Napster back. Again.

Roxio has confirmed that it's bought Pressplay, one of the two music industry wannabe-Napster disasters, from Sony Music Entertainment and Vivendi's Universal Music Group.

Who's going to snap up the other - MusicNet?

One wonders. heh

Be that as it may, last year, of course, Roxi bought Napster for a trifling $5m and now says:

"As a result of this transaction, Roxio has acquired a legal digital music distribution infrastructure and catalog rights with all five major music labels.

From P2Pnet.net

"Pressplay will serve as the foundation for the launch of Roxio’s new legal on line music service under the Napster brand."

But don't think the Sony and UMG are out of the picture.

"UMG and SME will each provide a representative to join Roxio’s board of directors," says Roxio. "Pressplay’s president, Mike Bebel, will report directly to Chris Gorog [Roxio's chairman and ceo], and Pressplay’s senior management team and its offices in Los Angeles and New York will remain in place."

And Gorog spelled it out. “With our acquisition of Pressplay," he says, " we have the most complete and scaleable legal technology infrastructure to use as a platform to re-launch Napster.

"After taking the necessary time to add features, enhance functionality and improve usability we will launch a new service with an extremely compelling consumer experience that builds on the qualities of the Napster brand.”

In other words, the New Napster is gonna cost you. And will the added features include ways to suck up all your personal details so they can be processed and passed on to the many and various New Napster associates, not to speak of the labels?

Only The Shadow knows.

And in the meanwhile, by an amazing coincidence, last month RealNetworks bought mini-rival Listen.com but swears it won't give up MusicNet.

And who's working for Roxio these days?

Shawn Fanning, inventor of Napster.

The copyright pirates have teamed up with the music pirates. But now it's okay.

Napster was bad. Napster was the enemy.

Because now the labels have their fingers in it, too. As long as they are in control, Napster is good.

Oceania is our friend. Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" meets Orwells' "1984." And there is certainly some "Animal Farm" influence here as well.

Yeah, it's a classic.

I tried to tell you months ago that it wasn't about the money. Never has been.

Control. Total market domination.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

Yeah, in a way it IS about the money. It's about getting all of it instead of most of it.

Booooooo. Napster sellouts. I woudn't use their RIAA services even if you paid me. meh.

Yeah, I can see the New Napster already. Instead of being able to find everything, you'll only be able to find the new stuff and you'll only be able to listen to it through the Napster program and they'll be licensed for 30 days.

My idea is for a flat fee, a full catalog and the artists getting their due. Maybe if we started this with the independents, then maybe the majors would go "Hey, they're making more money than we are." and jump ship.

I love that comment about 1984, Farenheit 451, and Animal Farm, George.

You are LISTENING TO Big Brother RIAA......BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, HACKING YOU, AND SUING YOU.

Talk about the windmill in Animal Farm. Once Snowball was gone, it was Napoleon's idea.

Great analogy for the music industry. Only question is, who's Napoleon now?

Taking a different tack just for the sake of being an a**hole, how can Indie musicians co-opt this to get their selected music on the venture?

I read the article and didn't notice any specs on how the technology is going to be implemented, or how markedly different it's going to be from Kazaa/Old Napster. Given hackable conditions, I think there may be room for Indies to use the service's technology against itself unless it's a completely closed deal like emusic.com.

We should wait and see what the technical specs are going to be before jumping all over it. If it proves to be popular (I doubt it will, but who knows?), it could be another stake in the arsenal of major-label hunting Indies and their supporters.

fatchuck is thinking ahead... I love it.

My only question is why this article is getting such a rise from everyone?

I mean, let's be dead honest, when Napster first fell to the RIAA, it was made pretty clear that it was going pay-only, and quite a few more services have joined the ranks. And you do realize who uses them? The same idiots that go out and buy albums for one song. The same who made horrific compilation CDs a staple of every retail store...(Now, JockJams, etc.)

This isn't something new, nor is it something that will effect the mass public. The people who would subscribe to this are the same that would side with the RIAA.

Call me crazy, but I know in my heart of hearts, that even if this launches and there are 15 paid subscribers, the industry will champion it as a 'triumph over piracy'. Meanwhile, the rest of us will laugh in the face of a rapidly dying breed.

I'd feel bad about all this, if I had any remorse left, but I'm fresh out. I'm sorry, but the industry forced me, like many other consumers, to feel this way. At this point, the only impression I'm getting is the RIAA standing alone, yelling at consumers like an annoyed substitute teacher. Well, sorry, but no one in this class is going to buy into the idea that James Hetfield and Mick Jagger are starving because we don't want to deal with constantly increasing prices.

The point of all this rambling is this. If someone wants to pay for downloadable music, they will. At least this way, the RIAA can't say that they have no outlet for income other than retail sites on the web.

Think about this. fatchuck figures out how to exploit Napster Redux or someone drops something else in our lap to solve our problem.

I'd go so far as to say that's almost a given at this point.

The problem is going to be that the majors will just turn right back into vultures with a larger herd to hunt.

I even dangled this in front of them as a lure to get them to take a step toward file sharing. After all, I'm the only one who really knows when I'm being sarcastic.

Pop music is dead or, at the least, in a coma. Indies are the next big thing. No matter what, the real issue is going to be coming up with vulture repellent. We've got to keep them away from the next generation.

That's what we have to focus on. It's going to be a lot harder than the battle thus far and much more important.

George, as always you're right. What I was trying to say, and failed to in all that, is that the people who would use a pay as you listen program such as Napster as typically not your market anyway. I might be crazy, but I tend to think that Celine Dion would be a lot bigger on that program than the Strokes, for example.

I'm basically just saying that it's a non-factor because all it will really do is provide the RIAA a marketing tool to the Top 40, or Over 40 markets, neither of which could give half a shit about local bands, underground sounds, or the rock movement in general, most of which live and die by the idie scene.

Check this out, everyone.

Slashdot is threatening to shut down the entire Internet.

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/05/20/0031227

And people thought I was over the edge.

This is the answer. And my most insane idea yet. I stole it from slashdot and added a twist.

The Internet needs to be rebooted.
The colleges own the servers which are the spine of the Internet. Congress has threatened open source.

July 4 is Independents' Day.
Turn off the Internet.
Stop the file sharing.
Stop the world.

It's time to reboot.

And it may take us just as long enough to restart as it takes for the Wicked Witch to melt.

On network television.

This is the least destructive date on which to conduct a show of civil disobedience. The financial markets will be closed for the holiday anyway. Government offices will be closed. Everyone is going to be out screwing around anyhow.

No harm, no foul.

When they get home and go to check on what's going on in the world...

George,
are you telling us to NOT be online over the 4th of July weekend? Are you "in the know" about something that we should be aware of? Is this all getting spooky or what? You seem to be in the forefront of those representing the indie musicians these days... don't get caught up in anything that would destroy our banner. We are only musicians/artists after all. If the techies and hackers want to play with fire (albeit in a way that possibly would benifit us underdog indie musicians) there would be nothing we could do about it (other than secretly applaud.) I just hope the movement for a free internet doesn't get crushed by the reprisals. We are becoming a political/social voice, even if only an ignored whisper at the time being. Just be CAREFULL. If what I THINK you are talking about is true, the corporate (and controlling) world is gonna cry "terrorist" and point fingers at us independents and free-thinkers.

It won't be for indie artists but RIAA crap ones like Britney. And, it will most likely be today's top40 shit. Not my idea of music and I would never use a services like this anyway. even I wanted to pay for music it would have to be unlinited, from out of print, hard to get songs from 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's, top quality downloads that I can do what I wanted with like move them off my drive and burn them with restrictions. dont be fooled by this shit. I bet you won't be able to move em off your drive.

what they'll do is lock down the songs you download. I can see it now. I've heard this tune before.

I don't do business with sellouts.

shit too many errors with that above post that should read 'without restrictions'.

electricgypsy -- I am not warning anyone of anything. And I fully understand what you mean about this being miscontrued as terrorism. Which makes it a very good thing that I have no actual power or control to make such a thing happen.

We're just thinking out loud here. Let's ask ourselves a few questions. Let's talk pure logic and common sense.

On July 4, as I said, the government will be closed, the financial market would be closed, the educational institutions will be closed. If all the colleges just happened to independently decide this was the day to reboot their servers, and do a little maintenance, it would not be unreasonable.

It would be a big coincidence. Just like the major labels' decisions to cut back on new releases so the market would drop. They all made that conclusion completely independent of each other.

As for terrorism. I'm glad you brought that up.

I'm worried about terrorism, too. A lot. I live far too close to the Palos Verde nuclear plant, already a potential target. I worry about my family and my child.

We must get the terrorists out of our computers. If the RIAA and now Congress, in an attack on open source software, are the terrorists attacking our privacy and our computers on the home front, how can the American people be expected to band together to protect our country from external attack?

Which terrorists are the greater threat?

If the domestic terrorists were to publicly abandon their tactics, perhaps the world's hackers would turn their attention to the real problems.

For instance, there are the letters from Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire and other parts of Africa telling about how someone died and there is millions waiting for me if I just give them the bank account to send the money to.

I've been forwarding these to the Secret Service for months. I still get them.

America's hackers could probably shut this crap down over the weekend, expose the perpetrator and end it.

But no. We are all expending our energy on the enemy from within. And now it includes our own government.

All I can say is that on July 4, I am turning my computer off. If I ever hear that this bullshit is over, I'll plug my cable modem back in.

Otherwise, I am no longer taking part in this tyranny and oppression. I turned the radio off years ago. I haven't bought a CD since 1999.

On July 4, I just unplug the world. Hilary can do whatever she wants. So can Congress. It won't effect me.

As for myself, The U.S Dept. of Justice is already looking at my web site. I see them in my web stats. Good. I invited them to look. Glad to see they are.

But they haven't looked near as deep as MIT, Princeton, Harvard, Duke, Univ. of Wisconsin, and the other educational institutions. They're all over my site. Long sessions.

The FDA is even looking at me. My web site has some "nutritional supplements" that I'm sure they were interested in for a minute and a half. It's dried milk and shark liver oil. They'll get over it.

They're all watching. They know we're out here.

And a question for our legal advisors...

How long do I have to wait for a response from Mr. Metalitz and company before I forward my demand for negotiation to the DOJ? If it were a collection notice from a creditor, the answer would be 10 days.

What's the time frame for a response to a legal challenge as the one I put forth? Or do I need to resubmit the correspondence with such a date affixed?

And a public note to the world.

Keep those Microsoft viruses coming. I received about 5 today. I don't use Microsoft products. I don't use any virus protection. No firewall.

I've got a Mac. Constant connection. Cox Cable.

Want my IP address, too?

It won't do you any damn good.

Anyone want me to forward these so the bastards can be tracked down? Or are the IP addresses from the headers enough?

I'd turn it in to the Secret Service but that seems to be a waste of time.

63.146.122.70
68.54.10.60
158.152.24.219
207.115.63.91
172.16.0.72

I know those IP addy's from seeing them on gnutella. Every single one of them.

you can't dl from em either and they always seem to have the most shared files too.

@ gdZiemann Date: May 21, 2003 @ 3:36 PM

FROM: http://bw.org/

(“Bill Weinman is a musician and technologist... In late 1999 he wrote bw-whois, which he freely distributes to the Internet community as a public service. In 2000 he wrote The Web Music Database, and founded Polymorphic Data Corporation to run it... The first few songs from his new album are currently available on his music site and on mp3.com. Bill is currently looking for musicians in Dallas.”)

63.146.122.70:

Request: 63.146.122.70
connected to whois.arin.net [192.149.252.43:43] ...
Qwest Communications NET-QWEST-BLKS-2 (NET-63-144-0-0-1)
63.144.0.0 - 63.151.255.255
Qwest Cybercenters QWEST-63-146-96 (NET-63-146-96-0-1)
63.146.96.0 - 63.146.127.255
Cybernet Communications QWEST-BUC-CYBERNET (NET-63-146-122-0-1)
63.146.122.0 - 63.146.122.127


68.54.10.60:

Request: 68.54.10.60
connected to whois.arin.net [192.149.252.43:43] ...
Comcast Cable Communications, Inc. JUMPSTART-1 (NET-68-32-0-0-1)
68.32.0.0 - 68.63.255.255
Comcast Cable Communications, Inc. FORT-WAYNE-3 (NET-68-54-0-0-1)
68.54.0.0 - 68.54.31.255

158.152.24.219:

Request: 158.152.24.219
connected to whois.arin.net [192.149.252.43:43] ...

OrgName: Demon Internet Inc.
OrgID: DEMONI
Address: 666 Fifth Avenue, 37th Floor
City: New York
StateProv: NY
PostalCode: 10029
Country: US

NetRange: 158.152.0.0 - 158.152.255.255
CIDR: 158.152.0.0/16
NetName: DEMON
NetHandle: NET-158-152-0-0-1
Parent: NET-158-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Assignment
NameServer: NS0.DEMON.CO.UK
NameServer: NS1.DEMON.CO.UK
NameServer: NS2.DEMON.NET
Comment:
RegDate: 1992-03-13
Updated: 2001-11-19

TechHandle: DEMON-HM-ARIN
TechName: Demon Internet / Thus plc
TechPhone: +44-845-272-0666
TechEmail: hostmaster@demon.net

207.115.63.91:

Request: 207.115.63.91
connected to whois.arin.net [192.149.252.43:43] ...

OrgName: Prodigy Communications L.P.
OrgID: PROD
Address: 1565 Front St.
City: Yorktown Heights
StateProv: NY
PostalCode: 10598
Country: US

NetRange: 207.115.0.0 - 207.115.63.255
CIDR: 207.115.0.0/18
NetName: PRODIGY-BLK2
NetHandle: NET-207-115-0-0-1
Parent: NET-207-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: DNSMASTER2.PRODIGY.NET
NameServer: DNSMASTER.PRODIGY.NET
Comment: ADDRESSES WITHIN THIS BLOCK ARE NON-PORTABLE
RegDate: 1996-06-19
Updated: 2001-09-26

TechHandle: RL770-ARIN
TechName: Lynch, Robert
TechPhone: +1-914-448-1165
TechEmail: boblynch@prodigy.net

172.16.0.72:

Request: 172.16.0.72
connected to whois.arin.net [192.149.252.43:43] ...

OrgName: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
OrgID: IANA
Address: 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
City: Marina del Rey
StateProv: CA
PostalCode: 90292-6695
Country: US

NetRange: 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255
CIDR: 172.16.0.0/12
NetName: IANA-BBLK-RESERVED
NetHandle: NET-172-16-0-0-1
Parent: NET-172-0-0-0-0
NetType: IANA Special Use
NameServer: BLACKHOLE-1.IANA.ORG
NameServer: BLACKHOLE-2.IANA.ORG
Comment: This block is reserved for special purposes.
Comment: Please see RFC 1918 for additional information.
Comment:
RegDate: 1994-03-15
Updated: 2002-09-12

OrgTechHandle: IANA-ARIN
OrgTechName: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number
OrgTechPhone: +1-310-823-9358
OrgTechEmail: res-ip@iana.org

Thank you so much, justed.

I believe I have a few letters to write.

So, if Verizon has to produce the name of someone who did downloading and was in no way conducting potentially harmful activity, I should have no problem getting the courts to fork over the indetification of these culprits.

I'm particularly interested in the IANA's block of numbers reserved for special use.

What kind of special use? For whom?

"Comment: This block is reserved for special purposes."

my thoughts too George noted for future blocking purposes

George,

I wouldn't be too quick to blame the people owning those IP addresses. We have recently been seeing a pattern of viruses containing a payload of backdoors and spyware. Here is one of them-

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/05/20/worm.micro.reut/index.html

These hijacked systems are responsible for sending spam and other ills to the rest of the Internet. Most people that own the systems in question do not even realize that there is a problem.

I also want to comment that people on this site should not generalize about the over 40 crowd. I am one of the over 40s, and I listen to indies, top40, trance and techno, just to name a few. Be careful about using labels on people, because they might find one for you.

unixluv -- Yeah, I'm 48. I remind them every so often.

It's the least of the prejudices we have to overcome. It kind of works in our favor, actually. No one suspects the old farts. Clever disguise.

As for the IP thing...
I got a better, faster, more accurate response here than from Microsoft. These guys are the world's greatest anti-terrorist team and they're wasting time breaking copy protection.

Prob a waste of time writing to the one who manages the IP addy as they prob don't own it anyway. Those are fake IP addresses so writing to the ISP of those IP owners won't get you very far unless you have ties to law enforcement or the feds.

Im in the 40 age range myself. I listen to all kinds of music.

gdZiemann - Class D and E addresses, reserved for research purposes?

The IP address will only let you track as far as the ISP. Getting further than that is much harder.

I once tried to trace someone sendinf frequent duds on gnutella. Traced the IP to Cogent Communications. I managed to get them to tell me they had assigned the IP to one of their clients. When I examined the client I found they were running a small server farm, and they said the IP was assigned to Netagomi Systems. Netagomi doesn't exist. They have no mention in google, no company history, absolutly nothing at all. They have a website, which is one page precisely. It contains only a few lines, which are contact information. Theres an email address which doesn't respond and a phone number which seems to lead to an answering machine. Again, no response. While the government can quite easily find out who really uses an address, and regually do so as part of their terrorism paranoia, its very difficult for an ordinary person to do so. Althrough I sent a complaint to the server farm admins, and to cogent with instructions to forward to them, I never heard anything beyond the usual automated reply. I dont know if that servers still running, but this was over a year ago.

Yeah, This was the Windows virus that erupted yesterday. Didn't know about it. Just knew I was suddenly getting a LOT of them.

Just wanted to prove to everyone how sharp you guys are. In case there was any doubt.

With the thousands of hit I get with my firewall they'd be no way to trace em all and what would you do with them once you did? Legally, nothing. There is a nasty virus going around right now taht is a bitch if you get hit with it.

Getting back to the topic at hand, did anyone notice that Kazaa will become the world's most downloaded software any minute now?

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/05/23/media.kazaa.reut/index.html

Once you trace them you complain to the ISP. If its a virus you tell the ISP to inform the customer. If its a spam or major flooding (not just a few files accidentially shared) you complain to the ISP about a TOS violation and they warn the customer.

That doesn't include the unofficial kazaa light downloads, and imesh has quite a few as well.

May I be so bold as to respond? I'm a little older than some of you. I was born with love of music. I've worked most of my life just to buy some of my gear. Love,peace,and happiness and freedom. Almost half of everything I make is taken for this freedom. My mind is scrambled by what goes on every day. It is very hard to come up with the words for my songs. Someday after we have taken everything we will learn a lesson?