Lights, Camera, Lawsuit

As the speed of Internet access improves, the film industry will need to explore its options for eliminating the downloading of digital movie files. After examining the successes and failures of the music industry in its battle with peer-to-peer networks, the film industry has begun to follow its predecessor. However, the nature of film as an entertainment medium is quite different than that of music. As a result, the film industry could implement creative solutions to this problem that would not have been available to the music industry. A recent study shows that most films available on the Internet have been leaked by industry insiders. By implementing an increasingly publicized use of trade secret litigation, the film industry could take a tough and effective stance against the digital dragon

Lights, Camera, Lawsuit

As the speed of Internet access improves, the film industry will need to explore its options for eliminating the downloading of digital movie files. After examining the successes and failures of the music industry in its battle with peer-to-peer networks, the film industry has begun to follow its predecessor. However, the nature of film as an entertainment medium is quite different than that of music. As a result, the film industry could implement creative solutions to this problem that would not have been available to the music industry. A recent study shows that most films available on the Internet have been leaked by industry insiders. By implementing an increasingly publicized use of trade secret litigation, the film industry could take a tough and effective stance against the digital dragon

Slender naiad (Najas flexilis) habitat quality assessment

N. flexilis is a rare aquatic plant species of European conservation importance. The species is believed to be under increasing threat in its Scottish stronghold. However, the factors that affect the health of N. flexilis populations in Scotland are not fully understood, such as why does the species disappear, and where and why it fares well in some sites. In addition, more needs to be known about what actions can be taken to ensure that the habitat quality needed to support populations of N. flexilis is either maintained or restored. This report highlights that much of the sensitivity of N. flexilis to the known threats of eutrophication, competition with other plants and the mild acidification of circumneutral lakes can be related to its physiology as an obligate user of CO2; N. flexilis plants being unable to metabolise bicarbonate for photosynthesis

Online Music Joint Ventures: Taken for a Song

In 2001 the five major record companies, controlling more than 80 percent of prerecorded music sales in the United States, announced the formation of two joint ventures to distribute music over the Internet. The Department of Justice opened an antitrust investigation into these ventures even before the ventures began their operations. Two and one-half years later the Department announced that it had closed the investigation because its theoretical concerns ultimately were not supported by the evidence. The Department\u27s investigation, however, focused on the ventures\u27 licensing practices rather than on their formation. This paper focuses on the formation of the online music joint ventures. The paper begins with a description of the business and legal environment in which the joint ventures were formed and traces developments in both since the ventures\u27 formation. Included in this description is the effort by the industry to suppress widespread copyright infringement and the entry of a number of new companies into the online music market. The paper\u27s antitrust analysis examines the predicted anticompetitive effects of the formation of the ventures and, drawing on the Supreme Court\u27s decision in Broadcast Music, Inc. v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. and the history of performing rights organizations, argues that the efficiency justifications for the online music joint ventures were quite modest. The paper concludes that the formation of the ventures was anticompetitive, without regard to the ventures\u27 licensing practices, and that the appropriate remedy would have been either to unwind the two ventures or divest the record companies\u27 ownership of them. Although the online music industry did not develop as might have been predicted when the ventures were formed, we owe these positive developments to the inability of the music industry to control the widespread infringement of their copyrights. Had the record industry\u27s campaign been successful, the competitive structure in the online music market would likely have been quite different and the proposed antitrust remedies would have been necessary to bring competition to the market for online music

“Putting Money Where My Mouth Is”: Motivations and Experiences among Food Co-op Members

Of the variety of alternative grocery stores that offer natural, organic, local, and health foods in the United States, food co-ops are one of the more unique business models for alternative foods. Unlike traditional retailers, they are collectively owned and democratically operated. Prices tend to be higher in co-ops because they carry high-quality foods that are generally fresh, locally sourced, or artisanal in nature. What motivates people to join co-ops and spend more money for their membership and foods compared to other stores? This article provides ethnographic and interview data with member-owners at a relatively new co-op in South Bend, Indiana. Eighteen students enrolled in an Undergraduate Qualitative Research Methods class in the spring semester of 2017 spent two months as participant observers at a co-op and collaboratively conducted 45 semistructured interviews with its member-owners. Several noneconomic issues factored prominently in the member-owners’ decisions to invest in the co-op. The majority viewed their decision to join the co-op and shop there out of a sense of responsibility for the economy and environment in their region, and to participate in and strengthen the community

The fungal metabolite 4‐hydroxyphenylacetic acid from Neofusicoccum parvum modulates defence responses in grapevine

In a consequence of global warming, grapevine trunk diseases (GTDs) have become a pertinent problem to viticulture, because endophytic fungi can turn necrotrophic upon host stress killing the plant. In Neofusicoccum parvum Bt-67, plant-derived ferulic acid makes the fungus release Fusicoccin aglycone triggering plant cell death. Now, we show that the absence of ferulic acid lets the fungus secrete 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (4-HPA), mimicking the effect of auxins on grapevine defence and facilitating fungal spread. Using Vitis suspension cells, we dissected the mode of action of 4-HPA during defence triggered by the bacterial cell-death elicitor, harpin. Early responses (cytoskeletal remodelling and calcium influx) are inhibited, as well as the expression of Stilbene Synthase 27 and phytoalexin accumulation. In contrast to other auxins, 4-HPA quells transcripts for the auxin conjugating GRETCHEN HAGEN 3. We suggest that 4-HPA is a key component of the endophytic phase of N. parvum Bt-67 preventing host cell death. Therefore, our study paves the way to understand how GTDs regulate their latent phase for successful colonisation, before turning necrotrophic and killing the vines

School Counselors\u27 Perceptions of Comprehensive School Counseling (CSC) Adherence and Implementation

Many states are introducing or revamping evaluation systems for school counselors. The viability of such systems depends greatly on their ability to help school counselors implement and adhere to comprehensive school counseling programs. This study illuminates counselors’ perceptions of the evaluation process regarding the four components (foundation, management, delivery, accountability) of the American School Counselors Association national model. Surveys of school counselors reveal they perceive the evaluation process to help very little in implementing and adhering to the foundation, management, and accountability components of comprehensive school counseling programs, and to be only somewhat helpful in implementing and adhering to the delivery component. This study indicates a need for renewed emphasis on preparing principals to effectively facilitate the evaluation process

Ancestral chemotypes of cultivated grapevine with resistance to Botryosphaeriaceae-related dieback allocate metabolism towards bioactive stilbenes

- Grapevine trunk diseases have devastating consequences on vineyards worldwide. European wild grapevines (Vitis vinifera subs. sylvestris) from the last viable population in Germany along the Rhine river showed variable degrees of resistance against Neofusicoccum parvum (strain Bt‐67), a fungus associated with Botryosphaeriaceae‐related dieback. - Representative genotypes from different subclades of this population were mapped with respect to their ability to induce wood necrosis, as well as their defence responses in a controlled inoculation system. - The difference in colonization patterns could be confirmed by cryo‐scanning electron microscopy, while there was no relationship between vessel diameter and infection success. Resistant lines accumulated more stilbenes, that were in addition significantly partitioned to nonglycosylated viniferin trimers. By contrast, the susceptible genotypes accumulated less stilbenes with a significantly higher proportion of glycosylated piceid. - We suggest a model in which in the resistant genotypes phenylpropanoid metabolism is channelled rapidly and specifically to the bioactive stilbenes. Our study specifies a resistant chemotype against grapevines trunk diseases and paves a way to breed for resistance against grapevine Botryosphaeriaceae‐related dieback