This August The Pirate Bay was “censored” in Italy following a decree from a public prosecutor. The Pirate Bay appealed the block and eventually won the court case. Earlier this week the Court of Bergamo detailed its decision, and ruled that no foreign website can be censored for alleged copyright infringement.

Two months ago, following an order from an Italian prosecutor, ISPs started to prevent their customers from accessing the Pirate Bay. The administrators of the popular BitTorrent tracker were accused of making copyrighted material available on the Internet for commercial purposes.

Of course, the Pirate Bay team didn’t agree, and responded in true Pirate Bay style. “We’re quite used to fascist countries not allowing freedom of speech. A lot of smaller nations that have dictators decide to block our site since we can help spread information that could be harmful to the dictators,” Sunde wrote in a blog entry.

The BitTorrent tracker was not going down without a fight, and later announced that it would appeal the decision in court, which they won. The block was lifted and ISPs could again grant their users access to the most frequently used BitTorrent tracker on the Internet.

The Court of Bergamo decided that this block was unlawful, and earlier this week they explained why. According to the court statement (Italian), no criminal court is allowed to issue an order to ISPs to block traffic to a foreign website, based on alleged copyright infringement. Italian law implements an European Directive, 2000/31 CE, which this means that this ruling should be valid in other European countries as well.

“Under Italian law, this is possible only for child porn and for unauthorized gambling, but there is no such provision for copyright infringement,” Pirate Bay’s lawyers Giovanni Battista Gallus and Francesco Micozzi explained to TorrentFreak.

“We have to make sure that no legislative bill promoting such filtering provisions will be passed in the future. At the European level, many authorities pointed out the need to find a balance between the enforcement of alleged copyright infringements, users’ rights, and privacy issues.”

In hindsight, the block only helped the Pirate Bay to grow even further. The case generated a lot of free promotion, and the number of visitors from Italy increased by 5 percent. Not exactly the outcome IFPI had hoped for.

Post from: TorrentFreak

Nicole Kidman thinks that swimming in the Australian Outback waterfalls, while filming Baz Lurhmann’s Australia, might have contributed to her unexpected pregnancy during the last year.

The 41-year-old Oscar-winning actress, who gave birth to daughter Sunday Rose in July, spoke candidly about her pregnancy saying, “I never thought that I would get pregnant and give birth to a child, but it happened on this movie,” reports The Associated Press.

Kidman, who is married to country crooner Keith Urban, said that she wasn’t the only woman who swam in the waterfalls and got pregnant. “Seven babies were conceived out of this film and only one was a boy. There is something up there in the Kununurra… so we can call it the fertility waters now,” Kidman said.

Frankie Knuckles, a DJ who inspired millions of people to dance to house music, has had to have his leg amputated due to complications from diabetes.

Reports on the web suggest that the DJ otherwise known as the ‘godfather of house’ is in recovery after the operation, and messages of support from fans are being posted on forums as you read this.

One message from a fan read: “I can literally remember exact moments on the dance floor, what was playing, who I was dancing with, and yes, what I was wearing (hello).

“One such memory involves the classic Frankie Knuckles track, ‘The Whistle Song’. It was the last song of the night. Or, more specifically, it was the first song of the day.

“The setting was a Hunter’s Point warehouse, and the industrial gate had just been lifted, exposing the white daylight.

“Fog swirled inside the warehouse from under the gate, exchanging humid dancing air for semi-toxic fresh air.

“The DJ (sorry, I can’t remember who you were) played the ‘Whistle Song’ and everyone went nuts for a few reasons.

“One, it’s a great fucking song, the perfect, ethereal morning song. And second, how can you not go nuts when you know the party’s almost over? Didn’t we live for this shit? The party ending was something I had a hard time facing.

“Thanks for the perfect morning, Frankie Knuckles, for making me always want more.”

Born on January 18 1955, Frankie Knuckles played a crucial role in the development of house music as a DJ in Chicago in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

His DJ residency at the Warehouse club, which began in 1977, is widely credited as being the birthplace for house music.

In August 2004 Jefferson Street in Chicago was renamed ‘Frankie Knuckles Way’, as it was near the site of the Warehouse.

From: BeatPortal

Ibizavoice.com is reporting that authorities closed DC-10 this morning mere minutes before Circoloco was set to begin with its penultimate 2008 edition.

The embattled venue was closed earlier this summer, forced by authorities to serve out the remainder of the 60 day ban that had been handed down in 2007. After opening again in mid-August for business, however, last week the Sant Josep Council made the decision to inform the club of yet another sanction: a €300,000 fine and closure for 1 year.

Once again, it seems as if the legal issue is the capacity of the club, which is only officially allowed to have 65 people on the premises at any one time. Ibizavoice reports that DC10 appealed the decision, but that “the Judge refused to retract after balancing the financial interests of DC10 with the obvious discrepancy in the number of people allowed in, and actually attending, the club.”

As it stands now, the next time it will be possible for the club to open will be in 2010, but considering how arduous the legal process has been thus far, we’d advise clubbers not to hold their breath. The Ibiza hotspot may finally have seen its final party.

From: ResidentAdvisor

Richard William Wright (28 July 1943 - 15 September 2008) a self-taught pianist and keyboardist best known for his long career with Pink Floyd died a few days ago in his 65 year of age.

Pink Floyd’s spokesman Doug Wright, who is not related to the artist, said Wright died after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. He says the band member’s family did not want to give