Watch Out!

Movie Company to Sue 34 Internet Users

Voltage Pictures LLC is a movie studio whose name has become popular in the industry after it released a blockbuster “The Hurt Locker”. The outfit has filed a lawsuit against 34 users alleged of pirating its films.
Voltage Pictures LLC has won a few Academy Awards in the past, and now is making attempts to receive $180.000 in damages from each of the 34 Internet users, accusing them of copying and distributing a last year’s movie “Maximum Conviction” without their consent.

According to the company’s complaint, the defendants are from Medford, Talent, Central Point, Shady Cove, Klamath Falls and Brookings. The movie studio wants $30,000 for copyright infringement plus $150,000 in statutory damages from each of them. However, the names of the infringers are yet unknown, because the movie studio only had their IP addresses. This means that ISPs, including Charter Communications, Clearwire Corp., CenturyLink, Embarq Corp. and Frontier Corp., would be ordered to disclose the names behind those IP addresses to identify the defendants. The lawsuit claims that taking into account the readily available pirated copies of the films and the ease at which they can be illegally downloaded at an almost anonymous level, lots of Internet users feel justified in their theft of movies.

In the meantime, Voltage Pictures LLC wasn’t the only company that suffered from such act of online theft. Another victim is Charlie McHenry, a co-founder of the video-game company called Trilobyte Games Co, whose product also got pirated. McHenry said that the larger tension is between the rights owners and people who believe in universal access. While stressing the fact that distributing copyrighted material is no joke, McHenry also claimed that monetary penalties are usually way too often blown out of proportions.

In fact, most of the infringers are underage guys who don’t necessarily realize that what they are doing is illegal. Kids may be experimenting with the worldwide web and unintentionally be breaking the law. And they or their parents are demanded to pay up to $180,000 in damages.

While Trilobyte Games Co is sending notices of desist each time one of its games gets pirated and downloaded, the movie companies keep suing large groups of Internet users, asking for damages which, in most cases, are impossible to comply with.
It begs the question “Who would want to download & watch Maximum Conviction anyway”?

Phone Unlocked….Go To Jail??

Phone Unlocking Petition Got Over 100,000 Signatures

It turned out that a White House online petition to lift the phone unlocking ban has already gathered over 110,000 signatures. Since the threshold for “We the People” petitions is 100,000, now the government will have to review or at least reply to the petition.
The controversial ban was introduced in the beginning of the year and under this new legislation anyone who dares to unlock their own phone in the United States could face up to five years of prison time along with a $500,000 fine. Industry observers were not happy to hear such news. For example, Forbes described the new law as a “clear example” of copyright legislation gone crazy (which is true). In the meantime, the lawmakers pointed out that the underlying law is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, better known as DCMA. However, applying the legislation to cell phone unlocking is, we would say, a stretch.

Actually, the ban is considered as an example of crony capitalism, which is nothing new in post-Citizens United America. For example, this ban allows corporations to control how their gear is used after it is sold – this obviously violates property rights. Although phone companies may claim that they are renting their devices on 2-year plans, they actually are not – at least not now.

Industry experts compared the situation to the one when a car company is telling its clients that they can’t install new alloys. In the meantime, buying a modular assault rifle is still legitimate in the United States, and the accessory market is growing rapidly. Indeed, in most states you can install everything from a bayonet to a high-powered scope and high capacity magazine on almost any rifle, and it is absolutely legal. Yet unlocking a cell phone can lead you to a courtroom, facing some serious jail time...

Correct Grammar?….Not in Mid-Devon!

Council bans apostrophes from all street signs to avoid 'confusion'

A council has sparked fury from residents after banning apostrophes from street signs to avoid potential confusion.

Mid-Devon District Council said its new streets had not contained apostrophes for many years but the policy was now being made official.
Residents and plain English campaigners criticised the move, but the council said apostrophes could only be found in three street names in the district.
It added that Beck's Square and Blundell's Avenue both in Tiverton and St George's Well in Cullompton were all named many years ago.
Andrew Lacey, of Mid-Devon District Council, said there was no national guidance that stops apostrophes being used.
But proofreader Mary de Vere Taylor from Ashburton said the thought of apostrophes being removed made her shudder.
"It's almost as though somebody with a giant eraser is literally trying to erase punctuation from our consciousness," she said.
"To me there's something terribly British and terribly reassuring about well-written and well-punctuated writing.
"Some may say I should get a life and get out more but if I got out more and saw place names with no apostrophes where there should be I shudder to think how I'd react."
Ms de Vere Taylor said while she accepted language had to evolve, she felt the council's decision was a backwards step.
Steve Jenner from the Plain English Campaign said punctuation including the apostrophe was one of the basic rules of language. The council's decision as "nonsensical", he said.
Mid-Devon Council declined to comment further and did not elaborate on who might be confused by the use of correct punctuation.

A Bed For The Night?

Sleepwalking woman found in hedge nine miles from home

A farmer's wife was found in a hedge nine miles from her home after she sleepwalked out of the kitchen window.

Joy Grigg sparked a major police search in Cornwall on Wednesday morning (March 13) after her husband Richard awoke to find her missing and the kitchen window open.

The 50-year-old mother-of-two was found in a hedge on Thursday evening by a member of the public, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Richard said: "It is so great that she has been found. She is currently in hospital, and we just want to get out lives back together and try and get things back to normal.

"We are all very relieved and are very much looking forward to her coming home."

Richard also revealed that this is not the first time his wife has sleepwalked away from home.

He said: "She has wandered off before, about six or seven weeks ago in January, that time she ended up around five miles away.

"We managed to bring her back after I kept calling her mobile and eventually the vibration in her pocket woke her up."

You’re Banned!

Man Banned From "All Libraries on the Face of the Earth"

Wisconsin man accused of lewd behaviour and disorderly conduct.

The court really threw the book at this guy.

A 20-year-old Wisconsin man accused of engaging in lewd behavior in a library has been banned from "all the libraries on the face of the earth."

Tyree S. Carter, of Racine, is charged with misdemeanor counts of lewd behavior and disorderly conduct. He's due in court next month for a pre-trial conference.

A Journal Times of Racine report says Carter is accused of openly masturbating in the Racine Public Library last week. A witness told investigators Carter was out in the open, not trying to conceal his act.

The criminal complaint says he apologized to responding police officers.

His signature bond was set at $1,000. Court records say as a condition of his bond, he was told to "stay out of all the libraries on the face of the earth."

Bottled?

Rare Chinese Bottle Vase Sells For Almost £1m

The eight-inch vase was inherited by an academic in Oxford who had no idea it was worth anything.

A small Chinese vase that was valued at £10,000 to £15,000 has sold at auction - for almost £1m.
The extremely rare 18th-century ornament, made for a Chinese emperor, was brought to Britain by the seller's family more than a century ago.
Although it is only 20cm (8in) high, an anonymous telephone buyer in Hong Kong paid around 100 times its estimated value.
Tennants' auction rooms in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, said they were "very pleased" with the result.
Associate director Nigel Smith said the blue and white bottle vase, made for the Qianlong Emperor in around 1730, was put up for sale by an academic who lives in Oxford.
He said: "It really is a museum-quality piece and these things very rarely come on the market.
"It's come down through the family - one of their relatives was a diplomat in China in the 1880s and was given it as a gift."
He said the unnamed owner had contacted Tennants after learning that a similar item had sold for £2.6m last November.
Mr Smith said he was shocked at the £950,000 the tiny vase made at the Spring Fine Art Sale.
"Despite the low valuation, we expected it to fetch in excess of half a million, but we were very pleased with the result," he said.
He added: "I haven't spoken to the vendor but I expect he's rather happy, too."
The seller's grandmother, Lady Ethel Margaret Stronge, left the vase to his mother, Mrs Rose Ethel Richardson of Tynan Abbey, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, who in turn gave it to her son.
Lady Ethel Margaret was married to Sir Francis Stronge who joined the diplomatic service in London in 1879 and went to Peking in the same year.
He went on to serve in the Supreme Court in Shanghai in 1885 before working in Central America from 1897 to 1907.
The vase had been kept in a house in North Yorkshire for 45 years and the owner had no idea it was valuable until he got in touch with Tennants.

Ouch!!

Never To Young!!

9-Year-Old Among 4 Charged in Carjacking

The 9-year old was arrested in connection with an armed robbery at a McDonalds last month

A 9-year-old boy was reportedly one of four people arrested Thursday night in connection with a carjacking in Chicago's East Side neighborhood.

The boy was in the stolen car with two 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old Thursday night when they were arrested for allegedly pointing a pellet gun at the driver of a 2003 Pontiac Sunfire and driving away in the vehicle.

The charges were denied against the boy, who was released into the custody of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, but the three older boys were charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm and one of the 15-year-olds, the driver, was charged with aggravated possession of a stolen vehicle, police said, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The 9-year-old and the 14-year-old were both arrested in connection with an armed robbery at a McDonalds last month, according to the Tribune.

Acceptance!!

Father writes heartwarming letter of acceptance to gay son

A father has written a letter of acceptance to his gay son Nate after he overheard his plans to come out.
Nate was on the phone to Mike the previous night when he said he was going to reveal the truth about his sexuality to his parents.
However, Nate's father responded by leaving a note with him, saying: "I've known you were gay since you were six. I've loved you since you were born.
"Your mom and I think you and Mike make a cute couple."
According to Gawker, Nate sent in a picture of the letter to FCKH8, who posted it on their Facebook. The photo has been widely shared on the internet since.
FCKH8 stated: "We hope it sets a good example for fathers to love their kids the way they were born.
"The fact that it has been shared by so many sadly means that this kind of acceptance is both too rare and deeply craved by LGBT people so used to being rejected by families."