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Stars & Stripes

KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — Normally downloading a favorite TV show from Apple Inc.’s iTunes takes less than an hour, but lately for those living on base it’s been more like three days.
The popular digital store hasn’t been working properly with Mediatti cable Internet service since at least November. But after months of [...]

Playlist
A new bill in the U.S. Congress aimed at protecting the fair use rights for consumers of copyright material would “legalize hacking,” the Recording Industry Association of America said.
The Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship (FAIR USE) Act, introduced Tuesday by U.S. Representatives Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat, and John Doolittle, a California Republican, would [...]

The iPod Observer
WebSiteOptimization reported on Monday that, starting from zero in 2004, the number of iTunes unique users in Europe has grown to over 27 million customers and the growth rate is 47.5 percent.
This compares with two percent growth by Windows Media Player users and about nine percent by RealPlayer.

Tags:Apple, iTunes, Music

I guess I’m going to have to wait a couple of more weeks until I get my Apple TV according to Macworld. I wonder if it is in fact a delay in the manufacturer of the Apple TV or something to do with iTunes which has to be revised in order to sync with the [...]

Slate “Is classical music—a genre that has spent a seeming eternity on the commercial skids—staging a comeback?”

Tags:Classical, Digital Music, Music

iTunes is having a sale on some on Billy Joel’s catalog albums. They are going for $7.99 a piece. There is also a new track “All My Life” which will set you back $.99.

Billboard
The Jam bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler are reuniting for a tour, minus the group’s most famous member, Paul Weller, under the moniker “From the Jam: Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler.” The duo, who will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Jam’s debut, “In the City,” will be joined by singer/guitarist Russell [...]

washingtonpost.com
Bills for thousands of Montgomery County cable viewers will increase by 4 percent starting March 1, when Comcast Corp., suburban Maryland’s largest cable television provider, raises rates throughout the Washington region.Montgomery leaders had hoped that competition from a new provider, Verizon Communications Inc., would help lower prices. But Comcast said recently that cable bills would [...]

Order take out and light a string of red firecrackers.

Technorati Tags: Chines New Years

Daytona 500 was fun to watch today, what a wild finish. There will be a lot of “discussion” because Nascar didn’t throw the caution at the end of the race, if they did Mark Martin would of won. I was disappointed to see Martin get nipped at the line.

Technorati Tags: Daytona 500, [...]

New York Times
But the expansion of the online marketplace, coupled with ever-worsening CD sales, is now all but forcing the music companies to tread on ground they once viewed as off limits.
Starting this week, Suretone Records, a label distributed by the Universal Music Group, plans to distribute video files featuring popular acts like Weezer [...]

Tech News World Apple TV’s critics decry its “lack” of versatility in being tied to iTunes. That’s like saying a smartphone lacks versatility because it doesn’t play AM radio.

Tags:Apple TV

Macrovision CEO & President has responded to Steve Job’s recent letter on music. Given that DRM is what Macrovision does it comes as no surprise that he’s in favor of DRM. Read the whole letter after the break or at their website.

I, Cringely
Here is what I think is happening with the Apple TV hard drive. I think sometime this summer Apple will ship a firmware upgrade for the Apple TV and it will suddenly gain an important new capability. That’s when the Apple TV becomes a node on the iTunes peer-to-peer video network.
Interesting exercise by Cringley, [...]

Reuters.com
British rock singer Ian Astbury has quit the Doors revival band formed by two of the legendary group’s members, and will resurrect his old combo the Cult, he said on Thursday.
ABOUT TIME!

Tags:Cult, Doors, Music

CBC.ca:
Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore has announced of series of worldwide concerts on July 7 to focus on the issue of climate change.
A powerhouse lineup of music stars has agreed to participate in the seven Live Earth concerts, promised to rival the Live 8 event in 2005.
Former vice-president Al Gore, shown promoting his documentary An [...]

MacMinute News
According to travel site Cheapflights, Apple is working with several airlines to allow passengers to use iPod seat connections which power and charge their iPods, as well as allowing video content to be displayed on seat-back screens. Airlines expected to incorporate the system in mid-2007 include Air France, Emirates, United, US airlines, Continental, Delta, [...]

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) says the next version of iChat may have an voicemail feature.

Tags:iChat, Voicemail

Fortune has a little write up on number 2 music download service eMusic.

Technorati Tags: emusic

From MacNN LG is claiming that Apple copied their Prada phone design for the iPhone. This is of course silly because there are quite a few touch screen phones out there. What sets the iPhone apart is the multi-touch screen and it’s user interface.

Technorati Tags: iPhone, LG, Prada