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New Scientist reports on P2P network studies: A US bill proposed in July 2002 would give copyright holders the legal power to attack the computers of file sharers suspected of piracy. Experts say it would be relatively easy to log on to a network and deliberately overload suspected users with …

Fascinating WSJ article about al Qaeda on the web: prosaic, pervasive, dangerous, ultimately a failure – just like al Qaeda itself. Here’s how it ends: Much of the software on the Kabul computer was pirated. This included a program that muttered Bism Allah (“in the name of God”) each time …

Covington, KY bar ordered to pay $9000 for copyright violation involving the performance of 12 songs. The Kentucky Post reports: U.S. District Court Judge William Bertelsman in Covington ordered Peacox Inc., which operates Peacox Bar and Grill on Donaldson Road, and two of its officers to pay a total of …

On his new thefutureof.net site, Gerd Leonhard predicts these things for the future of the music business: CD prices will drop to $ 5 (and less) Mechanical Royalties and Performance Royalties will be integrated, and revenue sharing schemes will replace today’s fee schedules Record stores will no longer focus on …

Journalista overseer Dirk Deppey has a thoughtful and extensive posting on The Comic Journal‘s blog discussing industry biggies Marvel Comics’ current “no re-orders” policy. Designed to give the once-near-bankruptcy comics line a better looking “bottom line” to potential investors, Marvel’s policy has already angered many comics shop owners & fans …

More “synergy.” Idol’s 19 company certainly isn’t the only one to stack the deck in its favor. Check out this story on Disney radio from the LA Times: Among radio broadcasters across the country, Hilary Duff’s sugary pop tune “I Can’t Wait” has fallen completely flat. A single station — …

A team of economists in Forbes says Congress’ extension of copyright is “baloney”: You could call it the Disney shareholder protection act. In 1998 Congress added 20 years to existing copyrights, making corporate copyrights good for 95 years and those owned by individuals good for 70 years past the author’s …

“Sales are plunging, pirates are running amok throughout cyberland stealing food from the mouths of starving artists, morality is a thing of the past …. oops, nevermind” – at least in the UK. From the Guardian: British rock bands Oasis and Coldplay plus the perennially reliable Now compilation series have …

mi2g writes that hacking is a growing threat, especially to medium and small companies that don’t have the resources to defend themselves, and that governments are going to have to step in: As the damage done by radical, criminal and intellectually motivated hackers continues to rise, about six Billions Dollars …

The movie industry seems to have taken heed of the digital debacle facing the music biz and is offering film downloads for a fee Amy Harmon writes in the NY Times: The service, called Movielink, will be the first to make a substantial number of popular Hollywood films available legally …