How to Share Files Now
A guide to the confusing alternatives
Steve Allen
Napster died a long time ago. For a while, Morpheus was king of the file- sharing hill, but its network was yanked away. There are still many ways to share files, but which are the best? Here's a look at your options for free MP3 downloads.
First of all, there are three main file- sharing networks and a number of smaller ones. The big three are Gnutella, FastTrack, and OpenNap. Each has attracted millions of users and with them you can find most any popular song or other file. To find something more obscure, you may want to search all three networks. Unfortunately, there is no one piece of software which can search all three.
Gnutella is a truly open network which isn't controlled by any one group or company. OpenNap is also open, based on the commercial Napster protocol. FastTrack is a proprietary network used by KaZaA, Grokster, and the original Morpheus.
To use one of these networks you will need a "client," or software program. Here are some recommendations:
1. LimeWire
Network: Gnutella
Pros: Easy to set up and use; can download from several sources at once. Java based, so it works on any platform including Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Cons: Very slow to start up; you have to wait a while for connections to be established. The free version displays ads; ad-free enhanced version costs $8.50 (and is worth it).
Good alternatives: BearShare, ToadNode, Gnucleus
2. WinMX
Network: OpenNap
Pros: Incredible search results; you can find almost anything. Very fast on startup.
Cons: One of the most complex programs; not for the computer illiterate. Windows only.
Good alternative: Napigator.
3. KaZaA
Network: FastTrack
Pros: Very fast startup and excellent search results. Easy to use. Can download from several sources simultaneously.
Cons: Installs "spyware" which monitors your Net activity. The new owners have ominous plans to employ users' computers as ad servers. Windows only.
Good alternative: Grokster (but it installs even more spyware).
Even more file-sharing programs are listed at Napster Alternatives. And file-sharing networks are not your only option, you can always turn to newsgroups or IRC.
Be aware that most of these programs allow sharing of any type of file, so while searching for music you will likely encounter pornographic images, illegally copied software, and other things you never expected. The best use of these networks is the sharing of music from independent artists needing the exposure, but most of the music you find will be illegal copies. Use these programs as you wish, but remember that artists deserve support!
Emule
eMule is a open source filesharing client which is based on the eDonkey2000 network but offers more features than the standard client.
Filetopia
This free communications software includes instant messaging, chat, file sharing, and more. Available since 1999, the latest version uses sophisticated techniques to encrypt transmissions and protect IP addresses, thus promising anonymous file sharing.
Freenet
Developed to allow the free distribution of information without fear of censorship. All users are anonymous and none of the files can be removed from the network. Relatively difficult to use.
Friskit
Friskit searches for streaming music across many sites. Since it's streaming (via RealAudio), you don't have to wait for a file to download.
Gnucleus
An open-source Gnutella client for Windows. There are many coders actively involved in improving the software, and new versions come out often. Morpheus used this as the model for its "Preview Edition."
Grokster
Uses the FastTrack network (like KaZaA and the original Morpheus)for very fast searches. Features a family filter, automatic deletion of incomplete downloads, file preview, and more. However, it also installs a tremendous amount of additional programs, including "spyware" which monitors your Internet activity.
iMesh
In use since 1999, iMesh is one of the most popular file-sharing programs and was one of the first to allow direct access to shared files on other users' computers. A very slick program, but it also installs quite a lot of adware or spyware which is difficult to uninstall. Windows only, available in several languages.
iMesh Light
According to its makers, "iMesh Light is a spyware/ad clean version of the popular FastTrack client iMesh." It also adds some tools and fixes. Some users report slow response.
JBlurb
"The Future of File Sharing." Available in free or Professional editions, JBlurb allows you to specify directories to be shared. You can password-protect folders or limit them to certain users. Java-based, so it works on all platforms.
KaZaA
Uses the popular FastTrack Network which is shared by Grokster and was popularized by Morpheus. KaZaA is the number one file-sharing program and is very easy to use, but it installs adware and "spyware" software which monitors your Internet activity.
KaZaA Lite
This version of KaZaA has been modified to remove the spyware and additional ad-serving programs bundled with the original. It isn't be authorized by the company, but is widely used. The software may not be available at any given time, due to legal problems.
LimeWire
A Gnutella client that works on any platform - Windows, Mac, Linux, or anything else. Advanced filtering functions. The free version installs "spyware" and serves ads; it's worth it to pay $9.50 for the ad-free LimeWire PRO.
Morpheus
Morpheus has undergone a lot of changes. It used to be the most popular post-Napster program before it was booted off KaZaA's FastTrack network. It now uses the Gnutella network. Although Morpheus claims to include "no spyware," it installs two mandatory third-party programs - MySearch Bar and WURLD Media. Users can create a blacklist of IP addresses to deter anti-piracy agents.
Napigator
A very fast OpenNap client; some say it's the best. Windows only.
Napster
This is the one that started the file-sharing revolution and put the music industry in an uproar. Unfortunately, it has not been available for quite a while, due to legal troubles. A subscription-based Napster will be available soon.
Shareaza
This program is fast! People like Shareza's easy-to-use interface. It connects to Gnutella, Shareza's "Gnutella2," and several other networks such as eDonkey2000 and BitTorrent. One of the best.
Slyck File Sharing News and Info
It's hard to keep up with all the latest file-sharing methods and programs, but this site does a good job. Includes information on lesser-known programs such as DirectConnect, SoulSeek, Overnet and others.
SongSpy
SongSpy's "give and take" philosophy means you have to give files in order to receive. Has chatrooms, IM, built-in MP3 player, skins, and more. Windows only. Free, but donations are appreciated.
Toadnode
Windows Gnutella client, the only one to have support for SOCKS proxy servers. Free 15-day trial, after which it costs $5. No ads or spyware.
WinMX
A long-time favorite Napster alternative that allows sharing of any file type. Simultaneously connects with WinMX Peer Networking Protocol and to many networks based on the OpenNap and Napster protocols. Users report excellent search results but this isn't a very user-friendly program. Windows only.
XoloX
A very slick Gnutella Windows client with advanced features such as downloading from multiple sources and auto-resume. Automatic configuration makes it a snap to install, and its simplified interface is very user-friendly. No spyware or unwanted add-ons; may display small ads.
http://mp3.about.com/library/weekly/aa041502.htm
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California To Set P2P Policy
Susan Kuchinskas
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the State CIO to come up with a policy for the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing applications by state personnel.
While the order prohibited the use of state resources to illegally download copyrighted material, it specifically allowed for legitimate uses of the controversial software -- in moderation.
"Today California is taking a stand against use of state resources for illegal downloading of this material and standing in support of the work of these talented Californians," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
Schwarzenegger said he wants to make sure that state computers aren't used to contribute to what he called "huge losses of revenue to the state's valuable entertainment industry."
"So many of the entertainment industry's talented musicians, actors, writers and programmers devote their careers to creating products that enrich our society, Schwarzenegger's statement said. "We need to do our part to protect the creative and intellectual property they work so hard to create for the rest of us."
J. Clark Kelso, the state CIO and a professor of law at the University of the Pacific, was charged by the governor with creating a statewide policy for P2P on state computers that protects the rights of copyright holders while allowing for legitimate uses.
"We were very much aware that there are both legitimate and illegitimate uses of this technology, and that the definition of what constitutes an illegitimate use might very well change both as technology changes and as the law develops," Kelso told internetnews.com. "So we opted for an executive order that permits the State CIO to develop the State's policy and then to revise that policy as necessary as we get more and more experience with the issue."
The executive order, signed last Thursday, pointed out that P2P often is used to swap music, movies and other copyrighted material, and also poses security risks. The language of the order makes it clear that it's not tarring all apps with the same brush.
The order states that only "some" P2P software could give outsiders access to confidential information, and "some" can act as vectors for viruses and malware (define).
After the laundry list of potential abuses and risks, it adds that "peer-to-peer technology holds the potential for many legitimate uses."
The executive order specifically requests Kelso not to prohibit legitimate file sharing within or among federal, state or local government entities and makes the head of each executive agency responsible for complying with the statewide policy.
Kelso said he would form a task force that includes technology experts from the executive branch of state government, a representative from the Department of Personnel Administration to advise on union issues, someone from the Department of Finance and participants from legislature, the courts and the University of California and California State University systems.
"I'm going to push hard for quick action," Kelso said. "I'd like to be able to set a policy by the end of this year, but we'll have to see how complex this gets."
The order won't apply to the legislative and judicial branches of government, nor shall it apply to the constitutional officers of the state, but it does apply to the University of California and the California State University System.
In fact, the state government already is using P2P software. Groove, an enterprise-oriented application designed for small teams, is a component of the national Homeland Security Information Network, used by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
Andrew Mahon, director of strategic marketing for Beverly, Mass.-based Groove Networks, said that the file-sharing policies of enterprise customers typically have two key points addressing the scope and purpose of the file-sharing. He said that curtailing the number of users in a network limits the potential for abuse. Also, he said, "If the primary use of the file-sharing network is working on project together, that's permissible. They're sharing files specifically to get work done."
Wayne Rosso, the former president of P2P software maker Grokster and a board member of P2P United, an industry-lobbying group, said, "I'm thrilled that the governor recognizes that P2P technology is used for totally legitimate purposes. To me, it's the same as saying that police can use guns as long as they use them within the limits of the law."
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news...le.php/3410411
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Technology Slashes Telephone Call Costs
Michael Herman explores whether free internet telephony is a viable substitute to the traditional telephone.
Keeping in touch with family and friends up the road, across the country or around the world by using voice communications over the internet, or VoIP, can cost almost nothing.
Until recently, VoIP attracted mainly penniless geeks and assorted tightwads who were willing to put up with poor line quality to get free calls.
But to the enduring disquiet of most big telephone carriers, VoIP has matured beyond its growing pains and initial limitation of frequently being able only to connect users of the same software (peer to peer or P2P), with most international experts saying old- style telecommunications companies are about to face a big shake-up as more and more people start talking through their computers.
Michael Powell, the chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), was quoted by Fortune magazine earlier this year as saying that while the VoIP revolution has just started, the war has already been won.
"I knew it was over when I downloaded Skype," Powell said. "When the inventors of Kazaa (the popular P2P music-sharing program) are distributing for free a little program that you can use to talk to anybody else, and the quality is fantastic, and it's free – it's over. The world will change now inevitably."
If you have managed to miss out on the Skype hype and how this small program is ringing up big changes to an industry traditionally dominated by enormous monopolies and high costs, here is a quick update.
Going by the self-appointed moniker of the Global Telephone Company, Skype (
www.skype.com) is the brainchild of Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, two young Nordic businessmen who also founded Kazaa, the company responsible for Kazaa Media Desktop. Celebrated as the world's most popular internet program, Kazaa Media Desktop has been downloaded more than 350 million times.
Skype, which has more than doubled its number of users in under nine months, is racing towards the 25 million download milestone and looks set to crack 50 million in March 2005. If Powell's enthusiasm for the company's technology is an indication of where Skype is heading, then local players Telecom and TelstraClear had better register quick for an innovation bootcamp or face declining revenues as disgruntled customers ring changes to their calling habits.
Skype is easy to use, downloads fast (it is only 8.2MB) and requires a small investment in a PC microphone and speakers or a PC headset. Neither option sets you back more than a few dollars and many users already have this kit plugged into their computers.
Naturally, you need an active internet connection to use VoIP, but while broadband is preferred it is only optional as Skype performs well even on dial-up connections.
Once you have downloaded and installed Skype, you can use your internet connection to talk for free to anyone who is online and also running the program.
But Skype is much more than just a free way of calling your mates. The program includes an instant messaging (IM) module, which allows you to have text-based chats and exchange files with people you have added to your contact list, and the company offers a premium service for making calls to landlines and mobile phones at rates you have only dreamed of.
For those of you who have never used IM before, it is a wonderful way to keep in touch with people as it creates the opportunity for serendipitous conversations by indicating to users when their contacts are online and available.
To prevent being interrupted all the time or contacted when you want some peace and quiet, you can override the default online status when you have a live connection, choosing from among several options that indicate your level of availability, such as away or busy.
Cutting call costs entirely is a fanciful notion unless everyone you know uses Skype, but slashing your call costs using Skype to call regular and mobile phones is not.
Recognising that not everyone is going to get Skyped up, the company recently introduced SkypeOut, a prepaid service that lets you call landlines and mobile phones using Skype software at a fraction of the usual cost and which removes the risk of nasty phone bills.
Comparing the peak-hour charges to the big five calling destinations from New Zealand – Australia, Britain, United States, Fiji and South Africa – will give you an idea of the kind of savings that are possible as well as clue you up on why the FCC's chairman was so convinced the winds of change had reached gale-force speeds.
Telecom's best standard rate during peak hours to Australia, Britain and the US is 19c a minute, with TelstraClear charging 65c a minute and callback operator CardCall 10.6c. Using SkypeOut you will pay only 3.1c a minute to a landline in these countries.
Similarly, at 13.1c a minute for calls to South Africa, SkypeOut charges about 30 per cent of Telecom's rate (35c a minute), under 9 per cent of TelstraClear's ($1.49 a minute) and 29 per cent of CardCall's already low rate of 40c a minute.
At 43c a minute for calls to Fiji, you can shave 40 per cent off Telecom's call rate (72c a minute), 65 per cent off TelstraClear's ($1.24 a minute) and 32 per cent off CardCall's (63.6c a minute).
The big telephone companies defend their pricing by claiming convenience and consistently high line quality. My experience of Skype is that the difference is so slight and the savings so large that quality is no longer a compelling reason to pay so much more.
Also, advanced communications services such as instant messaging and file transfer are not available when making calls using pots (plain old telephone system), but are integrated into the Skype service, opening up new ways of communicating with people.
When you decide to make the call on Skype, remember that it does not cost you a cent unless you are on a metered internet plan or intend using SkypeOut to get super-low call rates to landline or mobile phones.
Technological advances have finally caught up with the callmongers of the traditional telecommunications world, disproving the popular arguments against VoIP (poor quality and unreliable). Today you can get carrier and "almost carrier" grade services at a much lower rate than from your home service provider by calling over the internet or across the landline and internet networks.
Pervasive computing was the dominant force for change in the last century, moving from boxes the size of large buildings (the first computer, ANITA, covered 167 square meters of floor space and weighed 30 tonnes) to ones the size of a dust particle in about 60 years, with most of the miniaturisation achieved rapidly in the past decade.
With Skype and other VoIP coming online, telecommunications is set to undergo its most radical change since the advent of email.
The good news for long- suffering customers is greater choice and lower call rates, but the big telephone companies will have to search much harder and much longer to find something good in the calling revolution to ring home about.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3040611a28,00.html
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Top 100 Songs Named In Sharman Court Battle
Abby Dinham
Universal Music Australia has revealed the top 100 songs that it will focus on in proceedings against peer-to-peer software distributor Sharman Networks in one of the biggest music copyright infringement cases the Australian music industry has experienced.
The top 100 songs revealed by the Universal and affiliated record label parties' lawyer, senior counsel John Nicolas, included the ironically titled international hits "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy, and "No Need to Argue" by the Cranberries.
The Universal parties were ordered to "trim down" their case size in proceedings earlier this year, leading the group to single out the top 100 songs that it will focus its case on for the trial scheduled for 29 November this year.
The case has been in court since last February, with Sharman Networks disputing copyright infringement charges against it over its peer-to-peer file sharing software Kazaa.
Among the Australian acts included in the list of downloaded songs is Brisbane outfit Powderfinger, as well as Alex Lloyd, Jet, The Living End, Delta Goodrem and Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian.
Nicholas SC also contended in the Federal Court hearing last Tuesday that the Universal party will continue to pursue the identity of Sharman Networks' elusive owner and its unidentified corporate structure.
Nicholas described the issue of Sharman's control as a "very real one" and said the mystery is impeding the group's ability to gather evidence.
"Certainly I won't be able to bring forward all the documents we rely on by the 24th, that fall within that category, because that category in relation to discovery in still not resolved," he said, referring to the deadline set by presiding Justice Murray Wilcox for requests of evidence relating to copyright as part of the discovery process.
"I have to say that from what we have seen the Sharman group has been structured in a way that is deliberately calculated to conceal control," added Nicholas.
"So we will at some time have to make an application, your Honour, for an order that those documents [relating to the identity of Sharman's owner] be produced. They are not going to be volunteered and despite the best will in the world as between my learned friend and myself, that's not going to bring them out," he said.
Justice Wilcox scheduled a hearing on 14 October for the court to "deal with" the issue of Sharman's ownership and corporate structure.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for 24 September to finalise affidavit submissions and the evidential discovery process.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/busines...9159938,00.htm
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This Compilation CD Is Meant To Be Copied and Shared
Ethan Smith
For more than a year, the music industry has held firm on its zero-tolerance position on online file swapping, suing 4,679 alleged digital pirates to drive its point home.
But now, 16 high-profile artists, many of them signed to the same global music companies that have brought the lawsuits, are participating in a project that will allow music lovers to freely copy and trade some new songs without risking legal retaliation.
Next month, songs by the Beastie Boys, David Byrne and 14 others will appear on a compilation CD whose contents are meant to be copied freely online, remixed or sampled by other artists for use in their own new recordings. "The Wired CD: Rip. Sample. Mash. Share." was compiled by the editors of Wired magazine, of San Francisco, as an experimental implementation of a new kind of intellectual-property license called Creative Commons. About 750,000 copies of the disc are to be distributed free with the magazine's November issue. The disc also will be handed out to audience members at a benefit concert by Mr. Byrne and others tomorrow night in New York.
Creative Commons is named for the nonprofit group that came up with the concept for the license. The Creative Commons license lets the copyright holder spell out which rights it wishes to reserve and which are being waived without waiting for a permission request. That is a contrast to the typical arrangement, in which the copyright holder declares all rights reserved, forcing people who want to use the work to hire lawyers to seek permission.
In this case, all 16 participants are allowing their work to be shared on the Internet. Wired Editor in Chief Chris Anderson describes Creative Commons as a way of declaring that the recordings come with "some rights reserved," as opposed to the traditional "all rights reserved." The new license was developed by Stanford Law School professor Lawrence Lessig, who also contributes to the magazine, which is owned by Advance Publications Inc.
Until now, Creative Commons has been applied only in limited circumstances. Gilberto Gil -- a longtime pop star in Brazil and that nation's minister of culture -- has released some songs under the license's more-permissive terms. And Massachusetts Institute of Technology, of Cambridge, Mass., has released video recordings of many of its courses under Creative Commons licenses.
STEAL THIS MUSIC
Wired magazine's "Rip. Sample. Mash. Share." compilation CD invites listeners to copy, remix and sample these songs and others at will:
ARTIST
SONG
Beastie Boys
'Now Get Busy'
David Byrne
'My Fair Lady'
Zap Mama
'Wadidyusay?'
My Morning Jacket
'One Big Holiday'
Spoon
'Revenge!'
Gilberto Gil
'Oslodum'
Dan the Automator
'Relaxation Spa Treatment'
Le Tigre
'Fake French'
Paul Westerberg
'Looking Up in Heaven'
Cornelius
'Wataridori 2'
Matmos
'Action at a Distance'
Source: Wired
The fact that Creative Commons is beginning to move forward highlights a growing rift within the music industry: Even as top executives at music companies vow to continue their legal campaign, others are beginning to cast around for compromises with what they see as the inevitable nature of file sharing.
There are no technical differences between the Wired compilation and CDs that carry standard copyright language. Both are simple to copy, or "rip," to computer files using commonly available software. Mr. Lessig said the difference is a legal one. The license offers "creators and artists a simple way to lift a legal burden that sits on their work, to allow others to share it or remix it." In the current case, it essentially represents a promise on the part of artists and their labels not to sue people for copying their music.
The move comes more than a year after the Recording Industry Association of America filed its first lawsuits against people distributing music free over peer-to-peer networks. In the debate over intellectual-property rights that is at the heart of the music-piracy issue, not everyone is so sure it is a good idea for artists to cede any rights. Jay L. Cooper, a music attorney who counts Sheryl Crow among his clients, says he would hesitate to advise a client to issue a song under a Creative Commons license, which he describes as "a blank check." "You don't want to make it for all time," he said. "What if you change your mind in two years?"
If Creative Commons were to catch on more widely, artists might decide to let some of their music be traded free on the Web to promote concerts and related merchandise, as well as to drive sales of CDs and digital tracks protected by standard copyright notices.
In an interview, Mr. Byrne compared online file-sharing services to free public libraries, and pointed out that those institutions once were a new concept, too. He said: "If you were a publisher, you didn't say, 'Oh no, Mr. Carnegie, don't go build those libraries -- it's going to destroy our business.' "
Mr. Byrne is signed to Warner Music Group's Nonesuch Records. He owned the rights to the song he contributed to the compilation, "My Fair Lady," because it had never been included on one of his releases with the label.
Wired's editors spent months shuttling to New York and Los Angeles, working to convince artists, their managers, record labels and lawyers that it was in all their interests to give away some of the valuable intellectual property that the industry has argued for years it must keep under lock and key. In the end, the magazine approached 50 to 60 acts, including Jay-Z, Moby and Coldplay, to find 16 participants. The musicians who participated contributed their efforts, as a promotional gambit.
"The artists were relatively easy to get on board," Mr. Anderson said. "The labels have different priorities. Some of them, once briefed, got it, and some of them never really saw the advantages."
Gary Gersh, the former president of Capitol Records who now runs a small label called Strummer Recordings as a joint venture with Vivendi Universal SA's Universal Music Group, said he viewed the decision as a simple one. Two of his bands -- Le Tigre and the Rapure, both low-profile commercially, but with a lot of critical buzz -- participated in the compilation. For such bands, who don't typically get a lot of commercial airplay, Mr. Gersh said, file-sharing services present "the potential to reach tens of millions more people" than they otherwise would.
Mr. Byrne's manager, David C. Whitehead, said he participated in part because he finds the music industry's responses to the piracy problem "heavy handed" and "reactive." Nonetheless, like representatives of the other artists participating, he kept Mr. Byrne's record label apprised of his client's plans. "It wasn't much of a discussion," he said. "They're a progressive label."
Mr. Anderson said the compilation represented an attempt to demonstrate what a compromise might look like between "rigid and aggressive" copyright law as it exists and "criminality." As things stand now, "there's no middle ground," Mr. Anderson said. "Creative Commons is the best proposal to offer that middle ground."
Even so, neither he nor Mr. Lessig argued that Creative Commons would or even should replace standard copyright notices in all cases. "Obviously, Creative Commons isn't right for everybody," Mr. Anderson said.
One unexpected proponent of Creative Commons is Hilary Rosen, the former chairman and chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, on whose watch the trade group formulated its strategy of suing file sharers. Ms. Rosen, who said she first met Mr. Lessig when she debated him at the University of Southern California last year, contributed an essay to the November issue of Wired, endorsing the new form of licensing, at least in limited circumstances.
Ms. Rosen, now a CNBC commentator and consultant, says her endorsement doesn't mean she has changed her stance on piracy; she considers the new license useful as "niche" application. She said, "I've teased Larry that I don't think the major problem in the music business is that thousands of artists are looking for a legal and simplified method to give away their music."
http://online.wsj.com/public/article...s_free_feature
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FBI Seizes $87 Million Worth Of Illegal Software
Largest seizure ever of fake Microsoft products cited
Joris Evers
A two-year investigation by U.S. law enforcement authorities has resulted in one of the largest seizures of fake software ever in the U.S. and charges against 11 individuals, government officials said Thursday.
The 11 defendants from California, Washington, and Texas have been charged with conspiring to distribute counterfeit computer software and documentation with a retail value of more than $30 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said in a statement.
The value could rise to $87 million, U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek said. When arresting the defendants and searching their homes, offices and storage facilities, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents stumbled upon an additional stockpile of more than $56 million worth of fake Microsoft Corp., Symantec Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. products, he said.
As part of the two-year probe, investigators have also seized CD copying and printing equipment, Mrozek said.
A bulk of the illegal products were Microsoft products. With a total street value of about $80 million, this is the largest seizure of fake Microsoft products in history, the Redmond, Washington-based company said in a statement. Microsoft worked closely with the authorities in Los Angeles on the case, which was code- named "Digital Marauder."
The defendants have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles and are scheduled to appear before a judge on Sept. 20. If convicted, the defendants face maximum sentences of between 15 years and 75 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/09/16/HNfbi_1.html
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Internet Cafes Shut In Vietnam
Authorities in southern Vietnam have shut down 65 Internet cafes and kiosks after finding hundreds of addresses of pornographic and anti-government websites on their computers, a newspaper has reported.
The communist government recently intensified efforts to control use of the Internet by requiring customers of Internet cafes to register their identities and making cafe owners monitor the sites customers visit.
Last month, authorities set up a special police unit to investigate online crime and curb the distribution of banned material in cyberspace.
The 65 Internet outlets were shut down over the past two weeks in the bustling commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City, the city-run Phap Luat (Laws) newspaper said on Friday.
Inspectors were continuing to scour computers in Internet outlets to see what sites customers had been visiting, the newspaper quoted the deputy head of the city's science and technology department, Hoang Le Minh, as saying.
While the number of Internet users in Vietnam has been rising quickly, hitting 5.34 million at the end of July, the government curbs access to the global network through firewalls that block sites deemed inappropriate.
All media in Vietnam are state controlled.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040917/80/f2s8f.html
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Let ‘er rip
XM Satellite Radio to Broadcast on Web
Michael P. Regan
XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. will soon begin broadcasting some of its stations to subscribers over the Internet, fresh on the heels of the company's discontinuation of a receiver for PCs that some users used to circumvent the music industry's crackdown on illegal file sharing.
Starting in early October, XM will charge $7.99 for a subscription to listen to its 68 commercial-free music stations and about a half dozen other XM stations on the Internet, the company said Wednesday. Those who already subscribe to XM's satellite service, typically at $9.99 a month, can sign up for XM Radi
Software currently on the market allows users to record music from Internet radio stations onto their computers anonymously - circumventing the music industry's much-publicized crackdown on piracy. But XM said it is discouraging subscribers from doing so.
"We don't condone that type of activity, and in fact that can theoretically constitute a violation of the user agreement of our service," said XM spokesman Chance Patterson.
A program called TimeTrax fueled a surge in demand for XM's PCR receiver, a PC-based satellite-radio receiver that went on sale about a year and a half ago. Using the PCR and TimeTrax, users can record multiple XM stations at once and store the programming as individual songs in MP3 or WAV formats.
But the PCR was discontinued recently as XM prepared to launch XM Radio Online.
"The PCR had been on the market for more than a year and a half, and so that's sort of the typical life cycle anyway of some of these consumer electronic products anyway," said Patterson.
Some satellite radio insiders believe the PCR created a big buzz among those looking to copy tunes because the sound quality of music from satellite broadcasts is much higher than music streamed over the Internet.
Still, analysts believe the chance to listen to about 70 music channels and about a half dozen other XM stations online could push more customers toward XM, which has more than 2.1 million subscribers.
"There are a lot of people who listen to radio during the workday and this is a way to reach those types of consumers," said April Horace, an analyst with Janco Partners.
"XM has already built a good brand. So for people who want the same content online, it makes a lot of sense," said Michelle Abraham, an analyst with In- Stat/MDR. "Especially with more broadband connections and new devices that let you take the content from your PC to your entertainment center and play it through your home stereo system."
XM is promoting the new service through a partnership with Dell Inc., offering buyers of Dell Inspiron notebooks and Dimension desktops a 30-day trial subscription to XM.
XM's competition, New York-based Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., doesn't offer an Internet-only subscription, but does lets subscribers listen to its 65 music stations on the Internet at no extra charge, and offers 72-hour free trials on the Net.
"It's been a significant reason why people have come to our service," said Sirius spokesman Ron Rodrigues.
XM shares rose 30 cents to $29.46 on the Nasdaq Stock Market, where Sirius shares fell 1 cent to $2.89.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Sep15.html
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Free Content Still Sells
Joanna Glasner
Even after seven consecutive weeks at the top of the nonfiction bestseller list, publishers are still puzzled about the success of the 9/11 Commission Report.
A word-for-word reprint of a government panel report -- the 516-page paperback -- is not the kind of item that usually tops off the nation's reading list. Moreover, like most government documents, it's available online for free.
Nonetheless, rather than turn solely to the commission's website to download the report, more than 600,000 people have instead paid $10 or so for a printed copy. For the report's official publisher, W.W. Norton & Co., it's been an unexpected windfall.
"Nobody anticipated it would sell at this level," said Louise Brockett, director of publicity at Norton, which was the authorized publisher of the commission report on July 22, the day of its release. Last week, the publishing house also began selling a hardcover version of the report containing a detailed index.
While the 9/11 Commission Report -- a surprisingly readable work addressing an issue of supreme national importance -- is in a category of its own in the annals of government-funded literature, it's also serving as a high-profile case study of the effects of free online distribution on sales of printed works. One lesson: Just because someone can read something for free online doesn't mean they will want to.
"The thought of even reading it online makes my head spin.... And no one's going to print it out and read it," said Barrie Rappaport, chief analyst at Ipsos BookTrends, a publishing market research service. "It's cheaper to buy the book at the end of the day."
Norton's Brocket could think of no prior example in her employer's history of a public document generating such a sales frenzy.
In recent years, the example most reminiscent was the instant bestseller status of the Starr Report, published in 1998. That report, which chronicled in salacious detail Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation of wrongdoings committed by President Clinton, was freely available online too. But because fewer people had internet access, and broadband connections were scarce, downloading was a less accessible option than it is now.
Today, heady sales of the 9/11 Commission Report are providing fresh ammunition to authors who have been pressing publishers to release their books both in print and online. While publishers commonly provide free access to excerpts of books, so far few have been willing to put works online in their entirety without charging.
"The conventional wisdom was, of course, if I give it away for free no one's going to buy it," said Peter Watts, a biologist and writer who attempted unsuccessfully to persuade his publisher, Tor Science Fiction, to let him put his novels online for free.
Watts, who does publish free short fiction on his website, disputes that notion. If people get free access to a novel, they're more likely to begin reading it. And once they begin reading, provided it holds their attention, they'll probably buy the book.
"You give away the whole book, but only people with congenital masochistic tendencies are going to want to read the novel online," he said. "Your eyeballs are going to be bleeding after a few minutes."
That said, the industry of e-books and associated reading devices remains in its infancy, and Rappaport believes electronic publishers can eventually develop technologies that substantially reduce eyestrain. For now, Rappaport says, there aren't many people interested in curling up with a good mystery on their PDA or laptop. But she does envision growing demand for reference books and other nonfiction in electronic form.
Some exceptions to the conventional wisdom that no one wants to read novels online exists in the realm of fiction. Cory Doctorow, author of the science fiction book Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom said the novel has been downloaded more than 400,000 times since he began offering it for free online in January, 2003.
Sales of the hardcover version of the novel have also been brisk, at least by the modest expectations of science fiction novelists, Doctorow said. He estimated that nearly 10,000 hardcover copies have sold, and more than 10,000 paperbacks have been released to retailers.
While it's unclear how many buyers of the book first got a taste of the novel on the internet, Doctorow is convinced that free online publication helped sales. Even if book sales bombed, however, he'd still see value in putting the novel online to make his work more accessible to readers.
"I think it has to be about posterity and artistic satisfaction," he said. "Anyone who gets into science fiction for the money isn't trying very hard."
As for the 9/11 Commission Report, its hold on top of the nonfiction best-seller list appears to be waning, as book buyers reject the findings of the bipartisan panel in favor of more decidedly partisan political works. While the report still topped The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list last week, on USA Today's database of best- selling books, sales were lagging behind several novels and Unfit for Command, a book critical of the military record of John Kerry.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,64828,00.html
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Hong Kong
Google News Site Hit By Legal Row Over Copyright
Local media warn of action but the US web search giant presses on with service
Patsy Moy
Google forged ahead with its news website despite threats of legal action and allegations by local media of copyright infringement.
The controversies arose after the launch of Google's Hong Kong news on Thursday. The website for Hong Kong news cites news summaries and uses photos from local Chinese language media, including newspaper, radio and television, and provides hyperlinks to their websites.
In its own news report yesterday, Ming Pao said it had issued a letter through lawyers to ask that the US search engine giant stop such practices. Ming Pao said Google had not sought consent from the newspaper before using its news summaries, which it said might infringe copyright.
The head of RTHK's corporation communications unit, Sze Wing-yuen, said the government radio station would ask Google not to use its news until "the matter was cleared up". "We have to strike a balance between copyright and public interest," Mr Sze said.
The chief editor of Sing Tao electronic daily, Raymond Chan Wai-man, warned of "follow-up actions".
Google has been trading on Nasdaq since last month. Its stock rose 18 per cent above its initial public offering price on its debut on August 19, ending just above US$100 a share.
Kevin Pun Kwok-hung, associate professor in computer science and law at the University of Hong Kong, warned that Google might infringe copyright if the news summaries were detailed enough to make the material "copyrightable".
"There is a possibility of criminal liability under the Copyright Ordinance if a reproduction is carried out for commercial purposes and the party knows that it is an infringement of copyright," said Dr Pun, who specialises in information technology law.
The Customs and Excise Department said yesterday it would investigate if it received any complaints of piracy.
In a telephone interview yesterday, a spokeswoman for Google in the US, Debbie Frost, said: "We are a law-abiding company. We feel that if publishers do not want to be included in Google news for whatever reasons, they can always come to us and we can take them out.
"We are very respectful of their rights ... [But] we have no plans to do that [suspend the website]."
Ms Frost refused to comment on the legal issues but described Google's news service as a "digital newsstand".
"When you go to a newsstand, there are hundreds of newspapers and you are looking at the headlines and find out which one you want to read and to buy," she said.
"People read the headlines on Google and choose which website they want to visit. After you click on the link, you will be immediately taken to the website of a publisher. The information is not on Google but is on the publisher's website. Our role is to help you to find the website."
It was "very rare" for publishers to ask to be removed from the Google website, which she said was a convenient vehicle to channel readers to their websites.
"What we found over the past two years since we launched Google news is that publishers tend to like that and they can benefit from the extra traffic provided by Google," she said.
http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=14525
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Wednesday, 0100 UTC
Soulseek PM
Hi, all.
Individuals have spoken of being contacted randomly by users claiming to be with administration. There are only four admins on this network, currently, those being: nir, OrtaliGoddessOfPrivileges, arsenic_, and Proteus93. It is a rarity you will receive a message from any, and most certainly not in the nature described (namely those mentioning 'investigation' by groups). Any messages sent of such otherwise can be safely disregarded. Thanks, and cheers.
--Proteus93
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Labels, Microsoft In Talks On CD Copying
John Borland
Record labels and Microsoft are in discussions about ways that the next generation of the Windows operating system, code-named Longhorn, can support copy-protected CD technology.
The music labels, in large part led by top executives at EMI Group and coordinated through their U.S. and international trade associations, are creating a "wish list" of CD rights protection features they want to see provided or supported by Longhorn. Microsoft, in turn, has provided its own set of guidelines for the labels, without yet promising anything, sources familiar with the situation said.
The labels are far from unanimous on their thoughts about how to use, or even whether to use, copy protection technology on CDs. But sources said most are eager to avoid being locked into Microsoft technology and want to ensure that Longhorn provides a platform for copy protection that is at least as consumer-friendly as Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store.
"We're asking Microsoft to put in a framework--not to say what the rules are," said EMI Music North America Chairman David Munns, who has helped coordinate discussions among the music labels. "This would solve consumer confusion and help make the whole thing a much more friendly and easier consumer experience."
The discussions over copy protection and Longhorn are in some sense very theoretical, based on expectations of future technology developments and future consumer behavior. The music labels have been experimenting with ways of putting new copy controls on CDs for several years but have released only a few albums with the technology in the United States, with mixed success.
Microsoft's next operating system is also far from release. The company recently pushed back Longhorn's planned launch date until late 2006, and it is still working out details of a "Secure Computing" plan that some have said would help make digital rights management technologies much stronger.
However, EMI, in particular, has previously talked with Microsoft about ways to make copy protection a simpler experience by building support more deeply into the operating system, Munns said.
One idea from the record label side would be to let the operating system recognize a CD, when it is put in the tray, and automatically set in motion whatever usage rules have been specified by the label itself on the CD. This might include limits on the number of copies that can be made or what rules would be associated with a digitally "ripped" file, for example.
Today's copy protection technologies are more rudimentary, often including software on the CDs themselves, and have little interaction with the operating system. As a result, they are often easily bypassed and are very obvious to consumers.
The most recent discussions with Microsoft were initiated by the labels, Munns said. The software company agreed to consider their requests but in turn asked that the music industry come to a consensus on its requests, other sources added.
Led in part by EMI, labels have subsequently been developing their wish list for at least a month, with discussions that have included the major and larger independent labels. Representatives from the RIAA are scheduled to meet with Microsoft on Sept. 20 to discuss the requests, sources said.
Labels are primarily adamant that the operating system allow non-Microsoft copy protection technologies to function as transparently as Windows Media's own digital rights management tools. They also want to ensure that the operating system avoids treating the protected CDs in any way that might prompt consumer backlash, sources said.
"Longhorn done the right way could really advance that cause," one source familiar with the talks said. "Longhorn done the wrong way could significantly frustrate everyone involved."
Microsoft, in turn, has communicated to the labels that it does not want to support technologies that might be viewed by consumers as aggressive or potentially related to spyware, sources said.
No hard decisions have been made on either side, sources said. The meeting next week is likely to be the beginning of a series of discussions between the software company and the music business, as the operating system comes closer to completion. So far, Microsoft has been very open to working with the labels, Munns said.
A Microsoft representative declined to comment on the issue.
Munns said the drive would not be limited to Microsoft's operating system. The music companies have also had early conversations with Apple, and the framework of requests that develops from the industry wish list will be provided to any company that makes operating systems or digital rights management tools.
"Our fate as an industry--what we offer consumers, how we protect content and how the content is played--is inextricably intertwined with the technology companies and the platforms they offer," RIAA President Cary Sherman said. "We have to be in dialogue with them."
http://news.com.com/Labels%2C+Micros...3-5371621.html
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“A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with.”
Why Lucas Tinkered With 'Star Wars'
Boxed set of first three movies out Tuesday
George Lucas never figured on a 30-year career as a space pilot. Once "Star Wars" shot into hyperspace, though, he found it hard to come back down to Earth.
Making its DVD debut Tuesday, Lucas' original sci-fi trilogy -- "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" -- began as an experimental foray into old-time studio moviemaking for Lucas, whose first two films had been far removed from usual Hollywood sensibilities.
Lucas' sci-fi satire "THX 1138" had been a commercial dud, but the energetic "American Graffiti" with its driving soundtrack and multi-character point of view scored with audiences, giving the director clout to try something bigger that had been on his mind.
"I'd already started this other idea, which was to do a kind of a classic action adventure film using sets," Lucas said over lunch at his 2,600-acre Skywalker Ranch. "I'd never worked on a set, I'd never worked at a studio. Never made a traditional movie. So I said, 'I'm going to do this once, just to see what it's like, what it's like to actually design everything, work on a soundstage, do an old-fashioned 1930s movie.
"And I'll do it in that mode from the 1930s Saturday matinee serials, using kind of 1930s and '40s sensibilities, and I'll base it on sort of mythological motifs and icons. I'll just put it together in a modern form, and I'll have fun. That's how I got into that. I did it because it was an interesting move into an area that I thought I'd never go into."
Three decades later, Lucas is preparing to launch the last of his six "Star Wars" films. Next summer brings "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith," completing the prequel trilogy that tells the story of young Anakin Skywalker's metamorphosis into the villainous Darth Vader of the original three films.
Fans have eagerly awaited the first three "Star Wars" films on DVD, a release Lucas initially intended to delay until he finished "Episode III."
Some will be miffed that the original theatrical versions are not included in the "Star Wars" boxed set, which features only the special-edition versions Lucas issued in the late 1990s, with added effects and footage, including a scene between Harrison Ford's Han Solo and crime lord Jabba the Hutt in the first "Star Wars."
Q: Why did you change your mind and decide to put the original three movies out on DVD now?
GEORGE LUCAS: Just because the market has shifted so dramatically. A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with.
Q: Why did you rework the original trilogy into the special-edition versions in the late 1990s?
LUCAS: To me, the special edition ones are the films I wanted to make. Anybody that makes films knows the film is never finished. It's abandoned or it's ripped out of your hands, and it's thrown into the marketplace, never finished. It's a very rare experience where you find a filmmaker who says, "That's exactly what I wanted. I got everything I needed. I made it just perfect. I'm going to put it out there." And even most artists, most painters, even composers would want to come back and redo their work now. They've got a new perspective on it, they've got more resources, they have better technology, and they can fix or finish the things that were never done. ...
I wanted to actually finish the film the way it was meant to be when I was originally doing it. At the beginning, people went, "Don't you like it?" I said, "Well, the film only came out to be 25 or 30 percent of what I wanted it to be." They said, "What are you talking about?" So finally, I stopped saying that, but if you read any interviews for about an eight- or nine-year period there, it was all about how disappointed I was and how unhappy I was and what a dismal experience it was. You know, it's too bad you need to get kind of half a job done and never get to finish it. So this was my chance to finish it.
'I'm making the movies'
Q: Why not release both the originals and special editions on DVD?
LUCAS: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it. ...
I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore. It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it. But I want it to be the way I want it to be.
I'm the one who has to take responsibility for it. I'm the one who has to have everybody throw rocks at me all the time, so at least if they're going to throw rocks at me, they're going to throw rocks at me for something I love rather than something I think is not very good, or at least something I think is not finished.
Q: Do you pay much attention to fan reactions to your choices?
LUCAS: Not really. The movies are what the movies are. ... The thing about science- fiction fans and "Star Wars" fans is they're very independent-thinking people. They all think outside the box, but they all have very strong ideas about what should happen, and they think it should be their way. Which is fine, except I'm making the movies, so I should have it my way.
Q: After "Episode III," will you ever revisit "Star Wars"?
LUCAS: Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it. I'm sort of preserving the feature film part for what has happened and never go there again, but I can go off into various offshoots and things.
You know, I've got offshoot novels, I've got offshoot comics. So it's very easy to say, "Well, OK, that's that genre, and I'll find a really talented person to take it and create it." Just like the comic books and the novels are somebody else's way of doing it. I don't mind that. Some of it might turn out to be pretty good. If I get the right people involved, it could be interesting.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movi....ap/index.html
Editor’s note: George Lucas may claim piracy woes influenced his release date, but DVD sales are skyrocketing. – Jack.
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Local news
Recording Giants Take Aim At Piracy
HARTFORD (AP) – The recording industry has stepped up its copyright fight with music pirates, filing several federal lawsuits recently against Connecticut residents accused of illegally sharing thousands of songs over the Internet.
In two months, some of the nation's largest recording companies filed seven cases in Hartford federal court. That's the same number of lawsuits filed in the previous eight months. The Connecticut lawsuits were filed Monday on behalf of Virgin Records, Arista Records, Warner Bros. Records, BMG Music, Sony Music and other companies. Recording industry officials said it's part of the yearlong campaign that produced thousands of lawsuits nationwide.
"I don't know how to do it. I don't even know where to put a CD to burm," said Barbara Tyra, a Trumbull mother who said the files were downloaded on her daughter's computer. "Whatever went on up there, with her friends coming in all the time, whatever they did is nothing I know about."
Tyra is accused of sharing music through the Internet program Kazaa. Attorneys singled out nine songs, including Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark," Ben Harper's "Steal My Kisses," and "One Week," by the Barenaked Ladies. .
The recording companies are demanding $500 per song - well more than the songs' retail value, but hardly enough to justify going to trial, Tyra said. That's why William Hennessey, a Bridgeport father of four, finally agreed to pay $3,500 to settle an action against him. "I wanted to bring my 12-year- old to federal court and have her explain to a jury how she did it," he said. "I don't know how she did it."
While most Connecticut cases have ended with a settlement, not all have gone so smoothly. Jennifer Brothers of Andover received a summons in December but never showed up. A judge ruled against her in May. Brothers was ordered to pay $6,000 in fines and $240 in attorney fees. She is also prohibited from copying eight songs, including "We Didn't Start the Fire," by Billy Joel and "The Real Slim Shady," by rapper Eminem.
Computer users can easily convert songs from their CDs to computer files. Using the Internet, they can share those files with millions of other users who offer up their music in return.
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Germans Break Up Internet Piracy Group
Henryk Balkow
MUEHLHAUSEN, Germany -- German police have broken up an Internet piracy operation they say had peddled millions of dollars worth of bootleg films, computer games, music and software through a Web site.
The site had charged at least 45,000 subscribers to download pirated files and brought in more than $1.2 million in profits this year, authorities said. The site, since closed by police, was run from Germany, though it was registered in the British Virgin Islands and used servers located in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
After a yearlong investigation, police arrested four men last week. They are being investigated and could be charged with copyright violation and organized crime activity, lead prosecutor Hans-Joachim Petri said. The suspects, whose names were not released, could face up to five years in prison if convicted.
Police said they didn't know exactly how much money the site took in, but the German Federation Against Copyright Theft estimated the pirated material would have been worth at least $12.2 million in revenues to the legitimate rights holders.
The suspects included two brothers who operated the Web site, ages 20 and 30, a 46- year-old lawyer from Munich and a 19-year-old technician. The attorney has previously defended suspects of copyright violations, particularly Internet pirates, according to the Motion Picture Association.
The MPA said the site charged $15 for a file or $170 monthly for the pirated materials.
http://www.newstimes.com/admanager/a...w &refresh=20
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Microsoft Mimics Local Radio
Allison Linn
Fans of the Seattle music pop station Kiss 106.1 FM usually have to sit through an array of disc-jockey antics and advertising between listening to favorite artists like Avril Levigne and Ashlee Simpson.
But not anymore. As part of its much-touted new MSN Music offering, Microsoft Corp. is testing a Web-based radio service that mimics nearly 1,000 local radio stations, allowing users to hear a version of their favorite radio station with far fewer interruptions.
It's a move analysts say is annoying, but not seriously threatening, the stations.
"Because it's a beta and because it's Webcasting, it's not yet considered a tremendously important competitor to radio," said Brida Connolly, technology editor at the Los Angeles trade publication Radio & Records. "At this stage it's considered more of an irritation."
The service also poses no serious problems yet because most people still listen to commercial radio in their cars and Internet broadcasting is still in its infancy, analysts say. But they warn that the service could be a harbinger of more competitive online threats to come.
For $30 a year or $5 per month, Microsoft's service - which is still in early testing - will deliver the songs without commercial interruption. The free service includes ads but no DJs.
Microsoft builds its versions of the local stations by licensing playlists from the various local radio stations through Nielsen Broadcast Data System, an independent group that tracks commercial airplay.
The Redmond, Wash. software titan's feed differs slightly because the company must adher to different rules on what can be played on the Web and is barred from playing songs for which it has not independently secured rights.
Connolly said radio stations are less concerned with Microsoft's move to mimic popular playlists - which can be licensed - than with the fact that Microsoft refers to specific call letters and nicknames.
For example, the listing for the Seattle pop station says "Like 106.1 FM" followed by the description "KBKS KISS 106.1." Such nicknames are "taken very seriously" as part of a station's branding and competitive edge, she said.
Connolly stresses that no one is considering taking legal action regarding the use of those names, but she said radio stations have been unpleasantly caught off guard.
Rob Bennett, Microsoft's senior director of MSN entertainment, said Microsoft would be willing to remove the nicknames and call letters - but not the playlists - if radio stations request it.
But instead of being a threat to local radio, he sees Microsoft's Webcasts as an opportunity for radio stations to extend their brand and maybe even form a partnership with Microsoft's online music site.
Although Microsoft's service poses no major competitive threat for radio stations right now, analyst Phil Leigh with Inside Digital Media in Tampa, Fla., said the service should serve as a wake-up call for what's to come. After all, he notes the paid service could prove very attractive to consumers who are sick of DJ jokes and intrustive advertising - especially if Web sites find ways to transmit wirelessly to cars.
"Radio stations are seriously challenged with tech obsolescence," he said.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...LATE=DE FAULT
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Norway to Block Child Pornography Sites
Norwegian police and a state-controlled telecommunications group on Tuesday announced a joint project to block access to child pornography Web sites on the Internet.
Starting next month, the Telenor ASA group will filter hundreds of sites that the national crime police, Kripos, deem to contain child pornography.
Anyone in Norway attempting to access such illegal sites will instead see a page informing them about the filter, and a Web link to Kripos.
"This is crime prevention at its best," said Kripos head Arne Huuse. "The filter will stop a considerable number of potential users, users that we must assume to exist in Telenor's customer base, which consists of nearly 1 million Internet customers."
Esben Tuman Johnsen, a Telenor spokesman, told The Associated Press it believes it is the first company to apply such a filter for its users.
In some countries, including the United States, such filters have met legal obstacles because of criticism that they censor non-pornographic sites.
Johnsen said the issue of censorship was not a problem, because if any user objects, the filter will be removed at their request, giving them access to the Web site.
Such projects also have the blessing of Norwegian Justice Minister Odd Einar Doerum, who last year urged law enforcement and Internet providers to work together in campaigns against child pornography.
Possession of child pornography carries a prison term of up to two years under Norwegian law.
"Child pornography on the Internet is a serious problem, and we want to make a contribution to the fight against it," said Berit Kjoell, director of consumer markets for Telenor.
Telenor said it is not interested in making a profit from the filter, which will be free. It also said it hopes to share the technology with other Internet providers at no cost.
Huuse, of the police, said his agency would help spread the word in other countries about the offer.
"If police authorities and Internet suppliers in other countries follow our example, we could succeed in destroying part of the client base of a cynical, international industry which exposes children to violence and sexual assault with the aim of making money," he said.
Telenor stressed that it would not log nor keep other records of those who attempt to access blocked sites, and that it would only block sites listed by the police.
http://www.newstimes.com/admanager/a...w &refresh=20
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House Backs Crack Down on Video Voyeurs
Jim Abrams
Calling video voyeurism the new frontier of stalking, the House on Tuesday approved legislation to make it a crime to secretly photograph or videotape people, often for lascivious purposes.
Under the legislation passed by voice vote, video voyeurism on federal lands would be punishable by a fine of not more than $100,000 or imprisonment for up to one year, or both.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the issue of surreptitious videotaping has become "a huge privacy concern" with the miniaturization of technology and the proliferation of cell phone cameras.
People have used these devices for purposes like secretly taking pictures beneath women's skirts in such places as school locker rooms, department store dressing rooms and private homes.
Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, a former FBI agent who has promoted the legislation, said there are were many Web sites devoted to such pictures, where they "can be instantly posted on the Internet for millions to view."
Secretly photographing people in a compromising position is against the law in some states, but there is no federal law. Oxley said the legislation could serve as a model for states that have not enacted anti-voyeurism laws.
The bill would make it a crime to videotape or photograph the naked or underwear- covered private parts of a person without consent when the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy.
The Senate unanimously passed a similar bill, sponsored by Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, in June 2003. Sensenbrenner said he understood that the Senate would accept the minor changes made in the House bill.
The bill is S. 1301.
http://www.newstimes.com/admanager/a...w &refresh=20
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Great North
Academics Caught In Copyright Web
Tobi Cohen
Educators across the country are gearing up for a battle, fearing proposed changes to Canadian copyright law could hinder Internet use in the classroom. They say extended blanket licensing, as proposed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage last spring, could create a costly pay-per-use system that might cause schools to deny students access to the Internet entirely.
Pitted against the powerful lobbies of the publishing and recording industries, six national educational organizations have teamed up to ensure legislators are aware of the potential consequences to learning before they introduce amendments to the Copyright Act as early as this fall.
"Our call is for some balance in the act that allows users and owners to benefit from the act," said Paul Jones of the Canadian Association of University Teachers. "If you lock down information too much and make it hard to access it and distribute it, you're really gumming up the innovation process."
Educators are holding an information session today at Viscount Alexander Public School at 11 a.m. to highlight the problems associated with tighter regulation.
Low-Rez Images
Noting it's one thing for people to protect their work by using passwords and encryption that allows only paid users to access it, or by creating low-resolution images that are inadequate for reproduction, educators say it's another issue to charge a blanket copyright fee when many of those posting information do so without the expectation of being paid for it.
"Why should we pay for access to public information?" said Robert Schad, a University of Regina administrator and member of the Council of Ministers of Education.
"It's not about the fee. It's about access to information and control of the Internet -- the public Internet."
Bruce Stockfish of Heritage Canada's copyright policy branch said the committee is still "wrestling" with the issue of balancing the rights of the creators who want to be compensated for their work and the needs of the education community that require such resources to promote innovation.
One thing that is missing from copyright legislation, he said, is a "break and enter" provision that would essentially make breaking an encryption an offence under the Copyright Act.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Ottawa...22/638608.html
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CRIA Names New President
Guy Dixon
After a two-year search, the Canadian Recording Industry Association yesterday appointed a new president to sit in the hot seat to argue against the wrongs of unauthorized file-sharing and for the interests of Canadian record labels.
Graham Henderson, an entertainment-industry lawyer, who was managing Universal Music Canada's digital-music business and helped to launch the on-line music service Puretracks, will assume the top job at CRIA on Nov. 15.
Current CRIA president Brian Robertson said simply that his 30-year association with the group "was a long time" and that he planned to continue consulting. Given his long tenure, watching the Canadian recording industry go from a hodgepodge of businesses to a satellite of international media conglomerates, Robertson has been approached with the idea of writing a book. In the meantime, he plans to stay on board at CRIA for a six-month transitional period.
Henderson, a lawyer since 1987, has jumped the fence from time to time during his career, representing different sides of the business. As a lawyer, his clients have included such artists as Alannah Myles, Randy Bachman and The Northern Pikes, as well as smaller record labels. In addition to his position at Universal, he is currently a regular speaker at industry gatherings and teaches entertainment law at the University of Toronto.
Particularly when lecturing on "the art of the deal," he demonstrates an understanding of musicians' concerns, as much as those of the recording industry. He has been married to the Cowboy Junkies' singer Margo Timmins for 16 years.
"When artists' issues come up, I can speak credibly on them, and I'm married to an artist. So unlike many people, I have lived a recording contract from inside the fishbowl. I can see the impact a recording contract has on a person," he said.
Neither he, nor Robertson, meanwhile, indicated any change in CRIA's strategy in fighting file-sharing. CRIA's appeal case against the court decision that stalled the association's attempt to sue file-sharers may not be heard until 2005, Robertson said. CRIA hoped it would be heard by this fall.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...ent/TopStories
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Website Sued Over Illegal Film Downloads
The Motion Picture Association of America says it has sued a company that sells Internet downloads of current movies like "I, Robot" and "Spider-Man 2" without permission.
The trade group said Click Enterprises, through a series of Web sites, tricked consumers into believing they were paying for legal versions of movies when in fact those movies are not legally available in download form.
"These parasitic Web sites, which charge consumers fees and counsel them to break the law, reflect the worst elements of the pirate community," said John Malcolm, MPAA director of anti-piracy operations, in a press release on Wednesday.
One of the Web sites identified by the MPAA, downloadmuch.com, offers unlimited access to a long list of movies and video games for $24.95 (14 pounds) per year.
The company, which says it is located in Naples, Florida, could not be immediately reached for comment.
The MPAA said it has sent cease-and-desist letters to similar Web sites based in the United States, Asia and Europe engaged in similar activity.
The trade group, spooked by the effect of Internet file-sharing on the music industry, has waged an aggressive campaign against movie piracy.
It has sued microchip makers to prevent them from making equipment to illegally copy DVDs, and rewarded movie projectionists for turning in people who make recordings in cinemas.
MPAA members include Walt Disney; Sony Pictures Entertainment; Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer; Viacom's Paramount Pictures; News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox Film; Time Warner's Warner Brothers Entertainment; and Universal City Studios, owned by Vivendi Universal and General Electric.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle...toryID=6309224
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I’ll get my news from zer0share, thanks
Google Omits Controversial News Stories In China
Will Knight
The internet's most popular search engine Google has been accused of supporting Chinese internet controls by omitting contentious news stories from search results in China.
State-sponsored internet providers in China routinely block access to internet sites deemed inappropriate by the government. These include both Chinese and foreign news sites carrying reports that criticise the Chinese government.
Researchers at Dynamic Internet Technology (DIT), a US company that provides technology for circumventing internet restrictions in China, have discovered that the recently-launched Chinese version of Google News omits blocked news sources from its results.
The origin of a computer sending a search request can be identified using its internet protocol (IP) address.
World view
Google admits to omitting some news sources within China but says this is meant to improve the quality of the service.
"In order to create the best possible news search experience for our users, we sometimes decide not to include some sites, for a variety of reasons," says a statement issued by the company. "These sources were not included because their sites are inaccessible."
Bill Xia, chief executive of DIT, however, accuses Google of reinforcing Chinese internet restrictions by leaving some sites off its list. "When people do a search they will get the wrong impression that the whole world is saying the same thing," he told New Scientist.
DIT enables Chinese internet users to get around government restrictions by connecting to computers located outside of the country.
Inside out
Some users recently reported that Google's Chinese news search returned different results depending when
they searched using a computer based outside of China. The claims were substantiated by researchers who connected to computers inside the country.
In the past, other search companies have also been accused of supporting Chinese internet controls. In 2002, for instance, Yahoo's Chinese search engine was modified to provide only limited results for queries related to the banned religious group, Falun Gong.
And Xia notes that Google recently acquired a stake in a Chinese search company called Baidu.com.
Ben Edelman, of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, part of Harvard University in the US, says Google will face increasing pressure from the Chinese government to adhere to its restrictions as it extends its reach.
"As Google gains more interest in China and even comes to have financial interests in China, it's hard to imagine Google won't do so," he told New Scientist.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996426
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Linux Group Rebuffs Hollywood Piracy Charge
Brendon Chase
What seems to be a blunder by the Motion Picture Association of America in its hunt for online pirates has prompted Linux Australia to contact its legal representatives and warn of a possible breach of Australian law.
Linux Australia President Pia Smith told Builder AU that the MPAA had issued the organization a notice of claimed infringement, demanding that the group cease providing access to two copyrighted movies-- one called "Grind" and the other "Twisted"--and ordering it to "take appropriate action against the account holder."
However, the files in question had nothing to do with those movies. The file labeled Twisted is a download of the popular framework written in Python, and Grind refers to a download of Valgrind, a tool for developers to locate memory management.
The MPAA has no legal rights over this software. The agency did not return Builder AU's calls regarding the matter.
Linux Australia is an association that caters to the Linux community Down Under.
Smith said the incident demonstrated that the process used to locate allegedly illegal files on Australian servers was flawed and that the MPAA could be breaking a number of local laws.
"We realized that the MPAA must be doing blind keyword matching against Internet content and then sending out automatic take-down notices with no real research or double checks," Smith said.
"This seems to be a huge misuse of resources, an infringement upon various global spam laws, an infringement upon our own Copyright Act under Section 102 and needless stress and cost upon small Australian organizations and companies," Smith said.
Linux Australia's legal counsel plans to contact the MPAA to inform them of the mistake and the legal implications of their actions.
"Linux Australia is concerned that this kind of shoot-in-the-dark approach to copyright protection is potentially damaging for Australian organizations and companies," Smith added. "Organizations that participate in such behavior should be held accountable and forced to put at least some effort into researching the validity of their keyword searches."
http://news.com.com/Linux+group+rebu...3-5374528.html
Until next week,
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js.
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