Napster Case: Publishers Willing To Deal, Lawyer Says
It may or may not be an actual olive branch, but the attorney representing thousands of music publishers and songwriters in a class-action copyright suit against Napster today made it clear that his clients are ready to bargain. New York attorney Carey Ramos' clients comprise publishers and songwriters represented by the Harry Fox Agency, whose work has been infringed by Napster users. As a group they have identified some 80,000 of their songs that have been placed on Napster's network for illegal, free swapping. If Ramos is wielding an olive branch, it has undeniable strings attached.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/168099.html
Adobe Alerted Government To Russian Software Crack
Sources for Adobe Systems today said that the company supported the FBI's decision to arrest the Russian Software developer who found a way to circumvent the security features in Adobe's Acrobat eBook Reader. "We support the government's decision and will do whatever it takes to (aid) in their investigation," Adobe Vice President of Marketing Susan Prescott said today. The FBI on Monday arrested Dimitry Sklyarov, a Russian software developer responsible for creating the "Advanced eBook Processor," a controversial application capable of defeating e-book security features.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/168098.html
Another Congressional Panel Takes Stab At Media Violence
A top representative of the electronic gaming community will join leaders of the film, recording and retail industries later this week on a panel testifying before Congress about what the entertainment industry is doing to curb children's access to violent content. Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) President Douglas Lowenstein will be asked by the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet to outline what electronic game manufacturers are doing limit kids' access to violent and gory games, Commerce Committee sources said. Also testifying on behalf of their respective industries will be Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) President Jack Valenti and Recording Industry Association of America President Hillary Rosen.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/168096.html
Webcasters Win Right To Join In Royalties Panel
Webcasting companies that offer "interactive" radio programming have won the right to participate in a federal arbitration panel charged with setting royalty rates for online music. In a ruling issued Tuesday, the U.S. Copyright Office rejected a request by the recording industry to exclude the Webcasters from a series of arbitration hearings aimed at setting an industry-wide royalty rate that online broadcasters would be required to pay for the privilege of streaming music on the Internet. Copyright owners and Webcasting companies are battling it out in federal court over whether Webcasters' services are "interactive" and thus not eligible for set royalty rates.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/168095.html
German Multimedia Group Supports 'Opt-In' Spam Standard
The German Multimedia Association (DMMV) said it supports so-called an "opt-in" remedy for fighting unsolicited commercial e-mail, or "spam." The announcement comes amid continued debate at the highest levels of the European Union on how to deal with spam. A solid majority of the EU Telecoms Council supports the "opt-in" system, which would ban direct marketers from sending unsolicited e-mails unless they are given explicit consent by potential recipients. The council comprises telecommunications ministers of the 15 EU member states. But the European Parliament is leaning toward an "opt-out" system, under which e-mail-box owners would be targets for direct marketers unless they make it known that they do not want to be spammed.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/168076.html
Godfathers Of E-mail To Get Webby Honor 
Most of us have never heard of Douglas Engelbart and Ray Tomlinson. But they changed the way millions communicate. Wednesday night they'll get the first Lifetime Achievement Awards at the fifth Webby Awards for their contributions to the invention of e-mail. Choosing the winning topic was easy, says Maya Draisin, executive director of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, which judges the Webbys. "E-mail, really as much if not more than the Web, has transformed our lives," Draisin says. "The element of communication is such a critical aspect of (the) Internet." But finding the right people "was a bit of a research task," she says.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/168082.html
Thank God for the Internet
Enough with the Internet pity-party, already. As the three-hanky demise of the dot-coms and the floundering of technology stocks continue to hog headlines, Michael Lewis is one journalist who's telling a different story. In his new book "Next: The Future Just Happened," the author of "Liar's Poker" and "The New New Thing" looks at the emperor-has-no-clothes effect that the Net has on many of the so-called experts in fields like law and finance and how new technologies like TiVo and Replay are undermining entire industries. But the real showstoppers in the book aren't the technologies themselves, but the kids who are using them.
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/20...wis/index.html