Music Wars Scene 26:
in which a US appellate court allows ISP's to tell the RIAA: "Don't come 'round here no more"

In what has to be seen as a blow to the Empire RIAA, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, has ruled that Internet Service Providers, (ISP), do not have to give the identy of subscribers suspected of file sharing.

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court ruled Friday the recording industry can't force Internet providers to identify subscribers swapping music online, dramatically setting back the industry's anti-piracy campaign.
snip...
But it will make identifying defendants for future lawsuits much more difficult and expensive. The ruling forces the recording industry to file civil lawsuits against "John Doe" defendants, based on their Internet addresses, then work through the courts to learn their names.

What this means is that it is now much more costly for the Empire to go after the rebels, although Myself believes they still will, the RIAA will have to concentrate on only the most aggressive, prolific downloaders, and not sue grandmas, and teenage girls. I can almost picture RIAA prez Cary Sherman's head exploding when he heard of this one...

Music Wars Scene 25:
in which the worlds largest retailer considers entering the fray

So now WalMart, that 800 lb. gorilla of the retail industry, with low, low, prices, is testing its foot in waters of the music download biz

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT - news) said on Thursday it would begin testing digital music downloads on its Web site, joining a list of companies hoping to profit from the growing demand for such services.
Wal-Mart, the world's biggest company, said customers could download songs for 88 cents per track. Wal-Mart said it would gather customer feedback over the next few months and make any modifications before officially launching the service in 2004.

Any surprise that they are offering a price that is less than anyone else out there?

in other news...

article link:

Researchers at McMaster University showed male students pictures of women, some of whom were said to be attractive and some not-so-attractive, as determined by the Hot or Not? Web site.
After seeing a very attractive woman, the men were more likely to make dumb choices.
The Canadian researchers asked the male students to roll dice. If they rolled double digits, they were given a choice of taking $15 to $35 the next day or up to $75 after waiting a while.
The men who saw the attractive women were more likely to take the lesser amount.
NewScientist.com said biologists call choosing immediate rewards to greater ones in the future as "discounting the future."
The researchers said they tried the same test with female students. But there was no lessening of intelligence among the women after looking at hunks. Men also didn't show a change in reaction after seeing pictures of expensive cars.
The researchers said men stop thinking about long-term consequences once they get slightly aroused and see a sexual opportunity.

Just another well, duh, study to tell us that men eally do think with their dicks. And yes Myself has to admit at times being guilty as charged.