Balance Sheet

Jeff Taylor from the June 2005 issue

Assets

Cuban Revolution

Citing the need to protect innovation, billionaire techie and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban comes to the aid of the file-sharing network Grokster. Cuban promises to pay the legal bills Grokster has racked up fighting the movie industry over copyright issues.

Tolerating Tolerance

Texas, Indiana, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania are among the states whose schools are stepping back from brain-dead "zero tolerance" regulations. Adopted in the '90s in a frenzied attempt to combat drugs and violence, the rules have spawned nothing but harsh punishment for trivial violations.

High Cotton

Upholding a complaint by Brazil, the World Trade Organization increases pressure on the U.S. to lower subsidies for cotton farmers. Should other countries follow Brazil's lead, more subsidized crops may be found to violate WTO rules.

Pre-Calc Precondition

A Texas judge tosses out a high school student's lawsuit against mandatory summer homework. Peer Larson argued that Whitnall High School's honors pre-calculus class had to stick to the 180-day school calendar. The judge said Larson should have read the class requirements.

Leaning Legal

The New Mexico state Senate backs several bills to allow cancer patients and others limited use of marijuana. Gov. Bill Richardson appears to support the idea.

Blocking Tackled

The Federal Communications Commission fines a small ISP that tried to block Voice Over Internet Protocol traffic, even though that use was not forbidden by its terms of service. The Net phone traffic competed directly with the phone service the company was trying to sell. The $15,000 fine--roughly $75 per blocked customer--isn't much, but it does send a message.

Liabilities

Powder Corrupts