"Nobody's life, liberty or property is safe while Congress is in session"

And heeeeeeeere’s ... the VP from the RIAA!  By way of Russia Today (or so I’m told), this alleges that Obama and friends are quietly working on a new international trade treaty which will give US and foreign governments sweeping powers to search computers and other digital devices without cause or warrant, and to confiscate any copyrighted digital media found therein, including music, movies, games and software, AND (according to the report) will criminalize copyright violations (which are now civil matters).

So what, now as if it’s not bad enough we’re throwing kids in jail for lighting up a joint or tagging teenage girls for life as sex offenders for sending their boyfriends risque photos, now we’re considering throwing them in jail for having an MP3 that they can’t prove they possess legally?  Like the jails aren’t overcrowded enough already?

(Oh, wait — I forgot:  In the eyes of the RIAA, there is no such thing as a legal MP3 file, is there?)

I find a lot of ground to disagree with Stallman, but he does have a point here:  If there’s nothing to hide here, why is it being hidden?

(Pointer from danjite)

Warner Bros. opens the archives

Warner Bros. has discovered a smart “new” source of revenue — its vault.  The studio has come up with a plan for online purchase of burned-to-order DVDs from its extensive back catalog.  The new sales plan is to offer 150 movies initially, and Warner intends to expand the available offerings by 20 per month and have over 300 titles available for order by the end of the year.

Someone at Warner Bros. is thinking outside the box.

Neologism

Of sorts, because it’s based on a rather old figure of speech:

wolfkeeper, n:  Anything eaten to “keep the wolf from the door” until you can fix a real meal.