The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
Where are we going, and what are we doing in this handbasket? It sure is getting warm...

Updated: 5/19/03; 1:06:02 AM.

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Wednesday, October 2, 2002

Music Labels Settle Price-Fixing Case The music industry, denying it's done anything wrong, decided to pay $143 million in cash and contributions to settle a price-fixing suit (Reuters) filed by two states. The lawsuit stemmed from a no-penalty federal price-fixing settlement several years ago. And these guys accuse the rest of us of being thieves... [Dan Gillmor's eJournal]
6:45:37 AM

MusicDish: "In a shocking statement made by Back Street Boy, Kevin Richardson, he testified that they have never received a royalty check." [Scripting News]
6:41:40 AM

Amusing diagram connects the dots between "ImClone, Martha Stewart, Merrill Lynch, Enron, Arthur Anderson, Global Crossing, Tyco, WorldCom, Adelphia, et. al." [Scott Rosenberg's Links & Comment]
6:34:30 AM

Radio killed the radio star. Consolidation has resulted in 10,000 layoffs, the demise of a beloved trade magazine, and a decline in programming quality. But industry execs are fat and happy. [Salon.com]
6:30:53 AM

Treatment vs. Police, who will lose?. Drug and alcohol abuse is one of the most serious problems that society faces. For those who are the abusers, this is typically the most serious problem they will face in their life. Treatment for abuse has widespread availability (many argue not widespread enough - myself included) and has helped countless millions successfully battle their addictions and abusive behaviors and turn their lives around. Unfortunately this way out is under assault from the police in Florida. The police in Florida are seeking to force cooperation of treatment center staff in order to build a drugs case against Noelle Bush (niece of US President Bush and daughter of Florida Governor Jeb Bush). The implications of the court case around this issue could be staggering for the US legal and medical systems. [kuro5hin.org]
Don't get me wrong -- I would love to see Dumbya's niece go to jail, because she's certainly committed crimes that would send an ordinary person to jail -- but the chilling effect of this approach is, as kuro5hin.org writes, staggering. Right thing to do, wrong way to do it.
6:30:06 AM

BusinessWeek: A Case to Define the Digital Age. A Supreme Court ruling against the CTEA would be the first major victory for digital-rights activists, who want more books, music, and images to enter the public domain. And it would be a grand defeat for corporations, which claim they would forfeit billions in lost revenues. [Tomalak's Realm]
Corporations are supposed to "forfeit" those revenues. That's the way the Framers of the Constitution designed it. "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries".
6:14:02 AM

There are four lights. One year ago today, my (now former) manager told me to shut down my weblog and remove all traces of it from my server. (91 words) [dive into mark]
6:09:52 AM