Quiet Criticism: 12/28/08

6.1.09

In New Zealand File-Sharers Guilty if Accused

On 28 February 2009, ‘Section 92′ of the Copyright Amendment Act will come into effect in New Zealand. The act states that any Internet user accused of sharing copyright works is automatically guilty, and the punishment is abrupt disconnection from the Internet.

From the act:

“An Internet service provider must adopt and reasonably implement a policy that provides for termination, in appropriate circumstances, of the account with that Internet service provider of a repeat infringer.”

Jack Black Goes Bluegrass

Jack Black participated in the song Old Joe Clark on father-in-law Charlie Haden’s Grammy nominated album Rambling Boy. You can listen to it on Haden’s Myspace page.

He told the Associated Press:

“I wasn’t sure what to expect because I haven’t recorded or really sung any old songs like that before, bluegrass style, but it came very naturally and I cranked it out in two takes. There was something in the music that I think struck a chord in my DNA. I think I’ve got some hillbilly in my roots.”

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Cancer Patients Become Musicians

At the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, patients can record songs in a studio provided by Purple Songs Can Fly, part of the Arts in Medicine Program. Since its inauguration in March 2006, 116 songs have been recorded at the fully equipped studio, some which have been aired on plane flights and even in space!

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Zune Player Crash Gets Examined

The universal Leap Year failure of the Zune 30GB on New Year’s eve became nationwide headline news. Now the leaked source code has been diagnosed. The examination is pretty enlightening, as it explains exactly why the crash happened.

The driver with the defective code is common to all Windows CE devices, and for those who are inclined toward coding, here’s an excerpt from the analysis:

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3.1.09

Album Sales Drop in 2008

In 2008, album sales went down in contrast to the digital business, which showed growth but also slowed in comparison to last year.

Reuters reports that total album sales fell 14 percent to 428.4 million units during the 52-week period ended December 28. This follows the downward trend for the industry in the since 2000. This year, the industry as a whole faced an economic recession. Although digital downloads have gained ground over the years, digital track sales rose 27 percent to a record 1.07 billion units, but the growth was slower than the 45 percent jump in 2007.

But what do they expect people to do when times are tough?

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1.1.09

Björk Invests in Greener Iceland

Björk has partnered with a Reykjavik-based venture capital firm to set up a fund that will invest in socially and environmentally responsible companies that will help repair Iceland’s beat-up economy.

The Icelandic singer launched the venture fund with Audur Capital, which has put down the initial investment of 100 million Iceland kronur ($826,000) and is seeking investors to participate in the fund until March 2009.

Led Zeppelin Frontman Honored by the Queen

Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant has received a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in the UK’s 2009 New Year’s Honors List, for his services to music.

Also honored this year are Scottish singer-songwriter and maverick guitarist John Martyn (awarded an OBE) and jazz saxophonist Courtney Pine (CBE).

6.1.09