Rick Ross and Jeezy Prepare for Battle on 'War Ready'

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Def Jam Rappers Rick Ross and Jeezy end their long-standing beef and team up to annihilate haters on the bombastic song ‘War Ready.’ The single will appear on Rozay’s upcoming album ‘Mastermind.’

Produced by Mike WiLL Made It, the track features the Miami boss and the CTE leader aiming lyrical shots at anyone who dare to cross their path.

“War ready, the game just wanna take my life / War ready, p—- boy we all could die tonight / War ready, fast cash above the law / War ready, gas mask when them choppers talk,” seethes Ross on the song.

Jeezy follows as he steps to the frontline and sprays his gritty rhymes at his detractors.

“Give me the K and a shovel, I’ll bury that n—- / Be his pallbearer, so I can carry that n—- / What you gonna hit him with, the Glock or the chop? / Look I wouldn’t give a f— if they were sharin’ that n—-,” he raps.

Fair warning, Ross and Jeezy’s nihilistic lyrics can be a little overbearing over the course of seven minutes. Nevertheless, it’s good to see two rap powerhouses end their feud and make music together.

Rick Ross’ ‘Mastermind,’ due out March 4, boasts guest appearances from Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, the Weeknd, Meek Mill, Scarface, Big Sean and more. Peep the LP’s tracklist below.

‘Mastermind’ Tracklist:

Def Jam

Listen to Rick Ross’ Song ‘War Ready’ Feat. Jeezy

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French Appear Ready to Soften Law on Media Piracy

In 2009, French lawmakers, aiming to curb unauthorized file-sharing and to slow the erosion of media industry revenue, approved what was billed as the toughest anti-piracy law in the world. Repeat offenders who ignored two warnings to quit downloading movies or music illegally were confronted with the prospect of a suspension of their Internet connection. The system was emulated in several other countries, including the United States, though generally with softer penalties.

But now the government of President François Hollande appears poised to shut down the agency that was created to enforce the law, imposed under Mr. Hollande’s predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, and to defang the measure of much of its menace.

Fleur Pellerin, the French minister in charge of Internet policy, said during a recent visit to a high-technology complex in Sweden that suspending Internet connections was incompatible with the French government’s hopes of spurring growth in the digital economy.

“Today, it’s not possible to cut off Internet access,” she said. “It’s something like cutting off water.”

A report on digital policy that was prepared for the government by Pierre Lescure, the former president of the pay-television company Canal Plus, in April recommended dropping the threat of disconnections and replacing it with a fine of €60, or $78, for repeat offenders. The report also recommended disbanding the enforcement agency, known by its French acronym, Hadopi, and subsuming some of its functions in the French media regulator, Conseil supérieur de l’ audiovisuel.

While government ministers have voiced support for Mr. Lescure’s recommendations, some lawmakers, including Patrick Bloche, an influential Socialist deputy, have suggested that the administration should go further and simply scrap the entire system of warnings and potential penalties.

Despite all the debate that the system has prompted, in and outside France, evidence of its effects remains skimpy. A study by researchers at Wellesley College near Boston and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh that was published last year showed that the threat of disconnection was directing more French Internet users toward Apple’s iTunes store, a licensed source of digital music. Separate studies, commissioned by Hadopi, have shown a decline in illegal file sharing.

Yet the French music business remains deeply troubled. SNEP, a French recording company group, said Friday that industry revenue fell by 6.7 percent in the first quarter of the year. More alarmingly, revenue from digital outlets fell by 5.2 percent — the first quarterly decline — though the organization said several special factors played a role in this.

Meanwhile, SNEP said the number of visits to illegal music sites by French Internet users had risen by 7 percent between January 2010 and January 2013, to 10.7 million.

Guillaume Leblanc, director general of SNEP, said the group was willing to accept dropping the threat of disconnection, as long as the warning system was preserved, but said the proposed €60 fine was too low.

“Maintaining graduated response is essential for the music industry,” he said. “For the legal offer to keep developing, it’s important to have strong copyright protection on the Internet.”

While Hadopi has sent out hundreds of thousands of warnings to those suspected of being pirates, only a handful of cases have reached the third and supposedly final stage. Several of these were thrown out by the courts; others resulted in fines or suspended sentences.

“If you cannot chop off a few heads as an example, then the chopping machine inspires less fear,” said Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesman for La Quadrature du Net, a group that has campaigned against the law.

Supporters of the law say cutting off large numbers of Internet connections was never the point.

DealBook: Icahn and Southeastern Ready a Rival Bid for Dell

Chip East/ReutersCarl Icahn, the billionaire activist investor, in 2007.

6:28 a.m. | Updated

The billionaire Carl C. Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management, two of Dell’s biggest shareholders, plan to bid for the struggling computer maker, seeking to challenge a $24.4 billion takeover that they have criticized as “the great giveaway.”

The effort by Mr. Icahn and Southeastern, disclosed in a letter to Dell’s board Thursday night, is intended as a last-ditch effort to fight the management buyout led by Michael S. Dell, the company’s founder and chief executive, and the private equity firm Silver Lake.

Unlike that bid, which would pay shareholders $13.65 a share in cash, Mr. Icahn and Southeastern are offering to pay shareholders about $12 a share either in cash or in additional shares in the company. The offer would still leave a portion of Dell publicly traded.

And if a special committee of Dell’s board refuses to budge from Mr. Dell’s offer, the two investors have threatened to wage war in the courts.

In the letter to Dell’s board, Mr. Icahn and Southeastern savagely criticize the deliberations that led to Mr. Dell’s offer, calling it inadequate and having the effect of shortchanging other investors.

“We are often cynical about corporate boards, but this board has brought that cynicism to new heights,” the letter said. “This company has suffered long enough from very wrongheaded decisions made by the board and its management.”

In a securities filing on Friday, Mr. Icahn disclosed that he and affiliates own 4.52 percent of Dell’s shares as of March 25. With Southeastern, they together own a 11.47 percent stake. (The filing includes the letter to the board.)

By offering to give shareholders a chance to remain investors in Dell, the two shareholders argue that their bid is worth far more than the current offer on the table. Both shareholders have consistently argued that the company is poised for a rebound in its fortunes, one that they fear would be enjoyed only by Mr. Dell and Silver Lake if their bid were to succeed.

Yet Mr. Icahn and Southeastern’s position runs counter to the apparent views of an investor consortium led by the Blackstone Group, which withdrew from bidding for Dell last month amid concerns that the computer maker’s business was deteriorating faster and more badly than expected. Many investors had hoped that the Blackstone-led group, which proposed paying more than $14.25 a share and would have let investors keep a portion of their holdings, would have succeeded in driving up the price of any deal.

After Blackstone walked away, Dell’s share price — which had traded as high as $14.50 a share in anticipation of a bidding war — tumbled below Mr. Dell’s offer. The company’s stock closed on Thursday at $13.32.

Two months ago, Mr. Icahn outlined a potential offer of about $15 a share for about 58 percent of the computer company, gaining a 24.1 percent stake.

To Mr. Icahn and Southeastern, one of the primary attractions of Blackstone’s offer was that it would keep a portion of Dell publicly traded, in what is known as a stub. Southeastern, the company’s biggest shareholder outside of Mr. Dell himself, has argued loudly that investors should be given the chance to share in what it expects is a resurgence of the computer maker’s fortunes.

But advisers to a special committee of Dell directors have argued that a transaction with a stub would seriously limit the company’s financial flexibility, essentially piling on debt in full view of public shareholders.

Critics of Southeastern have argued that the investment firm is trying to make up for the high average price it paid in amassing its Dell stake. (A person briefed on the matter has estimated that the firm paid about $16.90 a share on average.)

In their letter Thursday night, both Mr. Icahn and Southeastern argued that a number of shareholders already shared their view that Mr. Dell’s offer was insufficient, and threatened a lengthy fight to derail that bid. Such an effort would be likely to include both a challenge in the courts and a potential campaign to oust members of the board.

“Either give shareholders the real choice they are entitled to or face the legal liability for your failures,” the two investors wrote.

Joe Jackson Almost Arrested in Vegas — NOT Ready for His Close-Up

Joe Jackson
NOT Ready for Close-Up
... Almost Arrested You would think Joe Jackson would be flattered when anyone wanted to take a picture of him ... but he flipped out when a Vegas tourist tried photographing him, and it almost landed the famous dad in the pokey.

Here's the low down.  Joe was at The Palms Thursday when a hotel guest recognized the famous dad and aimed his camera in Joe's direction.  Jackson allegedly went ballistic, screaming "Don't take pictures of me!"  The guest claims Joe lunged at him, making contact.

Joe almost got more publicity than the time he announced he signed a new rap artist days after Michael died ... because the guest called security and demanded to get Vegas cops involved.

But Joe got a reprieve ... by the time cops arrived the guest cooled down and decided not to press charges.

But here's the thing.  We don't think the guest got his picture, so here you go