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Free MP3s from the Creative Commons
By Eliot Van Buskirk: Technology editor, MP3.com
Monday, November 15, 2004

Last year, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that P2P file-sharing applications are legal because they can be used in substantial, noninfringing ways. The reasoning behind this goes all the way to Sony vs. Universal, back in 1984, when Universal sued Sony for selling the first Betamax machines. Universal said that because VCRs could be used to pirate movies, they should be strictly verboten. Sony replied that because VCRs have legit uses (storing video for later viewing, making a backup copy of a purchased movie), they're perfectly OK. The Supreme Court sided with Sony and consumers, and while Betamax later lost out to the VHS format, peoples' ability to copy media for personal use was preserved.

Laws should hate the player, not the game
When an appeals court upholds a decision such as this, that's generally it--pack up your briefcases and go home. Nonetheless, the record labels are trying to take their case to the Supreme Court, in the hope that those judges will see things differently and decide that P2P companies are in fact legally responsible for the actions of their users. The way things stand now, the law hates the player but not the game. If the labels get their way, the law will hate the player and the game, and that just isn't right when some people are playing by the rules.

This isn't just about music. If the Supreme Court overturns the lower courts' decision, the Internet will become unrecognizable. Seriously--you'll be able to say good-bye to e-mail, FTP, and maybe even DSL. Why? Because most of the Internet will be illegal.

While P2P software differs from other technologies in its architecture, all it really does is connect two IP addresses for the transfer of data. If the RIAA has its way, any company that facilitates a data connection between two users will be held accountable for the actions of those users. Even if your school's or company's network has several noninfringing uses (say, cancer research), the discovery that some bad apples are using it to trade copyrighted files would result in massive fines of up to $10,000 per song. Before long, the incentive for organizations to offer open Internet connections would disappear. In other words, we'd all be surfing on a walled-in version of the Internet subject to censor and control--sort of like the early AOL.

You should control your machine
If anything else in the home was as maddening to use as a computer, most people wouldn't bother with it. Think about it--if your dishwasher crashed or if your TV's video driver went on the fritz, you'd lose your patience pretty quickly. The reason people put up with computers even though using them can be so infuriating is that they have complete control over their machines. We use computers because they can do just about whatever we want them to. If the labels succeed in outlawing P2P, what's next? E-mail? FTP? HTTP? Instant messaging? All of these protocols can be used to trade illegal files. Banning P2P would be the start of one of those notorious slippery slopes. Eventually, computers would come to resemble televisions, washing machines, and other devices with a limited set of capabilities. We'd have lost control of our machines.

I understand the labels' wish to stomp out P2P technology, but if it means we have to unplug the Internet and cede control of our computers, outlawing it probably wouldn't be the way to go.

Fortunately for all of us, there are substantial, noninfringing uses for P2P file-sharing networks. For instance, no one owns old material that has reverted to the public domain, so you can trade that all day long. In addition, there are thousands of songs on P2P networks that were made by bands who only want people to hear them--for free, for money, for whatever.

FYI

NBA Bans Carter From Using IPod in Warmups

By Associated Press

November 16, 2004, 11:17 AM CST

NEW YORK -- Vince Carter has to listen to his favorite tunes on his own time.

The Toronto Raptors star was informed by the NBA that he no longer can listen to music on his iPod during the 20-minute warmup period before each game. Carter recently started listening to the music on his headphones, a violation of the league's rules on proper attire.

When the NBA heard about it, the league called the Raptors.

"We informed them that he can no longer do that," NBA spokesman Brian McIntyre said Tuesday.

Carter has said he listens to the music in order to focus before a game.

Since when is headphones or a modern day walkman "attire", hell it's not even an accessory like earrings.

Well without a need to download "Something" broadband internet really isn't needed.

I would like to personally apologize to all the red state folk on behalf of monday nite football exposing some rather risque footage during a commercial a few nights ago.

You see, we here in the blue states have slipped into the horrible attitude of seeing sex as a healthy normal human function. Sometimes we need you red states to remind us that it is proper to be ashamed of the body and all of its functions. Furthermore, sometimes we need to be reminded that children are a bunch of feebleminded dimwits, and exposing them to anything indicative of an adult environment would be irreversably detrimental to their development. We here in the blue states now realize just how scarred all the children have become from that broadcast. All the 2 to 6 year olds who were intently following the game that night must be sleepless and distraught over seeing Nicollette Sheridan's back. And, of course, our teenagers, who have no idea about "sex", were filled with questions afterwards about what those "naked folks" were doing.

We hope you will still invite us to your Baptist revivals and monster truck pulls. Perhaps a dose of the good Lord will instill the bodily guilt we so need to harbor in order to function normally in society today.

It may be difficult but we are willing to forego our uptown orgies and our boisterous downtown office parties in order to focus on our children. We will instruct them to curse the body as the instrument of the devil. We will teach them to be promulgers of embarrasment and self loathing. We will enlighten them with the truth that sex and the natural urge to do it is unhealthy and evil. Yes we will confuse them by teaching them things are off limits and bad while we adults partake and revel in them. We will feel perfectly happy with TV airing prime time television shows, which most show people shooting people. We will be OK with professional boxing, where the object is to cheer on someone getting injured so bad they fall down. But if the network shows even 30 seconds of two humans expressing inimate desire or love, we will be on the phones, like you, complaining.

We should have listened to y'all way back when, because that half-time show with Janet's tit really changed our children for the worse. Most of them here in the blue states walk around like zombies now, partaking in acts of sexual groping and exploration.

Yes we now know that Jesus is lord and Bush is his 1st lieutenant. How could we ever have been so blind. Shame on us.

Forgive us red states for we have sinned.

He speaks of "losing control of our machines".

Sorry bub, but the DMCA has already insured that.

Fight for repeal of the DMCA, call it out on presidential and congressional elections, otherwise we lose our right to record cable as has already been done with HBO.

What a sore loser.

Whats with the NBA???

Fobix people like you are the reason that the left is where they are lol what an idiot

Fobix - "I would like to personally apologize to all the red state folk on behalf of monday nite football exposing some rather risque footage during a commercial a few nights ago."

THat's funny as hell. On a football forum I belong to, someone said pretty much the same damn thing. What is even more funny, is that over half the posters who were offended, came out against this guy, and said they were Kerry supporters from 'Blue States'

Your rant is just plain silly IMO. You are over genralizing the American public. Did it ever occur to you, that most of the people that were offended were parents, and their political views had nothing to to do with it?

I personaly wasn't offended, but I am raising a nine year old daughter. I don't want her seeing dumb ass shit like that. It doesn't send out a good message to young impressionable minds. It has no place in the grand scheme of football, therefor it was not needed.

Your 'Red State' rant was just plain ignorant, and bitter. The election is over, it's time to move on.

This is an excellent article. There is only one item which may not have much merit in reality:

"For instance, no one owns old material that has reverted to the public domain, so you can trade that all day long"

Now, how much recorded music is actually in the public domain?

OK, so I'm really being picky picky here. As I said, this is a very good article and one which all our lawmakers should read and take seriously.

Bufo hits the nail right on the head! That takes us to what the REAL problem is... Copyright Law... specifically, Copyright TERMS!

Granted, there are things in the public domain (as few as they may be), but the real issue is authorized music. What right does the RIAA or the Courts have to call P2P illegal when there are lots of musicians and MUSIC that is AUTHORIZED to be traded on P2P file networks? The courts would be insane to overturn the lower courts ruling in this case.

Some folks just do not recognize satire.

You're right, they don't. That's what makes it so much fun.

Think of how stupid the average person is, then remember, that half of 'em are stupider than that.

Ooh, you're a good speller. That's hot.

I thought this article was interesting.

Tuning in to the latest thing
Not quite radio, podcasting follows blogging's lead

Tribune Newspapers

November 18, 2004

First came pirate radio, then Internet radio. But in the past month, a new way of circumventing the big, bad broadcast corporations has emerged: podcasts.

Tune in to these blog-based homemade radio shows and you'll hear regular people, unschooled in radio, talking about anything and everything the way real people talk--clumsily, with curses, dead air and all.

If you've never heard of a podcast, don't worry. Neither has Google. Search for "podcast" it yields results but also asks, "Did you mean: broadcast?"

Well, sort of. Podcasts are broadcasts in only the loosest sense. Listeners can't hear them live because they are prerecorded sound files; they don't stream in real time like Internet radio.

They are radio-style audio files posted inside blogs as MP3s that can be downloaded to an iPod or other portable player.

An audio extension of written blogs, podcasts are almost exclusively talk at present. They are also almost entirely hosted by tech-savvy "early adopters" who are working out the kinks. But that is changing rapidly.

A month ago, the only podcast was "Trade Secrets," co-hosted by former MTV VJ Adam Curry and software developer Dave Winer. Curry is the brain behind iPodder (software that automatically locates podcasts); Winer is the developer of the file format that allows podcasts to be found.

"When MTV just started, it was really exciting because here was this new thing. We didn't know the format," Curry said. "Of course, it was mostly, `I'm totally into this! These guys rock!' But it was pretty honest in the beginning, and I think because podcasts are controlled by no one and everyone can do whatever they want, it's just refreshing."

In just over a month since "Trade Secrets" was born, the number of podcasts has jumped to at least six dozen.

"We could never do this show on radio, because who's going to want to give an hour to board gaming?" said Scott Alden, co-host of "GeekSpeak," a podcast that's been downloaded at least 5,200 times since its debut three weeks ago.

Podcasts don't follow a traditional broadcast radio model. They follow blogs. In the blogging world, success isn't measured in market share and ad dollars. It's measured in the personal satisfaction of creative expression and the organic growth of a relatively small audience via word of mouth.

"IPods and the whole phenomena are a way to route around the failure of commercial radio," said longtime blogger and Linux Journal senior editor Doc Searls. "If an industry can't keep up with its customers or users, then there are enough enterprising people out there to make up the difference by essentially solving their own problems."

Podcast pioneers . Podcasting represents the next wave of peer-to-peer "broadcasting"--one so new that only a handful of people are doing it. For now. A sampling of what's out there:

"Trade Secrets": This daily talk show is an informal discussion of topical and personal news sprinkled with tech talk; secrets.scripting.com.

"Blogosphere Radio": A weekly talk show about what's being blogged about; www.blogosphereradio.com.

"Esc From the World!": A daily tech-support show; www.matthewbischoff.com/mt. "GeekSpeak": A weekly talk show for, from and about board-game fanatics; www.boardgamegeek.com.

"Northwest Noise": Independently produced music, info on the weather and personal news and views; www.timgermer.com/archives/northwest noise/index.html.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/reviews/chi-041118podcast,1,7784076.story?coll=chi-homepagebiz-utl

I have in my p2p share a very large collection of classical music. That sounds like public domain material.

(Actually, it is not - on a technicality, someone was able to re-copyright it. It seems that while the music is public domain, a recording of this music can be considered a creative work anyway. But again, this is a problem with copyright law, and I ignore it in protest.)

I also have many amature works - mostly of poor quality, and quite a collection of parodies. And some content I produced myself, such as a collection of wave test files of different forms of waveform and noise. And my own test cards, released into the public domain now.

Well, I do have some infringing files - mostly niche content through. Documentory programs largely, and some mainstream music shared to encourage use of the Vorbis format.

They are running commercials for SBC Yahoo DSL. The voice over says how you can download faster -- music, photos, "movie reviews" -- who downloads movie reviews? Sneaky way of saying you can down movies?