Culture and Society

Amazing and invaluable project making virtually all Supreme Court oral arguments available on MP3 for free: The Oyez (pronounced o-yay) project has taken the original tapes of such historic cases and is now making them available in MP3 format for free. “Reading a transcript of a spoken event is not …

The only way to get the new Avril Lavigne live EP is through iTunes: The cuts, “Sk8er Boi,” “Nobody’s Fool,” “Unwanted, “Losing Grip” and a cover of Green Day’s “Basket Case” were recorded on March 23 in Dublin. Fans can purchase individual tracks for 99 cents or the full EP …

Cleveland’s iconoclastic writer, cartoonist, grump, and now film character, Harvey Pekar has a blog: Right now, I’m being kept busy, mostly by opportunities generated by the movie “American Splendor”. I get these assignments from the various people and companies that advertise “American Splendor” to produce all kinds of things that …

Has the RIAA’s campaign to sue everyone who ever heard the term “P2P” quietly begun? Four students at Massachusetts’ prestigious Bentley College have apparently been subpoenaed by the RIAA in what’s likely to be one of, if not the first, shot of the promised RIAA onslaught. “… it would be …

Though lately many have been predicting commercial doom for Wi-Fi, others say it is here to stay and that workers on the road will drive boom: Is the Wi-Fi boom about to bust? Even though that has lately become the fashionable view, the answer is probably no. Critics argue that …

Harry popping up on the Internet, especially in countries without official translation, may even help popularize e-books: So far, authors and publishers have mainly stood on the sidelines of the Internet file-swapping frenzy that has shaken the music industry and aroused fear among makers of motion pictures. But the publishing …

Pablo Soto is the P2P wild man of Spain: Pablo Soto has been hailed as the Spanish Shawn Fanning: a 23-year-old kid with a knack for coding, a passion for music and a certain brashness in his willingness to take on the record industry. At least for now, Soto is …

The potlatch begins at the University of Florida – how much damage can we do to the marketplace of ideas in order to satisfy the RIAA? Many students moving into UF dorms this week were confused and frustrated after their Internet access was cut off by a new program designed …

As one might expect, the Dead have joined Phish, Pearl Jam and others selling concert CDs: Every concert is recorded and digitally transferred to compact discs that can be ordered at the concert venue and shipped within a week and a half. It’s like going to the same concert over …

Another reason why the DMCA sucks syphilitics in a cesspool: Andrew Huang, an engineer and programmer in San Diego, has written a book called “Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering.” It has also been an introduction to copyright law in the digital age. Wiley Technology Publishing, a unit …