To post hypertext links to articles/items, use the following method:

1. Copy and paste (or type) the following string:

Headline[">http://link">Headline[ /url]

2. Remove the two blank spaces.

3. Trade "http://link" with the actual url address of the page you wish to appear when the link is clicked.

4. Trade "Headline" with the news article's headline or your own descriptive text.

EXAMPLE:

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...remove the 2 spaces and it becomes:

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===============

Folks, sometimes it is a lot quicker/better to alert our readers to important/relevant news articles and other items by sticking a quick link to them right here in this "news" thread than it is to submit using the "news/submit" button at the top of the page.

If you point your cursor at the "news" button, then do a "mouse-over" (awaiting the drop-down menu to provide you the "submit" option and all... THEN bother to type in or C&P your submission correctly in the proper format...
...Sheesh, after all that, your submission STILL has to await the "approval process" (meaning that I, or one of the fine Dmusic admin have to be online and alert enough to check the article input box, THEN decide where it needs filed, proof-read, etc... )

If you have an article/story/item that needs our attention, why not simply stick it here "In The News" instead! (Besides, I'll go to the front page with anything found here that meets the same criteria used for that "article input box" anyways.)

Let's save some time and hassle. Use that "submit" button only for ORIGINAL articles that come from your own hand.

Previous Edition of "In The News":

http://www.boycott-riaa.com/article/18740

more RIAA assholery ...

http://viprhealthcare.typepad.com/mashup_of_the_week_podcas/2005/11/riaa_go_away.html

XM, Sirius Could Be Liable For Higher Music Royalties

http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/11/28/xm-sirius-satellite-radio-1128markets01.html

Music-Industry Foes Join Hands to Accept Royalties

There's hope for me yet..
Music can save you from going cuckoo at old age

How long before they try drugging our water supplies so that they can hypnotize, (change our behavior) us into buying their music....

Music industry faces future crisis

I mean, when I read statements like this...
~~"Unless the music industry can transition these consumers while they are young away from free consumption to paid music formats, be they digital or CDs, they may never develop music purchasing behaviour and the recording industry could suffer long-term harm,"~~

I get real nervous....

Good links, pepe. The article about music therapy for old people was interesting. Thanks.

Lachatte I'm sure you and I are the only ones up at this time of the morning...must be the age thing

For those of you interested in Canada's Bill C-60, the new copyright reform bill...it just got thrown out the window with our governments fall from grace yesterday....We go to the polls in January..brrrr...but, that still doesn't mean the same party can't be voted back in again...people are strange that way. However, they will have to start from square one putting together a new copyright reform bill...chuckle, chuckle...

Bill C-60 Copyright Revision

~~~~What happens if an election is called before the Bill becomes law?

If an election is called before Bill C-60 receives Royal Assent, the bill effectively dies and must be resubmitted in the next Parliamentary session. For example, if the bill is sitting in Committee stage and the government calls a snap election, the bill can no longer be considered and any new Copyright bill must be reintroduced in the next Parliament. Bills that pass Third Reading of the House and Senate usually receive Royal Assent expeditiously before a Parliamentary session is about to end upon the calling of an election.~~~~

This bill only got a first reading by the way...two more readings were required AND THEN Royal assent....so this is months and months away...just not a main priority item I guess.

No monthly lawsuit announcements yet?

Only in China....

Music company files 50 piracy lawsuits

Guess they haven't got the hang of this thing yet, I mean only 50?

A spoof of the RIAA from this week's TheOnion:

RIAA Bans Telling Friends About Songs

November 30, 2005

LOS ANGELES—The Recording Industry Association of America announced Tuesday that it will be taking legal action against anyone discovered telling friends, acquaintances, or associates about new songs, artists, or albums. "We are merely exercising our right to defend our intellectual properties from unauthorized peer-to-peer notification of the existence of copyrighted material," a press release signed by RIAA anti-piracy director Brad Buckles read. "We will aggressively prosecute those individuals who attempt to pirate our property by generating 'buzz' about any proprietary music, movies, or software, or enjoy same in the company of anyone other than themselves." RIAA attorneys said they were also looking into the legality of word-of-mouth "favorites-sharing" sites, such as coffee shops, universities, and living rooms.

Just a few reasons to totally steer clear of Windows Vista next year (I know I'm preaching to the choir for the mostpart, but still). =)

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1841067,00.asp

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1840867,00.asp

This is the first month since August, 2004 that the RIAA has not announced a new round of lawsuits.

Hey, you are right. I've not heard of any here in the USA yet this month. They must be in heavy damage control mode!

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,17414575%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html


P2P case sparks audible debate

IN a sideshow to its Federal Court battle, Sharman Networks has been trading blows with the music industry over the best way to eliminate music piracy from peer-to-peer file sharing system Kazaa.

In September, the Federal Court ordered Sharman to implement a keyword filtering system to block illegal file trading within three months or face being shut down.

Last week Sharman's lawyers applied to the court for an extension to carry out the orders and sought permission to implement new digital music "finger-printing" technology called Audible Magic that has been endorsed by US authorities.

Federal Court Justice Wilcox granted Sharman's an extension but music industry lawyers raised objections to the technology.

The music industry asked the court to order Sharman to adhere to original conditions of the September orders, requiring the P2P provider to introduce filtering based on 3000 keywords designed to pick out artist works.



ADVERTISEMENT



Sharman said that the music industry's resistance to Audible Magic was part of a wider strategy to have Kazaa shutdown.

"The action of the record companies in refusing to attend the second court-ordered meeting revealed that their true intention was not to foster agreement about an acceptable filtering technology, but to shut down Kazaa and rid themselves improperly of a competitor," a Sharman spokesman said.

A spokeswoman for the record industry rejected the suggestion, saying the digital finger-printing technology had been opposed on the grounds that it would take too long to implement.

"The record companies have no objection to digital finger print technologies such as Audible Magic. It may be the best long term solution to peer-to-peer piracy, but it takes time to implement," she said.

"The court has already ordered Sharman to filter and the record companies want those ordered filters to be put in place by Sharman as soon as possible."

Audible's technology has already been implemented by P2P file-sharing service iMesh. The company reportedly took 12 months to roll-out the filtering system.

During the first of two court-supervised technical "conclaves", Sharman's technical experts told the court that the technology could be introduced across the Kazaa network by March.

Sharman lawyers said that the record companies' technical experts agreed during the conference that the digital identification system would provide an acceptable alternative to keyword filtering.

"For our learned friends to say, as they have said in their preposterous submission this morning, that we have derailed this process of compliance with the injunction is an absolute fantasy," Sharman senior counsel John Ireland said.

Justice Wilcox criticised record industry lead lawyer Michael Williams after he notified the court at the eleventh-hour that music industry technical experts would not attend a second technical conclave, scheduled November 21.

The music industry lawyers told the court they had reservations about the manner in which the conclaves had been conducted.

---

BTW the article above about 'RIAA Bans Telling Friends About Songs' is a farce from The Onion site. Not true but could be

How can a decentralized network implement filtering?

Here Ya Go, George...They Didn't Let You Down
Add Washington, D.C., to the list of those suing Sony BMG over its stealth XCP copy-protection software. A lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in D.C. under a provision of the Consumer Protection Act that allows a resident to act as a "private attorney general" on behalf of the general public. The suit claims that Sony deceived consumers by secretly installing copy-protection software on some 24 million discs that compromised the security of the users' computers and that attempts to fix the problem caused even greater security issues. Sony has already been hit by a suit from the Texas attorney general and at least six other class-action suits over the discs. ... If it's the last Wednesday of the month, that means it's suing time for the Recording Industry Association of America. The RIAA has announced its latest round of copyright-infringement lawsuits, this time against 754 unnamed individuals using such P2P services as the soon-to-be-legit Grokster, Kazaa and LimeWire. Among those sued were students at 12 colleges, including Boston University, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Michigan State, New York University, Ohio State and the University of Pittsburgh. Also sued were 81 named individuals across the country. ...

And the Sony is a freebie...

Grateful Dead to Allow Free Web Downloads

Japan Abandons Plan To Revise Copyright Laws

ShadowMom: mtv news?

but there were only two small mentions of it so far....maybe that's all we'll get this time!!

If it's the last Wednesday of the month, that means it's suing time for the Recording Industry Association of America. The RIAA has announced its latest round of copyright-infringement lawsuits, this time against 754 unnamed individuals using such P2P services as the soon-to-be-legit Grokster, Kazaa and LimeWire. Among those sued were students at 12 colleges, including Boston University, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Michigan State, New York University, Ohio State and the University of Pittsburgh. Also sued were 81 named individuals across the country. ...

Well, I still think they may be doing damage control ...or, how come eMTv is the only source that the lawsuit announcements appear at so far? I usually see dozens of versions of the monthly "sue-em-all" story each month from the other music-news outlets.

(Maybe I haven't looked hard enough? lol)
Oh well, I'll keep an eye out for it today.

I still can't find anything about the new round of lawsuits other than what you showed us ShadowMom. Iv'e been actively looking too!

"The RIAA has announced its latest round of copyright-infringement lawsuits, this time against 754 unnamed individuals using such P2P services as the soon-to-be-legit Grokster, Kazaa and LimeWire. "

I wonder how many 12-year-old girls, dead grandmas, and disabled moms will be sued this time.

riaa trying to keep a low "suing" profile these days?

Ok, all you techies out there..what the heck is this?
LamaBox, the File Sharing Appliance

good -bad- indifferent -makes a difference-makes the riaa mad?

I can't find anything else, either...and when I Google RIAA now, those two links don't even show up, although the link to mtv still works. Maybe they want to keep it quiet...stealth education maybe?

Oops, sorry, they are still there when I google...but why no one else? This is strange...

independentm... if you go to the dreaded riaa website today, under their pressroom propaganda, the sordid story is all there....

Let's compare the RIAA's lawsuits to the Sony DRM fiasco.

Cary Sherman said, "The problem with the SonyBMG situation is that the technology they used contained a security vulnerability of which they were unaware."

Lost the second half of that post.

P2P users are being targeted because their software contains a security vulnerability of which many 12-year-olds and dead people are unaware.

"if you go to the dreaded riaa website today, under their pressroom propaganda, the sordid story is all there...."

Why the hell would anyone WANT to go the RIAA's lie filled pages??? (Except for us, lol)

...my point being:

It's very suspicious that "umpteen number sued by RIAA" is not all over the regular news-sites during this month's cycle.

gdZiemann said:

Cary Sherman said, "The problem with the SonyBMG situation is that the technology they used contained a security vulnerability of which they were unaware."

But these guys at Sony are obviously trying to sabotage the customer's computer ON PURPOSE just like the writer of malware does! And Now this piece of fat white crap of Shitman is trying to pretend it was only a deffect!

Ala SADAM Husein propaganda!

David Byrne gets DMCA warning from RIAA

http://www.davidbyrne.com/journal/current.php#dmca

absurd.

TY gfmlcka, I'll "front-page" it for ya!

Well, I was in a great mood today until I found this bit of info:

The Magic Numbers: The Magic Numbers
The Magic Numbers
enlarge Enlarge
Released: 2005
Label: EMI, Capitol, Heavenly, Capitol/Heavenly
Genre: Rock

(We didn't get to them in time.)

...you don't know how hard it hurts me to have to say this...

BOYCOTT "The Magic Numbers"

-----------

I'm gonna go drink myself into a crying stupor now.

DAMNIT DAMNIT DAMNIT ALL TO HELL!!!!

When I saw 'em on Conan last night I kinda knew the "jig was up"...

NOBODY gets on Conan/Leno/Letterman/etc. unless/until they are RIAA enslaved...

This is old but funny
http://www.newsforge.com/trends/03/12/04/1419246.shtml?tid=149&tid=20&tid=85

Yeah! She's going for it!

Patricia Santangelo files Answer, Demands Trial by Jury

Patricia Santangelo, the defendant in Elektra v. Santangelo, in White Plains Federal Court, filed her answer to the RIAA's complaint on Friday, December 2nd.

In it, she demanded a trial by jury.

Her pre-answer motion to dismiss complaint had been denied in a November 28, 2005, order and decision.

Wow! Thanks for the update, pepe!
Does she stand a chance of winning, mroop?

Let's see, soccer mom vs. big business conglomerate... If you were on a jury, would would be more sympathetic to right off the bat?

I'm just wondering if the riaa would want this to go to a jury. Think they'll try to weasel out of it?

System rules again; Brooks' numbers shrouded --Reuters

THE THUNDER ROLLS

A man who already has notched eight No. 1 albums on the big chart might have rallied another had
Garth Brooks' "Limited Series" been widely available at retail outlets, rather than exclusive to Wal-Mart.

The companies that service the department store chain -- Anderson Merchandisers and Handleman -- opted to withhold reporting sales of this proprietary title to Nielsen SoundScan. Because it was an exclusive offering, the title did not qualify for the Billboard 200 or Top Country Albums.

Without tracking at SoundScan, there are conflicting messages about how much Brooks' boxed set sold. A Wal-Mart press release states that it "achieved gold status, more than half a million copies sold, the first day it was available for purchase," but since the Recording Industry Assn. of America's certification criteria multiply net shipments by the number of pieces in a boxed set, that citation lacks clarity. Industry sources tell Billboard it sold in the neighborhood of 300,000-400,000 in its three-day window.

The three previously released albums included in this new box averaged first-week sales of 815,932. Brooks' first boxed set, similarly titled "The Limited Series," opened with 372,000 copies in 1998 and has sold 1.9 million, according to SoundScan.

Factor in Brooks' November 10 visit to "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," multiple visits to "Good Morning America," the impact of radio hit "Good Ride Cowboy" (bulleting from No. 5 to No. 4 on Hot Country Singles), a bargain price point and pent-up demand from the four-year gap since his last album, and it is easy to imagine that the new "Limited Series" could have outsold System of a Down's "Hypnotize." Yet without the verification of SoundScan data, this ends up akin to the tree that falls in the forest when no one is there to hear it.

------------

Are not the SoundScan numbers "mucked up" anyway due to the Sony XCP recall? Not even a bare mention about it in this article. Hmm...

(SoundScan is RIAA owned and operated, not anything they say is worth a dime!)

Media execs feel pressure of indecency standards --Reuters

Digital Content Kiosks Rock On --TechWeb

The tremendous success of Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store is breathing life into digital kiosks in retail stores

Lawsuit Accuses AOL of Illegal Billing --AP

A lawsuit seeking to potentially cover hundreds of thousands of America Online Inc. subscribers accuses the Time Warner Inc. unit of illegally billing customers by creating secondary accounts for them without their consent.

Anti-DRM Protest Part II in NYC --Slyck

"Tower Record’s store manager came out to discuss the recent Sony-DRM fiasco with Fred Benenson, founder and organizer of the protest. Members of FreeCulture@NYU asked the store manager directly if all CDs containing XCP technology had been removed from their public inventory. The store manager insisted that all CDs containing such technology were removed. In a scene reminiscent of Cinderella whipping out the second glass slipper, “Tom” whipped out his own glass slipper – however this time it was the very CD that started it all; “Van Zant, Get it Right With the Man” - purchased fresh from Tower Records.

The store manager reacted fairly, and understandably finding every CD with such technology is a time consuming process. He also promised to look into the situation further and remove any remaining XCP CDs. With Tower Records only a few blocks from FreeCulture@NYU’s home base at New York University, follow-up investigations will verify Tower Record’s promise."

See, Sony (and now, Tower) lie!!! The damn things are STILL on the shelves!!!

Universal tries to claim it's illegal to email their employees --Cinematical

This from the L. A. Times. A little more dirt from Sony...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fi-sony4dec04,0,2183725.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Thanks for the find cobrastrike! That's definately a front-page item!

Lessig Interview:

http://www.digitalvillage.org/audio.html

(In friendly mp3 format)

For those having difficulties with less friendly sites I would recommend
Media Player Classic for .rm files and the new VLC player for .mov files to avoid the trials and tribulations involved with dealing with Real and Quicktime quirks/shenanigans.
Both are Open Source and free.

This is way off topic, but it is one of the funniest things I've seen in months.

It's a 1960s instructional film from the New Orleans Police Dept.

Lawyers cast doubt on RIAA methods

Public, Multiformat Listening Test @ 128 kbps

The purpose of this test is to find out which popular, VBR encoder outputs the best quality on bitrates around 128 kbps.

*
Which codecs and settings are tested?
o Nero AAC 3.1.0.2
VBR/Stereo - Streaming, 100-120 kbps [LC AAC]
o iTunes AAC 6.0.1.3
128 kbps, VBR
o LAME 3.97 Beta 2
-V5 --vbr-new
o Ogg Vorbis AoTuV 4.51 Beta
-q 4.25
o WMA Professional 9.1
Quality-Based VBR, Q50
o Shine 0.1.4 (Low Anchor)
-b 128

------------
(personally, I tend to use and prefer Constant Bit-Rates for my own .mp3s.)

Putting pirates behind bars is best deterrent --Bangkok Post

"David Mattinson, the IFPI Asian regional office's investigator, said Thailand should impose jail terms in order to discourage pirates,"

Lennon legacy tainted by bickering and big bucks --Reuters

"Former Beatle John Lennon was the master of the peacenik anthem, exhorting listeners to live in harmony and give peace a chance. He also asked us to imagine a world without possessions."

...not much "meat" in this article. It mostly just talks about McCartney & Ono feuding.

[url= http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/06/opinion/06kulash.html?th&emc=th&oref=login[ /url]
LA time article posted in NY Times
ttmmm

Wikipedia Tightens Submission Rules --AP

Apparently, they don't like Adam Curry editing references to other podcasters out of his own wiki.

At first this seemed very much off topic, so I was going to post it there for a laugh..but folks, it really is about the music, and the food, and these people are quite serious.....

sounds coming through the rye

~~LONDON (Reuters) - Tired of the same old lunch at your office desk? Help is at hand. A British supermarket is launching the ultimate life-enhancing snack -- the musical sandwich.~~

~~flavor/song combinations under consideration include Prawn To Be Wild, Let It Brie and that
old Julio Iglesias favorite, Fillings,~~

Another anti-DRM rant from a musician:


http://www.coolfer.com/blog/archives/2005/11/guest_bloggin_t_1.html

Was this posted yet?

Buy, Play, Trade, Repeat
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/06/opinion/06kulash.html

Ode to John Lennon :

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martin-lewis/still-a-drag-john-lenn_b_11722.html

I posted both in the same Buy, Play, Trade, Repeat thread.

Sony BMG Urges Security Fix for CDs
This is not the rootkit story.....Sony's really on a roll!!!

"Sony BMG Music Entertainment said Tuesday some 5.7 million of its CDs were shipped with anti-piracy technology that requires a new software patch to plug a potential security breach in computers used to play the CDs.


"This one is not hidden but the average user wouldn't know to look for it unless it was brought to their attention."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-bradley/record-companies-screwing_b_11762.html

Apple seems to have lost its fight with the record companies over the $9.99 uniform pricing policy in the iTunes music store: the new Eminem greatest hits collection, posted online today, is selling for $14.99.

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,69774,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_3

More on Gilmore's appeal.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/06/hollywood_biometric/

Hollywood bets on biometric DRM + P2P
Thumbs up, or thumbs down?

Some of you may recall the quixotic crusade of inventor Gary Brant, who we interviewed last year. Gary proposed integrating biometric DRM into a portable MP3 player, and was unabashed when several hundred Register readers wrote in to say what a bad idea it was. Not one reader, in fact, endorsed the idea.

But Brant's determination may yet win him a place in the mainstream family living room. His latest product is a set top box, that uses broadband and P2P technology to create a 'secure' network. Secured, as you might guess, by biometric DRM.
Lightpointe online prices

Brant says that one major Hollywood studio and one of the big four labels are backing the project from his company Veritouch Inc., called MuViBOXX.

Search and BitTorrent-style P2P file sharing are part of the proposition, as Brant explains:

"The appliance lets you search for any movie that, say, George Clooney has appeared in, and download it. You'll have access to more movies than you get at Blockbuster, and you don't even have to walk to the mailbox, like you do with NetFlix".

MuViBOXX uses a watermark identification like Snocap to identify copyright material from uploaded movies of the kids you might want to share with Grandma. Rather than license or partner with Snocap, Veritouch has devised its own.

Brant also said he'd like to see a system based on rewarding P2P uploaders.

"P2P sharers already pay for the electricity and bandwidth," he pointed out, and hinted that Hollywood's rapprochement with BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen may be more than a PR excercise.

"When we last spoke [June 2004] you didn't think this was a problem that could be solved technology. I think there is and it can".

"Once you're connected to the internet you log onto this new P2P network, then at the top of the hierarchy are the big movie networks. It'll then go out to the other content providers as well as the other P2P providers on the network, and they can upload them to you using this secure network," he said.

At its heart, MuViBOXX is a simple Linux router, only with a 500GB hard drive, integrated Ethernet and 802.11b/g/a wireless, a DVD player, and HDTV outputs. It will also make VoIP calls. Linux proved to be the perfect platform for building a lock-down DRM system, said Brant.

Veritouch has been working with the studios on ways to distribute "pre-release" content such as movie rushes and previews for three years now.

What's less clear is who will bear the cost of the box. Brant said that the studios are keen to help, but he really needs a cableco to underwrite what looks like an expensive piece of kit.
The rights question

"I'm walking a high wire," confesses Brandt, when we pressed him about the consequences for fair use. But a problem looms for what we may call the "rights" lobby, which has grown accustomed to arguing the dispute as one of personal freedoms rather than the compensation tiff that it really is.

And it's been looming for a long time - ever since we discussed the lock-down PC for the first time five years ago.

At the time, Richard Stallman, the leading Free Software activisit, put the dilemma like this

"Free software faces two dangers, each worse than the other: ... users will reject GNU/Linux because it doesn't support the central control over access to these data, or that they will reject free versions of GNU/Linux for versions "enhanced" with proprietary software that support it. Either outcome will be a grave loss for our freedom."

When we revisited the issue 18 months later, appropriating the phrase 'The Stuckist Net', it was clear that a significant number of readers would live with archaic PCs that don't play DRM restricted songs or movies - so long as they were kept open. You could call this the Mongolian option.

But give the average household an easy-to-use box next to the TV that provides limitless video on demand, and they don't see any loss of "rights" at all - they see it as saving a trip to Blockbuster in the rain. They see it as more choice than they had before. Any argument based on "digital rights" is going to go down in flames.

The threat to the PC comes from PC manufacturers wanting to access the MuViBOXX network using a standard PC. We know, and the powerful Wintel lobby never ceases to remind us, that the open nature of the PC architecture and the open nature of the internet have given us, respectively, two lousy technologies for distributing content.

Let's keep them that way.

p2p-and-intellectual-property-debate



Yesterday, I provided a short analogy where I hoped to provide some similarities between telling secrets and downloading copyright protected music. The crux of my argument was if I tell you a secret on the terms that you are not to disclose it to anyone else, you are bound to those terms. However, if someone else overhears me telling you the secret, that person is not bound by any non-disclosure agreement.

Over at The Mind Trap, they disagree:

I don’t think that follows — considering Gordon is refering to the practice of downloading music from p2p systems the third party is more like someone who actively seeks the rumour, for example by eavesdropping. True, the person relaying the rumour (putting the content on the p2p network) is eagerly breaking the agreement not to pass it on, but the third party has to actively go to their metaphorical house specifically to get the rumour. They’re not really that innocent.

We both can agree that the person putting the content on the p2p network has likely violated their agreement with the recording company who sold them a CD, video, or similar licensed material. We differ on the eavesdropping portion, though.

Society does not consider something wrong with actively seeking rumors, so long as no rights are violated in the process. To be sure, journalists and bloggers do this all the time. As long as one does not trespass on someone’s real property in order to eavesdrop, no moral violation occurs. In my example, I actually yelled the secret across a bar, so no eavesdropping was even involved in that case.

Likewise, the major p2p companies do their yelling in the form of advertising, inviting people into their “metaphorical house” in order to download music. Again, there is no trespass. The person who downloads the music may be guilty in a court of law, but totally innocent in moral reality.

Legal *cough* P2P Film Downloads

We recently reported on a new streamed internet television service, AOL’s In2tv. Following on from that we've got wind of an internet service to offer films for 'rental' from NBC/Universal. What’s slightly surprising is that their service will use a P2P (peer to peer) distribution service. Formally P2P had been universally revered for ever so slightly denting the incredibly high and not at all excessive profits of the film industry. This full circle turn into utilising the technology for there own profit marks a fundamental acceptance, to at least the possibility, of a change in the market for film distribution from the film companies themselves.

Having struck a deal with Wurld Media, NBC/ Universal will,in early 2006 with a selected number of films, make content available to download from Wurld Media’s protected P2P Peer Impact network. Content downloaded will be viewable for 24 hours but will be stored on the consumers computer for 30 days. This is in order to set up the user as a ‘seed’ so as to facilitate other consumer’s ability to get faster downloads. Essentially then it’s bad news for Blockbuster Video but great news for Wurld Media who always kept their P2P networks on the straight and narrow so perhaps now it will pay dividends for them.

With internet connections seemingly getting faster on a daily basis and the ability to download and stream very high quality content the possibilities are latent. HD quality films directly onto your television negate the need to engage in the, frankly already tiresome, HD-DVD/Blu-ray war. Not only that but as definition got even higher there’d be no need to constantly upgrade your player, so long as your internet connection is fast enough. We already know Bill Gates believes CD and DVD will be the last successful physical formats, perhaps he will be proved correct.

When Hi-Fi Meets the IPod

An unlikely confrontation is taking shape, where the seemingly unstoppable iPod is meeting with an immovable object -- the audiophile's love of good old-fashioned vinyl.

It's not yet a dust-up of Mothra-versus-Godzilla proportions. But this showdown between the competing -- some might say incommensurable -- demands of hi-fi audio and portability is beginning to trickle down into the mainstream, with potentially disruptive consequences for online music services such as Apple's iTunes Music Store, and the music industry at large.

These DVD-Audio discs, released by Warner Bros. Records, offer a higher sound quality than common music CDs, but also contain a digital watermark that prevents the owner from making perfect copies of the content. DVD-Audio hardware players also do not have digital outputs for the high-quality sound, an effort to limit digital music piracy. MusicGiants claim their music files put MP3s to shame.This is the MusicGiants interface, complete with Fidelity Meter (1), library stats (2), search function (3) and burning tools (4).The MusicGiants software gives you many of the same features found in other popular MP3 managers, such as importing your music collection and managing playlists.

While music downloads are unparalleled in convenience, the average sound quality is a poor facsimile of the CDs from whence they came -- and the quality gap is awakening the ears of a generation of music fans who are demanding a better experience, despite the tradeoffs that come with larger file sizes.

This trend is most visible in surging LP sales, which belie the notion that the market for vinyl has been dead for years.

A majority of new releases are still printed on vinyl. And many of the same kids who illegally download music for free will actually purchase the LP because that quality can't be found anywhere else.

According to the RIAA, vinyl's percentage of overall sales doubled in 2004, grossing $110 million over 2000's $72 million. This growth came at a time when overall music sales dropped from $14.4 billion to $12.2 billion.

Vinyl has long been the go-to format for audiophiles. Often described as having a warmer sound than CDs, the quality of vinyl that people often try to put their finger on is its ability to capture the feeling of a live performance. Vinyl isn't exactly more 'clear' -- the frequent, but often avoidable, hisses and pops are actually what turn many people off from records. The appeal is that the recording is alive. Through the thin film of static, it actually feels like the instruments are in the room with you. The record also grows with you, degrading slightly -- but charmingly -- after each listen.

"There's something emotionally connected to vinyl," said Heather Marie, a local musician who works at the San Francisco branch of Amoeba Music, the country's largest independent record store. "The experience, the memory, holding it and looking at the art work. It's a visual and timeless feeling."

In another sign of the trend, audiophile communities are beginning to spring up online, made up of people willing to sit through long downloads to preserve the original recording quality, like EtreeWiki.

In addition, a commercial download service called MusicGiants launched earlier this year, offering big downloads (each song averages 25 MB) in so-called lossless music format that's equivalent in quality to a CD.

MusicGiants CEO Scott Bahneman, envisions a world where "you're able to buy one hi-fidelity file online for home use, create versions of variable bitrates and then transport them to a variety of different locations."

For example, Bahneman said hi-fi manufacturer Harman International's recent purchase of PhatNoise, a company that makes digital car-stereo system, signals a shift towards much higher fidelity in autos.

There are also several new hi-fi formats aiming to match the vinyl experience, such as DVD Audio, or DVD-A, DualDisc and Super Audio CDs, or SACDs.

But despite their undisputed high fidelity, they have largely been market failures.

Sales of these formats have suffered because they need specialized players, and limits on copying make it difficult to transfer tracks from a disc to a computer or a portable player.

Bahneman said his company is already starting to re-master around 75 SACD and DVD-A titles for release online early next year. The files will be encoded in Windows Media Audio Lossless format, so any Windows XP computer will be able to play them. They will be larger files and sold at a premium, he said.

If the current crop of high-res formats has languished in the market, the technology behind them could yet break out to form the basis of new, portable hi-fi formats that can be ripped and burned much like MP3s, only the files are much larger.

Super Audio seems the best bet for a new, high-resolution digital-audio standard. It has sampling rates up to 60 times that of current CDs, and is compatible with popular 5.1 channel surround sound, used in many home theater systems.

But Sony's support of SACDs has been limp at best -- the company inexplicably favors its mediocre DualDisc format. Additionally, all three formats are protected with ironclad DRM software that prevents burning or uploading.

"The record industry is so driven by digital rights management," said John Atkinson, editor of Stereophile magazine, "they would rather cripple (SACD's) transfer success and not get their money back than have a more transferable medium with a chance of commercial success."

Atkinson added, "I have literally bought tens of thousands of CDs and albums over the years, and the record companies treat me like a pirate, without doing anything to stop actual pirates."

Wordsmiths hail podcast success --BBC

The term 'podcast' has been declared Word of the Year by the New Oxford American Dictionary.

Ipsos-Reid: Only 2% of Consumers Care About Legal Issues With Downloading Music --mp3 Newswire

By Richard Menta 12/8/05

Only 2% of people who paid a fee to download music from the Internet cited that the contentious legal issues surrounding online music distribution concerned them. This statistic comes from Ipsos-Reid's latest research on the consumption of digital media titled "Cultivating Desire: Investing in Market Insights to Reap Digital Content Profits". This particular paper focuses on ways for content providers to tap into the Internet as an evolving distribution mechanism of mass media. The shockingly low number should come as a warning to the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) who have so far sued thousands for file sharing in the expectation that they can scare consumers in buying instead of trading. First, this is not a way to tap into this audience and second the tactic isn't working.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10372145/

Indie bands jump on brand wagon

Artists find exposure, cash in licensing deals

Bob Mould is best known for his 1980s punk band Husker Du. Now 45, the guitarist and vocalist sells his new music primarily by touring and through his Web site. But it's a grind.

So Mould was thrilled when he was contacted recently by the music supervisor for the hit Fox show "The OC," who wanted to use a recording from Mould's most recent album in an upcoming episode.

The producers paid "in the low five figures," Mould said, to play his song "Circles" on the show multiple times, making it exactly the kind of deal that Mould, and artists like him, are looking for now.
Corporate executives are increasingly looking for new sounds to help create an image for a brand, whether it's a product, a store or a show. It could be music from an emerging artist, or something old and hip, such as Husker Du, but whatever it is, it is likely to be cheaper than the high price of licensing a hit song from a major record label.

The result is that corporate music buyers are changing the economics of being an independent musician. The once-standard dream of a record deal and radio play is giving way to the reality of restaurants, retailers and automakers scouring the industry for little-known music that can lend mood and edge to marketing campaigns.

"New artists have realized that the big labels really are not doing the job anymore, and if [the artists] can just get their music out, people will stumble onto it and then the buzz starts," Mould said, speaking on a cell phone from a San Francisco coffee shop while on tour. "As an artist, you've gotta look for ways to make money."

Don Rose, acting president of the American Association of Independent Music, said licensing represents "a growing and significant portion of any indie label's revenue portfolio." Selling music to advertisers used to be taboo among many sellout-conscious artists, but today "these commercial branding opportunities are being viewed much more positively," he said.

While there is no comprehensive data to show how much money such artists are making from licensing, Rose said it can be seen in any small music label's revenue stream. A good example would be ESL Music, which is based in Adams Morgan and gets nearly 40 percent of its revenue from licensing deals, up from almost nothing a few years ago, according to Phil Hawken, director of licensing for ESL.

-------------------------------------------

There's more to article. This info not only highlights many of the things we already know, but reinforces what many of us has already concluded...The labels are in the middle of death throws and are taking as many casualties with them as they can.

MUSIC: Warner chief says piracy is declining

And we really believe you Mr. Bronfman...wink wink, nudge nudge...

I just got home from the mall, thank God i made it out alive, durning my adventures shopping you can not help but see how many products carry the sony lable, many are for the purpose of recording, storing, playing cd's and DVD's.
This is like the cops planting, harvesting and selling drugs on the street, then busting you for buying and using it!

Sometime in the past someone posted a story about the RIAA trying to get the Goverment to pass a law tha covered "attemped" copying of a cd. This root kit may be tied to this law they tried to get passed, which would make this a conspiracy. Sony knew the root kit reported home and would of used this info for legal action. If you posted the story would you repost it, thankyou. I would like to send a copy to the Texas Attorney General.

Court Rules Against Mom in Download Suit

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051210/ap_on_hi_te/downloading_music;_ylt=AlVa8pGcQQcNCKPhlQAshRCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3cjE0b2MwBHNlYwM3Mzg-

"Court Rules Against Mom in Download Suit"

"A copy downloaded, played, and retained on one's hard drive for future use is a direct substitute for a purchased copy," the judges wrote.

The wording here doesn't make sense. There is no law against recieving. The law only covers distributing. It seems the only case they could have had was that she used a p2p with the share folder turned on. That scenario would have left her open for a distribution claim that would have been hard to defend. The court's stand (I haven't this validated yet, and this could simply be hype) would create a violation against listening to music you did not buy. This would effectivley wipe out the first sale docturine since the labels make no money from second hand sales as well as make it illegal to lend or trade a CD.

mroop where are you? We need a sound legal comment on this wording. A link to actual ruling wouldn't hurt either. It seems yahoo doesn't link to their source material, so the actual court ruling is not available by way of the article.

This article raises real concerns. Taken as stated, this wiill be used to wipe out everything from yard sales to rental stores.

"the appeals panel said Gonzalez never deleted songs off her computer she decided not to buy, and judges said she could have been liable for more than 1,000 songs found on her computer."

So, if she would have deleted them after downloading them, the panel would have sided with her?

"There is no law against receiving [copyrighted music w/o paying]; the law only covers distributing."

Yoo-hoo, Mroop (where are you?)....your legal opinion on that statement, please.
Thanks.

(I' m guessing it might be too much to hope for, that leflaw would get an opportunity to see that statement and comment on it.)

Afterthought:

Originally, wasn't there a hearing pertaining to pretrial discovery, scheduling, and other procedural issues?
What if the defendent's attorney had demanded (to use George Z.'s suggestion) that her accusers prove any basic facts, such as copyright registration . . . and had done that each and every time the plaintiff's attorneys attempted to include something as a point of fact by its mere mention? This is called foundation.

IF they had done that, and IF the lady had erased those downloaded songs, she might have won the case.

Too late now. Damage done.

The above news is a shame, very frustrating. On the other hand, there is other news that may, or may not, be cared about here...

Clogger of P2P networks to shut down

(Tom says: I found this on Boingboing about the Bedazzled blog.)

http://bedazzled.blogs.com/bedazzled/2005/12/the_new_bedazzl.html

The New Bedazzled! Now 100% Wingnut Free! Bumped & Updated

UPDATE: I bumped this back up to the top after I received a comment from a reader.

"I would like, however, to see the music postings somehow seperated (sp) from your other postings. I, like many others, do not hold with the same political views as you and I would like to not have to sift through your vitriole (sp) simply to access the better materials you offer. Perhaps a seperate site or some kind of sorting method can be implemented?"

Are you f*cking crazy? I'm gonna re-design my site so I don't offend the type of people that I think are ruining America? Why are you wasting my time with a question like that? Isn't it enough that that the mainstream media is overwhelmingly slanted to the right? You want my blog too? F*ck You. How's that for "vitriole"? Bottom line is I'm not gonna change anything to make wingnuts feel better about themselves while they're here. Sorry.

I've decided to disable comments for any post that might be considered "political". I don't have the time to answer every wingnut comment, and I'd rather spend my time cooking up some more fun entertainment stuff for everybody.

Anyway, I KNOW what they're gonna say before they say it, and if I didn't I could just turn on FOX (or CNN or almost any news show on TV) and find out. The media in America is overwhelmingly biased against progressives and democrats (even PBS has a 60% to 40% split between Conservative and Liberal pundits- and could everybody stop pronouncing that work pundint?). So I just feel like I'm balancing the scales in my own small way.

Think of it as a little tax. If you wanna come here and enjoy the videos, you're gonna have to put up with a little left-wing attitude (if that bothers you). I have to put up with right-wing proselytizing everytime I turn a fucking knob on my TV or radio, so I don't feel too bad about it (actually, I feel great about it).

All comments and trackbacks, by the way, have to be approved by me in any case, as we've been getting a lotta comment and trackback spam.

"OVER ZEALOUS KENTUCKY STATE TROOPER ARRESTS MAN FOR PASSING OUT VIDEO TAPES HE DIDN'T LIKE. "

http://www.infowars.com/print/ps/cw_rushing_update.htm

FROM THE INBOX:

Mike,

Have you heard about Circuit City's Get Digital
Service? Here is a link:

http://www.getdigitalinc.com/index.aspx

They say that if you send them your Redbook (non-copy
protected) CDs, they will encode them for use on your
digital player of choice. Of course, they have had to
make some assurances to the RIAA such as not retaining
a copy, burning CDs, or encoding protected titles. I
wonder if the labels are getting a cut from this
service, despite the fact that the music has already
been purchased.

Even if this was of interest to me (which it is not),
I would not want to send my personal collection to
them in the hopes that it is returned in the same
condition. My CDs are an investment to me having spent
a lot of time and money in getting them.

--Dave

Ouch Tom!

ALLRIGHT, TOM!!!!!!!!

http://www.audionautes.net/blog/index.php?2005/12/09/60-the-ada-rejects-the-report-on-p2p-from-the-french-intellectual-property-council-cspla

The ADA rejects the report on P2P from the French Intellectual Property Council (CSPLA)

The Association of Audionautes (ADA) rejects the report on P2P from the French Intellectual Property Council (CSPLA) that was released on 12/07/2005.

The main points of this report are:
- the liability of P2P software developers and Internet Service Providers (ISP)
- the authorization to monitor and wiretap P2P users and Electronic Communications, and a filtering system mandatory for all ISP
- the anti-circumvention protection of DRM with strong penalties against users
- the prohibition of all software allowing transmission of non-DRM copyrighted material, the prohibition of their marketing or advertising
- the increase of penalties for P2P using to 5 years and 500 000 euros

This report will be translated into legislation through a legislative session scheduled under an urgency process for December 22 and 23.

The ADA is surprised by the content of this report that does not take into account the recent French courts decisions on P2P downloads and the legitimacy of Private Copying. For the record:
- Rodez District Court, 10/13/2004 : Judges recognized the right of the Defendant to own 488 DIVX movies downloaded on Internet but qualifying as private copies
- Chateauroux District Court, 12/15/2004 : Judges refused to grant damages to Plaintiffs
- Pontoise District Court, 02/02/2005 : Plaintiffs obtained 15 000 euros for damages, showing the unfair aspects of these litigations
- Montpellier Appellate Court, 04/21/2005 : Judges recognized the right of private copying
- Meaux District Court, 04/21/2005 : Judges granted damages for an amount of 70 cents by downloaded title
- Havre District Court, 09/20/2005 : Judges granted damages for only an amount of 20 cents by downloaded title
- Plus various decisions in favour of the Defendants… and many more to come
- And the very important decision of the French Privacy Authority (CNIL) deciding on 10/18/2005 that the monitoring of P2P users should be banned on the basis that private copying is a public liberty and must be opposed to copyright.

The ADA regrets that the writing process of this report involved no hearings of Internet Users, explaining why the CSPLA did not understand the evolution of practices amongst them.

For more than one year, the ADA helped more than 80 people to organize their defense and to win their case. The ADA wants to state our disapproval with the repressive policy of Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres Ministry of Culture. Contrary to his predecessor, he never listened to the alarming signals coming from French Courts.

The ADA is deceived by this report that stayed blind to the evolution of jurisprudence and the opinion of Internet Users. The ADA wants to point out the fact that other organizations like the Artist-Public Alliance proposed alternate solutions, and that these solutions are even supported by more than 50 parliament members from the majority of Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres who proposed their own alternate Law Proposal.

I was getting ready to frontpage that one DeadMan2003, but since you posted the whole thing here, and I have dozens of other things to put up tonight, we'll just leave it be.

------------------------
Something else that might otherwise have gotten "front page"

Bridge Ratings Youth Audience Tracking Study 2005

------------
So much news today! Argggh! Hard to keep up!

And then there's this in the same vein:

Choosey Kids Choose Illegal File Sharing

December 10 - The scourge of record companies remains file sharing. It comes as no surprise free songs are better than the ones people pay for, particularly to teenagers. A recent study by Jupiter Research confirmed that fact and that it's unlikely to change anytime in the near future. This doesn't bode well for the future of record companies.
Securitypronews.com

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I detect an awful lot of "ooh, look how bad we the RIAA/industry is being hurt by pirates" news lately. You don't think they are trying to counter the Sony scandal in the eyes of the public/lawmakers do ya?