Oracle got a major setback in the European Court of Justice in a lawsuit to a company reselling otherwise legally acquired software licences. The Court of Justice was asked by a German court for guidance, and their recommendations are usually followed (since it basically means that if the issue were to be taken higher, it would be the expected outcome).
http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16069323,00.html
The European Court of Justice on Tuesday ruled that used software licenses may generally be resold by individuals or companies. The Luxembourg-based court thus sided with the German firm UsedSoft in a protracted legal battle with US software giant Oracle.
The ruling made it clear that trade in used software was permissible even if the software had not been shipped on a physical medium such as a CD or DVD, but had been digitally downloaded from the Internet.
The ruling, available here, also makes it clear that the original seller is obligated to offer a download of the software to the new owner.
Oracle, which makes a vast proportion of its revenues from maintenance agreements as well, had tried to argue that it does not sell software as such, only licences. However, the court effectively backed up Bot's opinion that this was an "artificial distinction".
Whether this means that a storefront such as Steam are required to make it possible to deactivate a program and sell the product key is probably way too early to tell, but in effect, the "we sell licences" excuse should no longer work in Europe.
After watching some of Young Justice season 2, I have to wonder if DC and WB really want to have Young Justice. A heavy presence of the Justice League heavy hitters, and the new YJ members get basically no introduction at all. Unless you're somewhat familiar with the DC Universe, how are you supposed to know who the Blue Beetle is, and what is the point of referencing Ted Kord without further comment? On the other hand, it's perfectly possible that kids eat it up anyway, since it's cool action and reasonably decent stories.
On the topic of attracting a new audience, however, I wonder if it's impossible for DC to do on any wider basis. The most mainstream success out of DC I can think of was the Teen Titans, but that didn't seem to translate into anything on the comic level except for kiddie books. And of course, the New 52 Starfire is sort of notorious for going completely against anything that fans of the Teen Titans cartoon could recognise (and without even going to the character's roots, since the New Teen Titans Starfire was a lot more like the cartoon). Given the established canon, trying to incorporate new readers might be a fools' game in that you'll lose your traditional readership. In that light, it might be better for comics as a whole to start superhero cartoons that are not established in DC or Marvel, so that watchers could move on to read comics that are not completely bound to strict editors and a messed-up continuity.
When someone asks for the top recommendations on various forums, I always tend to forget one or two that I really like, so now I'm writing them here so that I can go back and edit when I realise I forgot one.
Manga:
Collection of the posters that came with the Nausicaä books
1. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece is a 7-book epic of post-apocalyptic science fantasy world, where a large part of the world is covered by the toxic jungle called the Sea of Decay, and mankind is left fighting for the small inhabitable parts that remain.
2. Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou
This is a sublime manga that moves at a stately pace, focusing on the robot Alpha who runs a café in the nicest possible post-apocalyptic setting you could possibly imagine. A lot of cities are underwater, and life for the remaining people is slow and sedate. Alpha meets people, falls in love, and simply lives in her house and goes on trips on her motorcycle. I recommend trying to find it, because it's one of a kind.
3. Antique Bakery
A pitch-perfect 4-book series about a man who hates sweets and runs a French-style bakery with his colourful staff. By Fumi Yoshinaga, who also wrote the excellent Ooku.
4. Hikaru no Go
This, to me, is the perfect sports manga, which also introduced a great many westerners to the classic Asian boardgame Go (or Paduk or Weiqi). A boy (who's a bit of a brat) gets haunted by the ghost of an ancient Go master, which ultimately puts him on the path to becoming a Go pro and an intense rivalry with the serious Touya Akira. Illustrated by Takeshi Obata of Death Note fame, who really developed a lot over the course of the series.
5. Sweet Blue Flowers / Aoi Hana
Sadly not available in stores in English, this manga follows two girls who go to two adjacent schools, their friends, the annual drama festival, and a whole lot of girls in love. I wholly recommend importing it and finding online translations!
Anime:
1. Revolutionary Girl Utena
One of these days I'm going to write an entire article explaining my love for this series. For this short list, suffice to say that what seems like a simple spin on a classic Prince Charming motif then spins it around a few more rounds and leaves me still thinking about it ten years later. It also made me get a tattoo. Complete with a set of broken, complicated characters and unreliable narrators aplenty. From the director of Mawaru Penguindrum, it also has great visual style and symbolism (just don't watch the movie first).
2. Hikaru no Go
Yes, it's really that good!
3. The Twelve Kingdoms
One of the best fantasy series out there (which reminds me I need to rewatch Scrapped Princess), which is only brought down a bit by the fact that they didn't pull off the middle parts that didn't focus on Yoko as well as they could have. A girl is brought to a strange fantasy world after monsters start fighting on the roof of her high school, and she has to overcome her (serious) self-doubt to prevail.
4. Princess Nine
Okay, so I'm from Sweden, where we have no baseball tradition at all, but dang if this show didn't get me interested in the sport. A girls school starts a baseball team to compete in the boys' tournament, and overcomes both lackluster animation and cheating opponents to make it... well, you'll see how far they go.
As I said, not really a definite list, and I'm pretty sure I forgot plenty of series when writing this list. Like Gunbuster! And maybe X, confusing mess that it is? Maria-sama ga Miteru? Ikki Tousen (just kidding!)? The #1 positions are pretty much set in stone, though.
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