It appears the recording industry may get their way after all. They are working on a proposal with the National Association of Broadcasters that would see radio stations start to pay for the music they play on air. For over 70 years, broadcasters have not had to pay for what they played on air. It [...]
If  you’ve seen the movie The Insider, you may remember this phrase uttered by Christopher Plummer, playing Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes: “They accused us of betraying the legacy of Edward R. Murrow.” Strong words indeed. However, I think they are truer than ever. Journalism, in it’s truest sense, has been abandoned by the journalists [...]
The recent flap between Blackberry maker Research In Motion and two Middle Eastern countries has again raised the question about service providers and their loyalty. Should they be loyal to the people that buy their products, thus giving them a reason for being? Or, should they be loyal to governing bodies? The problem we are [...]
The government has ruled in favor of consumers and educators in a series of rulings. Among the rulings, users who jailbreak mobile phones are not committing a crime. Consumers may also now break copyright protection on DVD’s for non-commercial and educational purposes. This is a surprising ruling to say the least. On the jailbreaking issue, [...]
We’ve had many recent examples of state Attorney’s General using their bully pulpit to sound off about whatever moral panic is big that day. Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut is just the latest. He joins New York’s Andrew Cuomo as one of the bigger gasbags in politics. His grandstanding moment du jour is the video game [...]
Here are some news stories that are hitting the worlds of media and tech: Netflix goes to Canada – After 10 years of existence, Netflix is finally going north of the border. Later this fall, the streaming service will also be available. It will initially only be available in English, but they have plans to [...]
I’ve been reading about the 2006 Duke lacrosse scandal recently. The case got me thinking about what role the media should play. Particularly when people’s lives and reputations are on the line. In the case of the 2006 Duke lacrosse team, then district attorney Mike Nifong used the media extensively to lambaste the team. He [...]
Muvico Theaters is being sued by a 22-year-old Chicago woman over her arrest and brief jailing after filming a couple of brief snippets of Twilight:New Moon. The arrest highlighted the raised intensity of the MPAA’s current anti-piracy efforts. They even go so far as to reward (i.e. bribe) movie workers with $500 for turning in [...]
Free has really gotten a bad rap over the last decade. I think it started when newspapers allowed their content for free online. As more and more people flooded the internet, they looked to the internet for their news. Napster caused the same rush to free access with music. Bit Torrent sites provided ways to [...]
I have been taking advantage of Netflix’s streaming content through my Xbox 360 for some time. I love being able to catch up on past seasons of various shows that have been released on DVD. That’s how I got hooked on The Office and 30 Rock. One downside to Netflix is the inability to keep [...]