Waiting for the night.
To fly this nest and enter
A whole other life.

The European summit has collapsed. Signor Berlusconi declared the meeting of 25 European premiers "a total and unmitigated failure" after they failed to reach an agreement on the constitutional framework for the enlarged EU. With just five months until ten new nations enter the world's largest free trade area, one would have thought that such little details as "how the damned thing's going to hang together" would have been sorted out by now. But no, they have to leave everything to the last minute. Costume Lady was right, and the Patty Chases in charge of some of the continent's democracies have been left with the pirate costumes. Again.

A decision from the Canadian Copyright Board. And it's a biggy. The Board's frozen existing copyright protection tariffs such as blank CDs at their prior rates. It's added a new tariff on embedded memory on MP3 devices starting at C$2 (EUR 1.20) for up to 1 gigabyte of hard drive space to a maximum of C$25 (EUR 15) for hard drives of 10 gigabytes or more.

It is clearly the Board's view that the private copying exemption does not apply to uploading or making music available. At the same time, it is clearly of the view that it the private copying exemption does apply to downloading of music provided that it is for personal use and that it is copied to media covered or potentially covered by the regime. Very importantly, this means copying to a personal computer hard drive is covered. The board does not believe that it matters where the original comes from -- they are concerned only with end copying.

Instantly, this proves a huge obstacle - possibly an insurmountably massive one - to Canada's record cartel taking a similar approach to their southern compatriots in the RIAA. The Canadian Copyright Panel has, effectively, ruled out the "it's stealing our copyright" attack against those who download files.

The board hadn't been asked to look at a levy to cover computer hard drives. Yet. It's asked Canadian policy makers to examine the issue.

The board remains of the view that private copies (explicitly including MP3s) are not of the same value as the original CD. This has an impact on the size of the levy, and is further ammunition against the RIAA's strategy.

On the size and scope of the copyright levy itself --
- CD-R and CD-RW stay the same -- there's no clear evidence of a change of usage.
- DVD-R won't be subject to the levy -- music copying is not the predominant use
- MP3 players -- there will be a tariff, but well below that requested by the record companies.
The board acknowledges the effect of the levy on the market and discussed grey market issues - products imported from the US, or other countries where there is no such tax.

In short, this is a massive, massive blow to the record companies. With various EU countries planning a similar tax, one can only assume that this thinking will be adduced as evidence.

[Based on a posting to politech by Michael Geist.]

[Politech is the oldest and most popular mailing list devoted to politics and technology. It is moderated by Declan McCullagh, and list archives and information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe can be found at: http://www.politechbot.com/]

Eye check, check. Tooth check,
check. Prevention is better
than cure. And costly.

Yep, the semi-annual checkups. Eyes are still in working order, obviously, I think I'd have noticed if they weren't. And teeth are in good order, still.

Interesting journey to get there: leave my house 0905, reach station, buy ticket, wait for train to pull into platform, find I've boarded the 0903. The train that left two minutes before I left my house. Er.

Then the awkward nature of getting from New Street to Wolverhampton at 0945 in the morning. It can't be done. The stopper leaves at 0940, then there's no train to Wulfruna's city until 1007. Sure, there's a Vermin train to Manchester, but that flies through at 15mph and doesn't stop until Stafford.

Looks like they're finally giving Wolverhampton a fourth proper platform, on the far side of the station. I've long argued that three through platforms (plus a bay at each end) is remarkably inflexible for such a busy station. Finally, the railways agree with my analysis.

Elsewhere... Het Graun on the growing acceptance of gay people; that an MP posed for semi-naked photos is not a matter for criticism, but that he posed in Y-fronts is.

Canada has a new premier: Paul Martin takes over from Jean Chretien. The long-serving PM has stepped down after ten years to spend more time with his cheese.

Six pounds fifty for
a haircut. At half the price,
it would be a snip.

Well, the festive decorations are up on this site. For those of you with very good memories, this is almost the same as it was last year. For those of you without very good memories, you said you liked her in September.

Tuesday: The Daily Pornographersrag: "A taxpayers' revolt across Middle Britain was growing last night as home owners facing soaring council tax bill signalled they would not pay a penny more."
Wednesday: The Daily Pornographersrag: "Millions of despairing middle class voters are threatening to sink the Government in revenge for rocketing council tax bills."

So, it was growing on Tuesday, threatened on Wednesday, and conspicuously absent from the rag today. I suppose it's the antithesis of the more popular Daily Comic's obsession with Birtney's expanding Pears.

Justin Timberlankey's muppets called Real Radio Yorkshire's Terry Underhill to arrange a 15-minute interview. They subsequently cut the interview length to 10 and then five minutes. They said Mr Underhill couldn't talk about Michael Jackson, Timberlankey's love life, Eminem, Iraq, or President Bush. Mr Underhill decided not to waste five minutes of his listeners' lives and ditched the 'Trousersnake' chat. Over 200 listeners called to say he did the right thing.

Jennifer Love Hewitt plans to hold a party tomorrow for Lake Arrowhead, California, Berks. The township was devastated by fire earlier in the year, prompting many in the community to say "Haven't we suffered enough already?"

Hacking and coughing,
Germs fly around the office.
Stay at home, sickies.

Rage builds up in me.
Feel it, hear it, let rage out.
Feeling better now.

NFL Tables You Can Use!

AFC East                     W L Div Com
**-New England Flying Elvii 11 2 3-1 6-1
Miami Marine Mammals         8 5 2-2 4-3
Buffalo Peelers              6 7 2-2 3-4
New Jersey / B               5 8 1-3 4-4

AFC North                 W L Div Com
Baltimore Quoths          8 5 2-2 5-2
Cincinnati Bungles        7 6 3-2 3-2
Pittsburgh Iron Pyrites   5 8 3-2 2-5
x-Cleveland Browns v2.11b 4 9 1-3 3-4

AFC South                  W L Div Com
Indianapolis Lucky Charms 10 3 4-1 5-2
Flaming Thumbtacks         9 4 3-2 4-2
x-Houston Moo Cows         5 8 1-3 4-3
x-Jacksonville Inkspots    4 9 2-4 1-4

AFC West              W  L Div Com
*-Kansas City Chiefs 11  2 5-1 4-1
Denver Cursors        8  5 5-1 3-3
x-Oakland Ramraiders  3 10 1-4 2-4
x-San Diego Flats     3 10 0-5 3-3

New England's got the division, as the Elvii have swept the season series against the Mammals. Kansas hasn't got the division because Denver could beat them on common opposition; the Chiefs' win against Baltimore counts out the Quoths, and 10 wins in the AFC would beat Miami's 8.

Five wins keeps sides in the playoff hunt: NJB would beat the Mammals on division, and all 8 wins would come from the AFC. Pittsburgh could yet win the division.

Elsewhere: Indy has the tie-break on the Thumbtacks. Denver (Cleveland, GB, Indy) has the disadvantage on Miami (Philly, Buffalo, NJB) in the remaining games, but this could go to strength of schedule.

NFC East                                  W L Div Com
*-Philadelphia Lovers                    10 3 4-1 5-2
Dallas Cowpersons                         8 5 3-1 3-4
Potomac Drainage Basin Indigenous Persons 5 8 1-3 3-5
x-New Jersey / A                          4 9 1-4 0-5

NFC North             W L Div Com
Minnesota Norsemen    8 5 4-1 3-3
Bay of Green          7 6 4-2 2-3
x-Chicago Hibernaters 5 8 1-4 4-3
x-Detroit Peugeots    4 9 2-4 1-4

NFC South              W  L Div Com
Carolina Fatcats       8  5 5-1 3-4
New Orleans Boy Scouts 6  7 3-3 2-3
City of Tampa          6  7 2-3 4-2
x-Atlanta Typos        3 10 1-4 2-4

NFC West               W  L Div Com
*-St Louis Mouflons   10  3 3-2 6-0
Seattle Blue Men Group 8  5 3-0 4-4
San Fransisco 44-9ers  6  7 2-3 3-4
x-Arizona Cautions     3 10 1-4 2-5

Philly and St Louis have their playoff berths as their victories both include Green Bay. Chicago can't win the division on their pisspoor divisional standings, nor can they beat any other 8-5 side.

Bay of Green's season finishes against Denver, Oakland, and San Diego; their seven NFC victories is currently one ahead of all the 8-5 sides.

Frost covers the glass.
There's an icy nip in the air.
Wear thick gloves. And hat.

So, the annual Record Of The Year silliness last night. Remember, it's first and foremost an excuse for ITV to flog advertising to a young audience; secondly an excuse to generate even more phone voting revenue; and finally, an award that tries to be credible, but fails.

The twenty nominees were reduced to ten by voting last weekend, and appear as follows on the webshite. Two of four in each group progressed.

A: Year 3000 - Busted; Be Faithful - Fat Man Scoop; Stop living the lie - David Sneddon; Turn me on - Kevin Lyttle
B: Cheeky song - The Cheeky Girls; Move your feet - Junior Senior; Bring me to life - Evanesence; Make louvroom 5ft. - Oliver Cheatham
C: Sweet dreams my LA ex - Rachel Stevens; Breathe - Blu Cantrell Ft. Sean Paul; Ignition remix - R. Kelly; Mandy - Westlife
D: Crazy in love - Beyonce; Lose yourself - Eminem; Where is the love? - Black eyed peas; Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
E: If you're not the one - Daniel Bedingfield; White flag - Dido; In da club - 50 Cent; Sound of the underground - Girls Aloud

Instantly, we spot two hugemungous omissions. No place for the biggest single week sale of the year, and second biggest seller, Gagagagagagareth Gates' Spirit In The Sky, nor for Tatu's #4 for the year All The Things She Said. Pestside have been included, in spite of being released after the October 31 cutoff date, while there's no place for Ultrabeat's Pretty Green Eyes, Jennifer Lopez's All I Have, Justin Timberlanky's Bore Me With Drivel, Kelly Rowland's Stole or XTM's Fly On The Wings Of Love, all of which have outsold Busted this year alone. Not entirely convinced by putting Blu (#3 for the year) and Kelly (#5) in the same qualifying group, either.

Anyway, quickly through positions eight, nine, and ten (some arrangement of Evanescence, Room 5, and Dido) and six and seven (Bouncey and Scoop.)

Then we come to the voting. As it's been for the past three years, voting is by ITV region, and gives 10-9-8-7-6 for the overall top five. This gives the 144,000 people in the Channel region the same weight as the 10.8 million in the London area. That's not quite right.

Exact voting figures haven't been released, naturally, but we can make an approximation, based on the percentage votes given for the top three and the region's population. I've assumed that the fourth placed song got 30% of the vote that didn't go to the top 3, and the fifth placed record 30% of what's left. In a couple of cases, this would give the 4th placed song more votes than the 3rd, so it's allocated 1% fewer than the 3rd. Here's table 1.

Region    Pest Bust Dbed BEPs Rach
Anglia     19   26   17   11   8
Border     18   33   14   11   7
HTV        31   18   16   11   7
Channel    19   17   24   8   12
Grampian   20   33   12   8   10
Granada    29   16   17   8   11
London     24   18   13   16   9
Central    18   11   30   17   7
TyneTees   15   32   16   11   8
Scottish   17   13   27   9   12
Ulster     56   8    14   7    5
Westward   13   19   27   10   9
Yorkshire  17   23   16   9   13
Southern   25   19   18   11   8
SMS        12   16   28   11  10

SMS votes were tallied nationally as a fifteenth region, and there were about 200,000 of those. I've allocated a notional population of 3.8 million to the SMS "region"; that's about 60% of last year's viewing figure for the main show.

From here, we get a bit clever. I'm going to allocate points based on the votes and the size of the region. Take the number of UK MEPs (84), double it, and add one for the Channel Islands. That gives us 169 points to dish out. Table 2 demonstrates how the 169 points are allocated within the regions.

Region    Pop Pts
Anglia    4.6 13
Border    0.7  2
HTV       4.0 12
Channel   0.2  1
Grampian  1.1  3
Granada   6.3 18
London   10.8 32
Central   5.9 17
TyneTees  3.0  9
Scottish  3.5 10
Ulster    1.9  6
Westward  1.7  5
Yorkshire 4.9 14
Southern  5.5 16
SMS       3.8 11

Within each region, allocate points by the Sainte-Legue method, dividing through by 1, 3, 5, and so on. This method will tend to converge very quickly to the true state of the parties. Records, sorry. The points grid is in Table 3.

Region      Pop   Pts Pest Bust Dbed BEPs Rach
Anglia      4.6   13   3    4   3      2   1
Border      0.7    2   1    1   0      0   0
HTV         4.0   12   4    3   2      2   1
Channel     0.2    1   0    0   1      0   0
Grampian    1.1    3   1    1   1      0   0
Granada     6.3   18   6    4   4      2   2
London     10.8   32   10   7   5      6   4
Central     5.9   17   4    2   6      4   1
TyneTees    3.0    9   2    3   2      1   1
Scottish    3.5   10   2    2   3      1   2
Ulster      1.9    6   4    1   1      0   0
Westward    1.7    5   1    1   1.5    1   0.5
Yorkshire   4.9   14   3    4   3      2   2
Southern    5.5   16   5    4   3      2   2
SMS         3.8   11   2    2   4      2   1
           57.9  169  48   39  39.5   25  17.5

The half point arises because votes were rounded to the nearest percentage, and the percentages were tied.

And there you have it. Conclusive proof, as if it were needed, that the ITV televoters have no brains at all.

Walk in frosty hills
Can't beat laying in the bed
The best laid plans, eh?

Some searches for November. Not a classic month.

This week's sales charts.

Will Young has the biggest album; Friday's Child shifted almost 120,000 copies to pass Dildo, Kiddyfiddler, Busted, and Pestside and take the top slot. The 'side slump 1-5 in their second week, confirming they don't sell much beyond the fan base. That's not true for Sparky Parks; she keeps her top 10 position at #9, one place ahead of Sir Cliff de Richard - his Cliff At Cliffmas disk climbs eight. A credible result for Alicia Keys - the Diary Of... enters at #13 without a radio single or all that much promotion.

Alarming slumps for Kylie, now #27 in her third week, and for Enrique, #29 second week out. Disaster for Britney, she's #51 after three weeks, and ranks behind albums from Jools Holland and G Unit.

Elsewhere, it's the usual reshuffle of places. Gals Allowed repackaged their disk, and return at #42, while No Doubt's singles collection can only make #46. We only know the band for two albums, and most fans will have those. Offspring was the rock act of early 99 - five years on, they have Splinter in at #74.

6 Music should be playing Katie Melua, they're not, they're fools, her album should be #1 on their chart, and is the only album in the 75 by an act yet to make the 40. Miss Melua does make the singles chart at #10, immediately behind entries from D-Side, Dildo, and Simply Bald. Gagagagagareth can only make #4 with Say It Isn't So - it is so, it's his smallest hit ever, and it's beaten for the HNE by Black Eyed Peas' Shut Up at #2. Willy Young holds the #1 seller for a second week.

Lower down, Muse and Delta Goodrem enter the top 20, Daniel O'Donnell and Blu Cantrell just miss. Slump of the week goes to Kiddyfiddler, slumping 5-21 as his fanbase drains away. Rugby tie-in Swing Low Sweet Chariot is up 8 to 28, ahead of a new release by Nelly.

In the Chart Of The Year, Willy climbs from 40 to 17, and becomes the fourth biggest selling new UK song of the year. The Darkness's I Believe In... moves ahead of Busted's Year 3000, so it's certainly not their weekend. Shane Richie moves past both of those, and is now the 26th biggest seller of the year. After three weeks, Pestside are still only at #41, and Gals Aloud have closed to within seven places. Busted's Crash the Wedding and recent hits from Britney and Kylie are still making slow progress.