France's new Internet piracy police has been scouring the Web this month for people illegally downloading films and music and sending hundreds of warning emails to suspected intellectual property thieves. The implementation of France's new antipiracy law—which is one of the first in the world, along with similar legislation in South Korea, Taiwan and Britain—is considered a litmus test by other nations hoping to crack down on intellectual property theft. Responsible for implementing the law is "Hadopi," the acronym for an independent agency that reports to the French Ministry of Culture. Enforcement is meeting early resistance, underscoring how hard it will be to change the behavior of consumers accustomed to accessing pirated music and movies online. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303550904575562130775993568.html

Thousands of people opted to delete their profiles from Internet tracking firm RapLeaf Inc. on October 25, briefly causing some delays in the company's systems. The rush followed a Wall Street Journal article on RapLeaf that investigated the San Francisco firm's role in gathering and selling personal details about individuals to marketers and political campaigns. The article, part of the paper's What They Know investigation into online privacy, reported how the company takes a step beyond traditional online trackers by collecting real names and email addresses of Internet users to build detailed dossiers on them. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304248704575574653801361746.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

'All Facts Considered' By NPR's Longtime Librarian "Thank goodness for librarian Kee Malesky — who, for 20 years, has been saving NPR's hosts and reporters from themselves. Malesky is the organization's longest-serving librarian, and [NPR host Scott] Simon says he suspects that she is actually the source of all human knowledge. In her new book, All Facts Considered; An Essential Library Of Inessential Knowledge, Malesky catalogs some of the facts that she has researched so dutifully over the years."

Feedback to A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg From: Mark Adler Subject: The origin of sandwiches Woody Allen once published an extract from the Earl of Sandwich's diary: "23 May: I think I'm close to a breakthrough; two slices of bread with meat on top."

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1729-1792) was a prominent statesman and served as First Lord of the Admiralty and as Secretary of State for the Northern Department. Lord Sandwich is also remembered for sponsoring the voyages of discovery made by Captain James Cook, who named the Sandwich Islands in his honour, and as the namesake of the sandwich. John Montagu became the 11th Earl of Sandwich in 1995. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_of_Sandwich

In most countries, seasons begin on the 21st of a month. In Australia, seasons begin on the first day of a month. Summer begins December 1, autumn on March 1, winter on June 1, and spring on September 1. http://www.apex.net.au/~mhumphry/aust.html

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said October 27 that an agreement was reached with Time Warner Inc. to film "The Hobbit" movies in the Pacific country after a dispute with unions threatened to send the $500 million production overseas. Mr. Key said the movies were given the green light after two days of marathon talks with a battalion of studio executives who feared industrial action after the New Zealand Actors' Equity union called on its members and other unions around the world to boycott the "The Hobbit," accusing producers of refusing to recognize its right to negotiate minimum standards for its members. The boycott was lifted, but Time Warner needed more assurance and sent a "broad and heavy-hitting team of executives" to get it, Mr. Key said. "We have delivered an environment that is conducive to doing business," the prime minister said, explaining that the government agreed to widen a tax rebate for the film industry and fast-track labor legislation as early as October 29. The new legislation will clarify the distinction between contractors and employees, and the wider tax rebate adds up to an additional $15 million for the two movies. The government will also offset $10 million of the movie makers' marketing costs as part of the strategic agreement. Mr. Jackson's films have been followed by other big-budget movies shot in New Zealand, including "King Kong," "The Last Samurai" and "Prince Caspian." The country's film industry generated 2.8 billion New Zealand dollars ($2.1 billion) last year.
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A decade ago, only a handful of states subsidized wineries, according to WineAmerica, the industry trade group. Now all U.S. states offer funding for them. Viticulture "is at the core of agri-tourism, and states should do more" to support it, says Cary Green, chief operating officer of WineAmerica. Texas, which has 212 wineries, allocates $2.3 million a year for wine research, marketing, and grants for producers, nine times the level in 2005. Ohio spent more than $1.1 million on subsidies for its wine industry in the 12 months through June, up 38 percent over the previous year. And Virginia dedicates 70 percent of its tax of 30¢ per bottle of wine—a total of about $1.3 million this year—to promote the industry. The federal government is bellying up, too. The 2008 Farm Bill, which sets spending priorities through 2012, for the first time earmarked money to support specialty crops, including programs that help wineries. http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/oct2010/sb20101020_349721.htm