FTC seal. | Image: The Verge The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a group of eight states have announced a proposed settlement with big ad agencies that will prevent them from working together to avoid certain platforms like X based on their political viewpoints. In a complaint, the FTC argues that ad agencies violated antitrust rules by agreeing to a common set of brand safety rules, which would disfavor sites and services deemed to contain content like misinformation. That includes establishing groups like the World Federation of Advertisers' now-defunct Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) to coordinate collective brand safety efforts. GARM was named as … Read the full story at The Verge. View the full article

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: Spotify and several major record labels, including UMG, Sony, and Warner, secured a $322 million default judgment against the unknown operators of Anna's Archive. The shadow library failed to appear in court and briefly released millions of tracks that were scraped from Spotify via BitTorrent. In addition to the monetary penalty, a permanent injunction required domain registrars and other parties to suspend the site's domain names. [...] The music labels get the statutory maximum of $150,000 in damages for around 50 works. Spotify adds a DMCA circumvention claim of $2,500 for 120,000 music files, bringing the total to more than $322 million. The plaintiff previously described their damages request as "extremely conservative." The DMCA claim is based only on the 120,000 files, not the full 2.8 million that were released. Had they applied the $2,500 rate to all released files, the damages figure would exceed $7 billion. Anna's Archive did not show up in court, and the operators of the site remain unidentified. The judgment attempts to address this directly, by ordering Anna's Archive to file a compliance report within ten business days, under penalty of perjury, that includes valid contact information for the site and its managing agents. Whether the site will comply with this order is highly uncertain. For now, the monetary judgment is mostly a victory on paper, as recouping money from an unknown entity is impossible. For this reason, the music companies also requested a permanent injunction. In addition to the damages award, [Judge Jed Rakoff] entered a permanent worldwide injunction covering ten Anna's Archive domains: annas-archive.org, .li, .se, .in, .pm, .gl, .ch, .pk, .gd, and .vg. Domain registries and registrars of record, along with hosting and internet service providers, are ordered to permanently disable access to those domains, disable authoritative nameservers, cease hosting services, and preserve evidence that could identify the site's operators. The judgment names specific third parties bound by those obligations, including Public Interest Registry, Cloudflare, Switch Foundation, The Swedish Internet Foundation, Njalla SRL, IQWeb FZ-LLC, Immaterialism Ltd., Hosting Concepts B.V., Tucows Domains Inc., and OwnRegistrar, Inc. Anna's Archive is also ordered to destroy all copies of works scraped from Spotify and to file a compliance report within ten business days, under penalty of perjury, including valid contact information for the site and its managing agents. That last requirement could prove significant, given that the identity of the site's operators remains unknown. Read more of this story at Slashdot. View the full article

Taylor Momsen is powering through a frightening health scare on tour. Momsen, 32, revealed a venomous spider bite landed her in the hospital while touring in Mexico City. The actress-turned-singer has shared updates with fans, revealing she received treatment from doctors in Mexico after the bite "did a number" on her system. "Hospital today, show tomorrow, poisonous spiders are NO BUENO," Momsen wrote on Instagram on April 14. "but the show must go on, see you tomorrow Mexico City!" Momsen posted an update Wednesday writing, "Or I just spend the night in the hospital…thank you to the amazing doctors who, well, they know." MEGAN THEE STALLION RUSHED TO HOSPITAL AFTER BROADWAY SHOW STOPS MID-PERFORMANCE The "Gossip Girl" star first revealed the spider bite a week ago in an update to fans. "So it wouldn’t be an AC/DC tour if I didn’t get bit…this time a massive spider decided to take a chunk out of me and its venom did a number on my system so had to have the wonderful doctors in Mexico come and deliver quite the shot before the show last night…add it to the list!" she wrote on Instagram. "Spider woman? Batgirl? WTF" CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER Momsen was seemingly referencing the time she was attacked by a bat while performing on stage. "There's a f---ing flying bat on my leg right now," Momsen said during a 2024 concert in Spain, according to E! News. "Can someone help me please?" "Gracias!" the outlet reported she said as someone removed the bat from her leg. "It's all right. And the bat's fine. He's gonna be my new friend." LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS Momsen later shared the bat had actually bitten her. "He was cute, but yes he bit me," she wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post, according to the outlet. "so rabies shots for the next two weeks." "Thanks to all the staff at the hospital who dubbed me #batgirl after seeing it on the local news that morning," she continued. "That's one for the books!!!!" Momsen rose to fame as a child actress, first capturing attention as Cindy Lou Who in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" before becoming a teen star on the hit series "Gossip Girl." She made a bold pivot to music at the height of her acting career. She joined The Pretty Reckless band as the lead singer, reshaping her public image. The band went on to score multiple No. 1 hits. With albums like "Going to Hell" and "Death by Rock and Roll," Momsen established herself as a serious force in rock music, ultimately redefining her career from TV star to chart-topping rock frontwoman. View the full article

Country music legend Billy Ray Cyrus defended President Donald Trump in a new interview, calling the presidency a "tough job" and urging Americans to pray for the country. While discussing his upcoming album, the conversation turned to politics, and when asked if the president should be less divisive, Cyrus pointed to his upbringing. "I can’t speak to his voice — he’s the president," Cyrus told Sky News. "My dad was a Democrat and served in the Kentucky legislature for over 20 years, but my dad always said, ‘When the president asks you to do something, you do it, son.’" The country star has spanned both sides of the political aisle, describing himself as a Democrat before endorsing Trump’s reelection bid in 2024 with a photo of the two together. He also played at the Liberty Ball in January 2025 to mark Trump’s return to the White House. COUNTRY STAR TRACY LAWRENCE CALLS OUT ‘DIVISIVE’ POLITICAL CLIMATE: MUSIC SHOULD BRING US 'ALL TOGETHER’ Cyrus said he respects the office of the president, regardless of party. "I’ve had both Democratic and Republican presidents. Served with Bill Clinton, with President Obama. Mr. Bush, Mr. Bush’s dad and Mr. Trump," Cyrus said. "Being president’s a tough job. I pray for our country. I pray for our president and I pray for our world," he added. The singer’s performance at the Liberty Ball drew criticism online after technical glitches. Cyrus later told People magazine the honor of the invitation outweighed the equipment issues. JOHN RICH CHOOSES 'A BLOODY NOSE' OVER STAYING SILENT IN THE FACE OF CANCEL CULTURE "I wouldn’t have missed the honor of playing this event whether my microphone, guitar and monitors worked or not. I was there because President Donald J. Trump invited me." "I had a ball at the Liberty Ball last night, and I’ve learned through all these years when the producer says, 'You’re on,' you go entertain the folks even if the equipment goes to hell. I was there for the people, and we had a blast. That’s called rock n' roll!!!" Shortly after the performance, his adopted son Trace Cyrus posted a public message, saying he was unsure what the singer was "struggling with" and that the family is concerned. COUNTRY STAR ZAC BROWN WARNS ‘POVERTY OF SPIRIT’ AND LACK OF STRUGGLE ARE RUINING AMERICAN KIDS "We are all hanging on to memories of the man we once knew & hoping for the day he returns. You’re not healthy Dad & everyone is noticing it," Trace wrote on Instagram. "Just like I showed up for you at mamaws funeral when you didn’t expect me to I’m still here right now," he added. Cyrus responded with his own message on YouTube. "Sunday callin," he captioned his post. "Giving thanks for the California Rain. Praying for the brokenhearted and their pain. Praying for my family. For my children… sons and daughters… and their mother. Let this moment be the start of healing for us all. 'The past does not equal the future.' Amen." View the full article

The White House has announced that NASA will work with the Departments of Defense and Energy to put nuclear reactors in orbit and on the surface of the moon.View the full article