Monday, August 29, 2005
Public Propaganda Broadcasting, chapter 5341 (and counting)
The Swedish Public Broadcasting Network (SVT) keeps driving in the left lane. After bringing such objective "documentaries" as Outfoxed to the Swedes, SVT has now polluted the airwaves by hailing The Corporation. Slippery-slope arguments and bad inference have never before been so frequent in a documentary. But as long as you agree with the leftist appeal in the movie (and care less about facts and valid arguments), the storyline couldn't be better. Or, as the documentary states it - we show you why capitalism is bad by giving some examples of businesses who behave badly. And to top it off we make the ridiculous argument that companies live for the sheer excitement of giving employees the pink slip. Johan Norberg replied that he now anticipates the broadcasting of "The Water" by SVT, explaining why all water is bad because some people drown in it every year.
Well, at least Danish TV2 showed The Architect last night.
Well, at least Danish TV2 showed The Architect last night.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
It's a global world - when will iTunes get it?
Depeche Mode will release their new album Playing the Angel in October (17th in Europe/18th in the US). I simply can't wait to hear their new CD!
The first single, Precious, will be released in Europe on October 3rd. And due to legal technicalities the track will not be released on European internet pay-sites (read: iTunes) until the same date. But as of the 23rd of August, for a tiny fee of $0.99 Americans can buy the single from the U.S. version of iTunes. (Which is a great stroke of irony since DM afterall is a British band.) However, in order to buy songs from iTunes' American store you need an American-issued credit card (to register for the account - the purchase can still be made with other credit cards, money orders or gift certificates). This goes both ways - many songs on European iTunes' stores can't be found in the American dito...
For any European with a friend in the U.S. the easiest thing is really to just ask them to open an account for you with their credit card, while at the same time only allowing gift certificates to be made for purchases. At the same time the American friend can get full access to the European market by asking his counterpart in Europe to open an account for him with a Europe-issued credit card.
And, ladies and gentlement, all of a sudden we have transgressed the borders of national jurisdiction once more. With no risk for the citizen who opens the account (since the billing for songs can't be made through his credit card).
By applying the strategy above, as a European, I now have the Depeche Mode single "Precious" on my computer, more than a month before it will be released in Europe. Let's face it - we live in a global world. When will iTunes (and the music industry) get it?
The first single, Precious, will be released in Europe on October 3rd. And due to legal technicalities the track will not be released on European internet pay-sites (read: iTunes) until the same date. But as of the 23rd of August, for a tiny fee of $0.99 Americans can buy the single from the U.S. version of iTunes. (Which is a great stroke of irony since DM afterall is a British band.) However, in order to buy songs from iTunes' American store you need an American-issued credit card (to register for the account - the purchase can still be made with other credit cards, money orders or gift certificates). This goes both ways - many songs on European iTunes' stores can't be found in the American dito...
For any European with a friend in the U.S. the easiest thing is really to just ask them to open an account for you with their credit card, while at the same time only allowing gift certificates to be made for purchases. At the same time the American friend can get full access to the European market by asking his counterpart in Europe to open an account for him with a Europe-issued credit card.
And, ladies and gentlement, all of a sudden we have transgressed the borders of national jurisdiction once more. With no risk for the citizen who opens the account (since the billing for songs can't be made through his credit card).
By applying the strategy above, as a European, I now have the Depeche Mode single "Precious" on my computer, more than a month before it will be released in Europe. Let's face it - we live in a global world. When will iTunes (and the music industry) get it?
Sorry for nothing being posted
(Back from a summer filled with anxiety and depressed states of writing and procrastinating...) Sorry that I haven't commented on all the games out there. But yes, there has been the WSOP in Las Vegas, won by Hachem at a merciless final table. And then all the wonderful rumors, that show that politics indeed is a blood sport. And now this... Pat Robertson says the U.S. should assassinate Venezuela "president" Hugo Chavez. (Aaaaah... what an ugly place this earth would be if we didn't have the tele-evangelists on the CBN network who gives us the world of .... well, ... God (?))
Well, it's hopefully back to business for me, now that I have what looks like something that could be a manuscript. Btw, everybody needs a break. I hope some of my most committed readers will resume the god habit of returning to my blog.
Well, it's hopefully back to business for me, now that I have what looks like something that could be a manuscript. Btw, everybody needs a break. I hope some of my most committed readers will resume the god habit of returning to my blog.
