A Massachusetts District Judge Nancy Gertner has provisionally prohibited Boston University from providing details of students’ connections to the RIAA. The judge called for an investigation to look into whether such an act is permissible.

The RIAA, of course, targets students on campus suspected of violating copyright laws by getting illegal music downloads. The judge made the argument that it is unclear whether using filesharing programs like Limewire have violated any copyright laws.

There is some strong debate whether or not this is indicative of a turnaround in this and other court cases against students accused of filesharing. Boston University acts as an ISP for its students and has thus far not given the RIAA details of individual users.

The RIAA finds filesharing violators by employing the company MediaSentry to act as a filesharing user and target certain computers on university campuses around the United States.

It is not all that often that I go to the same company for the same thing. With so much competition out there in the big wide world there is always another, better, offer just around the corner. Poor customer service and no loyalty to customers means that there is very little reason for me to feel loyal towards a particular company or organization, either.

And so it is with some surprise that I continually find myself going back to Global Resorts Network. Two times every year I go to their catalogue and always manage to find a great vacation that suits me and my wife perfectly; I have never been on a bad vacation through them.

It is this loyalty towards Global Resorts Network that drew me to their work from home business opportunity. If I introduce someone to the network and they buy a membership (it’s a one time fee!) then I can earn up to $1000 in commission. That’s $1000 for selling something that I probably would have recommended anyway!

The Global Resorts Network compensation plan (if $1000 isn’t good enough on its own) offers the chance to earn residual income from your customers. The Global Resorts Network is really good opportunity whether you view it from the customer or the seller’s point of view.

Apple’s iPhone music download is heading East and soon its rabid fans all over Europe will be salivating like so many dogs over the subtle lines and impressive functionality. While this latest move seems set to offer the iPhone music only to the UK, France and Germany, it is a definitely a step in the right direction. Once there, it should only be a matter of finding the right carriers and partners before it is offered in other countries in Western Europe. How to download music on iPhone

These are exciting times for Apple: not only is the music downloadable on iPhone moving into new territory, but the new iPod nano looks set to make a welcome appearance. Fans managed to get a few poor quality photos of the device and its facelift onto the Internet. Hard working lawyers got them off again just as quickly (no doubt using their iPhone downloads for most of the work).

It seems Apple doesn’t have to do a great deal these days to tempt its fans with its latest offerings. Good for Jobs.

For those unfamiliar with the term, “sneakernet” refers to the act of using external devices to transfer files from one computer to another. These files can, of course, be music files. A recent study by the British Music Rights (BMR) organisation suggests that sneakernet is a bigger threat to the music industry than filesharing.

While the RIAA is going after people for using filesharing networks like Limewire and Ares, kids are swapping the contents of their hard drives with each other on a daily basis without fear of being prosecuted.

Feargal Sharkey, who leads the BMR, said that the problem online is dwarfed by what goes on offline. This harks back to the argument that we have all been copying cassettes and tapes for years without being told that we have been doing anything wrong.

According to the study, home copying remains more popular than filesharing. Some people still even record off the radio. Food for thought as the filesharing battle rages on.

MySpace is apparently on the verge of launch a site for music downloads, ringtone downloads and, most importantly, desktop wallpaper.

People will also be able to buy music merchandise and concert tickets from the new service. We’ve been hearing rumblings of this “amazing” MySpace music-download site for a while, but it looks like it’s finally coming to fruition.

No word yet on how much the music downloads will cost, but you can be sure that they’ll be more expensive than on filesharing networks.

Although we don’t like MySpace and its horrible profile pages, there have been some decent artists who broke into the mainstream thanks to the website. We adore Lily Allen so we’ll be keeping an eye on the new website.

Sony BMG, Universal and Warner are all on board with MySpace, so the choice of music downloads should be pretty decent. MySpace is yet to announce an official launch date for the service.

Buying good equipment is essential to any business. To a newly starting home business it is critical. While it might be tempting to limit the initial expenditure to the very minimum in order to save on outlay, it should be remembered that this is cost is an investment in your home business. A poor quality phone or computer can lead to many lost hours – and lost clients – that you simply cannot afford.

A good space from which to work is essential to your online home business. It is entirely possible to work from the kitchen table but you will find a private space – with a proper desk and a proper chair – will increase your productivity a great deal.

These initial investments will help your new home business more than they hurt your wallet. Think very carefully before spending any more, but think even more carefully if you are not intending to spend money: it may be a false economy.

Reports have been flying around the Internet this week that Virgin Media has come to some sort of agreement with the UK music industry to begin a scheme that would deter filesharing.

Virgin Media has denied these claims, but admitted that it had discussed the infamous three-strikes scheme with the music industry, so it looks likely that the clampdown on filesharing is about to become a reality in the UK, although it’s unclear what this will entail.

People who use filesharing services like ares to get free music downloads will, under the proposed scheme, be given two warnings before their final strike, which will result in their Internet connection being cut.

Virgin Media has actually come out and said that it isn’t really in favor of such actions against filesharing, citing privacy and legal issues. The three-strikes system proposed by the UK music industry has come under fire from all corners of the Internet.

The guys at The Pirate Bay stuck a finger up at the IFPI as demands were made for damages totally $2.5 million. Chief Pirate Gottfrid Svartholm Warg told a newspaper that he told lawyers from the IFPI to “go screw themselves”.

Four Pirates were indicted in January for allegedly aiding the piracy of 24 albums, nine movies and four videogames.

Svartholm laughed off the indictment, saying that the $2.5 million figure likely came from multiplying the number of items by the number of times they were downloaded. Most downloaders would never have paid the full price for their music, games and movies, he added.

All this comes as Swedish artists came out this week in support of filesharing. Also this month, Trent Reznor uploaded part of his Ghosts I-IV to The Pirate Bay. It seems that all the action with regards to filesharing and music downloads is currently going on in Sweden.

The lucky owners of Apple’s latest Big Thing – the iPhone – will be salivating at the recent news of the release of another new toy for their machine: the iPhone SDK on Download. While this mean much to many people, the SDK (software development kit) will allow third party programmers to write code that integrates seamlessly with the iPhone hardware and its downloads essentially the it allows much more flexibility when it comes to producing third party apps. Large gaming companies like PopCap and Namco have promised ports of classics like Pac-Man, Bejeweled and Zuma using the new iPhone SDK.
The full release date of the iPhone download with SDK is unclear (the current release is for the beta version only) and as such there can be no promises on the timely release of games or any other apps.
The iPhone SDK has certainly generated significant interest with owner and fans: there were over a million views of a release video that Apple and its music download on iPhone had posted on its site covering the new technology.

Would you believe there is another free filesharing service available? These filesharing programs seem to pop up like flowers in spring. Most of the new ones we’ve covered recently haven’t been very good because there are now so many filesharing programs to get free music downloads that the market is saturated.

Also, for new filesharing services, there are hardly any users, but the point of some of them is just to upload files for other people. File Dropper offers a service that boats no sign-up and 5GB capacity. It ain’t Limewire, but it has it’s uses. You just pick the file you want to share with the world and upload it there and then.

You don’t even have to fill in any personal details, which is novel for a filesharing program. Uploads are fast enough and before you know it you’re provided with a link to your file to share with your mum or whoever. Files and links stay live for as long as people keep downloading your stuff, which doesn’t mean much really. Check it out if you’re into trying out new things for the sake of it.