a week from digital downloads of her hit song, "Friday." The band OK Go famously made a name for itself by self-producing widely popular music videos and then leaving a big record label that failed to “recognize the basic mechanics of the Internet” by attempting to prohibit embedding of the band's video content. As the lead singer noted, "[c]urbing the viral spread of videos isn't benefiting the company’s bottom line, or the music it's there to support." Even bands with record deals are finding different ways to make money. For example, the popular band the Black Keys makes 85% of its money from live shows.
Another recent study, this one by the Social Science Research Council, delves into international aspects of "piracy," especially in emerging markets, and finds unauthorized filesharing in some developing economies has actually created opportunities for media companies to come up with innovative business models that allow legal and widespread access to media goods. For example, in India, "where large domestic film and music industries dominate the national market, [large media companies] set prices to attract mass audiences, and in some cases compete directly with pirate distribution." The impact of this cannot be understated: in many of these emerging markets, the new business models are improving legal access to music and art that was previously unaffordable for many people.
The SSRC report also points out that, despite the content industry’s dire predictions, the media business is still thriving: "Software, DVD, and box office revenues in most middle-income countries have risen in the past decade — in some cases dramatically. Sales of CDs have fallen, but the overall music business, including performance, has grown."
Despite these realities, the policy debate continues to focus on enforcement and "strengthening intellectual property," which, SSRC rightly points out, is incredibly counterproductive and comes at a high social cost. Instead of discussing ways to make sure artists get paid for their work and fans have access to media goods, time and energy is wasted debating how to continue an enforcement policy that has failed to actually curb unauthorized filesharing.
We are encouraged to see studies like these that challenge policy makers to shift the tone of the debate to a more productive conversation about how to innovate and use new technologies to benefit artists and their fans. Because the bottom line is this: those who find ways to capitalize on new technologies will be the ones to succeed going forward.
Julie Samuels @'EFF'
First, the London School of Economics released a paper finding that while filesharing may explain some of the decline in sales of physical copies of recorded music, the decline “should be explained by a combination of factors such as changing patterns in music consumption, decreasing disposable household incomes for leisure products and increasing sales of digital content through online platforms.” And even if the sales of recorded music are down, there is an important distinction to draw: the recording industry may be hurting, but the music industry is thriving. For example, the LSE paper points out that in the UK in 2009, the revenues from live music shows outperformed recorded music sales.
We’ve also seen more and more artists making a go of it on their own. Rebecca Black, a 13-year-old, is reportedly netting nearly $25,000 a week from digital downloads of her hit song, "Friday." The band OK Go famously made a name for itself by self-producing widely popular music videos and then leaving a big record label that failed to “recognize the basic mechanics of the Internet” by attempting to prohibit embedding of the band's video content. As the lead singer noted, "[c]urbing the viral spread of videos isn't benefiting the company’s bottom line, or the music it's there to support." Even bands with record deals are finding different ways to make money. For example, the popular band the Black Keys makes 85% of its money from live shows.
Another recent study, this one by the Social Science Research Council, delves into international aspects of "piracy," especially in emerging markets, and finds unauthorized filesharing in some developing economies has actually created opportunities for media companies to come up with innovative business models that allow legal and widespread access to media goods. For example, in India, "where large domestic film and music industries dominate the national market, [large media companies] set prices to attract mass audiences, and in some cases compete directly with pirate distribution." The impact of this cannot be understated: in many of these emerging markets, the new business models are improving legal access to music and art that was previously unaffordable for many people.
The SSRC report also points out that, despite the content industry’s dire predictions, the media business is still thriving: "Software, DVD, and box office revenues in most middle-income countries have risen in the past decade — in some cases dramatically. Sales of CDs have fallen, but the overall music business, including performance, has grown."
Despite these realities, the policy debate continues to focus on enforcement and "strengthening intellectual property," which, SSRC rightly points out, is incredibly counterproductive and comes at a high social cost. Instead of discussing ways to make sure artists get paid for their work and fans have access to media goods, time and energy is wasted debating how to continue an enforcement policy that has failed to actually curb unauthorized filesharing.
We are encouraged to see studies like these that challenge policy makers to shift the tone of the debate to a more productive conversation about how to innovate and use new technologies to benefit artists and their fans. Because the bottom line is this: those who find ways to capitalize on new technologies will be the ones to succeed going forward.
Julie Samuels @'EFF'
Friday 25 March 2011
Writings of La Monte Young
La Monte Young, USA | b. 1935
La Monte Young, editor "An Anthology of Chance Operations" (1963)
[PDF, 35mb]
Long out-of-print seminal writings and interviews by Young. First published by Heiner Friedrich in 1969 in an edition of 2100. Includes "Notes On The Continuous Periodic Composite Sound Waveform Environment Realizations Of "Map Of 49's Dream The Two Systems Of Eleven Sets Of Galactic Intervals Ornamental Lightyears Tracery," "Dream House,"Conversation With La Monte Young By Richard Kostelanetz," The Soul Of The Word," "Lecture 1960," and "Poem To Diane."
Notes on Continuous Periodic Composite Sound Waveform Environment Realizations/ Dream Music
@'Ubu Web'
La Monte Young, editor "An Anthology of Chance Operations" (1963) [PDF, 35mb]
Long out-of-print seminal writings and interviews by Young. First published by Heiner Friedrich in 1969 in an edition of 2100. Includes "Notes On The Continuous Periodic Composite Sound Waveform Environment Realizations Of "Map Of 49's Dream The Two Systems Of Eleven Sets Of Galactic Intervals Ornamental Lightyears Tracery," "Dream House,"Conversation With La Monte Young By Richard Kostelanetz," The Soul Of The Word," "Lecture 1960," and "Poem To Diane."
Notes on Continuous Periodic Composite Sound Waveform Environment Realizations/ Dream Music@'Ubu Web'
سانكيوو - Sankyoo
Intro:
One wonders
What people say about us
"Mubarak is an American puppet,
He doesn't give a damn
He's busy with some girls
That's his master plan".
What people say about us
"Mubarak is an American puppet,
He doesn't give a damn
He's busy with some girls
That's his master plan".
-----
I love you
I love you too, Mr President
Thank you
I love you too, Mr President
Thank you
Sankyoo for the misery
For the filth
And disgust
For the filth
And disgust
Sankyoo for the sewage floods
Sankyoo for the rotting garbage
Sankyoo for the rotting garbage
Sankyoo for imposed opinions
Sankyoo for the fraud
Sankyoo for the fraud
Sankyoo for Ayman Nour, Kareem
Alaa and all oppressed Egyptians
Alaa and all oppressed Egyptians
Sankyoo for the judges
The beating
The police
The torture
The beating
The police
The torture
Sankyoo, sankyoo, sankyoo, sankyoo (ad lib)
Finale:
One wonders
Where to hide from injustice
The ruler has cornered us
Where ever we may be
Where to hide from injustice
The ruler has cornered us
Where ever we may be
Egyptian girls and boys
Where shall we find freedom
When Mubarak our President
Is the mighty chief of thugs.
Where shall we find freedom
When Mubarak our President
Is the mighty chief of thugs.
Atomic Snow Jobs
When nuclear reactors blow, the first thing that melts down is the truth. Just as in the Chernobyl catastrophe almost 25 years ago when Soviet authorities denied the extent of radiation and downplayed the dire situation that was spiraling out of control, Japanese authorities spent the first week of the Fukushima crisis issuing conflicting and confusing reports. We were told that radiation levels were up, then down, then up, but nobody aside from those Japanese bureaucrats could verify the levels and few trusted their accuracy. The situation is under control, they told us, but workers are being evacuated. There is no danger of contamination, but stay inside and seal your doors.
The bureaucratization of horror into bland and reassuring pronouncements was to be expected, especially from an industry where misinformation is the rule. Although you might suppose that the nuclear industry's outstanding characteristic would be its expertise, since it's loaded with junior Einsteins who grasp the math and physics required to master the most awesomely sophisticated technology humans have ever created, think again. Based on the record, it's most outstanding characteristic is a fundamental dishonesty. I learned that the hard way as a grassroots activist organizing opposition to a scheme hatched by a consortium of nuclear utilities to park thousands of tons of highly radioactive fuel rods, like the ones now burning at Fukushima, in my Utah backyard.
Here's what I took away from that experience: the nuclear industry is a snake-oil culture of habitual misrepresentation, pervasive wishful thinking, deep denial, and occasional outright deception. For more than 50 years, it has habitually lied about risks and costs while covering up every violation and failure it could. Whether or not its proponents and spokespeople are dishonest or merely deluded can be debated, but the outcome -- dangerous misinformation and the meltdown of honest civic discourse -- remains the same, as we once again see at Fukushima.
Established at the dawn of the nuclear age, the pattern of dissemblance had become a well-worn rut long before the Japanese reactors spun out of control. In the early 1950s, the disciples of nuclear power, or the "peaceful atom" as it was then called, insisted that nuclear power would soon become so cheap and efficient that it would be offered to consumers for free. Visionaries that they were, they suggested that cities would be constructed with building materials impregnated with uranium so that snow removal would be unnecessary. Atomic bombs, they urged, should be used to carve out new coastal harbors for ships. In low doses, they swore, radiation was actually beneficial to one's health...
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Chip Ward @'Counterpunch'
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