Nearly eight months after his arrest for driving under the influence of drugs, Scott Weiland was sentenced Thursday in a Los Angeles court to three years' probation, during which he'll be treated for his drug problem.

Weiland had pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge earlier this week, which stemmed from his arrest on his 36th birthday, October 27th (see "Scott Weiland Involved In Car Crash; Arrested For DUI"). The Velvet Revolver singer's BMW struck a parked van, and as part of his sentencing, he was ordered to pay restitution to the owner of the parked vehicle, in addition to a $390 fine.

Under the terms of Weiland's latest probation, he'll be required to enroll in a six-month drug-treatment program and attend three Narcotics Anonymous meetings per week for the next three years. Weiland will also be required to submit to regular drug testing, as well as periodic drug testing at the discretion of the police (with or without probable cause), according to the city attorney's office. During this probation, Weiland is prohibited from being in the possession of, or under the influence of, both alcohol and drugs.

A week before this most recent arrest, Weiland had been congratulated for staying clean by a judge overseeing his probation from two felony charges of possession of heroin and cocaine. Upon hearing of the DUI arrest, that judge determined the latest charge was a violation of Weiland's probation and revoked the singer's freedom, ordering him into detox (see "Scott Weiland To Enter Rehab Immediately, By Order Of Judge"). The lockdown aspect of his rehab was later amended, and he will have completed the terms of his sober-living program under that probation by the end of this month, at which point he was scheduled to have six more months of after-care counseling and testing.

There's no word yet if Weiland's new probation will affect his current one, but the city attorney's office anticipates that they'll run concurrently. That matter will likely be decided at the singer's next probation status report hearing, scheduled for July 30.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Steve Winwood dipped a toe in largely untested waters this summer by giving away a track from his latest album on peer-to-peer networks. The experiment appears to be working out.

In the past month, Winwood's label has seen a noticeable increase in record sales thanks to a promotion that included releasing a free song and video over file-trading services. The campaign was part of an experiment in whether peer-to-peer can be used to create buzz around an artist and drive up sales.

Winwood's independent record label, Wincraft Music, said sales of About Time have sold up to eight times the number of records in some regions since June 15 when an audio file of one track, Dear Mr. Fantasy, made its way on to peer-to-peer networks. At the same time, a video of Winwood performing the song live and another video of a rehearsal were distributed on Limewire, eDonkey and RazorPop. The album has also been promoted through television commercials.

"There's really no other medium that can reach the quantity of people in such a meaningful way in such a cost-effective manner," said Lisa Protter, a spokeswoman for the Jun Group, a marketing firm which coordinated the release of the digital media files.

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