tinfoil.music

Shutting Down

Folks, it is with some sadness that I must announce that I am shutting down http://music.tinfoil.net. Yes, after 6 years on this domain and using this software (phpnuke) I am shutting it down.

But, I'm moving it all to http://www.tinfoilmusic.net!! Please update your bookmarks. This site will no longer be updated and will in the coming week or two be forwarded to the new domain.

So, to recap, I am shutting down this site and moving it all over to the NEW and IMPROVED site!

I have finally dropped phpNuke and switched to Joomla. Not that phpnuke is bad, it did serve us well, but we've outgrown it. Oh, let's be honest here; if it weren't for the amazing support of the nuke community, the software would be shite. Francisco is killing it slowly, the code is a mess that desperately needs to be wiped out and redone and Francisco continually ignores security notices and patches leaving everyone running a phpnuke site saddly exposed.

It's been a treat and I would very much like to thank the nuke community, especially the people behind the Chatserv patches and Nuke Sentinal, you guys saved my site more times than I can count. My point, though, is that if Francisco wasn't as ego driven, he would listen to the community and allow them to contribute more. Or atleast LOOK at what they are contributing.

Joomla isn't perfect, but it is community driven. There is no single person who controls the entire project and that's how any open-source package as big as phpNuke should be.

RIAA Accused of Double Dipping

Ray Beckerman reports: Answer Filed in Arista v. Greubel in Texas; Defendant Says Plaintiffs' Receiving $115M From Kazaa Bars Duplicate Recovery from Defendant.

In Arista v. Greubel in Texas, the defendant has interposed a number of affirmative defenses, including:

-A first affirmative defense which alleges that if defendant were liable, Kazaa would be jointly and severally liable along with him, and that the $115,000,000 settlement which the RIAA received from Kazaa constitutes recovery in full.
-A third affirmative defense that the $750-per-song damages theory is unconstitutional, and that recovery should be limited to 4 times the value of each download, or $2.80 each.

Answer of David Greubel*

Clear Channel Sell-off

Radio giant Clear Channel Inc. is selling itself off to a consortium of private investors and in the process will relieve itself of more than a third of its nearly 1,200 radio stations. The sale is valued at some $26.7 billion USD.

By selling off the the smaller stations, it is hoped that some good will come out of all of this. It has been reported time and time again that Clear Channel was just bad for business.

Much more information here.

Chinese Democracy Delayed - Who Woulda Thought?

It's amazing, I know, but "Guns 'N Roses"' latest effort, Chinese Democracy actually may not ship this year, even though Axl himself said it would. And if Axl says something, you can bet it's true.

According to ultimate-guitar, the bands record company isn't aware of any release date and has not received anything from the band regarding it. Word has it that it will come bundled with Duke Nukem Forever.

MPAA Sues Firm For Loading Legally Owned DVDs Onto iPods

Techdirt: It really was just a few days ago that the entertainment industry folks were claiming that it was the consumer electronics industry that was trying to pervert "fair use," right? Somehow, it seems like it's the entertainment industry that's the one pushing the boundaries. Almost exactly a year ago, we had a post about a new service that would sell you a video iPod and DVDs... and would load the video from the DVDs onto the iPod (and then ship you both the iPod and the DVD).

RIAA hearts Fair Use. Huh?

ArsTechnica: The RIAA is a true champion of fair use. That's what RIAA president Cary Sherman wants you to believe. In an op-ed piece published by Cnet, Sherman champions the RIAA's unique understanding of fair use while taking digs at those who do not share the record industry's vision�like the Consumer Electronics Association.

Sherman describes fair use as "an undeniably important plank of copyright law," saying that it is "in danger of losing its meaning." He goes on to note that fair use is intended for criticism, comment, news reporting, and scholarship, saying that "it is certainly not an excuse to boost the sales of electronic devices and services on the backs of hard-working creators."

Air guitar gets high-tech

thedigitalmusicweblog: Australian scientists (and I use the term scientist very lightly) have perfected a t-shirt that may allow aspiring air guitarists worldwide to be not just visually unpleasant but, audibly annoying.

The scientists, from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), who swear they were totally doing real science stuff and not just foolling around in the lab with a t-shirt and various and sundry noisemakey bits, describe the shirt as an "easy to use, virtual instrument that allows real time music making, even by players without significant musical or computing skills."

New music 'piracy' statistics

p2pnet.net News:- The Big Four Organized Music cartel's various 'trade' outfits such as the RIAA, IFPI, BPI, and so on, have faked so much outrage around p2p file sharing and downloading that, in the shape of Russian site AllofMP3.com, it's being used against Russia in its bid to join the World Trade Organization.

Warner Music, EMI, Sony BMG and Vivendi Universal claim music 'piracy,' as they call it, is having an absolutely calamitous impact on US earnings, putting industry employees out of work and wreaking havoc with record label bottom lines.

Heritage Minister Bev Oda Fundraising Questioned

Bev Oda is the odd-on favourite to become Canada's next Minister of Heritage, one must look at the massive contributions to her election campaign from the A-list of media & copyright groups and companies with an eyebrow raised.

Oda's fundraisers have been sponsored by the likes of Canwest-Global, Corus and CHUM. The two largest contributions to her campaign were from Rogers and Stanford Radio.

While all of the contributions are above board, it does call into question Oda's neutrality on the copyright issues that she will be responsible for as the Minister of Heritage.

More info here: Micheal Geist

G'n'R Cancels Show, Career

Guns 'n' Roses canceled a show in Maine this week due to, as the band (Axl) put it, fire marshals "making it impossible for the band to perform their show to the usual high standards that their fans deserve."

The fire marshals were a little nervous over the combination of impressive pyrotechnics and large quantities of alcohol on the stage. This makes no sense to yours truly because alcohol is the worlds best fire putter-outer. I took grade 9 science, TWICE, so I'm an expert.

Axl's statement, given in between shots of Jagermeister, is as follows: "[fire marshals] impossible to perform "It was important for us to play there and it is a shame that what should have been a great night for all of us was not possible due to the actions of two people," said Rose, referring to the fire marshals.

"I agree with, and ultimately take responsibility for, the end decision not to jeopardize the safety of the fans, the crews, the bands and myself as a result of the methods of these particularly draconian authorities," Rose's statement said. "We hope to find another way to play for you in the future."

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(And yes, I'm back. I've had to deal with a wedding and three funerals in the past month, and while the wedding was amazing, the funerals had taken a real emotional toll on me. Thanks to Mikeeeee for filling in!)