"All charts are political," said my friend and former Three Minute Dog conspirator (my little indie record/promotion outfit that preceeded GMD Studios) Steve Fox. He was talking, specifically, about how independent musicians (and the rag-tag independent radio promoters who serve them) game the charts in college radio through reporting outlets such as CMJ. I was thinking about the box office charts we keep over at indieWIRE and wondering why we don't see more gaming surrounding that chart: we certainly made it political enough.

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There, I've said it: Grey Tuesday, as an "act of civil disobediance," is silly. Don't let my blog from yesterday fool you into thinking I'm only anti-RIAA ... I get equally disgusted with the anti-anti-RIAA folks for the same reasons: because their arguments, ultimately, remove control from artists. I want to get excited about Grey Tuesday, but I just can't, because the shrill and slanted arguments from the proponants are piss poor.

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Finally figured out a way to create entries that wouldn't appear on the front page of the blog, but would give me a chance to blog about the blog itself. Moveable Type has been wrestled into general layout compliance, but it's still stark here and not ready for public consumption.

San Fransisco courts continue to make intellectual property law a tennis-match of bad decisions. You'd have thought that after taking nine months to consider her decision, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston would bring back a ruling that shed some light on the issue of DVD copying software. Instead, Judge Illston made it more confusing than ever.

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A week ago today, Sarah Jacobson died. I heard about her passing Sunday, and the ripples of her influence keep bouncing around the indie film community. In typical Sarah fashion, the influence she had on all of us and our definition of independence continues to be her most lasting contribution (although "I Was A Teenage Serial Killer" and "Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore" are wonderful inspirational legacy of their own.)

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