ZDnet writer Preston Gralla offers links to several possibilities, but in my opinion, his best bet just might be Super MP3 Recorder, which "can save any audio stream coming into your sound card. It automatically chooses the best recording options, and then saves the stream as an MP3 or WAV file. This download records streaming audio in many formats, including Windows Media Player, QuickTime, RealPlayer, and Flash." The TeleRead take: This is the kind of technology that sends shivers down the spines of the RIAA members. I love it. RIAA and friends are working contain such magic, and I'm...

Hours ago we noted that by turning the Net into a more and more of a cyberwar zone, a Hollywood-friendly proposal could alienate hackers and even jeopardize U.S. national security. All too helpfully, a BusinessWeek article from June 27 reinforces our point. See below.Even without Congress not (yet) falling for a wacky proposal from Rep. Howard Bermain to legalize cyberattacks against certain alleged copyright violators, it would appear that the risks are very real. Beware of blowback--a snake-cage-full of wanted consequences.Yaha Worm Takes Out Pakistan Government's Site; virus uses victim computers as denial-of-service agents, and tries to recruit Indian...

"Historians will be able to look back 200 years from now and read the original proposal for Boo.com or Kozmo.com or eToys.com and hear audio histories from executives and worker bees from the companies. Ideally, future students and business leaders will learn something from the mistakes that were made." - Shannon Henry, Washington Post, June 27. The TeleRead take: A much-needed project--from David Kirsch, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. No conflict with the valuable Internet Archive, which focuses on the preservation of actual Web pages. Perhaps by learning...

"Online magazine publisher Salon Media Group, Inc., faces the prospect of going out of business if it can't raise money this summer, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission." - AP, via the New York Times, June 27.The TeleRead take: So even with the optional Salon Premier subscription plan, Salon isn't making it? This is a most unfortunate evidence to back up our mantra that good content costs. Salon can be infuriating at times--but despite its many flaws I'd miss it if it were gone. What about this free TeleBlog? Well, it and the rest of...

Nice letter received yesterday from a gungho library fan down in Larose, Louisana, who says a newspaper story to which I linked did not give the full picture. Check out my followup at the bottom of the original item on library-related gouges.Interesting lessons arise here on the limitations of blogging. Other TeleBlog contributors and I will try to link to good publications, but we can't police them in advance for accuracy, fairness or completeness. Especially when it comes to local stories, we're at the mercy of whatever the reporter chooses to write from the scene. Blogs are useful as...

No, we won't question the patriotism of Jack Valenti at the Motion Picture Association of America. He's the Johnson aide who slept better during the Vietnam war because LBJ was in the White House. Just the same, Valenti and his friends like Hiliary Rosen of the RIAA might want to consider the damage to national security that they are doing with their unceasing war against hackers and the rest of the Net. Hackers and free-spirited sharers of files are the Viet Cong to people like Valenti and Rosen. Both depict themselves as upholders of civilization in cyberspace. And yet...

National Public Radio has dropped the controversial requirement that other people's Web sites ask permission before linking. Many thanks to NPR ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin for speaking out on this issue even though I realize he isn't exactly in charge of NPR. While the new policy is a major improvement, I dislike NPR's prohibition against framing of its Web page. Not good. What's the problem as long as Joe or Jane Blogger does not misrepresent the source of the content? I also have difficulty with the rule that "the linking should not (a) suggest that NPR promotes or endorses any...

"As I've pointed out many times, protecting 'copyright owners' means protecting big business, not artists. That the Librarian of Congress views songs solely as property, discarding their status as culture, is even more appalling." - Dave Marsh, in a Counterpunch article, via librarian.net. The TeleRead take: Time for Marsh and others to call for Jim Billington's resignation? While the Webcasting case happens to have received big-time publicity, what about sell-outs where Billington is more quietly doing damage? ...

Congrats to Steve Cohen of Library Stuff. Uncongrats to the FBI library snoops for providing him with the grist for some of his items for the winning blog. Absolutely no sympathy for terrorists here--just a concern over loss of civil liberties if citizens' reading habits can be examined on whims....

Why should pols and special interests waste valuable time when frictionless capitalism could come to their rescue? I propose an eBay that would let clashing interests bid for the votes of politicians. That way, Cisco, Intel and friends could compete openly and directly against anti-Net industries like movies or the big-time recording biz. Imagine the economies. Special interests wouldn't have to shell out big bucks on, say, Jack Valenti or oversized offices on K Street. We could do away with trade associations and campaign dinners. Just think how pleased H.L. Hunt's ghost would be. Luckily the above is satire....

"Copyright holders would receive carte blanche to use aggressive tactics to stop the illegal distribution of their works on online services like Morpheus and Kazaa under legislation outlined today by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.)." - Washington Post, June 25.The TeleRead take: "His bill would allow copyright holders to set up decoy files and use other techno-tricks like file-blocking and redirection to throw P2P pirates off the trail," the Post reports, "but it would forbid those holders from employing tactics that would damage or destroy pirates' own computer systems." The words "carte blanche" might be overdoing it, in fact. But...

Who should replace Jim Billington as leader of the Library of Congress? And might it just be time to rethink the nature of the job?No endorsement of anyone right now, but Billington's serving as an unwanted in-house RIAA for librarydom is just one indication that he needs to step down. Feedback welcome on possible replacements. So much innovation is happening elsewhere, under Michigan librarian Christie Brandau and other library professionals; and the contrast with the 73-year-old Billington will only widen, as he stays in his own little time warp and technology moves on. I myself like the idea of...