Expelling Scientology from the Metaverse

I'm inclined to think there is no "we" behind this video and it is due to one very creative individual - but regardless - given the number of views on YouTube is it a fascinating statement on our society. I wonder if more people are beginning to understand the danger of "cults"?

Make a Profit off your College Bookstore

I have said it once, and I'll say it again - textbook rentals are not the solution to expensive textbooks, but I do have another suggestion.

Buy your used books from Amazon.com or another used book retailer like Half.com, or AbeBooks.com.

At the end of the term sell your books back to your bookstore for a profit. Yep - your bookstore doesn't distinguish between books bought from Amazon or their own bookstore, and since you can buy used books for less than 50% of the retail price - and most bookstore buy them back at the end of the term for 50% of retail, you can actually make a profit!

I did this for several years in college, so it worked at my college at least. Go ahead and try it out. At the least, you'll save money by buying your books online.

Cart Control - Bulk Shopping Amazon

If you are an occasional book purchaser, Amazon is perfect for you. You can drop on in and purchase used or new books quite easily. Picking up the most recent Harry Potter book is simple as long as you don't do it on the release date. When in college, I relied on websites like Amazon and Half.com for most of my computer science textbook needs. As soon as I discovered that I could get books at a fraction of the cost of publisher and bookstore prices I was hooked.

A few years have passed now and I had a thought, "Why don't the bookstores buy their books from Amazon?". If they could purchase books as cheaply as I could, they could finally begin lowering prices. After a few months of research, some experimental large orders through Amazon for a test college bookstore, I came upon the answer.

a) You may not purchase more than 50 items at a time from Amazon. Well that was a problem, the university that I agreed to buy books for needed about 3,000.
b) Credit card companies will even mark the 50 items as fraud. Forget ordering two orders of 50 items in a row. I begged, pleaded, and groveled to two different credit card companies but failed to get them to remove this restriction.
c) The website isn't built for bulk purchasing. Everything is done manually and can take hours and hours to do if you have more than a dozen or so textbooks to purchase.

Ah, but luckily there are some solutions to these problems.

a) No solution to this one - but it can become less annoying.
b) Don't use a credit card. Using alternatives forms of payments this problem can be overcome.
c) I needed a tool for this one, and that is where Cart Control comes in.

Cart Control makes this whole process a bit less painful. It asks you what books you want, how much you are willing to spend on each, and how many you need; then automatically builds your shopping cart for you. It keeps each cart below the 50 item threshold and allows bookstores to then go through and purchase each subset of books directly from Amazon.

The tool is free right now and can be downloaded from Alloken's website. Hopefully soon it will expand to support other used retailers.

Now, just to get the word out to college bookstores that there is something they can do on their own to lower college textbook prices!

Textbook Rentals a Rip-Off

There seems to be quite a bit of media attention for the textbook rental company, Chegg.com.

First, textbook rentals are nothing new. If you google it you'll find that dozens of universities have offered the service for quite some time. So why all of the media attention?

Well it seems that Chegg has shown the world they have the media twisted around their finger and jumped on the bandwagon to LOWER TEXTBOOK COSTS.

But are they really lowering costs?

They offer on average a 50% saving. However, all college bookstores offer 50% at the end of the term during buyback. So the only difference between Chegg and buyback is when the student gets the 50% back.

I guess if students think they are saving that is all that matters...

Was the Peru Meteorite story a hoax?

There seems to be some talk that people think the news of hundreds falling ill from the Peru meteorite was a hoax. There is an interesting first person tail of an attempt to study the impact written by Michael Farmer. He speculates that it likely was just sulfur causing the illness, but his story states the the area was well guarded by local police; so he was unable to complete collecting samples due to a fear the police would arrest him. Apparently he was buying meteorites from them for $100 bucks a rock, and knowing he was a rich American, were upset he did not give them more.

Guide to RIAA Settlements

RIAA Settlement Resources

So you received one of those dreaded letters from the RIAA threatening to take your first born child. You are likily a) a Riaa-Scapegoat: someone who has never downloaded a song in their life and has no idea who the RIAA even is or b) some who knows very well what they did wrong and is looking for an escape route.


Regardless of which you are (sorry, doesn't matter much) you do have some options.

The quicky and easy route - give up your first born and pay the ransom. Those who choose this route either assume they must have done something wrong and want to pay their fine, want to avoid the trouble, or made so much money selling pirated material that they can afford the RIAA's wager. RIAA has automated the process for settling lawsuits and you can easily send whatever amount of money you wish via their easy to use website. If you plan to choose this path, you may stop reading now. This material is for everyone else.

For everyone else;

Who is the RIAA

-- Short history lesson. The RIAA was established to protect the rights of musicians and music houses who put long hours in producing the music we all love so much. Given music has been around for hundreds of years and the RIAA only for a short while, why they have earned the right to serve as Music Czar is unknown, but it may simply be because they have donated $$ in campaign contributions and have hired lobbyist in DC who have performed admirably at their jobs.


Their Tactics:

How did they find out who you are?

Nice article on tactics.

Layperson's guide to the RIAA settlement process:

"1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act that allows copyright holders to issue subpoenas to Internet Service Providers for the names of alleged offenders before filing a lawsuit. The DMCA subpoenas do not need the approval of a judge; instead, the law directs court clerks to issue the subpoenas."

A very thorough analysis of their sneaky litigation process can be read here. It is a heavy read, but if you want to fight your case, worth the time.


Notable Cases - This recently has been a moving target, with several recent cases that have been both set backs and steps forward in fighting the RIAA - below are just a few noteworthy cases.

Most recently, on October 4th, 2007 a "federal jury fined Jammie Thomas, 30, of Minnesota $220,000 in damages to the six record labels suing her for copyright violation. Thomas will pay $9,250 for each of the 24 songs the prosecution focused on for the case. The RIAA alleges she shared over 1,702 songs in all over the Kazaa peer-to-peer network." states the Register.

What this means to you?

The conservative leaning courts do in fact favor the RIAA, and when the evidence is there, there is proof now that the courts agree that the RIAA is losing money. Beware, the RIAA really do feel like they are the victims. In regards to their case, the lawyer stated: "This is what can happen if you don't settle," Gabriel said.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=200000076

Basically, a New Mexico judget ordered that the students in question on John Doe lawsuits must be notified before their names may be revealed to the RIAA. In order to sue students, the industry association names "John Does." Then, it subpoenas universities for information that will help identify the students who it claims have downloaded copyrighted music without paying for it. New Mexico Judge Lorenzo Garcia said the RIAA can continue pursuing its case against University of New Mexico students but it must figure out a way that respects their legal rights to limit discovery. That means the RIAA will have to work with the university to notify the students that have been sued before it can gather information about them.

What does it mean for you?

Not much if you have already received a letter, however it may slow down the RIAA in issuing new ones.

---

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070607-p2p-defendant-settles-with-riaa-after-motion-for-sanctions-backfires.html


What does it mean to you?

The RIAA can win in court if they have enough evidence. Atlantic v. Heslep shows that if there is strong indication of direct infringement by the defendant, it's going to be hard to convince a judge otherwise.

---

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8193.html


What does it mean to you?

A judge may listen to you if you argue the settlement is excessive. This case hasn't resolved, but it is looking positive.

There is a fantastic index of litigation documents available here. These lawyers are great (I know I just didn't say that!), and have defended individuals who have been taken to court. It would be worth contacting them if you have received a letter and wish to fight it.

---

Settlement Precedents

If you decide to go to court you'll need to first hire a lawyer. Find one who is knowleable about the Digital Millenium Copyright law and with experience with civil lawsuits. There is an index by state of lawyers who have taken on RIAA settlement cases here.


There are many options you may take:

a) You may be able to argue that you were not the one downloading the music. This has proven to work in numorous cases where it is a simple case of mistaken identity. It is the RIAA's responsibility to prove you did it, so don't shy away from this option. In the case of Atlantic vs. Anderson this very thing was proven and won. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070604-riaa-throws-in-the-towel-in-atlantic-v-andersen.html

b) In UMG v. Lindor the defendent has been allowed to argue the settlement is unconstitutional.

c) Argue that that making files available to share is not actual infringement.

d) A novel defense comes courtesy of Arista v. Greubel, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. David Greubel argues that even if is found liable for copyright infringement, Arista and the other record labels are barred from recovering any damages because the of the Kazaa settlement.

e) Deny that you shared the files at all. In Atlantic v. Anderson, a disabled single mother won the claim that the plaintiff failed to provide "competent evidence to sufficient to satisfy summary judgement" to show that she engaged in copyright infringement.

f) Hire a forensic expert to prove that there is no evidence of file-sharing on your computer.


Your options?

There have been many respectable revolutions in America's history, and I think it is a sad state that the one we must fight today is against a corporation that has taken advantage of our musician's art. If you have chosen to fight your case, remember to fight hard, because your case might become the next precedent to finally break the will of the RIAA. Good luck.


About This Article

This site was compiled by a sympathetic soul who realized that the help for RIAA victims is dreadfully limited. Not even a support group has formed to counsel those who have received threats from the RIAA. This site is just one small step towards recovery for those who have stepped afoul of the powerful and war mongering RIAA that we all love so dearly.


Getting Initial Information

You can obtain many of the basic facts about the settlements by simply searching on the Internet for different documents. Here is a list of some helpful documents and websites to help get you started.

1. The Recording Industry of America

2. The Electronic Frontier Foundation. Make sure to check out their section on file sharing that includes a petition theyíve formed to stop file sharing lawsuits.

3. A copy of a Notification of Copyright Infringement.

4. RIAA vs. the People, a document written by the Electronic Frontier Foundation explaining John Doe settlements

Amazon - What are you doing?

After a week of trying to pull answers out of the customer service reps over at Amazon.com - I decided to try sending an email to the Amazon Payments folks instead. Trying to get a yes/no answer has been anything but joyful... the question I have sent time and time again.

"Can I use Amazon Payments at Amazon.com to purchase market place items, such as used books? If yes, how?"

After a total of 4 emails, the final answer ... NO.

The actual response:

Greetings from Amazon.com.

It is not currently possible to use Amazon Payments on Amazon.com.

Amazon Payments allows you to use the payment methods that you already
use on Amazon.com to pay for goods and services online wherever Amazon
Payments is accepted. With an Amazon Payments Account, you can make
secure purchases from 3rd party (i.e. non-Amazon) web sites that
accept Amazon Payments, without having to re-enter your payment
information. Also, there is no cost to you when you make a purchase
using Amazon Payments.

Amazon Payments keeps your payment information private from 3rd
parties, and you are not required to disclose your payment information
stored in your Amazon.com account when you make a purchase. Amazon
Payments provides you with the same trusted payment experience
available on Amazon today, leveraging proven fraud detection and risk
management capabilities. Learn more about Amazon Payments at:

https://payments.amazon.com/sdui/sdui/about?help

Thank you for your interest in Amazon Payments.


Sincerely,

Jacci S.
Amazon Payments
https://payments.amazon.com

Interestingly enough, this is the most direct response I have ever gotten from their script readers. Shoot, someone even signed it with a name. Maybe the Payments team has hired better customer service reps.

Apparently Amazon doesn't trust their own payment tool. Such a high level of confidence really makes me want to adopt it for my own websites!

End result - I still don't have a solution for bulk purchasing used books from Amazon. Credit cards are out. Amazon has disabled bank payments. Then again, Jacci did suggest I try gift certificates. However, given my luck with Amazon and the likelihood that once I sink a few thousand into gift certificates I wouldn't be able to get the money back out - it seems like a pretty poor option.

Amazon - I have no idea how you stay in business.