The word came down a few hours ago from a Federal Court judge: making files available in shared directories isn’t a violation of copyright.Not a good week for the recording industry’s crackdown on its customers. A recent study contradicts the recording industry’s claim that music downloading is hurting sales. An Australian broadcaster dug deep into the stats in a news release from that country’s industry association, and… Read more...

So I’m talking to a guy I know who just picked up a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone. I happen to have a Bluetooth-enabled Palm. “Let me show you something,” he says.Two minutes later, I’m surfing the Web from my Palm, in glorious colour. I’m in a boardroom, but I could be doing this anywhere my phone provider covers.Two reactions: Wow. And Hmmm…… Read more...

As the Bush administration tears into one-time antiterrorism czar Richard Clarke, a question comes to mind:If he’s such an anti-Republican partisan, if he has such a “legacy of failure,” if his recommendations were “either ineffective or impossible to implement”……then why did the Bush team keep him on in such a critical role for two years?… Read more...

Paul Wells’ latest column has a gem about voters’ ongoing fascination with non-politicians who run for office:

[Belinda Stronach] has the outsider cachet that inexplicably draws supporters to the candidate who knows least about politics.When my pipes burst during the last cold snap of winter, I didn’t say to myself: “Here’s the proof that traditional plumbing has failed. It’s time to think outside the plumbing box. It’s time to bring… Read more...

Previously in this space, I suggested that B.C. Government Whip Kevin Krueger might have reason to regret slagging former Liberal MLA Elayne Brenzinger.On Tuesday, a reporter asked the obvious question: what else aren’t you telling us?To paraphrase Krueger’s response, “Oh, tons of stuff.”The Times Colonist reports that Krueger now says the Liberals have suspended several MLAs from caucus since 2001, without deigning to tell the people who elected them… Read more...

This just hit my inbox, and instead of forwarding it hither and yon, I thought I’d just post it here.

Save CounterSpin!!! For years now, the television show CounterSpin on CBC Newsworld has been an important source of debate on national and international issues that matter. It is one of the only mainstream programs to regularly feature progressive views and voices of dissent. CBC has recently announced the cancellation of… Read more...

Flinging dirt at an opponent is a time-honored political tradition. And when that opponent is a former friend whose allegiance has recently changed, well, that can really boost the power of your throwing arm.But flinging mud without getting your hands dirty takes a light touch, and B.C. Liberal Whip Kevin Krueger is anything but deft.So when Krueger slagged newly-independent MLA Elayne Brenzinger, saying she was suspended from caucus

Set aside the debate over whether music downloading is wrong, wrong, wrong, horribly wrong, the sort of wrong that inspires movies written and directed by Mel Gibson. (Put it over there in the corner, standing it up carefully so it won’t fall over.)It may be a total non-issue. Because music downloading is dying anyway, with no help from the recording industry and its team of attack dogs.The problem? Other… Read more...