September 24, 2003

Recording industry withdraws suit Mistaken identity raises questions on legal strategy The recording industry has withdrawn a lawsuit against a Newbury woman because it falsely accused her of illegally sharing music -- possibly the first case of mistaken identity in the battle against Internet file-traders. Ward, 66, is a "computer neophyte" who never installed file-sharing software. 1:59:38 PM

Lucrative New Markets. Who says drug dealers don't respond to incentives? This is from The New York Times: "A lot of people who were selling pot or heroin are now selling cigarettes," said a 25-year-old struggling actor from East Harlem who said that he needs to dabble in cigarette dealing to make ends meet. "You can make the same amount of money,'' he said, "and you don't get locked away as long." [Hit & Run] 11:08:23 AM

Calif. Anti-Spam Law Carries $1M Fines WPBF Channel.com -SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation Tuesday that prohibits Internet advertisers from sending unsolicited e-mails and calls for fines up to $1 million. 10:23:03 AM

Earliest European Modern Humans Found Science Daily - A research team co-directed by Erik Trinkaus, professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, has dated a human jawbone from a Romanian bear hibernation cave to between 34,000 and 36,000 years ago. 9:46:00 AM

This Conversation is Over: MSN Closing Chat Rooms Worldwide WinInfo - Microsoft announced this morning that it will shut down its free MSN chat rooms in Europe, Asia, and Latin America and limit the service in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Brazil in order to reduce criminal exploitation of children, pornographic spam, and other inappropriate uses. The changes will take effect October 14, according to Microsoft, and affect all of the countries in which MSN is available. Executives from the company noted that chat rooms were increasingly filled with inappropriate content for children in recent months as most legitimate users are moving from chat rooms to instant messaging (IM) for online chat. 9:27:50 AM

Military Probes Syrian Connection to Guantanamo Arrests FOX News - Military investigators were looking Wednesday for links between a Syrian-born US Air Force airman accused of espionage and a US Army Muslim chaplain who has personal ties to Syria and is being held in detention. 9:06:43 AM