Search Results for: against me

At worst, Hillary Transue thought she might get a stern lecture when she appeared before a judge for building a spoof MySpace page mocking the assistant principal at her high school in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. She was a stellar student who had never been in trouble, and the page stated clearly at the bottom that it was just a joke. Instead, the judge sentenced her to three months at a juvenile detention center on a charge of harassment. She was handcuffed and taken away as her stunned parents stood by. “I felt like I had been thrown into some surreal sort… Read more »

The former self-styled manager of Britney Spears sued the pop star and her parents on Tuesday, accusing them of slander and failing to pay his fees. Sam Lutfi, Spears’ constant companion in late 2007 at the height of her personal and professional meltdown, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court after a renewed flurry of legal moves against him. His lawsuit names Britney Spears, her father and mother Jamie and Lynne Spears and alleges libel, defamation, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract Lufti claimed Jamie Spears punched him in the chest in January 2008 and… Read more »

In another sign of the music industry’s recently announced retreat from a five-year-old antipiracy strategy, the Recording Industry Association of America has dumped the company it used to help it gather evidence for mass lawsuits it filed against people it claimed were illegally uploading copyrighted music. The RIAA long used a company called MediaSentry to troll the Internet in search of people who uploaded large amounts of music. The information that MediaSentry collected became an integral part of the RIAA’s aggressive litigation campaign. Since 2003, the RIAA — a trade organization representing Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group, Sony Corp.’s Sony… Read more »

The Federal Communications Commission has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the indecency case over Janet Jackson ‘s breast-baring performance at the 2004 Super Bowl . The FCC this week appealed a ruling by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, saying that court was wrong to throw out the case and a $550,000 fine against CBS Corp. in July. The appellate court cited the FCC practice of not considering objectionable images indecent if they are “fleeting.” In Jackson’s halftime show at the 2004 Super Bowl, which spawned the case, she briefly flashed a breast as she… Read more »

Apple Inc. announced Friday it is contributing $100,000 to the campaign against California’s Proposition 8, which would outlaw same-sex marriage in the state. In a statement posted on its Web site, the company, based in Cupertino, Calif., called marriage a fundamental right. “Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation,” the statement said. With the political donation and the statement, Apple joins Google in opposing Proposition… Read more »

The Jonas Brothers will perform during halftime of the Dallas Cowboys’ nationally televised Thanksgiving Day game against the Seattle Seahawks. The band will officially kick off the 2008 Salvation Army Red Kettle Christmas campaign at the November 27 contest. The fundraising drive continues through Christmas Eve. Since its partnership with the Cowboys, which began in 1997, the annual Red Kettle campaign has raised more than $1 billion, helping the Salvation Army serve 30 million people each year nationwide. Last year, the campaign raised a record $118 million. Previous halftime performers include Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Sheryl Crow, Destiny’s Child, Toby… Read more »

Not that their tween legions needed any more fuel for their obsession, but the Jonas Brothers have just come up with a foolproof way of ensuring the loyalty of their minions: promising to marry their biggest fans. Of course, Kevin, Joe and Nick (who happens to be celebrating his Sweet 16 today) no doubt meant the biggest fans of their respective, private, individual selves–alas, the finer points of semantics have never been the forte of the young and hormonal. “The answer is YES,” the brothers collectively wrote in a post on their MySpace page in answer to fan-generated questions of… Read more »

John Lennon’s killer told parole officials during his latest unsuccessful bid for release from prison that he is ashamed and sorry for gunning down the former Beatle nearly three decades ago. Mark David Chapman was interviewed by the parole board for a fifth time Aug. 12 and was immediately denied release. A transcript of the hearing was made public Tuesday. The 53-year-old Chapman told the parole panel that, over the years, he has come to realize the gravity of what he did, and how it affected not only Lennon, but his wife, children and anybody who knew him. “I recognized… Read more »

Former Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus sued a father-and-son business Monday, alleging they pocketed his investment in a venture to install automated checkout machines at McDonald’s restaurants. The lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court says Ed and Jeff Mitchell lined their pockets “to the tune of over $1.5 million.” It alleges their company – Missicom LLC of San Diego – does not have any contracts to install the machines to take orders and collect payments at McDonald’s or anywhere else. Hoppus, currently a member of the pop-punk band Plus-44, invested $600,000 in Missicom in October 2003, according to the complaint. The… Read more »

Federal regulators formally approved the merger of the nation’s only two satellite radio operators Friday, ending a 16-month-long drama closely watched by Washington and Wall Street. Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.’s $3.3 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. will mean 18 million-plus subscribers will be able to receive programming from both services. Executives say it will mean huge cost savings that will lead to a first-ever profit for the relatively nascent industry. The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to approve the buyout, with the tiebreaker coming Friday night from Republican commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate. Tate had insisted that… Read more »