New research suggests links between violent video games and aggressive behavior. Predictably, this has led to calls for legislation to limit violent games. “The game industry says legislating ultra-violent games out of the hands of children would deal a severe blow to free speech. Game companies point to the industry-imposed ratings system that gives detailed descriptions of violence in a game and labels some titles as “mature” or “adults only.”
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Union: A Better Day For Culture In Canada?
Canada’s actors’ union is celebrating the Liberal Party’s win in the recent federal election. “We look forward to working with the minority government to establish policy, legislate and make appointments that will protect and enhance Canadian cultural industries.”
Message From America: Don’t Come Here
The American border police have been making it more and more difficult for foreign journalists, authors and musicians to enter the US. “American businesses have “lost $30.7 billion in the last two years because of visa delays and denials for their foreign partners and employees, according to a survey sponsored by eight business organizations.”
Miami Herald Fires Critic Octavio Roca
The Miami Herald fired dance and music critic Octavio Roca for copying some passages he wrote for a newspaper where he previously worked. “When confronted, he sought to justify his recycling by likening himself to a college professor who delivers the same lecture to different students. And he argued that, because he was repeating his own words, he hadn’t committed plagiarism, which is the theft of another’s work.” But Herald editors, standing reason on its head, dismiss Roca for commiting what… stealing opinions from himself?
Make-Your-Own CDs (Legally)
A new music kiosk allows customers to mix their own CDs, choosing from 200,000 songs. “At $10 for the first seven songs and $1 per song after that, it’s not as cheap as free, but it is legal. And the service addresses a fundamental problem with how the music industry sells its product: People don’t like paying $15 for a 10-song album when they want only two of the tracks. The company hopes to expand the concept to digital movies, games and software.”
Another Vermeer (Ho Hum)
There’s another Vermeer. “That means that, instead of there being – depending on who is doing the counting – about 35 authentic Vermeers in existence, there are now about 36. So why is there not more euphoria? Why no breathless feature articles, no documentaries on TV? And why are Sotheby’s estimating that at the auction tomorrow it will make not more than £3 million, or not much more than a rather average Roy Lichtenstein recently reached?”
The £6 Million Pirate
A prolific music pirate lands in court. Prosecution says he made £6 million in ten years selling copies of bootlegged music. “He commissioned, manufactured and sold, here and elsewhere, unavailable or illicit recordings of musical works performed by virtually every well-known artist in the world. Members of the audience at concerts made illegal recordings which were used as master copies for the CDs. TV and radio performances were also illicitly taped, and tracks from existing records were duplicated, the court heard.”
1000-Year-Old Stolen Iraqi Book Recovered
A thousand-year-old Iraqi book stolen in 1995 has been recovered by police and will be returned. “The £250,000 book turned up in a London auction room last year, but auctioneers were suspicious and called police.”
Cologne Cathedral On Endangered List
“Cologne cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, was placed on Unesco’s list of endangered World Heritage sites yesterday, its visual integrity threatened by skyscrapers being built on the opposite bank of the Rhine.”
The Longest Concert – Two Notes Down, 636 Years To Go
“In the abandoned Burchardi church in the German town of Halberstadt, the world’s longest concert moved two notes closer to its end Monday: Three years down, 636 to go. The addition of an E and E-sharp complement the G-sharp, B and G-sharp that have been playing since February 2003 in composer John Cage’s ‘Organ2/ASLSP’ — or ‘Organ squared/As slow as possible’.”