When is a music "Pirate" not a music pirate?

Hmmm. Maybe when the agent for the RIAA has the wrong facts?

A new article in BusinessWeek chronicles the tale of a 40 something single mom in Oregon who got "served" by what was then the "Settlement Support Center" allied with the RIAA - claiming that she owed them thousands of dollars..apparently because they had attributed the downloads spoofed IP address that Verizon said she had used for downloading.


Fascinating read.

The claims against this woman, Tanya Anderson, have finally been dropped. But now, an attorney who defended her is waging a major lawsuit against the recording industry.

A major takeaway on this article: the lawsuit is about the behaviors of the RIAA against people wrongly accused of music pirating. Folks who HAVE been illegally downloading still have plenty to worry about.

"Net 2.0 - and collaboration tools"

Brand new InformationWeek has a fun herding cats article on the hidden issues about all of these blogs, wiki's and such.

Vendors encourage it. But in the second 'graph, Andrew Conry-Murray writes, "Sadly, all IT gets out of the deal is a big fur ball as it struggles to organize corporate content run amok. The potential for exposure of sensitive information or theft of intellectual property runs high...."

In the print edition, a sidebar talks about the issues of "Web 2.0 and Legal Discovery." Yes - anything digital, any communication, can be fair game.

Yeesh!

When you think of the tight lock IT departments have tried to hold on loading software, applying patches and whatnot, it's almost amusing to think of the flood of new, controlled activity now popping up, mostly with good intentions.

All it takes is a browser and the game of "Whack a Mole" begins again.

So, in the words of Sgt Phil Esterhaus on the TV Series, Hill Street Blues, "Hey, let's be careful out there."

Detroit motivates me to return to the blog...

An article in today's Detroit Free Press causes me to finally get back to posting, after almost two year's absence.

In this article

the two cities of Detroit and Pittsburgh are compared, especially comparing how much rougher a time of things Detroit has had since the early 80's.

I was born in Detroit, grew up in Ann Arbor and have many fond memories of Southeast Michigan. But, as the article discusses, Detroit, though with a larger metro population, is struggling much more. Yet, from what I understand, Pittsburgh lost much more in the "big steel" decline than Detroit did in the auto downturn of the early 80's.

Of course, Michigan lost me - and I didn't want to go. I moved on to a job in Texas, came back to Michigan via Grand Rapids a few years later, and ended up in Pittsburgh by 1995. I go back to Michigan often, since I still have family there, but the opportunities in Pittsburgh are, for me, significant.

Pittsburgh had more industrial pain, earlier. There is much still to do, but (despite the protestations of many of my friends who are native Pittsburghers) for a "rust belt" city, Pittsburgh is well positioned.

Detroit has a much steeper climb ahead, and I dearly hope the forward motion can gain momentum. It is another great city that built America and the city, the region and, especially the people, have much to offer.

Plus, they have Jim Leyland!