RIAA vs. XM.

Statement to XM Subscribers - The XM Nation

Everything we've done at XM since our first minute on the air is about giving you more choices. We provide more channels and music programming than any other network. We play all the music you want to hear including the artists you want to hear but can't find on traditional FM radio. And we offer the best radios with the features you want for your cars, homes, and all places in between.

We've developed new radios -- the Inno, Helix and NeXus -- that take innovation to the next level in a totally legal way. Like TiVo, these devices give you the ability to enjoy the sports, talk and music programming whenever you want. And because they are portable, you can enjoy XM wherever you want.

The music industry wants to stop your ability to choose when and where you can listen. Their lawyers have filed a meritless lawsuit to try and stop you from enjoying these radios.

They don't get it. These devices are clearly legal. Consumers have enjoyed the right to tape off the air for their personal use for decades, from reel-to-reel and the cassette to the VCR and TiVo.

Our new radios complement download services, they don't replace them. If you want a copy of a song to transfer to other players or burn onto CDs, we make it easy for you to buy them through XM + Napster.

Satellite radio subscribers like you are law-abiding music consumers; a portion of your subscriber fee pays royalties directly to artists. Instead of going after pirates who don't pay a cent, the record labels are attacking the radios used for the enjoyment of music by consumers like you. It's misguided and wrong.

We will vigorously defend these radios and your right to enjoy them in court and before Congress, and we expect to win.

Thank you for your support.

I am an XM radio subscriber and I have been since the very beginning. The RIAA has been dodging the turd that will make them look like asses by going after the "little" guy - the one that cannot afford to fight back. Now the RIAA is about to learn why their little vendetta is pointless. The rules of the game are not the same as they were in 1997 or 1977. This is 2006 and people are tired of the RIAA. It is time to put them in their place.

Privacy - It is everybody's business

The Eternal Value of Privacy By Bruce Schneier 02:00 AM May, 18, 2006
The most common retort against privacy advocates -- by those in favor of ID checks, cameras, databases, data mining and other wholesale surveillance measures -- is this line: "If you aren't doing anything wrong, what do you have to hide?" [Wired News]

I will not even begin to compete with Bruce on this. Go read the commentary then go read the Constitution. If you have any questions, go back to step one and repeat.

Viva Las Vegas...Mentality

US indictment charges operators of Antigua gambling website by Rob Lever Wed May 17, 4:01 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two operators of an Antigua-based Internet gambling site have been indicted on US charges of money-laundering involving some 250 million dollars of wagers, officials announced. [Yahoo News]

Now, before you start thumping your bible about how the Federal government is doing everything it can to "protect public morals or maintain public order," you have to remember this is about money. More to the point, this is about the United States Government not getting any while the Government of Antigua, which successfully argued in front of the WTO that the US laws banning Internet gambling constitutes an unfair trade barrier is getting the money (or some of it, or maybe none of it - but that does not seem to upset them as much as it does the current Administration).

From the article:

The Caribbean island, with a population of about 68,000, is a centre for offshore Internet gaming operations, attracting large numbers of US residents to its casino-style games and betting services.

I wonder why that is? Perhaps because the US citizens that go there to gamble are not at risk of having to report their winnings to the IRS? If you think it is for the water, you are nuts. Yes, Federal law says you have to report your winnings, but if the transactions are in cash (and large numbers of bets are made that way), then how do you know if a player won a million dollars or $100 million? And if they bank it off-shore, it makes it even harder to collect against.

What really bothers me though is that while the government in the guise of the Internal Revenue Service goes after the individual, they tend to ignore the large conglomerates that operate and evade billions in taxes every year. In fact, the aid and abet these corporations by passing tax laws that are so complicated and contradictory that it is impossible to actually compute how much is truly owed. What is know, is that at the current rate, the deficit will exceed $10 trillion by the end of the decade unless some form of fiscal responsibility is rapidly put into place. I am not holding my breath.

If you don't want to be on the cover, don't pose naked...

Maxim Cover Girl Protests May 16th - 3:10pm NEW YORK (AP) - Czech model Veronica Varekova says the upcoming issue of Maxim magazine unlawfully uses a photograph of her scantily clad on its cover. [WTOP News]

This is the point where I start wondering if our public figures are just a little too full of themselves. In the old days when a model signed a release, the photos could be used just about any way the photographer wanted. If the photographer wanted to sell them, it was up to the buyer to meet the price. It appears that this is what happened here - there was a business transaction.

If you don't want your half naked picture on the cover of a magazine, then don't pose that way (it would be different if the picture had been obtained under less appropriate circumstances). British GQ, Victoria's Secret catalog or Maxim - they are all catering to the same demographic, whether the model wishes to acknowledge it or not.

At the core, she is looking for exposure. Now she has it.

Fake TV show - isn't that an oxymoron?

Producer Pleads Guilty in Fake TV Show May 16th - 7:08pm LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Hollywood producer pleaded guilty Tuesday to bilking millions of dollars from people who invested in a phony TV series about the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. [WTOP News]

But how did they know it was fake? After all, there are a number fake shows about the Department of Homeland Security (how could you make a real show about the place - chaos, mayhem, disorder. Think Katrina with FEMA aid AND the TSA).

Oh, wait, the whole lash up was fake...ok, now I understand. Silly me.

Da Vinci Would Be Ashamed

'Da Vinci Code' Misses the Mark for Critics May 17th - 6:58am By DAVID GERMAIN AP Movie Writer CANNES, France (AP) - "The Da Vinci Code" drew lukewarm praise, shrugs of indifference, some jeering laughter and a few derisive jabs Tuesday from arguably the world's toughest movie crowd: critics at the Cannes Film Festival. [WTOP News]

Maybe this will finally put to bed what is arguably one of the silliest issues ever to be raised in the United States. With all the problems in the world, this book and its movie have taken up more than their fair share of airtime.

The religious community is upset because they are afraid people will not recognize that it is a fiction (and the bible isn't?). The critics have started to pan the movie (I only wish they had panned the book - while the topic is interesting, the book is a bore) and I expect it will be a very short run in the theatres to the detriment of many in Hollywood that are trying to find an excuse to keep making trivial movies.

Let's face facts. Gas is $3.00 a gallon, popcorn and soda is $10 (for one person) tickets are $20. Or I can stay home, have a steak, a bottle of wine and watch the stars. If you want me, I will be on my deck.