COPYCENSE

"America Online Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are teaming up to link their separate instant messaging services for use in the workplace, the first major step by the industry leaders to enable computer users to communicate with one another no matter which of the three systems they use.

"In an announcement, the triumvirate will outline a new partnership aimed at spurring greater use of instant messaging at work by tearing down the electronic walls that keep the respective networks separate.

"To use the new system, companies will have to license new Microsoft network software that will serve as the hub connecting messaging systems operated separately by AOL, Microsoft’s MSN division and Yahoo."

David A. Vise. AOL, Yahoo And MSN To Integrate Messaging. WashingtonPost.com. July 15, 2004.

See also:
Matt Hicks. Microsoft Opens IM Server to AOL, Yahoo. eWeek. July 15, 2004.
Jim Hu and David Becker. IM giants Drop Some Barriers to Peace. News.com. July 15, 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.)

"A new genre of Web sites that offer an eclectic mix of free music downloads may not be strictly legit, but the sites’ creators say they’re doing the beleaguered record industry a favor.

"Named for the MP3 music format and the popular self-published Web sites known as blogs, they are part online mixtape, part diary, and part music magazine.

Well-known blogs include Soul Sides, which has underground hip-hop and forgotten R&B; The Tofu Hut, whose offerings range from gospel artists Blind Mamie and A.C. Forehand to rockabilly performer Carl Perkins to soul god Donnie Hathaway; and Said the Gramophone, which has indie rock, folk music and hip-hop."

Adam Pasick. Livewire: MP3 Blogs Serve Rare Songs, Dusty Grooves". Reuters. July 11, 2004.

"Is Amazon.com becoming the Napster of the book business?

"The analogy may not be far off, say some observers of the used-book industry. Publishers, particularly textbook publishers, have long countered used-book sales by churning out new editions every couple of years. But the Web, particularly sites like Amazon and eBay, have given millions of consumers an easy way to find cheap books – often for under $1 – without paying royalty fees to publishers or authors."

Ladies and gentleman, this is a story without an issue. Neither a problem nor an emergency exists here; the publishing industry simply is not making as much money as it used to, and therefore it is asking the public to focus on a red-herring issue (the effect of online used book sales on profits) while trying to figure out how to protect the margins for its new, full-priced product.

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"A coalition of lawyers, researchers and software experts formed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation will try to overturn 10 Internet and software-related patents that the group says are so sweeping they threaten innovation.

"Two industry leaders have been named: Clear Channel, which has patented a way to distribute recordings of concerts within minutes after they end, and Nintendo, whose patents include some concerning platform software for hand-held games.

"The list of targets was drawn from 200 submissions solicited through the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It includes patents covering telephone calls over the Internet, streaming audio and video, and online testing."

Ian Austen. Claiming a Threat to Innovation, Group Seeks to Overturn 10 Patents. The New York Times. July 5, 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.)

"The Supreme Court ruled to extend a ban on enforcement of a federal law designed to shield minors from Internet pornography, ruling for the third time in seven years that a congressional effort to curb online obscenity threatens free speech.

"The court held that the government still has not proved that criminal penalties imposed on certain sexually oriented Web sites by the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) protect children without unduly limiting options for adults.

"The decision means that unless the federal government can convince a federal judge that COPA’s provisions are the only plausible means to prevent children from finding inappropriate sexual material on the Internet, the statute, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1998, will be dead."

Charles Lane. Justices Oppose Internet Porn Law. WashingtonPost.com. June 30, 2004.

See also:
Mark Sullivan. Child Protection Law Suffers Another Setback. PC World. June 30, 2004.
Ted Bridist. High Court Ruling Boosts Internet Filters. WashingtonPost.com. June 29, 2004.
Declan McCullagh. Supreme Court Keeps Net Porn Law On Ice. ZDNet.com. June 29, 2004.
Associated Press. High Court: Porn Law Too Broad. Wired News. June 29, 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.)

"Veteran rocker Steve Winwood has partnered with ‘Access Hollywood‘ in an experimental marketing alliance intended to demonstrate the commercial potential of file-sharing networks such as Kazaa, according to people involved in the project.

"The deal is one of the first to use sponsored downloads to support commercial music on the same peer-to-peer networks that the music industry has blamed for an explosion in piracy and weak CD sales in recent years.

"The major record labels are so afraid of file sharing that they’re missing the opportunity,’ said Bruce Forest, a principal in Jun Group, which brokered the unusual marketing alliance and helped place the free tracks on Web networks."

Reuters. Promo Uses P2P Networks To Sell Songs. News.com. June 29, 2004.