Jury slams eBay with $35 million verdict

Bloomberg News: eBay Inc. was ordered to pay $35 million yesterday [Tuesday] after a federal jury in Norfolk, Va., said that it was impermissibly using a company's innovations for conducting sales over the Internet.

What utter nonsense, and yet another indication that the patent system is out of control.

eBay's crime? Introducing a "buy it now" option for its auctions.

Record labels not into digital distribution

Wired News: Industry watchers say the decision by Sony and UMG to sell their service Pressplay to Roxio indicates that the major labels are turning away from distributing music online. By letting someone else "own the highway," they can still reap some of the profits.

Debunking pseudoscience

Archaeology magazine takes a look at how a group of fed-up archaeology buffs launched a Web site to help debunk ìalternative histories,î such as ancient space travel and the existence of Atlantis. The article also features a list of the top five pseudoarchaeological sites and the top five sites that refute them. Good stuff.

Disney is thinking inside the box

Jon Healey in the LA Times: Attempting to bypass the middlemen, the entertainment giant will test a service that beams movies into homes.

Hoo boy

Baltimore Sun: Journalism the 'Right' Way. Groups are teaching students to start their own conservative newspapers, with the long-term goal of altering the basic makeup of professional news outlets.

Thanks to IWantMedia for the pointer.

Suspended N.Y. Times Reporter Says He'll Quit

Washington Post: Suspended Putlizer Prize winner Rick Bragg says a "poisonous atmosphere" has descended on the New York Times, one that prompted the paper to suspend him for practices he considers routine.

Here's CJR on Bragg's suspension.

And it gets uglier: NY Post: Four New York Times reporters under investigation for Jayson Blair-like abuses have "banded together" and may sue the paper if their names are leaked, says a source.

Thanks to IWantMedia for the pointers.

Spam and local radio

From today's San Jose Merc:

Editorial: Congressional bill to kill spam would do the opposite.

Brad Kava: Taking the 'local' out of radio programming.

Bush Tax Cuts Will Do a Number on Us

Op-ed piece by James K. Galbraith in Newsday. Take a look at Texas as a preview of what's ahead for the nation.