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Napster is back, but in name only. Back in April I linked to an excerpt from Joseph Menn’s All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning’s Napster, which includes a not terribly flattering portrait of Shawn Fanning’s uncle John Fanning. John Chamberlain objects to the characterization in an …

The confluence of Simon and Garfunkel galavanting anew throughout the land and the SACD release of classic Dylan albums led me to think about one of the most unusual and amazing figures in recent recording history. Do you know this man? He was president of the Young Republican Club and …

I am certainly not in the 18-24 demographic causing the greatest concern in this NY Times article, but I can tell you this: I have barely missed an inning of the MLB playoffs and World Series, and the unrelenting promos for The New Joe Millionaire and Skin have cumulatively induced …

Large-swinging-gonads entertainment lawyer Fred Goldring is either a Blogcritics reader or he has been rooting around in my brain – for his sake I hope it’s the former. But anyway, he’s a real smart guy and in his editorial in Billboard (unfortunately not available to the public) entitled “Taking Issue: …

What a mess JetBlue Airlines has created. Internet security expert Bruce Schneier explains and elucidates in Newsday: In September 2002, JetBlue Airways secretly turned over data about 1.5 million of its passengers to a company called Torch Concepts, under contract with the Department of Defense. Torch Concepts merged this data …

Roger Friedman reports: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation is finally opening its big-money vault for musicians. And not to just nominees or inductees to its Hall of Fame, but to all the musicians who have made pop, country, and soul records under the aegis of rock and …

The two ickiest teams made it to the World Series (not that I like the Braves, however) – I guess I am for the Marlins because they aren’t the Yankees, and sometimes the enemy of my enemy somewhat resembles a friend. In a way I hate the Yankees less after …

Jaunty judge cold busts out and gets ill in dismissing defamation suit against Eminem: October 17, Judge Deborah Servitto issued a ruling dismissing a defamation lawsuit filed against rapper Eminem by former schoolmate D’ Angelo Bailey, according to the Associated Press. In addition to the ruling, the judge included a …

The Indiana Jones trilogy comes to DVD tomorrow: A close second to the original “Star Wars” trilogy on DVD-lovers’ wish list, “The Adventures of Indiana Jones” debuts Tuesday in a four-disc boxed set that includes one of the most comprehensive making-of documentaries ever. Hardcore fans who think they know it …

The link between price and tobacco consumption has been proved time and again: raise the price, lower the consumption. Give the French government credit for acting – rather drastically in fact – once they finally made up their collective minds that smoking is bad for people, especially young people: Tobacco …