Ascension Cafe

A Bustling Hate-Crime IndustryPolitical entrepreneurship involves devising benefits to excite or mollify niche constituencies. Hence HR 1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007, which has passed the House, trailing clouds of sanctimony — lots of members announced their hatred of hate.Hate-crime laws — 45 states already have them; Congress does not … Read more

Senators throw support behind internet radioLegislation has been introduced in the Senate that would overturn a decision putting Internet radio on a death watch. The “Internet Radio Equality Act” would vacate the recent ruling by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) that hiked payment rates for performances 300 to 1200 percent, and would reinstate the … Read more

Leaving the Pack!EMI Music announced in April that it is making all of its digital repertoire available at a much higher sound quality than existing downloads and free of digital rights management (DRM) restrictions on a global basis.EMI’s retailers have been offered downloads of tracks and albums in the DRM-free audio format of their choice … Read more

Thoughts on Music by Steve JobsWhy would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music … Read more

Earlier this month, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sent a fourth wave of 402 pre-litigation settlement letters to 13 universities. Each pre-litigation settlement letter informs the school of a forthcoming copyright infringement suit against one of its students or personnel and requests that university administrators forward that letter to the appropriate network user. … Read more

Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus was a scholar, ecclesiastic, poet and teacher from York, England. He was born around 735 close to York — perhaps in the city itself. In 804, Alcuin of York died, leaving his mark. As an educator he made beauty, goodness and truth the hallmarks of Charlemagne’s Frankish empire. His great hunger for … Read more

N.Y. judge strikes down anti-bootleg lawA federal judge struck down a 1994 law banning the sale of bootleg recordings of live music, ruling the law unfairly grants “seemingly perpetual protection” to the original performances.U.S. District Judge Harold Baer Jr. found the bootleg law was written by Congress in the spirit of federal copyright law, which … Read more

Bootleg RecordingA bootleg recording (or simply bootleg or boot) is an audio and/or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist, or under other legal authority.Bootlegs can consist of recordings of live performances, or material created in private or professional recording sessions. Changing technologies have had a great impact on … Read more