A LIVE One

(From The Hartford Courant -- By Pat Seremet)

Internet auction site EBAY announced Tuesday that it had begun removing illegal DVD copies of last weekend's LIVE 8 CONCERTS from its website, after THE RECORD INDUSTRY complained.

Some PIRATE RECORDINGS were on sale within 24 hours of the conclusion of Saturday's event, and have been attracting bids of up to $31 each.

While the concerts were free, EMI paid millions of dollars for the rights to release the official DVD of the event, which BOB GELDOF organized to put pressure on world leaders to devote increased attention to AFRICAN POVERTY.

"Sadly we are not at all surprised by this incident," said DAVID MARTIN, director of anti-piracy at THE BRITISH PHONOGRAPHIC INDUSTRY.

In other LIVE 8 news, PARIS HILTON, who has a habit of popping up at places that are out of her intellectual element (CANNES, SUNDANCE, etc.), has been slammed by SCISSOR SISTER ANA MATRONIC for attending LONDON's LIVE 8 without understanding its key aim of persuading leaders of the eight largest industrial nations to cancel debt in the developing world, double the aid budget and rewrite global trade laws.

Hilton insists she will make amends by reading about it while she's preparing for her marriage to Greek shipping heir PARIS LATSIS. "I want to get more involved in this cause, so I'm going to read all the newspapers while I'm in Athens planning my wedding," she said.