Bill Simmons honors Bruce Paltrow, who died yesterday: One of my favorite people died Thursday. Since he affected my life, I thought you needed to know about him. His name was Bruce Paltrow. The last name probably rings a bell, since he was Gwyneth’s father and all. And you might …

TheStreet.com has learned: With consumers downloading greater amounts of free, file-shared music from the Internet and buying fewer audio CDs, record companies and music retailers dependent on CD sales have struggled on two fronts: preventing people from getting unauthorized copies of music from the Internet, and encouraging them to listen …

Who is Tino? Tino is one funky-ass action figure of a Cuban drummer. According to the Tino Corp site, Tino Corp. is a record label dedicated to curating unique beats and sounds that are not available from any other source. It is also the main outlet for Tino’s own work. …

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland is entering its eighth year. It’s hard to believe it was that long ago that I was covering the opening for WENZ, and interviewing Chief Curator Jim Henke about the exciting new shrine. With the nominations for 2003 recently …

Good friend-o-Blogcritics Dirk Deppey of the Comics Journal sends this in: In 1994, “Spawn” creator Todd McFarlane, laboring under criticism that he didn’t know how to write, invited four comics creators (Dave Sim, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Frank Miller) to write an issue apiece of Spawn for him. Writer …

Kurt Hanson says AFL-CIO/AFTRA are willing to kill off most Internet radio for little or no pay out: If webcasting is killed because artists want their royalty checks (“Artists are suffering! They deserve their royalties!”), it’s going to be sad example of a combination of greed, shortsightedness, and bad math …

From Edward Felten’s Freedom to Tinker site, ponder the devices that would be required to incorporate government-approved copy restriction technology under Sen. Fritz Hollings’ Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act. Included on the “Hit List” would be Big Mouth Billy Bass, TinkleToonz Musical Potty, and a remote controlled fart …

STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN RICK BOUCHER (VA-9th) UPON INTRODUCTION OF THE DIGITAL MEDIA CONSUMERS' RIGHTS ACT

In court today: The music industry goes to court Friday to try to force an Internet service provider to identify a subscriber accused of illegally trading copyrighted songs, setting up a legal showdown that could indelibly alter the free-swapping culture that has been a signature of the Web’s early years. …

Malaysian pirates are sailing the bounding main and cranking out CD and DVD counterfeits: Crime syndicates have taken to the high seas to manufacture pirated music and movie CDs and VCDs for distribution in Malaysia, a top police official said today. The new trick was aimed at escaping intense police …