BREAKING: Armed robbery hoax

It's apparently a hoax, but several McDonald's restaurants have received phone calls warning of impending armed robberies using machine guns. The stores phoned earlier today include those located in Ames, Boone, Des Moines and Marshalltown, all in Iowa. Des Moines police are the latest to respond to calls.

CC weighs in on satellite radio merger

Sirius and XM Satellite Radio have been working on a merger, which has the attention of terrestrial broadcasters like Clear Channel Radio, who is aggressively marketing digital radio (HD Radio), which places hybrid digital layers over regular AM & FM frequencies.

In an FCC filing, Clear Channel suggests a few concessions should the merger be permitted, so that competition between local broadcasters and satcasters can be preserved:

The satcaster should set aside portions of its channels over-the-air and public interest programming; subscribe to decency rules; not broadcast local content; not receive monies from local advertising; and that it build-in HD Radio receivers to each of its units so subscribers are provided a choice between subscription-based and free, over-the-air programming.

Without these concessions, the merged companies would have an unfair, dominant market position and could conceivably strike exclusive deals with car makers and effectively shut out free, over-the-air radio.

Spam King Pleads

The prosecution called Robert Alan Soloway the Spam King, alleging he's responsible for sending millions of spam messages and generating hundreds of thosands of dollars in profit since 2003. Soloway pleaded guilty Friday to three of the 40 counts that he was indicted on, with the remaining charges dropped.