Yahoo! Acquires Musicmatch Online Jukebox
"In a move to expand its role in the online music business, Yahoo announced yesterday that it would buy Musicmatch, a company that sells music online, for $160 million.
"The move puts Yahoo in direct competition with Apple Computer’s iTunes, Microsoft’s new music store and RealNetworks in the small but growing market for online downloads of music.
"’Music is one of the most-used applications on the Web,’ said Dan Rosensweig, Yahoo’s chief operating officer. ‘Our objective is to be the leading player in the digital music world.’"
Saul Hansell. Yahoo to Challenge iTunes With New Acquisition. The New York Times. Sept. 15, 2004.
See also:
Matt Hines. Yahoo to Buy Musicmatch for $160 million. News.com. Sept. 14, 2004.
Jefferson Graham. Yahoo Breaks into Music with Musicmatch Purchase. TechNewsWorld. Sept. 15, 2004.
Update: John Borland. Yahoo to Launch its Own Music Player. News.com. Sept. 17, 2004. (Yahoo is planning on launching its own online music service by the end of this year, using Musicmatch’s customers to approach separate audiences.)
(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.)
Don’t Share
"A danger with the goal of knowledge sharing is that it quickly shifts the KM team into ‘solutions mode.’ For example, knowledge sharing initiatives may focus on implementing a new expertise directory, or on improving collaboration tools. While these solutions may be potentially useful, if they don’t meet specific business needs they won’t be widely used.
"To avoid these issues, it is recommended that ‘knowledge sharing’ not be discussed beyond the confines of the KM team."
James Robertson. ‘Knowledge Sharing’ Should Be Avoided. CM Briefing. Sept. 3, 2004.
Vermont Librarian Speaks Up
"Jessmyn West is a 36-year-old librarian living in central Vermont. But she’s not your stereotypical bespectacled research maven toiling behind a reference desk and offering expert advice on microfiche.
She’s a ‘radical librarian’ who has embraced the hacker credo that ‘information wants to be free.’ As a result, West and many of her colleagues are on the front lines in battling the USA Patriot Act, which a harried Congress passed a month after 9/11 even though most representatives hadn’t even read the 300-page bill. It gave the government sweeping powers to pursue the ‘war on terror’ but at a price: the loss of certain types of privacy we have long taken for granted.
"What got many librarians’ dander up was Section 215 of the law, which stipulates that government prosecutors and FBI agents can seek permission from a secret court created under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to access personal records — everything from medical histories to reading habits. They don’t need a subpoena. In fact, they don’t need to show that a crime has even been committed. And librarians, stymied by a gag order, are forbidden to tell anyone (except a lawyer)."
Adam L. Penenberg. Don’t Mess With Librarians. WiredNews. Sept. 15, 2004.
Civil Suit Filed Against Student-Based Networking Site
"Mark Zuckerberg ’06-’07 planned to spend his semester away from the College focusing on improvements to his popular networking site, thefacebook.com, while readying his next endeavor, Wirehog, for its long-awaited release. But any dreams of a stress-free semester were dashed on Sept. 2, when the founders of competitor ConnectU.com filed a lawsuit against his site and its five officers.
"The suit asks the court to shut down the site and force Zuckerberg and thefacebook.com to turn over the profits resulting from his alleged breach of contract.
"According to the complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, ConnectU LLC, formed by Divya K. Narendra ’04, Cameron S. H. Winklevoss ’04 and Tyler O. H. Winklevoss ’04, is seeking damages for Zuckerberg’s alleged theft of their idea—then called Harvard Connection—and his subsequent deception."
Timothy J. McGinn. Lawsuit Threatens To Close Facebook. The Harvard Crimson. Sept. 13, 2004.
OMB Seeks to Sweep Away P2P Use
"Federal chief information officers received a reminder this week that peer-to-peer file sharing is an activity that, in most cases, should not be tolerated on federal networks.
"A Sept. 8 memo from Karen Evans, administrator for information technology and e-government in the Office of Management and Budget, asked CIOs to monitor and enforce federal policies on employees’ use of P2P technology. The memo cites no recent incidents or statistics on P2P file sharing by federal employees."
Florence Olsen. OMB: Clamp Down on P2P. FCW.com. Sept. 14, 2004.
Free Download Protects IM and P2P
"IMlogic Inc. on Tuesday launched a free tool to let enterprises detect and block the use of instant messaging, peer-to-peer file sharing networks and voice-over-IP applications within their walls.
"Called IM Detector Pro, the software provides a first step for organizations to get a handle on the extent of such traffic flowing on their networks and to decide how to best manage it, said Dave Fowler, IMlogic’s vice president of marketing and strategic alliances.
"With the use of IM and P2P increasing, corporations can face risks of sensitive information being disclosed, employees illegally sharing copyrighted files, or viruses and worms entering their networks, Fowler said. Meanwhile, they must meet corporate governance requirements to prevent security breaches."
Matt Hicks. IMlogic Launches Free IM, P2P Blocker. eWeek. Sept. 14, 2004.
See also Dan Muse. Detect and Block IM � for Free. InternetNews.com. Sept. 14, 2004.
Additional Patent Infringement Lawsuits Filed
"Acacia Research, the Los Angeles-based company that claims to have broad patent rights to on-demand streaming-media technology, sued a second round of cable companies Monday for patent infringement.
"The company has already filed suit against most of the largest cable TV and satellite companies in the United States, including Comcast, Cox Communications and DirecTV, charging that their video-on-demand programming and a handful of other services violate its patent rights.
"Monday’s suits (.pdf) targeted 20 small cable companies, mostly in Arizona, Minnesota and Ohio. Acacia also added Mediacom Communications to its previous cable-focused lawsuit in Northern California."
John Borland. Acacia Steps Up Lawsuits Against Cable TV. News.com. Sept. 13, 2004.
COPYCENSE 