-
Apple, Tesco ‘most to blame’ for music biz crisis
by
Andrew Orlowski
–
A new report suggests that Apple and Tesco, not P2P file sharers, should take the most blame for the woes of the British music industry. The report, prepared privately by consultants Capgemini for the Value Recognition Strategy working group, set out to examine the “value gap”, the amount sound recordings revenue has fallen in the…
-
Ursula le Guin dings surly Boing Boing
by
Andrew Orlowski
–
Science Fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin has given the anti-copyright fanatics at the Boing Boing weblog a quick refresher in authors’ rights. The blog posted a short piece by Le Guin, erroneously slapping a Creative Commons license on it. “This is incorrect,” wrote her representative. “Ms. Le Guin has not placed this work under…
-
World’s dumbest file-sharer mulls appeal
by
Andrew Orlowski
–
Ironically-named P2P user Jammie Thomas, who was fined $220,000 for copyright infringement in a case brought by the RIAA last week, wants to appeal the Minnesota jury’s verdict. The lady is certainly unlucky. But is she ill-advised by her attorney Brian Toder – or is she just incredibly stupid? You decide: Jammie Thomas had used…
-
File sharers: spare me the phony outrage
by
Andrew Orlowski
–
Last week, the ailing sound recording industry in America found someone even dumber to pick on. Kazaa user Jammie Thomas had got on the internet, and was doing just what the adverts and mass media say you should do once you’re there – fill your boots with free stuff. This is a case that should…
-
Braindead obituarists hoaxed by Wikipedia
by
Andrew Orlowski
–
The veteran BBC TV composer and arranger Ronnie Hazlehurst died on Monday night. His long career at the corporation produced some of the most (irritatingly) memorable theme tunes: including The Two Ronnies, Reggie Perrin, Last Of The Summer Wine, Blankety Blank and the Morse Code theme for Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em. But when his…
-
Google scares parents away from using their copy rights
by
Andrew Orlowski
–
Imagine if you walked into Scotland Yard to report a crime involving children, only to be given a telling off, before you’d opened your mouth, about the dire penalties for wasting police time. And that your complaints would be forwarded to a watchdog – and that you’d better come back with a lawyer. That’s how…