Federal appeals court revives lawsuit by civil rights icon Rosa Parks against the rap group OutKast over their song “Rosa Parks”: A federal judge in Detroit had dismissed Parks’ lawsuit in 1999 over the song “Rosa Parks,” saying OutKast’s use of her name was protected by free speech, and the …

MSN launched its Radio Plus service Monday night: Radio Plus marks a significant departure for MSN in that it is the first entertainment content to get a paid version. That’s an indication of things to come, according to Microsoft. “We look at it as a first step in a much …

Internet news services in South Korea are quickly working into the mainstream: The firm hold the mainstream press has enjoyed for half a century over the flow of information is being pried open. The changes have been so widespread that some political observers partly attribute the recent election of left-wing …

New devices to record any radio program, convert it into a digital format for listening or upload onto a PC: Like TiVo, the audio recorders will let customers fast-forward over commercials — although this isn’t a feature the industry is actively promoting. “What you do with it is your own …

One of the single most important individuals in the establishment of tbomedia.co.uk, John Scalzi, has some very exciting news: Today is the official release date for The Rough Guide to the Universe. That’s in the US, mind you; in the UK, it’s already been out for a month, and I’m …

We (Americans) don’t seem to do “interim” very well. We are totally tits at accomplishing specific tasks – deposing evil regimes, incapacitating opposing militaries, yanking down odious statues – with efficiency and alactrity, but seem to drift when the mission isn’t well defined, as during “interim” periods such as Iraq’s, …

The RIAA mistakenly harassed Penn State’s department of astronomy and astrophysics about a nonexistent MP3 file on their computer – then – apologized for it: Last Thursday, the RIAA sent a stiff copyright warning to Penn State’s department of astronomy and astrophysics. Department officials at first were puzzled, because the …

British book So You Think You Know Harry Potter coming to the U.S.: So you think you know all about Harry Potter, his friends, his adversaries, and his amazing adventures? This book is the ultimate test, as tough as making one of Professor Snape’s potions and as slippery as a …

I still don’t see Apple’s Music Store as anything revolutionary, it’s just a refinement of what has been going on for some time. But if a lot of other people see it as a revolution, that’s okay with me – the perception is as important as the reality and a …

Jamees Russell linked here yesterday to a story about Google seeking to adjust or even filter out blogs from its search results. This is certainly a concern, although I am not sure we will be classified as a blog under their valuation system – we are more of an online …