My poor pear tree. The weather’s been so weird that it didn’t drop it’s leaves until last month and now it’s already sprouting new ones and flowering…
File Sharing
Lori Jones here in Houston got a letter from lawyers representing the RIAA indicating she is being sued for copyright infringement to the tune of over half a million dollars. Apparently her daughter had downloaded and installed Limewire to share music.
According to the lawsuit the half-million dollar price tag works out to $750 per infringement. That’s $750 per song. Pretty steep considering you can purchase the songs at the iTunes store for 99 cents a pop. On the plus side, they are willing to settle for a one time fee of $4,000.
You can see the whole story here.
Jeff Ehling from the local ABC affiliate station here in Houston, TX called me to setup an interview. Since I had taken the day off we did it in the comfort of my living room.
Strangely, this time I was only referred to as:
Jay Lee who hosts a radio program that specializes in computer issues
Negativland
Took the time to go to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center @ The University of Houston to listen to Mark Hosler speak about media and Negativland (wiki).
I’ve been a fan of Negativland since the early 80’s and used to play their stuff on the old Wake Up And Smell The Coffee program I did back in the day and it was a treat to get to listen to him speak.
The most entertaining anecdotes were the details of the U2 lawsuit and the David Brom axe murderer hoax.
The discussion ranged from fair use and copyrights to culture jamming and touched upon things like Youtube and P2P file sharing as a cheap and effective means of mass distribution for digital artists.
My friend Chuck Ivy was able to record the presentation so perhaps there will be a copy of it available soon.
Shop As Usual
Thursday, March 13, 4:00-5:30pm
Adventures in Illegal Art: Creative Media Resistance and Negativland
Mark Hosler of Negativland in attendance!
Quintero Lab Theater, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center, University of Houston
A film/lecture/presentation/conversation with Mark Hosler of Negativland presented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts.
Interested in media literacy? Want to know more about creative and humorous anti-corporate art/activism? Interested in challenging the roles of advertising and corporate power in our lives? Opinionated about intellectual property issues? Want to be involved in the evolution of art, law, and resistance in a media saturated world? Then…
Reserve your space now! 713-743-5749
Participle
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants put on a great show last night. I did secure my photo pass so I was able to shoot the concert. Sadly, the barricade that is usually in place at The Meridian was nowhere to be seen. That is usually the primo spot to be in for shooting the shows there, especially the big draws like TMBG. It creates a jostle free zone for photographers and lets you have some flexibility.
With the barricade gone I has to jockey for position at the front of the stage which was a huge pain. Still, got some good shots…
The rest are in the gallery right behind this link.
Friday Night
After Friday night at the Big Top I think I’ve been cured of an lingering desire to have a full head of hair again.
Caution
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