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25 new of 160 responses total.
dang
response 117 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 5 22:05 UTC 2002

FatWallet is now countersuing under the DMCA.  (It inlcudes a clause
saying it can't be used for spurious/harassing claims)
other
response 118 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 5 22:42 UTC 2002

re #116:  Did he take down the site or tell the fuckers that they could 
go ahead but they'd have their butts kicked all over the courtroom?
krj
response 119 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 5 22:47 UTC 2002

Another Tower Records near-death story.  They have $200 million in 
debt and $18.99 is too much to charge for stuff that Amazon sells for 
$3-4 cheaper (and Wal-Mart, and Best Buy).  Their selection is not 
saving them.  Tower is praying for big holiday season to bail them 
out, so we might watch for another story after Christmas.
 
http://www.p2pnet.net/issue05/page6.html
 
http://www.detnews.com/2002/business/0211/30/business-23788.htm
 
As mentioned in the last round of Tower-Near-Death stories, a 
failure at Tower Records would be a massive blow towards what remains
of classical CD retailing in the USA.
jmsaul
response 120 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 6 00:00 UTC 2002

Well, at the prices currently being charged for CDs, I'm not surprised.
dang
response 121 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 6 00:26 UTC 2002

resp:117 and WalMart caved in.
senna
response 122 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 6 00:29 UTC 2002

I haven't seen an operating Tower Records in a long time--are there any left
in Michigan?  Twoers that I've shopped at in Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Toronto,
and other places have all closed already.
krj
response 123 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 6 01:41 UTC 2002

Tower opened a new store in downtown Birmingham maybe a year? ago.
Leslie and I were there briefly last month; we were pressed 
for time and I could not check it out in detail, but my casual 
impression was that it was not as well stocked as the old Ann Arbor store.
senna
response 124 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 6 12:44 UTC 2002

Sounds like it's not going to last.
gull
response 125 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 6 14:20 UTC 2002

Re #118: He took it down.  College students can't afford lawyers.
polygon
response 126 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 8 14:21 UTC 2002

The definitive case on "facts are not subject to copyright" is FEIST v.
RURAL TELEPHONE, a U.S. Supreme Court case around 1990.

Of course, the content people have been busy bribing Congress ever since to
rewrite copyright law in such a way as to invalidate Feist.  But one of the
key goals of the "database copyright" law would be to allow the pro sports
leagues to copyright scores, so that no one could report on games or publish
statistics without paying a royalty to the NFL or Major League Baseball or
whatever.  I think that prospect was shocking enough to people that the bill
has been stalled for a while.
krj
response 127 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 9 03:16 UTC 2002

Arizona 23, Detroit 20.

My bad.    :)
gelinas
response 128 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 9 03:43 UTC 2002

Sounds like the Lions' bad.
dbratman
response 129 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 9 22:37 UTC 2002

Tower Records, which I believe originally comes from Northern 
California, is still thriving out here, and the classical sections are 
well-stocked.  When the Berkeley store moved and expanded, the all-
classical outlet was closed and moved back in with the rest, but not 
diminished in size, and there's an all-classical store across the 
street from the other store in the North Beach district of San 
Francisco.  That's not counting the 4 other Tower outlets I frequent.  
But I'm buying about half my classical CDs from Amazon now, and some of 
the rest from a B&N superstore which has the misfortune of being closer 
to my home than any of the above Towers.

I am tentatively concluding from the previous two posts that there must 
be an NFL team in Arizona.  What?  This is news to me.  I heard that 
the Colts left Baltimore for ... uh, somewhere, but after that I lost 
track.  My knowledge of pro sports pretty much stops dead around 1972.
senna
response 130 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 10 00:02 UTC 2002

How healthy of you.  Other than the chance for water cooler conversation on
the topic, you only miss as much as you choose to place value on.  

I'll fill you in, but only because it's such an amusing thing to fill you in
on.  The St. Louis Cardinals left St. Louis and moved to Phoenix (well,
Tempe).  The Los Angeles Rams left Los Angeles (well, Anaheim) and moved to
St. Louis.  The Baltimore Colts left Baltimore and moved to Indianapolis, adn
the owner was recently feeling out the possibility of leaving Indianapolis
for Los Angeles.  They're still in Indy, though.  The Cleveland Browns left
Cleveland and moved to Baltimore, becoming the Ravens, and a new team was
created in Cleveland, once again called the Browns.  They played in a Division
with the Tennessee Titans, which used to be the Tennessee Oilers after moving
out of Houston as teh Houston Oilers.  Houston just created a new team this
year, called the Texans, that plays in a division with the Titans.  Houston
had to get permission to use the name "Texans" from the Dallas Cowboys, who
were called the "Texans" when they were first founded.  

In related news, Dallas is also home of the Stars, who were moved from
Minnesota, when they were called the Minnesota North Stars.  Minnesota created
a new team, called the Wild.  They play in a conference with the Phoenix
Coyotes, which used to be the Winnipeg Jets, the Colorado Avalanche, which
used to be the Quebec Nordiques, and the Calgary Flames, which used to be the
Atlanta Flames (you guess it--Atlanta just created a new team, called the
"Thrashers.")

No, I didn't have to look any of this up.  Yes, I do have a life, and yes,
it is rewarding, and yes, this is a reminder of why you're probably better
off having forgotten all about professional sports. :)  It's funny, see?
jmsaul
response 131 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 10 03:00 UTC 2002

Atlanta *Flames*?  They named it after the burning of their own city?
dang
response 132 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 10 04:54 UTC 2002

Atlanta Thrashers.  Calgery Flames.
jmsaul
response 133 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 10 13:40 UTC 2002

Ah, okay.  I wondered.
dbratman
response 134 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 11 19:35 UTC 2002

"Atlanta Flames" wouldn't be that weird.  Have you seen the Florida 
license-plates with Challenger on them?  They commemorate on their cars 
the most infamous motor-vehicle accident to occur within their borders. 
Now that's bizarre.
senna
response 135 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 12 00:46 UTC 2002

It's both, actually.  The original Atlanta franchise that moved to Calgary
was called the Flames.  The new franchise is called the Thrashers.  

Chicago's Soccer franchise is called the "Chicago Fire," though they do
diffuse that somewhat by using the fire department's symbol as their logo.

dbratman
response 136 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 13 20:27 UTC 2002

I hate it when sport franchise names are in the singular.

Worst of all is my own university, which calls its teams the Stanford 
Cardinal.  I keep wanting to ask, the Stanford Cardinal WHAT?  Cardinal 
Sins?

I went along with dropping Indians, but I voted for the Robber Barons 
as the new name.
gull
response 137 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 13 21:14 UTC 2002

I would have suggested the Fighting Honkies, in case they wanted to
stick with racial references.
senna
response 138 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 13 23:33 UTC 2002

I hate singular names, too.

There's a small club sports team or something in the northwest that has one
Native American team called the Fighting Whities.  I don't know many other
details, but I think it's hilarious.

You could always go for the Fighting Irish, or ask the New Orleans basketball
franchise (formerly of Charlotte, of course) to change its name from the
Hornets to the WASPS.
polygon
response 139 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 14 21:58 UTC 2002

I thought the students at Stanford had voted (by a very wide margin) to
name the sports teams the "Robber Barons".
ea
response 140 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 15 05:58 UTC 2002

My school used to have as their mascot a native american warrior, known 
as the Saltine Warrior.  That was changed, in the name of political 
correctness, to a large citrus fruit.  (somewhat less intimidating, 
however, if I was approached by a 5 foot 5 inch tall citrus fruit in a 
dark alleyway, I think I'd be pretty scared)

(Said citrus fruit is currently one of 12 mascots that are up for 
the "Capital One Bowl Mascot of the Year" award.  Sadly, he's only got 
3% of the vote right now)
jmsaul
response 141 of 160: Mark Unseen   Dec 15 18:32 UTC 2002

Saltine?
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