I don't know about you but I have definitely fallen victim of downloading music illegally. Yesterday I was going through my normal morning routine; driving to class and listening to kicks 96 when I heard some startling news. A man was being sued for an incredible amount of money for downloading music illegally. At this point I didn't know how much he was being sued for, I was just thinking about how many people I know, including myself and family members, that have downloaded illegally. I can honestly say that I do not download music near as much as I use to and now when I do it is usually through iTunes. When I returned home from class I immediately got on the computer and researched this issue. I came upon an article on foxnes.com and I learned that “In 2009, a Boston jury downgraded a ruling against Joel Tenenbaum for illegally downloading music files from $675,000 to just $67,500, deeming the original penalty "unconstitutionally excessive." Now in 2011, an appeals court has ruled that Tenenbaum must pay the $675,000. I’m unaware of how much music he actually downloaded before getting caught. “Lawyers representing the recording industry argued that the economic impact of illegal downloading is much greater than the sharing of one song”.
Now that I have friends trying to ‘make it’ in the music industry, I can relate sympathetically to the artists and record companies. The bands around Savannah make a good amount of their income from album sales. If people continue to download illegally and refuse to purchase music, these bands are left with little hope for their future. So next time you go to download music files make sure you are paying for them, so you aren’t left with a HUGE lawsuit to pay in the end.
Yesterday morning I was waiting at Jiffylube while getting an oil change. To prevent bordem I picked up a copy of the Savannah Morning News. I instatnly knew the read was going to be enjoyable because the front page story was about the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in NYC. You may be thinking 'why is Fashion Week on the cover of the Savannah Morning News'? Well, having a prestigous art college in our city is the answer. September 9th marked the date where "22 recently graduated students from the Savannah College of Art and Design (and their parents) showed their senior collections under the tents at Lincoln Center at the ELLE Fashion Next Show, ELLE magazine’s initiative to promote young designers" (savannahnow.com). If this opportunity wasn't cool enough, two of the students made a name for themselves by both recieving an award worth $25,000.
I think it is wonderful that local fashion students are accomplishing such big honors. It's hard enough to graduate from college in the economy we live in now, and graduating from an art school only seems to make circumstances harder. I also think that it is great that the community is showing their support in the local newspaper.
Journalism 3420- News Writing and Reporting has motivated (and of course, made meJ) keep up with recent news and what is going on around the world. I found a very interesting article on The New York Times website that I want to discuss today. The article is titled 'One Sperm Donor, 150 Offspring' by Jacqueline Mroz. While browsing The New York Times site, I saw numerous interesting topics but this one in particular caught my eye right away. Just by the title of the article I knew what I was about to read, and I instantly asked myself, ‘why would one person be allowed to donate his sperm that many times’? The article begins by describing a woman and her partner who used a sperm donor to conceive seven years ago. They always had hopes of their son being able to meet his half siblings once he got older. They began searching web-based registry for other children fathered by the same donor and then they helped create an online group to track them (nytimes.com). The years went by and they watched the number of kids grow and grow and grow. This group seems to be among the largest, with other groups of 50 and 30 following behind. With these huge groups of children fathered by the same donor, many medical and incest concerns have been brought to the table. If I were born through artificial insemination I would definitely want to know, so I think that it is great the parents are informing their children. With that being said, I also think it is absolutely crazy there are no limits to how many times one person can donate in the United States. I feel there needs to be new legislation on this matter before it gets way too out of hand.
