Tag: copyright

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Gawker tells the Church of Scientology to Stuff it

Gawker Media received a take down notice from the Church of Scientology for two videos it is showing that are used to indoctrinate people into Scientology.
The videos came to life when Andrew Morton wrote the unauthorized biography of Tom Cruise. The videos show Cruise talking excitedly about Scientology.

When you’re a Scientologist, and you drive by an accident, you know you have to do something about it, because you know you’re the only one who can really help…

Scientology is known to be litigious, so journalists have been said to shy away from being critical of this so-called religion. But Gawker stood up to them and told them they are covering this as a news story in the pubic interest and they would not be removing the videos.

The videos were previously posted on Google Video, YouTube, and other video sites.

This video is down right scary. How this can be classified as a religion and have tax-exempt status is beyond me. I think Germany got it right in seeking to ban Scientology.

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In the Fight Over Piracy, a Rare Stand for Privacy

In the Fight Over Piracy, a Rare Stand for Privacy – New York Times
The University of Oregon with the backing of the State Attorney General has appealed a subpoena from the RIAA on grounds that it is seeking to violate the students privacy. It is an interesting read and justification on not responding to the subpoena. Other Universities have responded, including another state university in Oregon.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Of course, the RIAA is dismayed that a University didn’t bow and kiss their ring and pass along their letters or abide by the subpoena.

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Update: RIAA not suing for ripping cds

Engadget is now reporting that the RIAA is not suing the Scottsdale, Ariz., gentleman for ripping cds, they are suing him for plain old downloading.
This was reported widely that he was being sued in the Washington Post and several other outlets. I spoke about it yesterday in a post.

The RIAA is getting quite aggressive, as was pointed out in the engadget article, and is treading on thin ground. Especially if they want to get a ruling on the ripping of legally owned cds.

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RIAA suing for copying legally bought CD’s to computer

The RIAA is suing a Scottsdale, Ariz., man because he had about 2,000 songs on his computer that he copied from CD’s that he legally bought and still owned.
The RIAA contends in a brief that they filed with the court “that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are ‘unauthorized copies’ of copyrighted recordings.”

This is ridiculous. The music industry is suing their fans and creating such a bad reputation for themselves, the people are not buying music from the big labels, making it worse for the music industry. Instead of looking for ways to survive in the digital age, they are trying to preserve an antiquated business model that is falling apart. Continue reading “RIAA suing for copying legally bought CD’s to computer”