IN THE NEWS: MAGAZINE INDUSTRY REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH WEB SITE
NEW YORK (AP) - The magazine industry has settled a
copyright-infringement lawsuit against the operators of a fledgling
Web site that urges people to copy and upload current issues of
popular magazines. The terms of the deal weren't disclosed. The
settlement was approved early last month and it remained unnoticed
until there was a story last week on the Web site of Folio
magazine. A group of magazine publishers, including Time, Hearst,
Advance, Forbes and McGraw-Hill sued the site Mygazines.com in
August. The suit claimed the site was involved in false advertising
and trademark violations as well as copyright infringement. Legal
experts considered the site a big-time violation of copyright laws,
but felt it would be hard to shut down because the site is run by
an offshore company.
IN THE NEWS: IOWA ISP GETS JUDGMENT AGAINST SPAMMER
CLINTON, Iowa (AP) - An Iowa-based Internet service provider has
been awarded a huge judgment against an illegal spammer. CIS
Internet Services sued Henry Perez and Suzanne Bartok for sending
unsolicited commercial e-mail to subscribers. A federal judge ruled
that the married couple sent more than 23 million e-mails offering
loan refinance services to CIS computers in 2003. Under terms of
the judgment, the couple were held personally liable, and were not
protected by the limited liability of their corporation. CIS owner
Robert W. Kramer III says he hopes the ruling sends the message
that spamming isn't tolerated. He also has a track record of going
after spammers in court. In January, 2006, he was awarded more than
11 billion dollars from a Miami spammer and in 2005, he got a total
of more than 1 billion against three other spammers.
ON THE WEB: REBUILDING ON GROUND ZERO
CYBERSPACE (AP) - Ever wonder what kind of progress is being
made rebuilding at the site of the World Trade Center? There's a
new Web site that will provide updates on what is going on at the
16-acre site. The site is set up by the Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey and features photos and videos of construction at
the site and offers a guide for tourists who visit the site of the
largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil to date.
IN STORES: NHL 2K9
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Game on! And game out, when it comes to the
NHL and one of the video games based on the sport that likes to
call itself the coolest game on earth. 2K Sports is out with "NHL
2K9," the new version of its annual take on pro ice hockey. This
year's version is aimed at making the game easy to play right out
of the box. The game controls and buttons are easier to figure out
for newcomers but interesting enough to keep veteran gamers
interested. The game also has unique features for use with the
Nintendo Wii (wee) version. You use the remote to let go of a wrist
shot or by holding down the "B" button while swinging the remote,
you can launch a board-rattling slapper toward the net. And if
things get a little testy, you use a combination of the remote and
the Nunchuk to drop the gloves and duke it out with an opponent.
The title is rated "E-10+" for players ages 10 and up by the ESRB
because of mild violence and lyrics on the soundtrack, which
features acts like Bad REligion, The Offspring and The Ramones.
