I couldn't help but post this article I found on Iownmymusic.org:

"Remember Jammie Thomas? Yeah, you know, the woman taken to court by six large record label for making music available for people to share on the Internet. Well, get this: she’s not only been found guilty, but she’s been ordered to pay $220,000 in compensation. $220,000!

Thomas was fined $9,250 for every song she illegally made available on her Kazzaa account, which she said she didn’t own in her defense. She was found guilty of sharing 24 songs, although what these songs are was undisclosed. Apparently she shared some 1,702 songs in all.

The lowest she could have been made to pay was $750 per song, so you can be sure that they are trying to make an example out this poor woman with the massive amount of money they’ve called her out for.

This is a landmark ruling, and it’s one that’s sure to send ripples through the music industry. Are we to all live in fear now that the record labels are starting to bite back? This is just the beginning, and you can be sure that more cases will follow.

What’s big news here is the excessive amount of money Jammie Thomas has to pay. The 24 songs are worth, what, $24? Thomas did the same as millions of people around the world do every day.

The world has gone mad."

Labels: gadgets

Still tuning into the radio at home? Maybe it's time for an upgrade. If you haven't tuned in yet, you might have missed out on DAB, the new digital radio broadcasting format.

What is DAB?
DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting. Its digitally broadcasted radio over the airwaves. This means higher, more cd like quality. DAB has the ability to fit more data within a single amount of airspace. This means offering many more stations in the same amount of frequencies.

DAB in America?
It seems the United States didn't jump on the DAB broadcast bandwagon. Instead, the US uses HD radio, a very similar technology. Instead, you'll find DAB in Canada and Europe. Click here to see if HD radio is available in your area.

Reciever?
Yes you will need a special HD reciever to experience HD radio. At the moment these are still pricey as HD radio has not yet been fully realized.

Labels: gadgets

A question I often ask myself is: What Music Should I Download? Have you ever hit a music road block and didn't know which direction to turn? It happens to the best of us, and luckily there are a few ways to find out what music we should download.

See Upcoming Releases
Metacritic will show us the latest released albums and upcoming albums for the next 3 months. Use this list to find out if any artists you like are going to release anything new anytime soon.

See the year in Review
Metacritic also shows us the best music of the past few years as rated by a number of sources. These sources include amazon.com, billboard, almost cool, and many more. Use this list to find past songs you might have missed out on.

Visit Metacritic

Preview the tracks?
The best source I've found is Deezer. They've got most tracks free and streaming online. See my Deezer post.

Labels: gadgets

uBroadcast is a new program, not much unlike other stations that let us be our own broadcaster. uBroadcaster lets you be your own online broadcaster with its uBroadcaster client software. The benefit to the software is the control you have when broadcasting. Your station can be more than just a repeated set of songs. You can mix, broadcast your own voice, or pretty much whatever your creative mind thinks of.

The downside?
Unlike most radiobroadcasting programs, your listeners will also need to download listening software in order to hear your station. Most listeners would rather tune in to something else than have to deal with downloading extra software to listen to your station.

Get uBroadcast

Labels: gadgets