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On death: France surrenders to 104F heat. Almost 15,000 dead. And thats without the tents in the sun.

On the army: When you're in the army, you spend months training in whatever weather conditions happen to be that day. By the end of that, you're up for standing in a tent in Iraq. Thats what training is for.

You seem to think that if the majority of the people there are convicted criminals, thats "good enough". I guess you advocate shooting everyone and letting God sort them out. Maybe you think you live in a world where people who are arrested are arrested because they did something wrong. I live in the real world in a city called Houston, where not many years ago the cops decided to bust some street racers, only they got there and nobody was racing, so they arrested EVERYONE at a nearby K-Mart, and when that abuse of power couldn't get them hard enough, they arrested everyone eating dinner at the Sonic next door. Over 400 arrests, every single one of them was overturned, at the expense of the city as it requires a lawsuit in order to have the arrest record expunged. Just imagine what would have happened if these people had been treated in the ways you're defending.

And here's your cite for the 60 people set free on that prostitution sting.

Nope, that was acme rent-a-car. They've been ordered to stop and refund $13,000 in fees that they collected.

But, the system is still in place. The car dealership I use has a similar system, and if you drive out-of-state or too fast, you'll never get a free loaner car there again.

Bosh, just look at the recent combination server-side/client-side worms. This is a great way to get the client-side parts installed on computers. Full automated, no clicking involved, once websites are owned:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-06-27-web-a ttack_x.htm

Yes, there are some legit uses for P2P networks, but let's just admit that 99% of the useage of P2P networks is Porn, MP3's and Warez.

So you're saying that 33 1/3% of the 99% of the useage is legitimate.

Unless you're in Utah, there's nothing wrong with pr0n.

LK

Ameritrade and E*Trade require $1,000 for an account. That is in the reach of the little guy. If you don't have that much to invest, you probably should not be investing in stocks, let alone in IPOs.

There's an interesting story about a news writer who is seeing what it is like to be in the IPO: 'Regular guy' wants in on Google's IPO auction He opened an Ameritrade account. Part II: Welcome to the Google dog and pony show mentions that E*Trade would have worked, as well.

Ameritrade and E*Trade require $1,000 for an account. That is in the reach of the little guy. If you don't have that much to invest, you probably should not be investing in stocks, let alone in IPOs.

There's an interesting story about a news writer who is seeing what it is like to be in the IPO: 'Regular guy' wants in on Google's IPO auction He opened an Ameritrade account. Part II: Welcome to the Google dog and pony show mentions that E*Trade would have worked, as well.

though I do believe corporations already use terrorism to get what they want (SCO, RIAA, etc.)

Terrorism is the use of mass murder of random people to invoke political changes.

No. Terrorism is the use of fear to force others to submit to your will. The fear of death is both strong and easy to use, so most terror organizations go with it. This, however, doesn't mean that one has to use fear of death - corporations might find the fear of bancrupty easier to inspire.

Besides, hasn't RIAA hired bands of thugs to harass street vendors ? I seem to recall reading a Slashdot story about it...

The SCO and RIAA use laws in a court room to force specific people to surrender property for engaging in specific activities.

No, they use the threat of lawsuits to force people to give them money. People so threatened are selected on the basis of being too poor to properly defend themselves without risking bancrupty, but not so poor that they couldn't pay.

See this and this.

SCO and RIAA do not use terrorism to achieve their goals. This is a bad choice of metaphor because it trivalizes the actions of murderers and over-exagerates the SCO and RIAA actions.

From Dictionary.com:

\Ter"ror*ism\, n. [Cf. F. terrorisme.] The act of terrorizing, or state of being terrorized; a mode of government by terror or intimidation.

\Ter"ror*ize\, v. t. [Cf. F. terroriser.] To impress with terror; to coerce by intimidation.

Put these together, and it seems to me that the RIAA is indeed engaging in terrorism.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/2004-03-22 -fortune-500-list_x.htm

look under number 181

I have a 98 Volkwagon TDI Jetta. I get about 45 miles per gallon over the 140,000 miles I've driven. The car has been great, always starts even in the cold winters in the NE. The car isn't a speed demon, but its not bad accelerating (the turbo helps and the tourque of engine is strong.)

I've been looking at the hybrids. They look like a good. Cleaner than the diesels . But according to usa today, the mileage of the hybrid prius isn't as good as the diesel.
USA today..

and mack trucks are getting into the action with diesel electric hybrids..
http://www.macktrucks.com/default.aspx?pageid=1027

USA Today has an article about this as well, along with a photo of the monitor with "mouse ears" and a matching blue printer.

Try reading this.

Then read this.

Especially read the part about how Microsoft offered to sell only Word to Munich for 4,000 machines because at least thirty percent of workstations don't use anything else according to Microsoft's own experience (and by the way, Munich runs Windows 95, 98 and NT, not Windows 3.1.)

Then you can apologize to me.

On the other hand - Moore says there's no Porter Goss 800 number. Koppel says there is. Porter Goss says this is none. So who's "deceitful?"

The last time there was no full moon in a month was February, 1999. The event was related to there being a Blue Moon in both January and March of that year.

Black Moon can also refer to two new moons in one month. The last time it happened was May, 2003. The next time will be December, 2005.

And let us not forget the Cheshire Moon. This name refers to a new or crescent moon where the line of the crescent looks like a smile or bowl instead of the typical "C" shape.

The explanation given here:

So, when a Crescent Moon is about to set and the Sun has already set, the Moon points down to the departed Sun: West. The horns poke up and that setting Crescent Moon "grins." If the Moon sets before the Sun, the nearby Sun creates such a glare that we can't see the setting crescent. Then it "frowns, " unseen.

Nearly the same is true of a rising Crescent Moon. If the rising Crescent rises before the Sun, the Moon points east, down towards the laggard Sun and its horns likewise stick up -- it, too grins. Otherwise, if the crescent rises after the Sun, the Moon frowns unseen.

Err, you're forgetting one of the larger product costs in the US: legal liability.

It doesn't help matters when the commander in chief takes a tumble: Bush v. Segway

(exploding several tons of slow-decaying radioactive material several miles above Florida would probably be a Bad Thing)

Yeah, why waste the energy getting it several miles above Florida.

Explode it right in the centre of the State and we might all wake up to clean inboxes the next morning

Aw, heck. It's not like we have any electrical problems!

I don't know what 2005 will be like. It's a toss up between running out of water, and running out of air. Or maybe running out of smog and ozone. Like I said, it's a toss-up.

a threat
to
National
Security?

I don't trust my government to protect me from terrorism if that terrorism could be used to their advantage, like increasing public popularity for war with a country like Iraq to bring them our version of freedom and democracy.

Looking back its obvious to understand why these wars aren't popular, but today it seems like its very difficult to convince our leaders that diplomacy is the prefered method, or in the case of terrorism to strike directly at those groups responsible for the terror.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002/02/07/tech- military.htm tells the first part (or may be the first and the second) of the story: The army started its own proprietary development, employing several contractors to design completly new system (of hardware and software, not only a software operating system). The development proved to be expensive and inefficient, not leading to anything usable---they got it reviewed, learned the lesson and changed their approach. They adopted and adapted mostly commertially available off the shelf parts, including the Windows operating system. Then they moved forward, up to actual tests of usable equipment.

The next part is told at http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm ?Id=1238 The new design, including Windows, failed its test. The army again learned its lesson, the whole system was redesigned, and Linux adopted for its operating system.

The army did not take Linux out of sheer stupidity, not knowing other alternatives---the army took Linux after serious considerations of its rich and expensive experience with several other alternatives.

Mr. O'Dowd speaks of Linux being worse than Windows, and Windows being almost as bad as Linux. Looks like his Green Hills Software was part of the firs expensive exprience of the army, first losing its contracts to Windows, and then to Linux.

Newer coal plants trap most of the coal dust and many of the other polutants. They're actually getting much cleaner.

It's the old ones (especially in places like China) that are the problem.

A USA Today reporter guessed this title over a month ago! We can't believe it.

Listen up, this is a true story!

Last month we were reading this USA Today article at http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-06-14-aid s-benefit_x.htm.

We forgot we had read it, but just now we went back to the article and remembered the final few paragraphs of the reporter interviewing Lucas at a gay AIDS banquet:

"We caught George Lucas wandering around the grounds with his daughter, Katie. The director said the title of Star Wars: Episode III won't officially be announced until November, when the first trailer hits theaters.

But he conceded that fans on Web sites already have guessed correctly. So we threw a couple of rumored titles at him: Rise of the Empire? "No, that's not it," Lucas said. How about Revenge of the Sith?

With that, Lucas smiled knowingly, backed away and teased, "That's a possibility. Lots of titles out there ...""

Can you believe THAT?! He basically gave it away over a month ago and no one said anything for the most part!

Anyway, that's awesome, but we have some other suggestions. We just don't care for the title that Lucas picked.

Here. Here's a poll for your favorite GOOD Star Wars title.

Pick from the following and reply to this post with your favorite:

Star Wars Episode III: Dawn of the Empire
Star Wars Episode III: Final Strike
Star Wars Episode III: The Fallen Jedi
Star Wars Episode III: The Lost Prophecy
Star Wars Episode III: The Deception
Star Wars Episode III: Hope Lost
Star Wars Episode III: The Lost one

There are stories about successful defense against digital photographs in criminal cases. "Enhancements" using photoshop can be considered evidence tampering. So this technique can have a life-altering implication for some people.

Sounds to me like they just don't want anyone but the 'official' bloggers posting review... "Worst convention EVER!"

dude, they were not. Just becase the ny times wont report the finding of WMD does not mean that there were none. This AP article was not on headlines in the US, wonder why?.

Well he took alot of spotlight from Kucinich and Nader - two guys with a lot more going for them than the media will appreciate.

I don't think he did much at all. He and Hillary will never be president.

By the way, stand up guy Dennis Kucinich threw shis support behind Kerry now. Looks like it's all over for the Repugnicans until 2012.

Jusy be sure to vote in Novemeber AND to vote for Congressmen.

Because, obviously if we supply brain damaged people with a non-violent means of satisfying their uncontrollable urges, those people afflicted with this horrible compulsion might STOP KIDNAPPING AND RAPING CHILDREN!

So, obviously, we need to deny all non-physical gratification to paedophiles, and encourage them to act out their desires, so that people will have something to pontificate self-righteously about on the Internet.

But, why answer the question when you can just mod the questioner "flamebait"? It's so much easier. (I only posted this because I ran out of mod points.)

Sandy Berger, Clinton's national security adviser and John Kerry advisor, illegally removed classified documents from the National Archives during the 9/11 commission investigation by stuffing them into his jacket, pants pockets, and his socks.

Maybe we need p2p to get this story out, since the mainstream media is doing a good job of burying the story.

LOCKSS-DOCS and even the US GPO Access have already been doing this. But I suppose that given how online government information can go poof or be altered, this project sounds like a good idea, albeit a partisan one.

Google on ESPN and cable TV for more info on how ESPN is the single most expensive channel on your cable bill.

FCC Requests Comments on a la Carte Cable Subscriptions
At the mercy of cable monopolies
Will Disney deal affect cable rates?
Why your cable bill is soaring

Using current analog cable technology, it would be improbably to offer many choices above basic cable. Most "basic" cable block all channels above a cutoff frequency using a filter at the street connection. To allow selection of various packages in "expanded" cable, there would need to be developed "notch" filters to remove spans of channels, which would not be perfect.

If everyone was converted to digital cable boxes, they could just turn on and off the channels you are allowed to see. Not terribly hard, they already do it for premium channels.

It takes more work these days for me to find an artist that I like but, when I do, it's a great discovery.

And how has the fact that good music has been ubiquitous and now a scarcity wrt to you hearing about it affected your CD buying frequency? I'll tell you how it affected mine: It dropped to zero.

In fact, being forced to "hunt" for music has allowed me to discover a ton of artists and genres that I would not otherwise be exposed to.

I guess we fundamentally differ here. I don't like being forced into anything, especially not by an incestuous oligopoly of corporations that:

• Suppress independent music and oppress their own artists
• Repeatedly lobbies for self-serving legislation at the expense of both public and artists.
• Repeatedly abuse their oligopoly for price-fixing, i.e. ripping the customer off.
• etc. ad nauseam

save me the lecture on how it's not stealing

Exactly. It's not. Only simple minds who can't deal with the complexities of copyright would call it thus, so they can understand. Well that, and people who want to deceive.

You're stealing.

I'm certainly not. I'm not even P2Ping music any more.

You're taking something for nothing that would otherwise be sold. If you could not steal it, you would buy it.

Wrong, very wrong. That's true in some cases. In other cases, music downloading causes people to buy more music due to P2P sampling. At the time that I was a heavy P2P user, I bought almost twice as many CDs per month than before, and that even though my previous No. 1 source for finding out about my kind of music (the German alternative music TV station "Viva 2") had been shut down for the sake of a more RIAA-friendly third mainstream channel. In last year's fall, the RIAA and others successfully lobbied to make file sharing of (most) music illegal in Germany (can't point out one time too often that it was legal before!). I stopped downloading music and haven't bought a single CD since then. A coincidence?

My hypothesis: There are at least three groups of P2P users:

• The casual user: Makes up the majority of P2P users. Downloads some songs, buys some CDs, doesn't buy others. The net effect of P2P on this user's CD consumption is negligible.
• The cadger: Uses P2P because it's free-as-in-beer and has 1000 excuses for not paying. P2P lets his CD consumption drop to zero. But then, most of these probably have always found a way to get free music. If it wasn't for P2P, they would just record songs from the radio, copy/lend it from friends and whatnot. They have never paid much for music and never will.
• The fan (I would say I belong to this group): P2P and other non-RIAA-controlled distribution channels have been a boon for them. They could conveniently find out about gazillions of non-mainstream bands and sample their music in (cf.) high quality. If they found bands whose music they really like, they would go out and buy their CDs because fans show devotion for their idols. You can't call yourself a fan if all you have are burnt CDs. The net CD consumption of this group would increase (sometimes even greatly) because of P2P.

Now what does this boil down to? Blaming the casual user is ridiculous. They have been average customers wrt sales, and they stay average customers. What about the cadgers? Aren't they stealing? Yes, it's definitely not right what they do.

Unfortunately, the Trusted Traveller System is not a get out of the security line free card. People having such cards will still have to go through the security line. They might get a special line at a limited number of airports (which will slow all other lines down, so the airlines won't like that). Some of the airports with the worst security line problems -- McCarran in Vegas comes to mind -- don't really have room for this special line, so they are unlikely to be implemented there. The "advantage" is that people with such cards will not be singled out for additional searches. That is, unless they set off the metal detector. Here's more details.

So anybody thinking "Gee, I ought to get one of those cards so it won't be a big deal when the metal in my replacement hip sets off the machine" is in for a rude surprise.

>Laugh if you will, but we'd all be a lot healthier if we followed Fred's example and ran to and from the office, instead of hit cruise control after rolling drive-thru.

I doubt it. I think a lot of people would die of exhaustion, even professional runners.

For example, my drive is about 25 km. A marathon run of 26 miles takes over 2 hours for the worlds fastest runner (20 km/h). An average fit person who had not traied would easily take double that time (10 km/h), probably much more.

This means I, for an example, would be expected to run 4 hours per day with only a single break. I don't think you'll find a doctor on the entire planet that thinks that's actually a healthy thing.

But hey, if you want to delude yourself and run 4 hours a day, hey, what the hell, you're the one that'll die, not me.

(Not that exercise is a bad thing, but you're being silly)

[Is slashdot broken, AGAIN?]

Mainstream? Like Forbes, BusinessWeek , Ziff-Davis (and here and here too), CBS News, USA Today, and most have heard of PC Magazine, plus a lot of papers like The Houston Chronicle, The Detroit News, the Syracuse Post-Standard, The Baltimore Sun, and the St. Louis Post-Standard. I have all those links plus others in a list I just send to people. I keep adding to it as I find more. Usually gets the message across that I'm not making stuff up.

The news is different now than a couple of hours ago, but read this. Bush's new agency to "help" make elections run smoothly wants to postpone the elections for fear of a terrorist attack (or something along those lines).

Newsweek reported Sunday that U.S. counterterrorism officials are reviewing a proposal that provides for postponing the elections in the event of an attack.

The articles from earlier today were much more direct, I wish I had a link to one of them instead. They made it sound like Bush's fancy election agency was asking to postpone the elections. This article is a bit different.

Ok, I went and read up on Hitler's rise to power, and it looks a bit different than Bush's attempts. Some parallels, for sure, but Germany's power structure was totally different at the start of Hitler's rise than America's was in 2001 (assuming someone's rise started then. In exact parallel, it looks like Kerry is filling Hitler's shoes and Bush is playing the role of the imcompetent chancellor).

Sounds like the NSA was close by, but just watching :)

In other news, MS admits they're lagging behind and aren't the innovators. And I quote:

Microsoft, which has acknowledged it lags in search, hopes to play catch-up with a broad-based search tool that allows users to also scour through e-mails, documents and even big databases.

I'm not saying that all open source software in Linux are the cutting-edge either...but considering that you have to shell out cold-hard cash for the alternative, why?

And now our overlords are looking to postpone the elections.

You don't need an election.

Of this, major label artists will end up with only 8 to 14 cents per song, depending on their contract. Many of them will never Artists Get Ripped Off. even see this paltry share because they have to pay for producers and recording costs, both of which can be enormous. Until the musician "recoups" these costs, when you buy an iTunes song, the label gives them nothing.

Apple has been better than most other online stores to include independent labels. Merge, Sub-pop, Matador, Kill Rock Stars, and Thrill Jockey (to name a few) all have recordings on iTunes. If indepents' contacts for digital music are comparable to their other contracts, then the artists should do considerably better.

However, I think your answer points out a big problem with the major labels - they have a hard time complaining about being ripped off from file trading, when they're actively ripping off artists. The problem with file trading is that it still hurts the musician - they certainly have less of a chance of paying off their advances if people are trading their music. Personally, I would like it if online music sales allowed musicians to bypass the recording industry. I agree that iTunes isn't quite there, but frankly, it's closer than most of the competition.

FWIW, there's always this article on the pitfalls of signing to a major label. Yes, I know, it's 11 years old. Yes, it's been posted to hell. But it's a good reminder.

No, it means you don't know how to do this...

Think there aren't a hundred Fortune 500 companies that would love to trade places with Apple? You'd be wrong.


Well, since Apple is number 301 on the list, I'm guessing numbers 1-300 would not be so fond of trading spots. But, yeah, numbers 302-500 are probably a little envious.

That concludes my obvious, snide geek comeback.

The good ol Bait & Switch is alive and well...

Car lots
Video game consoles & Spam
Job-related markets
and Vacation Packages

Finding the other half trillion examples is left as an exercise to the reader.

Consider it proven. iPod accounts for 15% of all MP3 player sales making it the number one player according to NPD Intelect.

Bush went to war in Afghanistan for an oil pipeline. Hey, it's a lie, but you know, that's just an insignificant nitpick.

Oh! Yes, that's a lie

SilentChris says: People don't purchase cars they can't open the hood.

Volvo says: There is no hood! "Honestly, the only time I open the bonnet (hood) on my car is when I want to fill up washer fluid," explained Tatiana Butovitsch, the project team's communications manager, "So we shifted the filling station for washer fluid to the side of the car, next to where you fill up fuel, and we closed the bonnet for good."

I could have sworn I remember seeing this or at least something damn near the same, and I did, 3 years ago. It was invented in Georgia.

That's not exactly true.

Boston is also "randomly" searching its subway passengers. The Supreme Court ruled this month that Americans must give their name to police who ask, even without cause, or be arrested. Freedom's just another word for something left to lose.

It tells me that the site is heavily biased (they even describe themselves as "opinionated", and that they "tell you what we really think and believe about what's happening in the world"), and therefore NOT "news". (Yes, by this standard, I would also probably discount FoxNews.) Do you have other sources, or is this the best you can come up with?

How about this interview with David Kay or this overview of his final report or CNN's coverage, or this detailed report that discusses some of the reasoning behind David Kay's findings. I would have gladly linked to Fox News as well, as these official findings are virtually "unspinnable", but I can't find any Fox News coverage of Kay's final report (it may exist, I'm just saying I couldn't find it with Google - please point it out if you come across it). If you'll recall, Kay's initial, interim report also found no evidence of the type of WMD stockpiles or activities that Bush and Powell claimed we would certainly find in Iraq. However, Kay expressed great optimism that the alleged WMD would indeed be found (this was well covered and emphasized on Fox News) and attributed his lack of evidence to, in essence, timing, as there was still much work ahead at that point. Kay later stated that his initial optimism was based on the same erroneous, disproven "intelligence" that was eventually presented as justification for the invasion of Iraq. David Kay was not the only weapons inspector to carry out the task of finding Iraqi WMD. Remember Hans Blix? I've heard quite a bit of typical, hateful, conservative vitriol spewed in his direction, but I have yet to hear a factual criticism of his professional credentials or a substantive accusation of bias against him. Here is a summary of his findings within the rather enlightening context of current events. There are also the findings of Scott Ritter to consider. Even more despised than Hans Blix, the factual content of his work in Iraq and, again, his professional credentials, have not been effectively challenged. Here is an article he wrote in which he mentions his findings on Iraqi WMD among other topics and an interview in Time magazine in which they ask him some of the "tough" questions (i.e. weak and unsupported personal attacks, as is the Republican habit) his critics have raised. If you want more detailed sources on the findings of any of these weapons inspectors, Google is your friend. I challenge - no, I *defy* you to produce even one credible source (judging from your comment about Fox News, I think we more or less agree on the meaning of "credible") that contradicts the findings of these weapons inspectors. If you can't produce such a counterpoint, you are left with no rational conclusion but to accept that the Bush administration either incompetently or willfully misled the American people and the entire world by claiming that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the United States when, in fact, he literally had no capability to attack us.

Where shall I begin? How about allowing his sons to torture Iraqi citizens? How about re-routing rivers, to punish villages that spawned political enemies? How about using chemical weapons on Kurdish people in the north? If you think for a moment that allowing such actions to go on unchecked is none of our business, then you're more of an animal than the worst Bush-basher thinks of Bush and the rest of his administration. There are, of course, other reasons involved, but if you need me to tell you what they are, then you haven't bo

Interesting point, but your example could be better. Bill Gates has actually given $23 Billion to charity, more than half of his worth.

My guess would be that the majority of what's left of his fortune is tied up in Microsoft stock, and by keeping it invested, he's left the door open to making even bigger charitable donations in future.

Still, the point is almost certainly true for other rich people as well.

Here's how I see it: you really, really want the latest Britney Spears single,

Uhm, not really, I'm more into gothic and industrial rock/metal, and I don't crave for superficial and utterly uninteresting teenage bi^W girls who know how to jump when the choreographer tells them to. Instead, for example, Funker Vogt, Diva Destruction, Lacuna Coil, Nightwish are bands that I learned about using P2P or (mostly) on mp3.com, and of which I bought CDs later (one each from every band but Nightwish, of which I bought 4 or 5, would have to count 'em). Didn't hear about one of these on mainstream promotion channels (LC and NW have had guest appearances on those channels later, but that's all).

but you don't want to shell out your hard-earned milk money for it.

I heard the music and I liked it, so I bought it. Sorry to disappoint you.

So you fell in love with the idea of ubiquitous digital piracy back in the bad old days of the 1990's when it was unregulated and unopposed.

Actually, I first used P2P in like 1999, and didn't make much use of it until early last year.

When the people who sell Britney's music took a look around and realized that they were getting robbed blind,

Sure, the people that produced BS (<- nice ambivalent abbreviation, eh?) were mad about the fact that I didn't pay them to make more of this crap.

they pointed out this fact to lawmakers, and lawmakers rightly leapt into action to protect natural property rights, rights which with which we are endowed by our creator and which teenagers like yourself were stomping all over.

Funny that you talk about God-given copyright in the context of Britney Spears. Do you think she actually has any copyright over the songs she wro, oh no, wait, performed? I would like to believe you, but X-files is way more credible than that.

That's my theory.

Actually, that's called a hypothesis, and I think I proved you dead wrong.

I think there might be one or two of the standard radical leftist pseudo-intellectual insults that you haven't rolled out yet. Wouldn't want to leave any out, would you?

It's just that you seem to enjoy having your rights shorn off one by one. Baa baaaa.

Sure, whatever. You won't have any trouble finding people who think that property rights don't exist and that they're just a fiction of the bourgeoisie constructed over centuries to maintain control over the masses.

Oh, wow, now you portrait me as a communist. The main reason why I'm pro P2P is that it promotes competition in a market-place tightly controlled using pay for play on limited airwaves by an oligopoly found guilty of price fixing. Have you seen KoRn's "Fuck that" video yet? There are 5 big companies, soon to be only 4, which are abusive towards both their customers and their artists and rip both of them off, and the only reason why they get through with it is that they're in control over promotion (they are now moving to shut down internet radio by making royalties unaffordable!). Is that healthy competition, a free market-place? Doesn't look like it to me.

But back to your question: Private property is a-ok, why do you ask? But property in the traditional sense is either something material (e.g. a TV set, or a house, or a pack of razorblades), or to something immaterial that shall not be copied by anyone but a governmental agency, and the scarceness of which is benefitial (if it's not too scarce, but that's another issue). Money would be a fine example. It is often traded in material form, but in principle it's immaterial anyway - a right, if you want so.

But then, there are immaterial items that can legally be reproduced at will by the owner and the scarceness of which principally has a detrimental, not a beneficial effect on the lives o

You do realize that the total number of American soldiers killed since the invasion began is still less than 1,000, right? The invasion started in March, 2003, and it's now nearly July, 2004, which means the rate of American soldiers dying in Iraq is roughly comparable to the murder rate of Chicago, Illinois.
Um, you might wanna check on what that pesky word "rate" means. This may be just crazy liberal talk, but I interpret rate to be number of murders per unit of population.
last year there were 599 declared homicides in Chicago. The population of Chicago is 2,886,251 Well, that is a 2002 estimate, but it is close enough for the purpose of this exercise. That means that there were a bout 2.075 murders per 10,000 people in the city.
From March 2003 to March 2004 there were 601 US casulties in the Iraq War. Needless to say, the # of soldiers in Iraq is much less than the number of people in Chicago, but just to drill home how dumb your point is, lets do some calculations, shall we?
The total size of US forces in Iraq is roughly 138,000. So 601/138,000, or about 43.55 people per 10,000 killed......
Maybe it's just my poor math skills(obviously a result of our public schools, which I attended for both college and high school), but it seems to me that 43.55 is a lot bigger than 2.075....
Next time, do some real research before opening your mouth, you just might be surprised to see that you were being lied to. I found all these number off the internet in about 5 minutes