Record Industry May Not Subpoena Online Providers. A federal appeals court ruled that Internet providers cannot be forced to reveal the names of subscribers suspected of illegally sharing music. By David Stout. [New York Times: Business]

Yay!

A federal court shuts down the Music Gestapo!

``It's an incredible ruling, a blow for the little guy,'' said Bob Barnes, a grandfather in Fresno, Calif., who was targeted by one of the earliest subpoenas from the Recording Industry Association of America but isn't among the hundreds who have been sued so far.

The appeals court said the 1998 copyright law doesn't cover popular file-sharing networks used by tens of millions of Americans to download songs. The law ``betrays no awareness whatsoever that Internet users might be able directly to exchange files containing copyrighted works,'' the court wrote.

Not exactly a total victory, but a step in the right direction- protecting the rights of the individual over the billion dollar profits of multinational corporations.

What the ruling means for file swappers

10:58:30 PM     leave/read comments []

George W. Bush: Heretic

Messianism
When Bush, then Governor of Texas, decided to seek the presidency, he described his decision in terms evangelicals would understand as a divine mandate: He had been "called," a phrase that evoked the prophetic commissions of the Hebrew scriptures. He summoned to the governor's mansion all the leading pastors of the region to carry out a ritual of "laying on of hands," a practice that corresponds above all to ministerial ordination. He told the pastors that he had been called (obviously, by God) to be the presidential candidate. This language of divine calling has been frequent in his declarations and at a much accelerated rhythm since September 11, 2001.

It gets worse, my brethren.

6:45:50 PM     leave/read comments []

Beagle 2 separates from Mars Express. The British-built Beagle 2 spacecraft successfully separated from ESA's Mars Express spacecraft on... [spacetoday.net]

Beagle 2 will land on Mars on Christmas day, UCT. Merry Christmas Invasion, Martians!

NASA releases first images from, new name for, SIRTF. NASA on Thursday released the first images taken by its new Space Infrared Telescope Facility (... [spacetoday.net]

Click photo at right to enlarge.

Allen revealed as SS1 backer. Billionaire Paul Allen confirmed late Wednesday that he is the financial supporter of Scaled Composites'... [spacetoday.net]

Hey, Micro$oft isn't totally worthless after all!

Allen said in a press release that he has sponsored the SS1 project, which is attempting to win the X Prize. Allen had long been rumored to be the backer, but he had declined to confirm the speculation until after SS1 performed its first powered flight test on Wednesday. Allen was on hand for the test flight.

That's your Space News for today!

1:20:34 PM     leave/read comments []

Yeah, it's another quiz.

You are 60% geek

You are a geek. Good for you! Considering the endless complexity of the universe, as well as whatever discipline you happen to be most interested in, you'll never be bored as long as you have a good book store, a net connection, and thousands of dollars worth of expensive equipment. Assuming you're a technical geek, you'll be able to afford it, too. If you're not a technical geek, you're geek enough to mate with a technical geek and thereby get the needed dough. Dating tip: Don't date a geek of the same persuasion as you. You'll constantly try to out-geek the other.

Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com

1:12:26 PM    

WHAT?

oh.

never mind.

1:04:58 PM     leave/read comments []

I have no idea what Rob Sheffield is talking about:

He's the perfect pop star for a moment when American culture is so passionately committed to conformity that the term "hater" gets applied to anyone with an opinion more personal than "click-to-add-to-cart." That isn't Justin's fault, needless to say. We live in an age silly enough to turn Paula Abdul into Martha Wash, yet pompous enough to expect teen-pop pretties to namecheck Donnie Hathaway the way the New Kids were expected to namecheck Big Daddy Kane. There's no coherent pop mainstream for ambitious musicians to cross over to, or to react against, or to skim energy from, or to influence.

Didn't get a word.

In a related story, phil gets all lowercase on sasha frere-jones.

12:18:59 PM     leave/read comments []