Newsflash: RIAA Loses!

According to ZDNet.com, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Davis has thrown out a $222,000.00 verdict against Jamie Thomas. The Recording Industry Association of America had sought damages against her for alleged file sharing of copyrighted material.

The single mother of two had previously been ordered to pay damages because her computer had made songs available on a peer to peer sharing network. Judge Davis ruled that simply making material available is not enough. Plaintiffs must actually prove distribution.

In a related story, The RIAA has initiated litigation against blogger Ray Beckerman. Beckerman is one of the nation's few attorneys who defends accused file sharers and "has maintained an anti-recording industry blog" according to the RIAA.

Beckerman alledges that there are "thousands of people falsely sued" by the RIAA.

The RIAA has sued about 30,000 people over the last five years for file sharing.

Fred von Lohmann, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says the lawsuits are simply not reducing the number of people trading music online. If the goal is to reduce file sharing," he says, "it's a failure."

Settlement payments can be made on a website, where the funds are used to sue more defendants. None of the money is paid to artists.

Even More Free Music

Click on the song title to get free music:

Callin' In Twisted
by Reverend Horton Heat


Boys With Girlfriends
by meiko


Ashgrove
by Dave Alvin


Bad Case Of History
by Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians


Archipelago
by Quantic

New Rock- Hear It Here!

(Push the round button in the center to start iPod.)

Some of the latest, greatest alternative Rock is on this custom made iPod. You can fast forward or skip through just like with any mp3 player. Enjoy!

1. 18 Candles - The Sessions
2. The Telepathic Butterflies - Telescope
3. Ladytron - Tomorrow
4. The Raveonettes - Dead Sound
5. Gran Ronde - Wisdom
6. She & Him - I Was Made For You
7. The Last Shadow Puppets - In The Heat Of The Morning
8. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
9. The Whitsundays - Sorry James
10. The Gutter Twins - Idle Hands
11. Glass Candy - Life After Sundown
12. The Killers - Show You How
13. TheSTART - Blood On My Hands
14. War Stories - Take My Everything
15. Pictures Of You -The Last Goodnight

U2: "We Want 2009 To Be Our Year"

According to Rolling Stone magazine, U2 has penned over 50 new songs for their upcoming 2009 album.

“We’ve hit a rich songwriting vein and we don’t want to stop,” Bono said. “This is our chance for us to defy gravity once again.”

Until the release of the new album, here is a U2 performance and interview from 2000 to tide you over:

4 Free Downloads and a Bonus

Emilie Simon's cover of Bowie's "Space Oddity":

Click Here


The Stills- "Being Here"

New music from the indie darlings...

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"Dream" by Kosmos

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"Mayday (M'aidez)"- People In Planes

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This one's not exactly free but close:

Radiohead's "OK Computer" album is only 1.99. That's less than 17 cents per song!

Click Here

The Gutter Twins

Sounds like The Sisters Of Mercy and The Cult had a baby...