10 billion songs!

Apple just presented a prize to the person who downloaded the 10 billionth song in iTunes - a gift certificate for $10,000 worth of music.  I can't imagine what you would buy with a gift card that big.  I'd run out of ideas after a few songs.  The 10 billionth song?  "Guess Things Happen That Way," by Johnny Cash.

Guess Things Happen That Way -...

I am a huge fan of iTunes.  It really has revolutionized the way we buy music, and I can't even think of how many iTunes gift cards I have bought in the past few years (not to mention the number of iPods, which is a different story altogether).


But it really works.  You have to be impressed with Apple's vision on this.

O Canada

I have to admit that one of my favorite anthems (really?) is O Canada.  I love hockey games against Canadian teams because they sing it.  And I've only heard it a few times at the Olympics - the best, I think, was Thursday night's rendition by the Canadian womens' hockey team after they won the gold medal (many of them, actually) by beating the U.S. team 2 - 0.


But leave it to Steven Colbert, in his inimitable style, to bring a new twist to this great song.  Here is he with Canadian singer Michael Buble, belting out O Canada to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner:

 

I think I should have been born in Canada!

Freedom (from xkcd)

A sad day for the Internet

A court in Italy has convicted three Google executives, in absentia, of violating Italy's privacy laws.  The charge relates to a video that was posted by a third party to the company's YouTube site.  The court's action is being widely condemned.


As a member of Google's legal department, I can't comment, other than to say that this is a very sad day for the Internet.  In that regard, I fully agree with Google's public statement on this issue, which I am reprinting here in full:

Serious threat to the web in Italy

2/24/2010 01:57:00 AM 

In late 2006, students at a school in Turin, Italy filmed and then uploaded a video to Google Video that showed them bullying an autistic schoolmate. The video was totally reprehensible and we took it down within hours of being notified by the Italian police. We also worked with the local police to help identify the person responsible for uploading it and she was subsequently sentenced to 10 months community service by a court in Turin, as were several other classmates who were also involved. In these rare but unpleasant cases, that's where our involvement would normally end.

But in this instance, a public prosecutor in Milan decided to indict four Google employees —David Drummond, Arvind Desikan, Peter Fleischer and George Reyes (who left the company in 2008). The charges brought against them were criminal defamation and a failure to comply with the Italian privacy code. To be clear, none of the four Googlers charged had anything to do with this video. They did not appear in it, film it, upload it or review it. None of them know the people involved or were even aware of the video's existence until after it was removed.

Nevertheless, a judge in Milan today convicted 3 of the 4 defendants — David Drummond, Peter Fleischer and George Reyes — for failure to comply with the Italian privacy code. All 4 were found not guilty of criminal defamation. In essence this ruling means that employees of hosting platforms like Google Video are criminally responsible for content that users upload. We will appeal this astonishing decision because the Google employees on trial had nothing to do with the video in question. Throughout this long process, they have displayed admirable grace and fortitude. It is outrageous that they have been subjected to a trial at all.

But we are deeply troubled by this conviction for another equally important reason. It attacks the very principles of freedom on which the Internet is built. Common sense dictates that only the person who films and uploads a video to a hosting platform could take the steps necessary to protect the privacy and obtain the consent of the people they are filming. European Union law was drafted specifically to give hosting providers a safe harbor from liability so long as they remove illegal content once they are notified of its existence. The belief, rightly in our opinion, was that a notice and take down regime of this kind would help creativity flourish and support free speech while protecting personal privacy. If that principle is swept aside and sites like Blogger, YouTube and indeed every social network and any community bulletin board, are held responsible for vetting every single piece of content that is uploaded to them — every piece of text, every photo, every file, every video — then the Web as we know it will cease to exist, and many of the economic, social, political and technological benefits it brings could disappear.

These are important points of principle, which is why we and our employees will vigorously appeal this decision.

Posted by Matt Sucherman, VP and Deputy General Counsel - Europe, Middle East and Africa

French cheese souffle (not an Olympics post!)

We tried French Cheese Souffle from Trader Joe's the other night.  Believe it or not, it comes in nuggets, frozen in a bag.  You put the amount you want into a ramekin and bake it - nothing else.  And out comes deliciously-browned cheesey souffles, hot and tasty!  

Not too many frozen food packages taste this good.  Worth trying. 

Plus, I found a blog that tells you how to cook with Trader Joe's items.  Nice!

A great Olympic story

Karen forwarded this truly heartwarming story about Bill Schuffenbauer, a member of the U.S. bobsled team in Vancouver.  Here is a guy, age 36, who could have wasted his entire life.  He came from a truly terrible background, and he pulled himself up, and he is competing in his third Olympics.  And he and his family are sacrificing hard for him to be there.  While that is not itself unusual, his story is quite an inspiration.

I'm rooting for him to win a medal this week.  

An outstanding hockey game

Going in to last night's game against Team Canada, the USA hockey team looked like a sure underdog.  The Canadian team is loaded with NHL stars - including Sidney Crosby, Jerome Iginla, and three Sharks from the same line (Heatley, Marleau and Thornton!).  And the USA team, even though it has some really good players, is pretty young.


But in a superb game, the Americans prevailed 5-3.  It was hockey at its best - great passing, great shooting, great goal-tending.  And this is just the preliminary round!


Not quite the "Miracle on Ice" from 1980, but really fun.  This tournament is looking good.


Oh, and if you don't remember that win over the Russian team, here is the big finish: