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Eyes on the Prize is the documentary series that chronicles the American civil rights movement. But it can no longer be broadcast on TV, or released on DVD. Costly archival footage that appeared in the film was licensed for only a set number of years, and those licenses have mostly expired.

The film's production company, Blackside, is investigating the cost to renew the rights. In the meantime, old, decaying VHS tapes, tucked away in school libraries, are about all that's left of the seminal documentary.

Now, the file-sharing advocacy group Downhill Battle is making Eyes on the Prize available for download on the BitTorrent file-sharing network, and is organzing public screenings around the country.

Downhill Battle's David Moore said distributing the film amounts to protected fair-use.

A lawyer for Blackside told Wired News that Downhill Battle has no legitimate fair use claim, and said Backside will pursue all legal remedies to stop illegal downloading of Eyes on the Prize.

Jon's daily tech news links:

Wired: iPods turn humans into cyborgs through "technotranscendance"

Slate: Why video games should not emulate movies

New Scientist: Google's search for meaning

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Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, are a deadly problem for American troops in Iraq.

In Wired News, reporter Noah Shachtman of DefenseTech writes that the Pentagon is searching urgently for high-tech methods to neutralize the homemade bombs.

Jon's daily tech news links:

Business Week: Amazon elbows way into Yellow Page territory

CNET News.com: Tiny PCs, ala Mac mini, as the next big thing?

New York Times: Wizards at the Apple Genius Bar

Wired: Eyes on the Prize hits P2P

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Apple's newest computer, the Mac mini, is aimed squarely at converting Windows users to Macintosh. Starting at about $500, the tiny computer is the cheapest Mac yet. It comes with no monitor, mouse or keyboard -- the idea is consumers will hook up leftovers from older Windows or Mac machines.

The Mac Mini just hit the market. Leander Kahney, who writes about Apple for Wired News, says the Mac faithful seem to like what they see.

Jon's daily tech news links:

Reuters: Stars line up to support case against file swapping

Security Focus: Feds aim to tighten nuclear cyber security

AP: Microsoft plans restrictions on security fixes

AP: Technology could speed border crossing

Wired: Improvised bombs baffle army

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A report from media research firm Kagan predicts nearly 100 million Americans will subscribe to high-definition television programming by 2015.

Currently, the number of people buying HDTV sets is far outpacing the number subcribing to HDTV programming packages. Kagan says the increasingly brisk sales of TVs will set the stage for a huge increase in HDTV subscribers.

Kagan research associate Patrick Johnson says Americans own about 12 million HDTV sets, but far fewer are watching HDTV shows.

Jon's daily tech news links:

CNET News.com: Google starts TV search, hires top Firefox programmer

AP: Gates foundation gives $750 million for immunization programs

Wired: The many faces of the Mac Mini

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A new survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that nearly 85 percent of online Americans use search engines, like Google, and about the same percentage say they're confident in their search abilities -- and pleased with search results. But many of us don't pick up on a key distinction.

"Only about forty percent of people are aware that search engines serve up to you two kinds of results, the paid or sponsored results and the unpaid or regular results," said Pew Researcher Deborah Fallows.

Jon's daily technews links:

CNET News.com: Microsoft has new plan to boost Office sales

PC World: Firefox browser gains more ground

Slate: Skinny new aacPlus audio format could replace MP3 (New MPR station KCMP streams in aacPlus)

AP: Bloggers ponder ethical guidelines

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RSS, short for Really Simple Syndication, is an increasingly popular way to view Web sites -- without having to go to the actual sites.

Using software called an RSS "reader" or "aggregator," users subscribe to "feeds" of content. For example, by subscribing to the Future Tense RSS feed, you automatically receive the content of the Future Tense Web site whenever it's updated, inside your RSS reader.

Many major news sites have added RSS.

Now, libraries are discovering that RSS might be a good way of providing new services and reaching out to patrons.

Next month, the Seattle Public Library will offer feeds that will help patrons stay on top of their accounts, and track favorite authors or subjects from the library catalog.

And library technology vendor Sirsi has announced new RSS features.

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The number of wireless Internet hotspots has topped 50,000. London has more hotspots than any other city, according to JiWire.

Jon's daily tech news links:

Business Week: eBay loses the big mo'

CNN: New threat to Wi-fi users

New York Times: The coming DVD format war

Reuters: Phishing gets more devious

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A huge chunk of Microsoft's revenues come from its pricey Office software package, which consists of word processing, spreadsheet and presentation programs. So it's keeping an eye on a free, open source competitor called OpenOffice. It's not a major threat to Microsoft yet, but an analyst says it could gain ground, and force Microsoft to consider the unthinkable: lower its prices.

Guest: Greg DeMichelie, senior research analyst at Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm

Jon's daily tech news links:

CNET News.com: Why you should worry about Wi-fi security

Detroit Free Press: Mike Wendland likes iPod Shuffle

AP: FBI abandons Carnivore

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Charities have raised record amounts of money to help victims of the Asian tsunami, and they've done much of it over the Internet.

Internet donations are bringing stark and possibly lasting changes to philanthropy.

Guest: Stacey Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Jon's daily tech news links:

CNET News.com: Game maker Electronic Arts plays hardball

New York Times: Electronic Arts, ESPN sign 15-year deal

Wired News: Cell phone shushing gets creative

BBC: Airbus unveils world's largest passenger plane

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Land mines cause 12,000 to 16,000 civilian deaths and disabilities, according to Human Rights Watch. A third of the victims are children. The U.S. State Department estimates there are 60 million active mines in more than 60 countries.

Ken Owens, a math professor from Humboldt State University in Northern California, and Paul Burgess, a graduate student, have devised new technology to safely detonate mines. It uses global positioning satellites to guide unmanned mine-clearing vehicles.

Jon's daily tech news links:

Slate: How to cheat at online poker

New Scientist: Postcards and sounds from Titan

New York Times: Craigslist takes on global classifieds market

Reuters: Radio broadcasters consider digital music stores

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A new radio documentary by Robert O'Harrow of the Washington Post and John Biewen of American RadioWorks investigates the marriage of the private data industry and law enforcement in post-9/11 America and its implications for prosecuting the war on terror and individual privacy.

No Place to Hide is based on O'Harrow's book of the same name.

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An Ottawa law professor says Canada should be the first country to create a comprehensive national digital library. Michael Geist holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa.

He says the library, which would be fully accessible online, would include a digitally scanned copy of every book, government report and legal decision ever published in Canada.

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As the annual Macworld begins today in San Francisco, one group is accusing Apple of bullying two weblogs that published information about an unannounced product code-named "Asteroid."

The famously secretive Apple recently sued the AppleInsider and PowerPage blogs, demanding to know who leaked trade secrets about Asteroid, supposedly an audio device for musicians.

Guests: Kurt Opsahl, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation; Jane Kirtley, University of Minnesota

Jon's daily tech news links:

Business Week: The shape of tech this year

CNET News.com: The new Apple crop

AP: Feds move against porn spam

NPR: Tony Cox talks tech with Boston Globe's Hiawatha Bray

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In a new survey, technology experts attempt to evaluate the future of the 'Net.

Among the predictions of 1,200 tech industry leaders, scholars, and analysts: The U.S. will be the target of a major cyber attack in the next decade.

Guest: Pew Internet researcher Susannah Fox

Jon's daily tech news links:

CNET News.com: Apple lawsuit tests First Amendment

Security Focus: Netizens eye Web-enabled surveillance cams

New York Times: Observers ponder cheap iMac

Wired: Wikipedia faces growing pains

AP: Bright future for "exergaming"

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Sims 2 is the popular real-life simulation game game in which players create virtual households populated with virtual people that they control. The goal is to nurture happy, well-adjusted characters.

Some skilled players have figured out ways to cheat or alter the normal course of the game. These unauthorized programming "hacks" include eternal youth; magic espresso that solves characters' every problem; and self-emptying toilets for toddlers in training. One hack results in Sims characters being abducted by aliens when they look through telescopes.

The problem is, these hacks are spreading like a virus, finding their way into the Sims games of average players who are bewildered by what's happening to their characters.

In today's show, Kevin Poulsen, news editor for Security Focus, explains how the Sims is starting to play like the Twilight Zone.

Jon's daily tech news links:

CNET News.com: Radio giants have new plans for Net radio

USA Today: eBay promotes computer recycling program

NPR: Rumors of "headless Mac" fly prior to MacWorld

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Trading of pirated films on the Internet is a growing headache for Hollywood. The industry is fighting back by suing users of peer-to-peer services such as BitTorrent.

Now a Silicon Valley company has introduced a new monitoring system, called FirstSource, that it says can identify the original source of a bootlegged file.

Guest: Jim Graham with BayTSP

Jon's daily tech news links:

CNET News.com: Gates touts Tivo deal

BBC: Microsoft unveils new security tools

New Scientist: Satellite imagery helping tsunami relief effort

Security Focus: Sims 2 hacks spread like viruses

New York Times: Jockeying for a power outlet

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Peer-to-peer research and measurement firm BigChampagne says the number of people logged on to peer to peer networks such as BitTorrent and eDonkey grew by 30 percent in 2004. That's despite more lawsuits against consumers who share music, movies and software online.

Guest: Eric Garland of BigChampagne

Jon's daily tech news links:

Business Week: Re-thinking the China threat

MacWorld UK: Low-cost Mac, iPod could fuel Apple market surge

AP: Las Vegas airport offers free Wi-fi

Wired: The business of fighting terror

Reuters: HD radio signs up 2,000 stations

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BitTorrent is the popular file sharing technology that speeds downloads of movies and TV shows from the Internet. It's much faster than other peer-to-peer programs, and it's making the entertainment industry nervous. Some say it turns the Internet into one giant Tivo machine.

Clive Thompson, science and technology writer for the New York Times and Wired, says BitTorrent could change everything.

Jon's daily tech news links:

CNET News.com: CES to highlight digital innovation

Reuters: Motorola to build cell phones into ski jackets

Wired: Satellite radio recording moves ahead

Kuro5hin: Wikipedia criticized by co-founder

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Weblog readership grew dramatically last year, but most Americans don't know a blog from a bluebird.

A new survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows readership of chronological online journals known as Weblogs grew significantly in 2004.

Pew Internet director Lee Rainie says the presidential campaign and other major news events fueled blog growth this past year.

Still, only about one in three Internet users say the know what a blog is.

Jon's daily tech news links:

Slate: Rating the desktop search tools

New York Times: Myths run wild in blog tsunami debate

AP: Tivo unveils mobile service

BBC: California sets fines for spyware