Challenge the conventional paradigm

My guy — that is, my gal — didn't win in Iowa.

But what an historic moment yesterday. As Senator Obama said when he acknowledged his victory in the Iowa Democratic caucuses:

“They said this day would never come,” he said. “They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together. But on this January night at this defining moment in history, you have done what the cynics said we couldn’t do.”

entire text here

We can take solace that, in a little more than a year, there will be no Bush in the White House. Jump here for an earlier endorsement.

RIAA — more to the story

Aha! I wrote yesterday that there must be more to the story of a man being sued for simply copying music he had purchased onto his computer — and there is.

From Engadget:

it turns out that Jeffery [Howell] isn't actually being sued for ripping CDs, like the Washington Post and several other sources have reported, but for plain old illegal downloading.

And, from the blog of William Patry, Senior Copyright Counsel to Google:

it is here that the RIAA [Recording Industry Association of America] is making the point that placing the mp3 files into the share folder is what makes the copy unauthorized. The RIAA is not saying that the mere format copying of a CD to an mp3 file that resides only on one's hard drive and is never shared is infringement. This is a huge distinction and is surprising the Post didn't understand it. The brief also goes on to allege in great detail that the copies placed in the shared folder were actually disseminated from Howell's computer, thereby stating a traditional violation of the distribution right, even aside from the making available/deemed distribution theory.

However, from Marc Fisher's column in the Washington Post:

The Howell case was not the first time the industry has argued that making a personal copy from a legally purchased CD is illegal. At the Thomas trial in Minnesota, Sony BMG's chief of litigation, Jennifer Pariser, testified that "when an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Copying a song you bought is "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy,' " she said.

Patry notes the danger inherent in this view:

the rhetoric of theft and counterfeiting are being dangerously used to cover all unlicensed activity, whether it is fair use (in the case of copying for personal use), or any other use content owners don't like. Everyone else's use of a copyrighted work is now deemed by some content owners to be infringing unless they OK it.
<...>

This new rhetoric of "everything anyone does without our permission is stealing" is well worth noting at every occasion and well worth challenging. It is the rhetoric of copyright as an ancient property right, permitting copyright owners to control all uses as a natural right; the converse is that everyone else is an immoral thief.

Whiskipedia

The Whiskipedia went on-line Tuesday. Here, from the opening page:

First of all, our thanks are due to Gavin Smith, well-known whisky author, who has kindly provided the overwhelming bulk of the site at launch (1st January 2008) in full recognition that you will probably all mangle it unrecognisably. The launch text is drawn from Gavin's excellent and authoritative book Whisky: A Book of Words (Carcanet Press, 1993),and subsequent paperback edition The A-Z of Whisky (NWP). A new and fully revised edition will be published sometime in 2008.

---Ian Buxton
Site Administrator
www.thewhiskychannel.com
1st January 2008

Opinions?

I'm no expert on things whisk(e)y — even though I do enjoy a wee dram from time to time — so I'll wait for such as Lew Bryson and John Hansell, and you, to offer comments.

www.whiskipedia.org

Higher beer prices: tipping point?

Today's Washington Post mentions Clipper City Brewing Company in terms of higher beer prices, the hot beer topic of 2008:

How much more will you pay for craft beer? "My suspicion is a buck a six-pack," says Hugh Sisson, president of Clipper City Brewing Co., in Baltimore.

My informal survey of the various markets in which I work (DC, VA, NC, SC, GA) seems to support that as the norm. Assuming $8.99/$9.99 as standard for craft beer 6-packs, $10.99 might be that tipping point.

Nevertheless, craft beer remains a good value, especially relative to good wine, aged spirits, or luxury foods. But one may wonder ... at what point will a price increase reach the tipping point of perceived value?

Brewers See Higher Prices Ahead
Greg Kitsock
p. F5

TV goes the way of the Dodo bird

Watch TV? Don't believe in paying for it ... as I don't?

Then read this.

Beginning Feb. 18, 2009, anyone who does not own a digital set and still receives their programming via over-the-air antennas will no longer be able to receive a picture. Broadcasting, by law, will become completely digital; analog (remember rabbit-ears?) will end.

Later this [January 2008] month, the FCC is auctioning off the analog television frequencies to wireless providers, with a portion of the spectrum reserved for emergency responders.

But again, the turn-off date is not until 2009. At that point, to watch broadcast TV — if you're still using an older television set — you'll need a converter box to watch TV.

The converter boxes are expected to cost between $50 and $70 and will be available at most major electronics retail stores. Starting Tuesday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will begin accepting requests for two $40 coupons per household to be used toward the purchase of the boxes.

Viewers who have satellite or cable service will not need a box.

To request a coupon, consumers can apply online at http://www.dtv2009.gov starting Tuesday. The government also has set up a 24-hour hotline to take requests, 1-888-DTV-2009.

Of course, you can always pay for cable or satellite, and not worry.

[UPDATE 2008.02.15: The federal government said Friday [15 February 2008] it will begin mailing out $40 coupons next week to consumers to help pay for converter boxes that will save their analog sets from becoming obsolete. More here.]