The actual bill requires "10 or more public performances" and that the "total retail value of the performances... would exceed $2,500." Interpreting "performance" as congress' name for what happens on a computer screen, it appears that only the value of the stream matters.

For comparison, to receive five years in prison for larceny, embezzlement, and other forms of theft, you would have to steal millions of dollars, or steal hundreds of thousands and do it in a particularly nasty manner. (Link 1) (Link 2)

I don't think it does. For one thing, since Skype is end-to-end encrypted, there is no way anyone would notice. And even if you were Skyping a pay-per-view boxing match to someone and charging them, the value of that stream is much less than $2,500. You would have to be connected to hundreds of people.

I found him!

It wasn't. It is thought the virus made its way in on a USB drive.

Their first mistake was putting the name of their satirical website on the photo. Amateurs! No one will believe it now!

I can't understand the motivation for this. The infringers aren't profiting except in the sense of developing their talents and gaining a group of fans. And the people they are infringing aren't being harmed. In fact, there are many cases where they have profited.

We're getting very close to human centipede territory here.

For the curious, that is a half gallon of soda, which contains about 80 grams of sugar. If you took those 80 grams of sugar and poured it into an empty Pepsi can, it would fill the can about half way.

I wonder if this paper is actually part of an experiment to see if the media can distinguish between real science and a collection of unrelated statistics.

I know. I just thought it was funny.

Asks the commenter.

I'm guessing they meant to compare the aviation industry to the entire brick-making industry, not just one brick.

I think that was actually a bit of British-style understatement. Maybe she watches more British television than she's letting on.

Hurray for Moore's law!

On average, the baking process emits 1.4 pounds of carbon per brick - more than the world's entire aviation fleet. Who knew aircraft were so environmentally friendly?

We shouldn't conclude though that Africans are inherently more tribal than other people. In many cases, Europeans exploited (or invented) tribal demarcations for the purposes of population control. A privileged minority was elevated to function as the colony's agents while the majority was treated as subhuman. In the…

Interesting fact: Australia (where this photo was taken) is both the world's least forested continent and also the world's largest exporter of wood chips. Between 1976 and 1993, a quarter of Australia's karri forests were lost to wood chipping.

I wonder if brain scans are a good way to pick mediocre music. Or, more specifically, the type of bland but easily marketable music that American Idol produces. I'm reminded of Seinfeld, which did terribly among test audiences, but became one the most popular television shows of the 90's. Or The Rite of Spring, which…

Actually, it probably has to do with how well they've integrated electronic medical records. Electronic medical records can be cheaper than paper, with the necessary handling, filing, faxing and storing, but you can imagine the trouble a large hospital would have switching over. Even with the organizational…