The headlines we havn't seen...yet

Originally published here.

Terrorists Funded By Rouge States, No Link With P2P Software
A confidential report by the US Department of Homeland Security has found that Al Qaeda operations, including the attacks carried out on 9/11, were funded by several “rouge states” including Saudi Arabia and wealthy Islamic fundamentalists. The report dismisses claims that the sharing of music and movies over the Internet helped Al Qaeda as “ludicrous”.
- The Washington Post

The BPI says your child is a thief
A British faux police organization owned by EMI (Britain), Sony BGM (Japan, Germany), UMG (France) and WMG (US) says your child is committing a crime by downloading music on the internet. Our correspondent reveals for the first time how warped disinformation releases such as this really are.
- The Times – UK

RIAA Back Flips, P2P is “Actually Pretty Cool”
An RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) spokesman said today that the music industry body will cease suing users of p2p networks. “We decided to look at some real data on this and it seems people are discovering and listening to more music than ever before," said RIAA boss Mitch Bainwol. "Our distribution costs could be slashed by 95%, which we’ll spend on finding exciting new artists. This means people will be paying less for music while having a bigger range to choose from. It’s a win for the artists and a win for the customer."
- Wall Street Journal

Morgan Freeman thinks again
“…I received a surprising amount of criticism regarding my comments on digital distribution, so I decided to actually investigate the issues myself. After looking at the DRM (digital rights management) products available, I couldn’t believe how ineffectual they are…”
- Hollywood.com

Gates smells the GNU
“We’re glad that Linux is available because it helps us to us to be competitive and make better products," Microsoft ceo told a meeting of industry executives in Seattle today. "We’d have to come up with something pretty special to compete with free.”
- CNET News

Supreme Court finds for Grokser
“This court finds that technological change and the freedom of companies and individuals to create new and innovative products is of great benefit to society. It would be irresponsible to favour marginal interests over the greater good.”
- The Hill

Glickman breaks arm, blames Supreme Court ruling
“I had a few drinks after the Grokster decision was announced and slipped on my way to the bathroom," MPAA CEO Daniel Glickman explained from his hospital bed. "I’m talking to my lawyers about possible legal action against Grokster and StreamCast. Someone is at fault here and it’s certainly not me.”
- The Drudge Report

Court Order Gags MPAA
Following claims of slander, a New York state judge has ordered the Motion Picture Association of America to supply sources to verify claims made in future press releases. In his summary, Judge Mikey Bollocks told the MPAA, “Your organization has a history of making claims that are demonstratably false. To avoid wasting our legal systems’ time in the future with groundless defamation suits, I am suggesting that you provide reasonable documentation to back up any claims you may wish to make in the future.
- New York Times

Apple Drops Suit Against Bloggers
“We were talking about the case against AppleInsider.com,” said Jimmy Whack, Apple vp of Marketing. “Someone said it’s pretty cool when people love your stuff so much that they can’t wait for new products. We all looked at each other and said, “Yeah, these guys are actually promoting our product lines for free’ so we’re dropping the suits and hoping that AppleInsider and the others aren’t too pissed at us. Really, it was all a big misunderstanding”.
- Time Magazine

Record Companies Pay All Back Royalties To Artist
Veteran performer Billy Garbled is today celebrating a cheque for $1,475,000 he received from EMI, Sony BGM, UMG and WMG. The money represents 30 years of royalty arrears. "We have fired the accountants who have been handling payments," says RIAA president Cary Sherman. "We will be making similar resitutions to other artists who have somehow been similarly overlooked in past years."
- International Musician (American Federation of Musicians magazine)