More on the Slow Death of Intellectual Property Rights

Former Abba piano player Björn Ulvaeus has hit out at supporters of The Pirate Bay and accused them of fighting for “the ‘freedom’ to be lazy and stingy”.
His harsh remarks came yesterday after the shock decision by the prosecution in the The Pirate Bay case to drop all charges of copyright infringement against the infamous BitTorrent site.
Ulvaeus, who also co-produced the box office hit Mamma Mia, wrote an op ed on the Swedish website Newsmill in which he berated those who endorse piracy.
He claimed people who share files of copyrighted material were wrong to portray a David and Goliath scenario when it comes to individuals effectively sticking it to the man – in this case the movie and record industry.
"But anything they steal was once one person's idea, a single little person. They don't want to talk about that," he wrote.
Meanwhile The Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde, aka brokep, couldn't resist gloating on his Twitter account about the latest dramatic turn of events in the landmark case yesterday.
He described prosecutor Håkan Roswall's amendments to the charges made against the four men behind the popular file-sharing website as being an "EPIC WINNING LOL".
more HERE

Presumed Presidential Pirate

THE PRESUMED Republican U.S. presidential candidate John McCain favors draconian copyright enforcement, except when his own election campaign uses other people's music.
His campaign has been caught using various entertainment content owned by ABBA, Chuck Berry, John Hall, John Mellencamp, filmmaker Mike Myers of Wayne's World and Frankie Valli without permission, and has been either shamed or threatened into discontinuing use of the offending material.
Now singer-songwriter Jackson Browne has sued John McCain and the Republican Party because the Ohio Republican Party is using Browne's song "Running on Empty" in a TV attack ad against rival Barack Obama.
more HERE

John McCain's ABBA Obsession

Hi! ...I'm not gay.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Senator John McCain was a guest on the Johnjay and Rich Show on Phoenix's KZZP-FM and confessed to a secret passion for ABBA!
McCain told the deejays that before big speeches he pumps himself up by listening to the Swedish quartet's 1977 hit 'Take a Chance on Me'.
It turns out this wasn't the first time McCain had revealed his inner Fernando. Last October, McCain confided in reporters on his campaign bus and told them that if he's elected ABBA would be the background music in "elevators all over the White House."
ABC News report is HERE
podcast HERE

Abba Drummer Found Dead in His Garden

A former drummer for the Swedish pop band ABBA was found dead with cuts to his neck in the garden of his house on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Police said Monday an autopsy showed it was an accident.
The bands spokesman said Ola Brunkert, 62, hit his head against a glass door in his dining room, shattering the glass and cutting himself in the neck. He managed to wrap a towel around his neck and left the house to seek help, but collapsed in the garden.
story is HERE