A Setback for the Machine

The Supreme Court handed Internet services providers and privacy advocates a crucial victory this week--at the expense of the RIAA--when it decided not to hear an important Internet piracy case.

"The recording industry may not agree, but the U.S. Supreme Court thinks personal privacy is far more important that music piracy," Red Herring reported. "On Tuesday, the high court refused to entertain an appeal of a unanimous 2003 decision by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals that held that copyright holders cannot force Internet providers to identify file sharers using a mere subpoena. Industry watchers see this as yet another blow that the recording industry has taken in its fight against online file sharing -- a fight it is slowly losing. The lawsuits in question were between New York's Verizon Internet Services and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), headquartered in Washington, D.C."

Wired News also weighs in on the story. If you're wondering why this musician doesn't support the recording industry in this matter, read this.

What's next, a MIDI autoharp? Roland has come up with the world's first all-digital accordion. (I bet John Linnell from They Might Be Giants already has one, and maybe Weird Al too.)

(Both stories via Instapundit)

Hail, hail, the gang's all halfway here: I played a gig at a new coffee and tea place tonight with 50% of the original lineup of Team Demon/Dingus; the recap is on the TD/D site.