Free Republic

Our Nation’s history is defined by discovery, ingenuity, and innovation. Americans are known for their resourcefulness and ability to find solutions to a wide range of challenges, including the development of technologies that advance our security, health, and prosperity. This resourcefulness has been a driving force of economic growth and human development since the founding of our Nation, and our future depends on the continued protection of our intellectual property. On World Intellectual Property Day, we renew our resolve to protect and secure the works and innovations of American artists, inventors, and other creators who continually push the boundaries of...

HUGOTON, Kan. — A recently dug-up underground tunnel in southwest Kansas was likely used by 20th-century outlaws Bonnie and Clyde, according to town leaders. Hugoton officials last month discovered a partially collapsed tunnel under a building the couple frequented. The tunnel didn’t contain any direct artifacts from the criminal pair, but town leaders plan to continue digging, the Wichita Eagle reported. “I always wondered why nobody pushed this,” said Jan Leonard, executive director of Stevens County Economic Development. “I’ve been wanting to bring this out for 20 years, but it never has happened. We opened up the tunnel and it...

Desktop Metal – remember the name. This Massachussetts company is preparing to turn manufacturing on its head, with a 3D metal printing system that's so much faster, safer and cheaper than existing systems that it's going to compete with traditional mass manufacturing processes. We've been hearing for years now about 3D printing and how it's going to revolutionize manufacturing. As yet, though, it's still on the periphery. Plenty of design studios and even home users run desktop printers, but the only affordable printing materials are cheap ABS plastics. And at the other end of the market, while organizations like NASA...

If you had told 12-year-old me that one day I would be able to listen to pretty much any song I wanted to on demand and also pull up the lyrics as fast as I could type the artist’s name and part of the title into a text box, I would have a) really hoped you weren’t kidding and b) would have wanted to grow up even faster than I already did. The availability of music today, especially in any place with first world Internet access is really kind of astounding. While the technology to make this possible has come...

RICHMOND — A state report linking Virginia cigarette smuggling to terrorist organizations has prompted a Republican state senator to push a bill that would require retailers and wholesalers to obtain a state license to sell cigarettes. The bill, from Sen. Bryce E. Reeves (R-Spottsylvania), has cleared the Senate, but odds are against it in the GOP-dominated House because of conservative objections to increased government regulations and taxes. Even in the more moderate Senate, eight conservative Republicans voted against it. They are a group that Reeves, a fiscal and social conservative, often votes with. “I think they are concerned about regulatory...

The Movie 2016 was discovered hidden on youtube and now LionsGate has had Youtube pull it. Did viewers this morning conclude this was an approved posting? Fine to share the link. Really? Any hypocrisy? Unethical?

I need some advice. I have a very special friend who loves good Scotch. He has everything else, so I thought I might wrap up a good Scotch for Christmas. I know he'll use this, unlike some worthless gift he won't want (I actually got him a massage for his birthday last sumer and he wouldn't go -- it's a macho thing). Okay I know this thread is going to raise some silly answers, but I am a beer drinker, and don't know a thing about the "refined" spirits. Id appreciate any serious answers to my question.

ALE agents seize 929 gallons of moonshine Wilkesboro, N.C. — State Alcohol Law Enforcement agents seized 929 gallons of moonshine Wednesday and arrested a Wilkesboro man, authorities said Friday. Roger Lee Nance, of 1117 Shew Ridge Mission Road, was charged with possession of non-tax paid liquor, possession of non-tax-paid liquor for the purpose of selling, and possession of equipment and ingredients intended for the use in the manufacture of an alcoholic beverage. “This is one of the biggest seizures of white liquor I’ve seen come out of the mountains in my career,” ALE Director John Ledford said in statement. The...

How many copyright violations does an average user commit in a single day? John Tehranian, a law professor at the University of Utah, calculates in a new paper that he rings up $12.45 million in liability (PDF) over the course of an average day. The gap between what the law allows and what social norms permit is so great now that "we are, technically speaking, a nation of infringers." Tehranian's paper points out just how pervasive copyright has become in our lives. Simply checking one's e-mail and including the full text in response could be a violation of copyright. So...

Sales from Apple's iTunes digital download service have not kept pace with strong sales of iPod players, according to analyst company Forrester Research. Apple doesn't reveal revenue from iTunes, but Forrester conducted an analysis of debit and credit transactions over a 27-month period. The results released Monday show that since January, monthly revenue from iTunes sales fell by 65 per cent. The average transaction size declined by 17 per cent. Apple's iTunes holds more than a 70 per cent share of the digital download market, but the Forrester study suggests this has more to do with nearly 60 million iPods...

Mayor Bloomberg's recently announced budget includes jacking up the city's tax on cigarettes another 50 cents. Says Mike: "There's a clear correlation . . . You raise your cigarette taxes, fewer children go and smoke." Actually, according to the Centers for Disease Control, New Yorkers' smoking habits mirror national trends; tax hikes have no evident effect. But that's beside the point. The mayor really should deal with certainties — one of them being that organized crime would make a killing. New York's history with cigarette taxes is a long, sordid and embarrassing tale, as documented in an insightful study by...

LONDON, July 27 (IranMania) - Two Iranian border guards were killed and three wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack launched by alcohol bootleggers on the Iran-Iraq border, local media reported. "Two soldiers were killed and three others wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack at the border post of Chaku," on the border with Iraqi Kurdistan in the west of the country, the conservative Kayhan daily reported. According to Kayhan, the attack followed a tightening of security at the border aimed at thwarting bootleggers coming from Iraq. The paper said that more than 1.15 mln bottles of liquor had been seized...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge dismissed charges against a New York record store owner on Friday who had been selling unauthorized recordings of concerts, saying a law against boot-legging was unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Harold Baer ruled that the statute banning boot-legging was unconstitutional because it says that copyrights on live performances are protected forever. This, he said, conflicts with the "limited time" requirements of copyright law. The 18-page ruling relates to charges against Jean Martignon, who owns a record store, a catalog service, and an Internet site. Federal prosecutors brought a single criminal charge against the store...

Songs, like poetry, are an important component of my teaching. The lyrical metaphors, rhythms, and stories in many songs motivate and educate students. It's amazing what my fifth graders will remember from a song, as compared to what they forget from my talking. I introduce a new "song of the week" each Monday and the students receive a copy of the lyrics to keep in their three-ring binder that collects much of my alternative curriculum. We start each morning with the song, and usually within a day or two the children are singing along — regardless of musical genre. Sometimes...

CNN: NBC lifted fire footage Broadcasting & Cable2/24/2003 10:00:00 AM   Cable News Network Friday accused NBC of lifting its feed without permission when covering the devastating fire in Providence, R.I. NBC acknowledged using a few seconds of the CNN feed, but said it was done as a "fair use" under copyright doctrine.Footage from CBS and CNN Newsource affiliate WPRI-TV was actually shot inside the inferno from a cameraman shooting a story on nightclub safety.

ARTS ONLINE They Buy all the Albums, but Trade Concert Bootlegs By MATTHEW MIRAPAUL Marc Daniel added 1,400 albums to his compact disc collection last year. But he is not waging a campaign to reverse the music industry's declining sales. Almost all the titles he acquired, by groups like the Grateful Dead and U2, were live concert recordings that were never officially released. Nor did he buy them in record shops. Instead, he used the Internet to trade for them, swapping copies of his discs for recordings he desired. He said his CD trading with its questionable legality and exhilarating...