Earlier this month, thirteen record labels tried to claim that Limewire was liable for between $400 Billion and $75 Trillion in damages. (For some perspective, the world's GDP in 2011 is expected to be a mere ~$65 billion.) Judge Kimba Wood called the assertion 'absurd' in a 14 page opinion. (pdf) [more inside]
posted by zarq on Mar 25, 2011 - 107 comments

A charity auction whose grand prize was a business lunch with Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch has been won by David Brock. Brock is the CEO of Media Matters, a group consistently critical of Murdoch.

Auction site Charity Buzz described the auction as a "once in a lifetime chance" to sit with Murdoch "face to face over a friendly lunch and get his feedback firsthand on your proposed business ideas." It said it was valid for a total of six people and would be held in New York at a "mutually convenient" time with Murdoch covering the cost of lunch. "Winner will be subject to security screening and background check," it stipulated.
Media Matters founder and chief executive David Brock expects the lunch to go ahead. "I look forward to this opportunity to have a friendly lunch with Rupert Murdoch, along with five of my invited guests," Brock said in a statement. "I will soon contact Mr. Murdoch's office to determine a mutually convenient time and place in New York," he added.
posted by Jon_Evil on Nov 11, 2010 - 33 comments

50 million computers are after your passwords, your money, and your processor time (single PDF link). No wonder William Gibson's new novel is set in the present: the world is fully caught up with any future we could make up. The business of spamming, carding and phishing supports and runs off a peculiar distributed platform: a market-allocated collection of ad-hoc peer-to-peer content delivery networks running on hijacked browsing appliances' stolen processor cycles. [via BoingBoing comment, previously on Metafilter].
posted by kandinski on Sep 9, 2007 - 41 comments

Time stands still while you view NetHack porn... The incubus seems to have enjoyed it more than you. NSFW.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water on May 2, 2006 - 48 comments