I haven’t bought or listened to a Nine Inch Nails album/CD since high school, but I do think it’s cool that they’re going Creative Commons with Ghosts I-IV and The Slip.  And guess what?  People are still buying the CDs too.

Popularity: 48% [?]

My jaw dropped when I read this…

In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the (Recording Industry Association of America) maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

The RIAA has clearly crossed over into the territory of alienating any music fans that they may have left.   Some poor guy is sitting at home backing up his K-Fed and Britney “blockbusters”, that he bought, and you’re going to sue him?  You have got to be kidding me! If I’m going to get sued for “ripping” CD’s that I bought to put on my computer and MP3 players, you can be guaranteed that I will not buy another RIAA backed album and will stick with the indies who live with the rest of us in the real world and realize that’s how we listen to music these days.

What’s next?  Suing people for putting a CD in their computer to listen to it from the disc, just because it technically could be copied?

And I’m not even going to waste my breath pointing out how many ways this is just plain wrong and what sort of behavior this will encourge.  Anyone with a grain of common sense can figure that one out on their own.

Popularity: 29% [?]

May everyone rest easier now…

Evel Knievel and Kanye West have worked it out.  The 69-year-old iconic motorcycle daredevil said he and West met at his Clearwater condo recently. They settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel’s trademarked image in a popular West music video.

[link]

Popularity: 30% [?]