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Free P2P In France?
cyberbian writes to tell us that earlier in the week the French Parliament voted to allow free sharing of music and movies on the Internet. This ruling puts them in direct conflict with both the Media companies and the rest of the French government. From the article: " If the amendment survives, France would be the first country to legalize so called peer-to-peer downloading, said Jean-Baptiste Soufron, legal counsel to the Association of Audionautes, a French group that defends people accused of improperly sharing music files. The law would be a blow to media companies that increasingly use the courts worldwide to sue people for downloading or sharing music and movie files. Entertainment companies such as Walt Disney Co., Viacom Inc. and News Corp.'s Fox say free downloading of unauthorized copies of TV shows and movies before they are released on DVD will cost them $5 billion in revenue this year."
Everything was silent that Christmas Eve. Only the lightly falling snow
that decorated the landscape seemed to exhibit life. The children of the
Streamer family had gone to bed early in hopes that Santa would come. Tom
Streamer and his lovely wife Laura were snuggled in each other's arms,
anticipating the joyous laughter that soon will fill the Midwestern farmhouse
as it did each Christmas before. Laura was asleep but Tom was engrossed in
thought.
Tom had promised himself that this year's drought and its devastating
effects on his family's income would not spoil this Christmas for his children.
But the lack of revenue made it impossible for him to buy the one thing his
children wanted so desperately: a pony. All Midwestern farm kids, except his,
had ponies to ride and Tom felt a sense of guilt not being able to afford one.
Tom looked over towards Laura. He then realized he was a lucky man to
have such a beautiful and adoring family. His fifteen year old son, Jimmy, had
made All American in just his freshman year of high school. His thirteen year
old daughter, Amy, was fast becoming a remarkable woman.
Without warning, Tom's thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash coming
from the roof of the two-story wood framed house. Startled, Laura woke to hear
the supports in the attic creak under the strain of something heavy.
"What is it?" Laura asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes.
"I don't know," Tom replied, moving quickly out of bed and putting on a
robe. "Let's find out."
Laura followed Tom's lead while also slipping on a robe.
As they scampered out of the master bedroom, they were greeted in the
hallway by Jimmy and Amy.
"Is that Santa?" Amy asked.
Jimmy said, "I don't think so, Amy. But I'm ready for anything."
Tom and Laura laughed as Jimmy knifed his hands through the air. He was
taking Karate lessons at the local YMCA and was anxious to demonstrate his
newfound skill. Amy and Jimmy soon followed their parent's laughter with
snickers of their own.
"Come on, 'Karate Kid.' Let's see what's going on," Tom said, grinning
while ruffling his right hand through Jimmy's thick curly hair.
The family followed the creaking sound along the rafters.
"It seems to be heading towards the chimney," Laura said perplexed.
"It is Santa!" Amy exclaimed.
"Don't jump to conclusions just yet young lady," Tom said with a fake
scowl on his face. "The fireplace is lit. Maybe it's an animal that got on
the roof from a nearby tree and wants to get close to the heat coming from the
chimney. It's cold outside you know."
"By the sound of it, it's a pretty *BIG* animal don't you think, Dad?"
Jimmy went back to making Karate chops again.
They huddled around the top of the staircase, crouching down to get the
full view of the roaring fire in the fireplace, wondering what the source of
the sound on the roof was going to do next.
All of a sudden the fire in the fireplace blew out with a whooshing sound.
But just as suddenly, the fire roared back to life. The four of them gasped.
There, standing in front of the fireplace, was a very large man with a white
beard dressed in a red suit, wearing gloves and a cap and stroking the head of
a magnificent pony!
"Ho ho ho," the jolly old man chuckled. "Wasn't that fun?" the man asked
the beast. The pony nodded his head up and down as if to agree.
"That *IS* Santa," Tom wh
It's XMAS day and here he is, on slashdot with the rest of us losers.