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Information

Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Time: 8:30PM
Place: Torgerson 3180

News

Attorney General lies about link to "piracy" and terrorism

In an attempt to push the PRO IP Act we talked about a few weeks ago, Attorney General Michael Mukasey is telling the Tech Museum of Innovation that software "piracy" helps to fund terrorist activities. The thing of it is, he offers no evidence of any link between "piracy" and terrorism.

ARIA requires license for DJs to format shift music

The Australian Recording Industry Association is now requiring disc jockeys to pay a new license if they want to move music they already legally own from one format to another, or copy it for backup purposes. Penalties for getting caught without a license include $6,000 AUD and 5 years in prison. On-the-spot fines of $1,000 AUD can also apply.

Charles Manson uses Creative Commons

Scary news.

Limewire Blog

Scary indeed. --Conley 12:46, 5 April 2008 (EDT)

I thought it was Marylin Manson that was the artist, not Charles Manson. And at any rate, how can you release music while you're in prison? Do they even have Internet access there? --Matt 22:49, 5 April 2008 (EDT)

The Sequoia machines are worse than Felton thought

From Freedom to Tinker: "This week we obtained six new summary tapes, from machines in Bergen and Gloucester counties. Two of these new tapes contradict Sequoia’s explanation and show more serious discrepancies that we saw before"

Freedom to Tinker

Professor sues notes distribution website, claims copyright infringement

Michael Moulton of the University of Florida, along with his e-textbook publisher Faulkner Press, are suing Thomas Bean, owner of the website Einstein's Notes, for copyright infringement. Einstein's Notes hires students to take notes in class and submit them to the site, which turns around and sells them to students. Moulton claims that notes constitute derivative works of his lecture, which he copyrighted (registered with the Copyright Office, recorded lectures for tangibility, and cleared all of this with the university). Faulker's attorney assures that notes taken for personal use are considered fair use, however. If this lawsuit is successful it may impacts other businesses like Cliff's Notes.

UMG says throwing away promo CDs is illegal

In a brief filed in federal court yesterday, Universal Music Group (UMG) states that, when it comes to the millions of promotional CDs ("promo CDs") that it has sent out to music reviewers, radio stations, DJs, and other music industry insiders, throwing them away is "an unauthorized distribution" that violates copyright law. Yes, you read that right -- if you've ever received a promo CD from UMG, and you don't still have it, UMG thinks you're a pirate.

EFF

I would imagine their preference would be for people to put the discs in a wood chipper instead, to keep out "THOSE DAMN DUMPSTER PIRATES!!" --Matt 17:17, 9 April 2008 (EDT)

Joi Ito new president of CC

Self-explanatory.

Jamendo claims he plays a lot of WoW...that'd be funny if we tried to track him down in the game. --Conley 13:06, 9 April 2008 (EDT)

Defendants: RIAA's private eyes are watching us—illegally

In Michigan it's required to have a PI license to collect information on anyone, so a victim of a subpoena filed a suit claiming that MediaSentry was getting its information through felonious conduct. The RIAA makes two major claims: 1) information can be seen by anyone so it's okay to use it, 2) it would be prohibitively expensive or copyright owners to get licenses in all 50 states (why are they complaining they have lots of money).

ArsTechnica

Elections

We have to do elections some time, I say we go ahead and start worrying about that now.

Elections spring 2008

Nelson Pavlosky visiting

Nelson is the Founder of Students for Free Culture.

He wants to come speak on April 23rd, which is the 3 year anniversary of our organization.

Mailtrust will sponsor this event.

Nelson Speaks.

Entertainment library

In the Queue

Whiteroom

Link? --Matt 22:18, 23 March 2008 (EDT)

Organization

Review music organization

Nominations

Good Copy Bad Copy

We are going to watch the second 15 minutes of Good Copy Bad Copy and discuss.

Show and tell

Sarah has gotten a letter from the RIAA.

=(

If you did nothing, it is very important that you do not settle. The RIAA has a history of running away with their tail between their legs if someone demands that they provide evidence of infringement. Virginia Tech assigns the same IP address to all of the Ethernet connections in a single room, so it could easily have been a roommate who did this. CNS sends letters out to all roommates because it all looks like the same traffic to the rest of the Internet. You should read the EFF's "Pre-lawsuit" FAQ. I suggest reading the whole thing, even if you think you already know the answers because someone else informed you about it. Those people were most likely not lawyers. The EFF staff are (although it isn't technically legal advice). The EFF also provides an excellent collection of helpful links on their (dated) RIAA vs. the People site, however it is more important that you read the "Pre-lawsuit" FAQ. --Matt 17:09, 9 April 2008 (EDT)

PS: From what I hear, the Office of Judicial Affairs will also stick you in the class that they put people in that get caught violating the alcohol policy. Think "Drugs are bad, mmkay"-style assemblies, but in class form. --Matt 17:21, 9 April 2008 (EDT)

Matt is crazy.... First of all, each ethernet port gets its own IP address (not per room); second of all each ethernet port only issues a valid IP address upon logging in with a valid PID (so they know which port each roommate is using). As for settling or not, none of us are lawyers and a subpoena is not a lawsuit it's only a request for more information. A real lawyer can tell you exactly how they proceed. IF it does become a lawsuit, talk with a knowledgeable lawyer about the options, NOT ANY OF US... That being said, the RIAA goes for easy pickings most of the time, but if they find someone who they feel is worth the trouble they will push things... Talk to the school lawyers they're free and they can legally provide legal advice, plus they probably know if the RIAA has actually prosecuted anyone from VT.

I think she should suggest the subpoena regardless. There is no reason why they should get that information. Without giving her a good reason, it is an invasion of privacy. Maybe we aren't lawyers, but still we are knowledgeable. Matt even pointed her to the EFF Pre-lawsuit FAQ...I don't think we are misleading her. --Conley 19:59, 9 April 2008 (EDT)

When I got a warning (back before anyone prosecuted), the only thing the school did was issue a JR, which I never fought and it just meant a mark on my record that no one would see. My circumstances were a little different, I wasn't worried about criminal(civil) proceedings so it wasn't important that I be perceived innocent, it may behoove you to fight a JR (of course the school system may not require true evidence to convict) if only so that you can say that the school exonerated you of any charges (of course IANAL and could be wrong). --Patrik 19:09, 9 April 2008 (EDT)

Microsoft tries to weasel out of license tax on India, fails miserably

Microsoft, in order to avoid paying a tax on licensing to India, tried to convince the Indian judge that they were selling their product rather than licensing them. The theory is rejected after citing MS' own EULA: "The product is licensed, not sold."

Open floor

Frets on Fire

I'm getting a little sick of the default four songs in Frets on Fire. Nominate some new songs we can play. Keyboards on Fire has a list of songs either released with permission or are available gratis. More community sites here. --Matt 02:26, 3 April 2008 (EDT)

Hey Matt, I'm a Brad Sucks fan, so I thought it was cool to see his music on there, but all the data files for his songs are way too difficult, haha. I'm sure you have some good picks. --Conley 21:06, 8 April 2008 (EDT)

Yeah, all of the Brad Sucks files I could find only have one or two difficulties, and some of them don't even work. The "Look and Feel Years Younger" chart/song combo I downloaded doesn't even have a chart at all, even though there is clearly a notes.mid in the RAR file. --Matt 17:12, 9 April 2008 (EDT)

Speaking of RAR, you said you needed Windows to unrar something. I wasn't thinking at the time, but you can sudo apt-get install unrar. --Conley 17:16, 9 April 2008 (EDT)

Actually, if you ignore the note at the end (which is impossible on my keyboard), Dirtbag isn't bad. --Conley 21:13, 8 April 2008 (EDT)

BIT enrollment dwindles

Not that any of you care of course --Matt 16:40, 4 April 2008 (EDT)

Virginia mandates "Internet safety lessons"

Despite how it sounds on the surface, this is bad. In my experience the state and the K-12 sector are complete morons when it comes to technology. All this will be is propaganda and scare tactics without any real advice on how to not screw up online. Making it mandatory is even worse; If I ever have kids (which I don't plan on doing), I would be much better at teaching them about the dangers of the Internet than any dumb assembly or "expert." --Matt 13:14, 8 April 2008 (EDT)

Implementing this guy's suggestions would be much more appropriate. --Matt 16:57, 8 April 2008 (EDT)

Free Film

Check out a list of free films.

Suggestions:

Conley

Meeting 2008-04-09