This is absurd. Punishing the universities because students are using their bandwidth is akin to punishing the cable company because a subscriber records a pay-for-view movie then shares it with their friends. Or holding the internet provider responsible for pirated software. Or the federal government at fault for speeders on freeways.

And exactly how does withholding education address this problem?

It is appalling the short-sighted avenues that the music and film industries are using to address this problem. Instead of attempting to create even harsher penalties, many of which affect far more than the guilty parties, the industries should embrace the p2p models and figure ways to use these new technologies to their advantage. The sharing of music and film will not go away. Get use to it.

House Embraces Music and Film Industry Stupidity was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

It all seems impossible, doesn’t it? But according to the latest installment of my favorite weekly comic book column, Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed (#128 for those counting at home), the Ghost Rider/Casper story almost happened.

After the success of the fun Archie Meets The Punisher and the popularity of the Ghost Rider film, this story doesn’t seem all that far fetched. Heck, I’d buy it!

Ghost Rider/ Casper, The Friendly Ghost Crossover? was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

In the latest Locus, Cory Doctorow has produced an excellent article on how to use the Creative Commons license.

The piece also offers a concise overview of copyright law.

I recommend this article highly for anyone who is thinking of posting their works online.

Cory Doctorow on Creative Commons was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

[ Mood: Shocked ]
Newsarama reports on the Comicbloc rumor that Time Warner, which is reported to be selling off its AOL assets, might be shedding DC Comics!

Doesn’t sound likely, but an interesting thought. I find it difficult to imagine any company ridding themselves of the lucrative Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman licenses.

Is DC for Sale? was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Nothing says Christmas like a serial killer was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

[  Mood: Shocked ]
[  Currently: Watching Larry Lessig ]
Okay, so a huge shift in my life has occurred. One that while I am thrilled about, is still more than little scary.

What could this terror be?

I’m pregnant.

Yup, I am carrying a symbiote.

Now, this is not new news for me. Rather, I am 15 weeks along, so this is old news. But it is still a little shocking. I have a living creature inside of me. And boy, does that change how you look at the world!

Gone is the daily can of coke. Junk food? Mostly in the past. Hello to the daily nap. I have also welcomed the permanent state of exhaustion.

And my breasts would make an anime character jealous.

So life changing event here I come.

I’ll keep you informed.

Stanford professor Larry Lessing, one of our foremost authorities on copyright issues and the Chair of Creative Commons, intelligently and skillfully makes the case for creative freedom in today’s Internet. Using graphics, humor, and clarity, Lessing successfully sets the current controversies within a fascinating historical perspective.

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/187

How Creativity Is Being Strangled By The Law was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

[  Mood: Sick ]
So Wednesday was Supergroup night again in City of Heroes land. On this week’s agenda, a Giant Monster hunt.

While we waited for the group to arrive, we did a little trick or treating in Brickstown. I got a few more costumes.

Then we went to take on the Eochai, the giant pumpkinhead.

We found him pretty fast, and along with many others, brought him down. We were recognized by some of our fellow heroes. I guess the Strippers have some renown. Eochai fell to our blows pretty fast.

We found Eochai a few more times and killed him. Then the call came out that Jack in Irons was up. This was the one that people were waiting for. The group of heroes was huge, and we brought Jack down pretty fast.

Then we tried to take on Eochai again. This time it did not go so well. It was just us and the pumpkin had brought some friends. He had three level 50 Streng hanging around. Streng, and you can see look like the Eochai, only a little smaller.

There were also some members of the Unseelie Court floating around, also level 50. As we were all level 30s, it was a bloodbath. And every so often, the Eochai threw a flaming pumpkin that summoned up more Strang.

Three deaths later, I had accumulated 35000 in debt and we Strippers decided to let the Eochai destroy Brickstown instead of us.

The Wanted movie trailer was posted yesterday. Although it seams to have little to do with the original comic, which is a dark twisted affair, the movie looks interesting. Sadly, it appears Angelina Jolie will NOT be donning the “Miss Fox” suit.

Wanted Movie Trailer was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Now if they could just explain how cosmic rays created the Fantastic Four…

The Origin of Cosmic Rays was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon