Archive for the ‘Web & Online’ Category
Record Industry Using Net to Extend Reach
"When R.E.M.’s ‘New Adventures in Hi-Fi’ was released, music buyers yawned — it was the start of a steady decline in U.S. album sales for R.E.M. as hip-hoppers and pop divas eclipsed the band.
"The record industry itself didn’t do much better, as sales overall shrank from its halcyon days of routine multi-platinum hits. Record labels are quick to blame Internet piracy; many fans point to high CD prices instead.
"In 2004, both R.E.M. and the record industry are turning to the Internet to reverse their fortunes.
"Today, the band releases its 13th major album, ‘Around the Sun’ — but for hundreds of thousands of fans, there’s no suspense. They’ve already listened to the entire album for free on the Internet over the past two weeks, and with the band’s label’s encouragement."
Frank Ahrens. Record Labels Aim for Net, Hope to Score. WashingtonPost.com. Oct. 5, 2004.
(Editor�s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archives.)
No Profit in Google News Beta
"When Google launched its news site three years ago, it led to a certain amount of hand-wringing at Yahoo News, MSNBC and CNN. Unlike its competitors, which were forced to budget millions of dollars a year to license up-to-the-minute content and pay reporters and editors, Google had figured out a way to do it on the cheap.
"By relying on algorithms, Google News completely automated the news-gathering process using high-speed computers to sift through information and determine the most relevant articles. They then grab the headline and first paragraph to post on Google’s news page, with the headlines acting as external links.
"As it turns out, however, Google has a problem that is nearly as complex as its algorithms. It can’t make money from Google News.
"The reason: The minute Google News runs paid advertising of any sort it could face a torrent of cease-and-desist letters from the legal departments of newspapers, which would argue that ‘fair use’ doesn’t cover lifting headlines and lead paragraphs verbatim from their articles."
Adam L. Penenberg. Google News: Beta Not Make Money. Wired News. Sept. 29, 2004.
Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2004 Passed By House
"In a move that takes aim at file-swapping networks, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to boost penalties for online piracy and increase federal police powers against Net copyright infringement.
"By voice vote, politicians on Tuesday approved a sweeping copyright bill that would make it easier for the FBI and federal prosecutors to investigate and convict file swappers. Other sections criminalize unauthorized recordings made in movie theaters and encourage the Justice Department to target Internet copyright infringement.
"Opponents had mounted an unsuccessful, last-ditch campaign earlier in the day to urge House leaders to remove the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act from the floor schedule."
Declan McCullagh. House Votes To Target P2P Pirates. News.com. Sept. 28, 2004.
See also:
Ted Bridist. House Votes to Make Video Cameras in Movie Theaters a Federal Crime. Technology Review. Sept. 29, 2004.
Wikis Allow Knowledge-Sharing
"Taran Rampersad didn’t complain when he failed to find anything on his hometown in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia is unique for an encyclopedia because anybody can add, edit and even erase. And the Wikipedia is just one, albeit the best known, of a growing breed of Internet knowledge-sharing communities called Wikis.
"Though for now largely the domain of techies, Wikis are poised to become what blogs have turned into–still in the Internet avant garde yet widespread enough to be influential."
Anick Jesdanuna. ‘Wikis’ Offer Knowledge-Sharing Online. USA Today. Sept. 26, 2004.
See and Hear All Evil
"For the longest time, the recording labels viewed digital music as something that could hurt them with hurricane force but made no efforts to adjust to this new reality, let alone exploit it. Finally, they were persuaded to license their works to online music sellers. Apple’s iTunes Store, which sells songs for 99 cents a shot, became a template for a mini-industry that clearly represents the future of music. Microsoft opened its own long-awaited online outlet earlier this month. And just last week Yahoo dropped $160 million to buy Musicmatch and its store.
"This summer provided a clue to further harnessing the force of digital nature. For three weeks, Real Networks tried to lure new customers by slashing prices to 49 cents a song and $4.99 per album. Since Real paid the full royalty load to the labels (almost 70 cents a tune), the company lost money on every transaction. CEO Rob Glaser says that the company did get new customers, but here’s the real news: Real sold six times as much music and took in three times as much money."
Steven Levy. Music Companies Are In Denial. Newsweek. Sept. 27, 2004.
Downloading Via Subscription Service
"Long before Sir Richard Branson dreamed of becoming the latest billionaire with a reality TV show, before he started his cellphone company, his airline and his record label, he sold music from the Virgin Record Shop on Oxford Street in London. When he began in 1971, of course, music was presented as grooves pressed into a vinyl disk.
"Today, Sir Richard starts a new music store, VirginDigital.com, this time selling music as streams of bits to be downloaded from the Internet. Virgin becomes the first major music retailer to enter the download market, which has been dominated by Apple Computer and other technology companies.
"What’s interesting is that Virgin is putting its biggest emphasis on its subscription service, rather than on selling songs one at time for 99 cents a track, as Apple and Microsoft do.
"It is betting that new customers will join its Virgin Music Club for a $7.99 monthly fee to listen to an unlimited amount of music from Virgin’s one-million-track library on their computers."
Saul Hansell. Music Sites Ask, ‘Why Buy If You Can Rent?’. The New York Times. Sept. 27, 2004.
See also:
John Borland. Virgin Launches Online Music Service. News.com. Sept. 26, 2004.
Sue Zeidler. Virgin Launches New Digital Music Service. Reuters. Sept. 27, 2004.
(Editor�s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archive.)
10 Major Trends Emerging in the Internet’s First Decade of Public Use
"Ten Years, Ten Trends’ Highlight the Major Findings in Year Four of the Digital Future Project’s Study of the Impact of the Internet on Americans.
"Ten years after electronic portals to the Worldwide Web were first opened to millions of computer users, ten significant trends have emerged that vividly illustrate how the Internet affects America, according to findings from the comprehensive year-to-year study of the impact of online technology by the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future.
"Year Four of the Digital Future Project (formerly the UCLA Internet Report) provides a broad year-to-year exploration of the influence of the Internet on Americans. The project examines the behavior and views of a national sample of 2,000 Internet users and non-users, as well as comparisons between new users (less than one year of experience) and very experienced users (in Year Four, seven or more years of experience)."
USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future. Center for the Digital Future Identifies the 10 Major Trends Emerging in the Internet’s First Decade of Public Use. Sept. 23, 2004.
USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future. Digital Center’s Internet Report 2004. (.pdf). Sept. 23, 2004.
COPYCENSE 