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Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
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iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
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Discover New Music

  • Go Away White

    • 10 out of 10
    • Bauhaus
    • Go Away White is an album I've been waiting more than 20 years to hear, and the good news is that it was worth the wait.  The latest -- and last, no...for real this time -- album from

  • The Printz

    • 8 out of 10
    • Bumblebeez 81
    • Part white rap, part alternative, part pop, and part rock, the Bumblebeez grabbed a hold of me with "Pony Ride," and didn't let go.

      This group does a marvelous job of moving seamlessly be

  • Supermodified

    • 10 out of 10
    • Amon Tobin
    • The genius is in the beats. Amon Tobin creates fantastic, groovy beats behind beats. "Supermodified" rolls through your expectations of breakbeat music, and turns them up a bit. It's a mellow album, p
  • De Nova

    • 10 out of 10
    • The Redwalls
    • Wow! Perhaps my 5-star rating is simply because the Redwalls are not only new and fresh (none of them older than 22!), or perhaps its because -- despite their ages -- they are able to totally capture
  • Life's Rich Pageant

    • 8 out of 10
    • R.E.M.
    • In the long series of R.E.M.'s evolution, this album (finally?) showcases their ability to capture on tape what had been happening in the live for years: heartfelt, sweat-filled performances that just

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News

Net Neutrality Bill Reintroduced in Congress

Representative John Conyers (D., Mich) and Zoe Lofgren (D., Calif) have reintroduced a bill that would subject broadband providers to antitrust violations if they block, filter or slow Internet traffic.

Rep. Conyers is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. In 2006, House Democrats sought to introduce such legislation to protect consumers, but they didn’t have a majority in the House, and Net Neutrality legislation was defeated by Republicans.

At the time, Republicans likely felt that a pro-business stance was better served by not enacting legislation that could tie the hands of businesses. In the last two years, that conventional wisdom has been called into question by practices that failed to serve users of the Internet well.

"Americans have come to expect the Internet to be open to everyone," Mr. Conyers said. "The Internet was designed without centralized control, without gatekeepers for content and services. If we allow companies with monopoly or duopoly power to control how the Internet operates, network providers could have the power to choose what content is available."

The legislation was praised by some consumer and online rights groups. "The bill squarely addresses the issue of the enormous market power of the telephone and cable companies as the providers of 98 percent of the broadband service in the country," said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge. "The bill restores the principle of nondiscrimination that allowed the Internet to flourish in the dial-up era, making certain that the same freedom and innovation will flourish in the broadband era without burdensome regulation."

The Net Neutrality bill will likely face a long uphill battle in the House and Senate before it becomes law. However, recent events involving provider abuse will go a long way towards removing the doubts of even the most pro-business Republicans.

If passed, that’s particularly good news for Apple since some content creation companies have come to believe that bypassing iTunes is a necessary strategic move. Behind the scenes deals between major ISPs and content providers that violate Net Neutrality could be viewed as one weapon against iTunes unless the Internet is held by law to its original charter, as Rep. Conyers explained.

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