Woman has to pay over 200 grand to the record industry

For the past few years, the RIAA has really gone on the offensive against file sharing and has sued at least 20,000 people, if not more. In the first jury trial pitting the RIAA against a defendant who allegedly downloaded music illegally, the defendant, Jammie Thomas, was found guilty and is now faced with a fine of $220,000, or $9,250 per song. I don't know about you, but this is a clear case of the punishment being far worse than the crime. I think that downloading music is wrong, but your finances shouldn't forever be pushed into the red because you downloaded a few songs, that's fucked up.

And as this article states, among other things, millions have been spent by the RIAA on these suits, and the RIAA has collected millions as a result of the settlements and judgments such as this. But how much of those millions have gone to the artists whose works are being downloaded? That information hasn't been revealed.

Also, during this trial, the head of litigation for Sony said that if you make a copy of a song for yourself, that you're stealing. I think this is actually a law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, that the media industry wrote and lobbied into law. This goes back to earlier posts I've made, like the federal government invading homes that had modified game systems. Once you buy something, it's yours. As long as you're not making copies for others and selling them, you should have the right to do whatever you want with it. Making a backup copy of something that you purchased is your right as a consumer, no matter what some law says.

Bill O'Reilly

I've been pretty busy in the past couple of weeks, so I missed this. I was reading about it last night and felt inclined to post. A couple of weeks ago, Bill O'Reilly came under fire (again) for making a remark that could be considered racist in some circles. He was talking about dining at Sylvia's (a restaurant in Harlem) with Al Sharpton, and said that he "couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship." A big bru-ha-ha resulted, but as far as I know, it hasn't evolved into an Imus moment, and we should be thankful for that.

Sometimes, I don't understand the purpose or meaning of a group like Media Matters. Media Matters is a liberal watchdog that calls out conservatives in the media, which is good and all. And they called O'Reilly out on the statements he made. But they've been doing that for almost as long as O'Reilly has been on the air, and to me, it just gets old. It's like the conservative listeners who used to listen in to Howard Stern's show so they could catch whatever offensive thing he said and rat him out to the FCC. This is America, so what if someone on the radio or television is offensive? If you don't like it, don't listen.

As for O'Reilly, I'm not a fan of his, but I think this statement (and others he's made) are based more out of ignorance than racism. The guy's lived on Long Island all his life, in a lily-white part of it. I'll say one thing for him, though. I do like how he has the cajones to stand up to these groups like Media Matters and the other press that is giving the story coverage. I still think he put his foot in his mouth, and all a group like Media Matters did was tell people what he said. But Imus showed that if you reach out to some of these people, and back down from what you say, they'll eat you alive. O'Reilly learned from that.

And lastly, I'm sorry, but I thought the "hey, m-fer, where's my iced tea" remark was hilarious.

A site you just have to see

This site really surprised me. It's filled with old-school games, mainly arcade and NES, but also remakes and a few others as well. The thing is, there are no downloads or installs required, you can play them directly from this website. It was programmed using either Flash or Java, I forget which. It's not perfect, though. There is no sound in the arcade games, and the NES ones are pretty choppy (but that could be my fault for running too many programs). But if you're craving a quick and dirty fix of plenty of retro, quality games, this site is for you. There aren't ads, as far as I know.

http://www.1980-games.com/us/

Liz's personal view on medicine

This is a really good post, once again, from the Contemplation of Preponderance blog. It's pretty mcuh exactly how I feel about health care. Everyone bitches about the cost of a universal health care system (or socialized medicine), yet when you factor in the insurance preminums and the deductibles, you're already paying for it anyway. And the insurance companies only pay so much for treatment anyway. She also points out another enemy in this, the greedy old people who want their Medicare, while the rest of us get jack squat. They're almost as bad as the HMO's. I hope someone can put them in line, although I'm not holding my breath.

Showtime Sunday

Yet another night in the week of my life is wasted, set aside for some quality television shows. My brother turned me on to two programs on Showtime that come on Sundays, Dexter and Brotherhood. They're both in their second seasons, and I've just gobbled up the DVD's of the first seasons over the past couple months (I watched the first season of Dexter in a few days and just finished yesterday afternoon). As far as cable, I thought no one would ever beat HBO, but I was wrong. All of HBO's great, appointment television (Sopranos, Deadwood, Six Feet Under) has disappeared, with the exception of Curb Your Enthusiam. But Showtime has Dexter (centering on a serial killer, but with a "code" so that he only kills those who have it coming to them), Brotherhood (which I consider to be The Sopranos meets The West Wing), and a few shows that sound really good but I haven't gotten to see. Oh, and The L Word, which is my closet show (meaning that no one close to me knows that I watch it), it's great, Melrose Place with lesbians.

So if you haven't watched Dexter or Brotherhood, I'd certainly recommend it. And just to clarify, I'm not getting any money from Showtime for plugging their shows, but if anyone from Showtime is reading this, I'd appreciate it if you'd consider that, as I could use it :)

Partisan Justice

Time wrote a really good investigative report about a possible conspiracy between U.S. attorneys and judges in Alabama. They took a series of corruption cases that implicated both Republicans and Democrats, and decided to prosecute only the Democrats. The former Democratic governor of Alabama is currently serving a seven-year prison term, while the Republican attorney general at the time is not only not in prison, but is now a U.S. senator. Check the article out, there are all kinds of conflicts of interests and winking eyes. All typical of this administration.

'The War' and the war

This is a really good post from The Bru Notes blog, contrasting the era that the current Ken Burns documentary, "The War", depicts, (WWII) with our current era. The most disheartening thing about the occupation of Iraq, as well as the whole post 9/11 era, is that aside from the sacrifices of our brave men and women serving overseas, we really haven't done a damn thing. We continue to stand still while endless scandals (the latest being Blackwater) erupt, and we don't even pay attention. A good deal of Americans probably don't even realize what's going on, for as Bru says, more Americans are concerned with what's going on in Britney Spears' life than the fates of our brave warriors. Shame on us.

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October 03, 2007

'The War' and the war

I have sat transfixed through nearly every gruesome and heartrending hour of Ken Burns' telling of "The War" this past week. It's almost been enough to take my mind off the war; I mean that one our administration wants to call the war on terror. Unfortunately, the last world war didn't make history of all war. Loss of limbs and lives continues unabated in places we Americans choose to fight and in plenty of other spots around the globe we choose to ignore.

Today I find myself looking to compare the war my father fought in with the one our soldiers are ordered to contest in Iraq. But I stop short. There really is no comparison, aside from the individual bravery, sacrifice and brutality common to all wars. Still, I can't help but observe the Iraq news backdrop to the 15-hour airing of "The War" -- BlackWater, the mercenary, ahem, private security firm coming under harsh criticism for a recent tragic confrontation in Iraq. I suspect many other Americans go to the same place I do as they hear about the involvement of Blackwater and other private profiteers of war: cynicism. We grow even wearier. What else can we expect from an administration for whom the invisible hand of the free market belongs to God. Of Blackwater, Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich remarked:

"If war is privatized, then private contractors have a vested interest in keeping the war going. The longer the war goes on, the more money they make."

And therein grows the cynicism of the day. If it's good for business in America, it's good for America. Chalk up war as another commodity to be bought and sold. Of course Corporate America benefitted tremendously during World War II. But Americans then were not afforded the luxury of cynicism. The war could not be won without the all-out efforts of business and every other institution. Whatever it took, whatever the cost to win the war was what Americans signed up for. They had little choice. Those who would destroy us had to be destroyed.

When I imagine Baghdad, I don't see the tyrants of Berlin or Tokyo. I picture the civil war leaders of Hanoi and Saigon. I don't find towering figures like FDR and Churchill to take comfort from. I seethe over the deceit of Bush and Blair. And I don't witness the sacrifice of all Americans. I see volunteer soldiers from the ranks of our most disadvantaged families and a depressingly large swath of our citizenry more concerned with Britney Spears' wellbeing than that of our warriors.

So how will filmmakers years from now look back on America's war of 2007 and counting? You can easily guess my prediction. What's yours?