Here's another example of David vs. Goliath in the music industry but with a twist. The RIAA sued and a music label in Canada decided to pay the legal bills to help defend the Gruebals. What I love are the arguments made in the defendants motion to dismiss:

# The RIAA's attempt to recover $750 per song, while its actual damages are only 99 cents per song, is unconstitutional;
# Since 2003 the RIAA has been actively engaged in "extortive and predatory litigation tactics" and misused the Courts to "create a veil of fear designed to frighten average consumers into paying thousands of dollars in settlements to avoid prolonged litigation";
# The RIAA's pleadings are "smoke and mirrors";
# The complaint lacks sufficient specificity;
# Tthe "distribution right" upon which the RIAA vaguely relies does not apply to electronic transmissions; and
# Even if it did, the mere act of making sound recordings available online does not constitute an actionable infringement.

It's nice to see that people are actually fighting the lawsuits and not settling. And the fact that a Canadian label is backing the defendants ( think Sarah McLachlan, Delerium) is pretty impressive and sends out a pretty loud statement. Sooner or later the RIAA will have no support.
Via Digg

The best episode of the second season so far repeats tonight on the Sci-Fi Channel. I'm going to miss it, which is why I'm thankful I still have it on tape. Then again I'm a dork that way (that's a good thing). I do want to review the episode. It just merits a second viewing because most of the first ten minutes were spent recovering from the brilliant twist at the beginning.
It's official. I haven't worshipped a show like this since Firefly.

Beware of commiting an R. Kelly! Though to be fair an R. Kelly is not the correct term to use in California courts. Can't say the same when it comes to everyday conversation. Brilliant but chilling.

The MPAA is suing grandmothers now. It has accused a 63 year old woman of illegally downloading a copy of an Adam Sandler movie, and it wants up to $150,000 in fines for the crime. What's ingenious is this statement from an MPAA spokeswoman:

"We don't have evidence that they downloaded the films, but we do know they have these films on their computers," she said.

So they admit to invading her privacy? Or are they just paranoid. The next time they'll sue a 5 year old because they'll think the child has illegally downloaded the SpongeBob Movie, when in reality it's a disguised file set up by the EFF.
Via Hacking Netflix

Please. Don't disrespect the Muslim faith. Anyone can use the lord's name in vain, but use Allah and Yahoo finds the need to add it to a list normally reserved for the most atrocious words imaginable. Of course then comes a man named Callahan and Yahoo finds that it has a dilema. Banning Allah isn't as easy as cunt and dick, though I could probably come up with humorous usernames for the later two that might bump them into the realms of free speech, but the TOS would handle that in three seconds flat. Unless I were God.
But I'm not. Darn.

I've officially banned myself from every internet news site from now till tomorrow morning, which basically means that I now feel disconnected. It's do this or accidentily find out who won the women's figure skating medal, and I tend to enjoy being surprised. The suspense isn't killing me, but Sasha Cohen was impressive Tuesday night.
update: I should have added my mother to that list! I called her to ask about a recipe, and the first words out of her mouth were what I dreaded the most. And she enjoyed every second of my misery! Now, in honor of the unwanted revelation I am blogging about my mother as I threatened I would do. Esto es para ti mam�. TQM.

"The Road to Guantanamo" just won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival. The film itself tells the tale of three innocent men who find themselves at G Town and their eventual release. Needless to say, the film probably doesn't say kind things about the good ole US of A. To make things a bit more interesting the actors playing these men were detained at the Luten airport and harassed under the Terrorism Act. All for the sake of international security I think.

These last two weeks have been strange for me, and I feel like I could easily drift into the gloom that hit me as a 1L, which would be horrible. I'm in a new apartment, and I should be celebrating, except I'm not taking the bar exam. A part of me feels like I gave up. The other part feels like it was the wisest decision I have ever made. After all Texas is a 5 strikes and you're out state. This would have been the fifth time, and by the end of January I just didn't feel it.
In the meantime, it's gloomy outside. February needs to go away fast, or at least the sun has to come out soon. San Antonio has had a very mild winter, but suddenly the temperatures dropped this weekend and with it came the reminder that no one here knows how to drive in drizzle! Freezing rain. There are accidents down the interstate a mile long. And it always happens the week of the bar exam!

Last week I happened upon this fascinating news article. It was about this woman with Type 3 OI who had just given birth to a healthy baby boy. I immediately thought of Cynthia who for the longest time has been talking about having babies, but she has Type 1. I called her up this weekend, and I mentioned the article. Suddenly, I'm being bombarded by all these questions. How old was she? Was she married? Was this her first child? Was she hispanic? Ay Cynthia! It was a mistake on my part to mention how much the woman weighed. I think my ears are still ringing. To this day she's still obsessing. Here I am exited about the birth, and like every woman in this nation she's freaking out about weight! Will we ever change?

Apple is being sued. More specifically it's being blamed for making the iPod too loud, and failing to warn people that deafness might be involved. Isn't it common knowledge that if you play music too loud your hearing will in fact be damaged? Apparently this guy missed the memo.
As for the lawyer, someone needs to disbar him/her.