It turns out that Duran Duran may not have been signed to Arista after all. Apparently the source of this tidbit may not have been all that reliable. Nonetheless the points about Arista still stand.
In other depressing news regarding the RIAA's bullying, today the Justice Department weighed in on their side in the RIAA v. Verizon case. This is very annoying, particularly in light of the Appellate court's decision limiting Verizon's ability to present amicus curiae briefs in support of their position. The RIAA are under the same limitation, but they get a bonus by having the government on their side.
In this case the government is wrong. If the RIAA wins it will represent a horrible blow to personal privacy and significantly chill people's inclination to speak freely. Of course, with Total Information Awareness, the Patriot Act and all its demon offspring and inbred cousins, the current Justice Department has already shown a tremendous disregard for all sorts of privacy. So while it's a disappointing position for them to take, it's hardly surprising.
I suppose within the context of my own blog I should explain the cases and other items I refer to. But I am way too tired and have too much of a headache to be able to do so coherently. Go follow the link for more information for now.