response 37 of 102:

Jan 21 23:54 UTC 2004

The RIAA files another 532 lawsuits.  Because the RIAA can no longer
used the "expedited subpoena" power of the DMCA to uncover the
identity of IP addresses it believes are being used to share files,
the RIAA has filed these as "John Doe" lawsuits naming IP addresses,
presumably with dates and times attached.
 
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,61989,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1

-----

A Michigan Daily story says that nine U. Michigan students have had their
identities subpoenaed by the RIAA.  This makes little sense to me, as the
DMCA subpoena process against file sharing users was thrown out last
December, and it's too early for the new John Doe lawsuits to have 
been processed down to the University.  ???
 
http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/21/400e279425891

response 39 of 102:

Jan 22 00:42 UTC 2004

Re resp:37: The easy subpoena process against ISPs was thrown out.  They
probably subpoenaed the university, and the university probably decided
not to fight it.

response 41 of 102:

Jan 22 08:16 UTC 2004

  I can't remember ever calling a software company to get phone support
  for a piece of application software.  I'd be quite happy to exchange
  any right to do so in the future for the ability to buy legal versions
  of software at educational prices.

response 43 of 102:

Jan 22 19:50 UTC 2004

re: 41 - I'm almost positive that's part of the tradeoff. I know that's why
OEM versions of Microsoft software costs less. The included documentation
(what there is of it) says rather explicitly "If you need help, call whoever
sold this to you. Don't call us. We won't help you for free." (of course, I'm
paraphrasing there).

re: 42 - That's part of the rub. You're paying for support, and not getting
it very often. Adobe's support was reasonably good the last time I needed it,
but that was about two years ago. I'm sure they've offshored their support
to people who aren't able to help you with issues that aren't on a phonetic
script by now.

Sun and Apple, on the other hand, have the most fabulous support I've ever
experienced. I almost want to call AppleCare, just to remind myself that there
are a few good companies still out there.

response 45 of 102:

Jan 23 04:30 UTC 2004

For $24/month, AOL provides online live support that tells you when their
radio program won't install that you need more RAM, and after you tell them
four or five times that your computer cannot take more RAM because it is a
COMPAQ and they don't make large RAM for it, they tell you several ways to
clear the hard disk cache.  For some reason that did not free up RAM.  (The
RAM was being eaten up by things in Quick Launch).  In the meantime we got
Realaudio to work despite AOL.  I think the first half of the 'dialog' was
being run by a computer.  'We are having trouble with installing Radio@AOL'.
'Do I correctly understand that you are having trouble with Radio@AOL'.  Yes.
'I will try to fix the problem.  Can you tell me more'.  .....  Eventually
we started noticing typos in the answers and knew there was a live person.

response 47 of 102:

Jan 24 13:57 UTC 2004

The name did sound Indian.  Today I got an email from the AOL user, who
upgraded (sic) from 5 to 7 for the added features (none of which probably work
without adding 128M RAM tho they say you only need 32M).  She says it seems
to be crashing more than usual. Usual is pretty bad!  Could it be the modem?
I gave her my 56K internal winmodem that had never crashed for me with Opera.
I suggested she try reinstalling AOL 5 to see if that crashed as much, and
then try running Opera with an AOL connection  - would it continue to take
up a lot of RAM even if minimized?  I also strongly urged her to try a normal
ISP instead.

response 49 of 102:

Feb 9 05:26 UTC 2004

Here's the best piece I've found on a recent copy-prevention story.
Sunn Comm, who avid readers will recall have the Media Max copy
prevention process which installs drivers on your PC to prevent
copying, have acquired a UK firm called DarkNoise Technology.
DarkNoise claims to be able to encode recordings so that they
cannot be copied in either digital or analog fashion.

Stereophile is skeptical of claims that this can be done without
really audible artifacts in the original recording.

http://www.stereophile.com/news/020904sunncomm/
 
Another point I thought of:  if the Darknoise stuff successfully
stops digital resampling, then that puts an end to webcasting 
as we know it today, since webcasting relies on resampling either
to Real Audio, WMA or MP3 formats.

response 53 of 102:

Feb 9 19:50 UTC 2004

  Ken, it's not you that's being unclear -- that's pretty much what
  I understood your text to say.  It's DarkNoise's claim that the
  music will sound one way when you listen to it and another way
  when re-recorded on analog equipment that's confusing and nonsensical.

response 55 of 102:

Feb 9 22:00 UTC 2004

Tower Records has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, protection from creditors.
Stories are everywhere, so I won't bother with a link.  Some stories say that 
this process is just to push the few reluctant creditors into a sale deal,
and we should know soon who will be controlling Tower.
 
-----

The Australian music industry has organized raids on the offices of 
Kazaa's corporate parent, the homes of their executives, and several 
universities and ISPs.  The Aussie music industry believes that recent,
unspecified-in-the-press changes in Kazaa make it vulnerable to 
this copyright action in Australia.

There are better stories in the Aussie media, but this is all I have on screen
right now:

http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5155848.html?tag=nefd_top

response 57 of 102:

Feb 10 00:52 UTC 2004

"One can make copies, but they are not enjoyable to listen to."

That shouldn't be difficult to arrange, as it's already true of many of 
the original recordings.

response 59 of 102:

Feb 10 08:02 UTC 2004

I have an unconfirmed rumor that the Tower Records store in 
the Detroit suburb of Birmingham will be closed as part of the 
bankruptcy reorganization.  Michigan folks might want to keep 
their eyes peeled for a store-closing sale, although there were 
no great bargains when Tower closed its locations in Ann Arbor 
and East Lansing.

response 61 of 102:

Feb 13 03:57 UTC 2004

Did you bag any?