In March 2008, Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails released the first part of Ghosts I-IV via BitTorrent, and released all four albums under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license. Even though fans could easily get free versions of the album, Ghosts actually went on to become the best-selling album of 2008 on Amazon's MP3 store.

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Radiohead's In Rainbows, another high-profile album which was available for free for a limited time in late 2007, ended the year just outside of Amazon's Top 10 for 2008.

Why Pay for Free Music?

Trent Reznor himself questioned the viability ...

Sometimes modern design and minimalism go a little too far and it’s hard to figure out exactly what the products are.  We’ve tracked down 19 products that look quite cool but leave you wondering wtf? The Cell Tankless Toilet Even in the most modern bathroom design, a toilet is a toilet right? Apparently not, which is fine with us [...]

If you’ve been staring at the Sun lately, then you may have noticed it looks a wee bit bigger today than it did a few days ago. That’s not because the UV light from the Sun is frying your retina; it’s actually true. Today is perihelion, the time when the Earth is closest to the [...]

After suing over 35,000 people since 2003, the RIAA has reached agreements with undisclosed ISPs to throttle or shutter subscribers' internet connections if they ignore warnings to stop sharing music. The process would replace a "subpoena, settle or sue" process...

This crapping robot toilet-paper holder manages to signal your literacy, robophilia, and deep commitment to bowel evacuation, all in one simple package. Bravo! Newspaper reader - toilet paperholder (Thanks, Alice!)...

And getting the price just right -- something that never happened in the show's history -- has created an Internet buzz over how contestant Terry ; did it.