DRM: Eliminating Growth in Online Music
"Rival technologies that baffle consumers will run more companies out of business in the nascent music download market than will head-to-head competition, one of the lead creators of MP3 playback technology warned Wednesday.
"Consumers nowadays can store thousands of songs in a pocket-size device, play music and videos on their mobile phones, and buy albums at the click of a button.
"But to their chagrin, a bewildering number of competing playback compression technologies and antipiracy software options determine which songs play on which devices."
Reuters. MP3 Creator Warns Tech Impasse Dooming Downloads. News.com. Sept. 29, 2004.
Telecoms and Tech Companies Unite on Induce Act
"The Business Software Alliance, along with the Computer Systems Policy Project and the Information Technology Industry Council have informed Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in no uncertain terms what’s wrong with the Induce Act and what is needed for any bill that expands copyright liability."
Electronic Frontier Foundation. BSA to Hatch — We’re with the Tech & Telecom Industries on Induce. Sept. 30, 2004.
See also:
Tom Zeller. Panel Considers Copyright Bill. The New York Times. Sept. 30, 2004.
Business Software Alliance, Computer Systems Policy Project, Information Technology Industry Council. S.2560, The "Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004". (.pdf). Sept. 29, 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.)
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.
California May Terminate P2P Use
"California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the State CIO to come up with a policy for the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing applications by state personnel.
"While the order prohibited the use of state resources to illegally download copyrighted material, it specifically allowed for legitimate uses of the controversial software — in moderation.
"Today California is taking a stand against use of state resources for illegal downloading of this material and standing in support of the work of these talented Californians," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
Schwarzenegger said he wants to make sure that state computers aren’t used to contribute to what he called ‘huge losses of revenue to the state’s valuable entertainment industry.’"
Susan Kuchinskas. California To Set P2P Policy. InternetNews.com. Sept. 20, 2004.
The Hon. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Executive Order S-16-04 by the Governor of the State of California. Sept. 16, 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.
EBay Allows You to Share the Love
"Internet giant EBay is joining the online music parade with a service that offers a slight twist for customers — sharing hit songs earns rewards, not lawsuits.
The service, powered by Tennessee startup PassAlong Networks , lets customers share samples of their favorite tunes with friends and neighbors.
"And for every 10 songs that those friends purchase, the sender receives a free song."
Benny Evangelista. EBay Links With PassAlong to Offer New Music Service. San Francisco Chronicle. Sept. 23, 2004.
See also
BusinessWire. PassAlong Networks Debuts Music Download Service; Launches First Digital Music Store on eBay Offering Major Label Catalogs; Consumers Rewarded for Legally Sharing Music . Forbes.com. Sept. 23, 2004.
COPYCENSE 