View Single Post
Old 06-05-04, 06:34 PM   #1
JackSpratts
 
JackSpratts's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: New England
Posts: 10,013
Default Peer-To-Peer News - The Week In Review - May 8th, '04

Quotes Of The Week

"Copyright is no natural right." – tina

"I want to become Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL all rolled into one." – Vuong Vu Thang, Vietnamese software/P2P creator

"In five to 10 years' time, we'll be looking at it and saying, 'What were we worried about? I don't see how the Internet won't make us tons and tons of money." – Peter Jenner, band manager.

"The whole idea behind I.R.C. is freedom of speech. There is really no structure on the Internet for policing I.R.C., and there are intentionally no rules." - William A. Bierman

"Can you explain what planet the record labels are on?" - Walt Mossberg





When One Man's Video Art Is Another's Copyright Crime
Roberta Smith

Jon Routson's exhibition of videos at the Team Gallery in Chelsea is a kind of last hurrah, a farewell performance. It is also a small eddy in the increasingly roiled waters where art meets the United States' rapidly expanding copyright laws.

A 34-year-old video artist living in Baltimore, Mr. Routson has a very particular method of art-making, which will soon be illegal in Maryland, as it already is in the District of Columbia and five other states, including New York and California. Like the appropriation artists of the early 1980's, who rephotographed existing photographs as a way of commenting on society, Mr. Routson makes movies of other people's movies.

Since 1999 he has been going to Baltimore-area movie theaters, often on a feature film's opening day, and recording what happens on and around the screen with a small, hand-held camcorder. He shows the grainy, oddly distorted results, which he calls recordings, as DVD installations in art galleries.

Shot without consulting the view-finder, these diaristic works are replete with the mysterious rustlings, irritating interruptions, darkness and partial views endemic in movie theaters. The shadowy images wobble, especially when Mr. Routson shifts in his seat. You hear breathing and throat-clearing.

On a recent Saturday at Team, for example, three highly unstable recordings of Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ," each made in a different Baltimore theater, were being projected simultaneously (but not in sync) on walls in the gallery's three small rooms. One, shot from the front row of a full house, was steeply angled, with fragmented subtitles.

Mr. Routson's work, which is not for sale, is the latest to find itself in the murky zone between copyright infringement and artistic license, between cultural property rights and cultural commentary. On Oct. 1 a new Maryland law will make the unauthorized use of an audiovisual recording device in a movie theater illegal. Last week two people were arrested in California for operating camcorders in movie theaters. One was apprehended by an attendant wearing night-vision goggles.

The Senate Judiciary Committee also recently approved a bill to make the unauthorized copying and distribution of movies a federal offense. The film industry has lobbied fiercely for this law, arguing that up to 80 percent of all illegal copies of films are made in theaters. (An AT&T Labs Research report, published last year, found that most illegal copies were either duplicates of stolen copies or were shot from tripods in projection booths.) Mr. Routson, who described himself in a telephone interview as increasingly nervous on his visits to theaters, said he had heard rumors that the management of one chain was offering $100 to any employee who apprehended someone with a camcorder.

It does not matter whether you think that Mr. Routson's work is good or bad art; it is quite good enough, in my view. It does matter that the no-camcorder laws may not do much to stem pirating while making it increasingly difficult for artists to do one of the things they do best: comment on the world around them.

Our surroundings are so thoroughly saturated with images and logos, both still and moving, that forbidding artists to use them in their work is like barring 19th-century landscape painters from depicting trees on their canvases. Pop culture is our landscape. It is at times wonderful. Most of us would not want to live without it. But it is also insidious and aggressive. The stuff is all around us, and society benefits from multiple means of staving it off. We are entitled to have artists, as well as political cartoonists, composers and writers, portray, parody and dissect it.

Mr. Routson's portrayals are actually rather tender. There is subversive intent in the individual titles of the recordings: "Bootleg (Dogville)" and "Bootleg (The Fog of War)," for example. But Mr. Routson also rightly described them as "less than copies." Rather than duplicates, his works are films of film showings. They reduce pristine, overpowering big-screen images to fuzzy, low-tech human-scale images that we can walk up to, almost like home movies. They recreate and in a sense celebrate the private-in-public space of the average moviegoer. You could even say that they encourage moviegoing over watching DVD's or videocassettes.

At once stolen and given away, Mr. Routson's works operate somewhere between the manipulated magazine advertising images of the 1980's artist Richard Prince and the keep-the-gift-in-motion aesthetic of 90's artists like Felix Gonzalez-Torres, whose sculptures included large piles of wrapped candy, free for the taking, and Rirkrit Tiravanija, whose first exhibitions consisted of cooking curry and serving it to gallery visitors.

Mr. Routson said that after the Team show closed on Saturday, he would be leaving his camcorder at home on movie nights. He said he had always viewed the recording series as finite, a phase in his development that would come to an end. He also admitted that financial considerations were an issue: he needs to earn a living from his art. Declining to be photographed for this article, he added that the tensions of recording movies was destroying the pleasure of watching them. "I'm not a super film buff," he said, "but I try to remain a fan."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/06/ar...IDE.html?8hpib



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

File-Swapping Gets Supercharged On Student Network
John Borland

A new file-trading network has sprung up on Internet2, the university network that offers researchers and students a way to communicate at blazing speeds while avoiding the ordinary Internet's data traffic jams.

Dubbed i2hub, the network has drawn thousands of students from universities around the country to trade files and chat at speeds that far exceed what even ordinarily swift campus networks can provide. It has drawn rave reviews on student Web sites and from users but has already sparked concern among other Internet2 denizens.

The students involved say they're simply looking to use unused Internet2 bandwidth, which can be less expensive for their colleges than ordinary commercial Net connections. But some also see it as a way around limitations that many universities have begun to impose on widely used file-swapping applications such as Kazaa.

"Some universities put a restriction on commodity Internet line speeds but don't put any restriction on Internet2," said "Ttol," one of the students managing the project. He declined to give his real name. "The experience of transfers over Internet2 is much faster than on the commodity Internet."

Universities have been at the heart of the file-swapping, controversies since the launch of Napster in 1999. Armed with fast Net connections in dormitories, students have flocked to peer-to-peer services for free music, videos and software, and they have recently been a focus of record industry enforcement efforts.

The Recording Industry Association of America sued a quartet of students who were operating campus network search tools a year ago, settling with each of them for between $12,000 and $17,000. Individual students who have used ordinary software such as Kazaa have also been targeted in the RIAA's more recent wave of lawsuits.

Universities, most of which have strict policies against using their networks for copyright infringement, have begun installing software that blocks or limits the amount of bandwidth used by file-swapping applications. Some have begun investigating tools that actually look inside individual file trades, identify copyrighted music and block the transfers.

Bringing this process to Internet2 could conceivably raise the stakes for the content industries, particularly the movie studios. Using ordinary broadband connections, movies can take many hours to download, particularly if a network is congested.

Internet2 was developed by a consortium of universities and technology companies to provide vast improvements in connections speeds. Researchers use it to exchange large data files, experiments with high-definition video and other applications. But the same speed could make traditional file-swapping happen in the blink of an eye.

The i2hub network is based on a piece of open-source software called Direct Connect, which connects users and allows them to search each other's hard drives, using technology similar to the original Napster. Unlike most recent file-swapping networks, it routes search requests through a central server, which can be operated on an ordinary PC in a dorm room.

This version of Direct Connect links only students at universities with access to Internet2. While this keeps all traffic on the fast network, it's probably not the first time that Internet2 has seen file-swapping incursions. Some schools automatically route students' data traffic over Internet2, if the destination is another participating university. Thus, some students even using older tools such as Kazaa might already be using the fast academic network without knowing it.

Ttol said that about 2,000 people appeared to be online Thursday afternoon, having logged in at different times. Students at about 100 universities are involved, he said.

In the RIAA's crosshairs?

People involved with the project said there is concern that they will be targeted by the RIAA or by school officials, if people on the network do use it to swap large amounts of copyrighted material. But individual users are less worried than the organizers themselves.

"The concern is always there, when you allow 'carte blanche' for people--especially college-age people--to trade whatever they may have on their computer," said "Conrail," who told CNET News.com in an instant-message interview that he is a student at the Widener University School of Law. "As this is a centralized model, and its goal is not to promote copyright infringement, there shouldn't be concern for the users, because they won't be the target."

Officials at the central Internet2 project said they had no theoretical objection to the students' action, at least from the strictly technological side. The network was developed to spur innovation wherever it arises, much as users of the original academic networks developed e-mail and chat features, a representative for the project said.

However, copyright violations should not be tolerated, the representative added.

"The use policies for (the Internet2) backbone network are very clear--that use of the network for illegal means is not allowed," said Greg Wood, Internet2's director of communications.

Network administrators at some of the colleges appeared to be concerned as well.

"Internet2 is for research. It's not for downloading music," said Marc Ray, a senior computer support specialist at Florida State University. He's still evaluating the program, he said. "The fact is, (the network) cost a lot of money, and downloading games and music should be the last priority on any campus network. I think it's borderline taking advantage of the system."
http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5202107.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grandma Sued For Illegal Song Downloading
Stacy Neumann & Web Staff

A Fayetteville grandmother is facing off with the recording industry. The Recording Industry Association of America said she illegally downloaded and shared copyrighted songs.

About a month ago, Barbara Johnson tried to log onto AOL and found she was cut off. She called the company.

"They told me they did it because of the downloading and sharing the files with everyone else,” Johnson said.

Then she received a letter from AOL. It said the Recording Industry Association of America plans to subpoena her account.

Johnson said it was her grandson Deron who downloaded music using a popular file sharing program. When she found out it was illegal, she spoke to him about it.

"My grandma told me to stop so I stopped,” Deron said. “I stopped downloading but I didn't delete my programs."

An RIAA phone call last week informed Johnson that Deron had downloaded 520 songs.

"Those 520 songs will cost you $750 and I said, 'What?’” Johnson said.

That's $750 for each song but the association says it will settle for $3,500.

"I said, 'You know what? You won't get it because I don't have it,’” Johnson said.

Johnson said it's not fair to hold her financially responsible for what her grandson did. She doesn't let him use the computer without supervision now and she's hoping RIAA leaves her alone.

"There're a lot of kids out there downloading music, grownups too,” Johnson said. “Some grownups even download movies. So why do they come after me?"

The RIAA has sued more than 2,000 people for illegal Internet music sharing. More than 400 have opted to settle their lawsuits.
http://rdu.news14.com/content/headli...=46900&SecID=2


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hurtling Onto Your Hard Drive, Short Films on Demand
Michel Marriott

Sit back, relax and enjoy. That's how AtomFilms Hi-Def, a new free online film service seeking to be so easy to use that instructions will be superfluous, introduces itself. Blending the services of AtomFilms, a Web-based film-on-demand pioneer, and Maven Networks, a broadband media software company, AtomFilms Hi-Def automatically downloads film to Windows-based computers with high- speed Internet access.

Three films a week, 60 seconds to 30 minutes each, are saved onto the hard drives of computers running the AtomFilms-Maven software, which can be downloaded at www.hidef.atomfilms.com. The service says that all films can be viewed in full screen and, at the very least, DVD quality.

For computers using Windows XP and Windows Media High-Definition Video (a free download from www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia) the service begins to live up to its name: it delivers two high-definition films each month. Those films can be viewed at a progressive-scan resolution of 720 lines, almost twice the resolution of standard digital television. The films delete themselves two weeks after arriving. Next month the service is adding the second season of "Angry Kid,'' a popular British series of one-minute animated films about an oversize adolescent rendered in computer animation and live action, to its lineup.

Now, if only someone could figure out how to download popcorn.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/29/te...gy/29film.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Digital Video Recorder Leader Lags
Ian Austen

Sales of digital video recorders, devices that record television programs on a hard drive, are finally gaining momentum, a study by IDC, a market research firm, has found. But TiVo, the company that popularized the concept, is increasingly being left behind by the success.

“It’s sort of shocking when you look at the numbers because TiVo is synonymous with the product category,” said Greg Ireland, a senior research analyst for consumer markets at IDC.

“Even though TiVo has an elegant interface, what we’re seeing in the marketplace is that functionality is what appeals to people.”

TiVo, by IDC’s measurement, had just 39 percent of the United States market for D.V.R.’s in 2003. The balance is largely made up by combined recorders and set-top boxes that are being offered by satellite and cable television companies, which, unlike TiVo, don’t require users to purchase hardware upfront. Instead, they generally charge users about $10 a month for a set-top box that includes a D.V.R. Mr. Ireland also said that pay television providers have generally been better than TiVo at explaining the advantages of D.V.R.’s.

“This is something that’s difficult to understand if you haven’t experienced it,” Mr. Ireland said of the concept.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/26/bu...OSTWANTED.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Internet2: File Swapping Haven?
James Maguire

Students may not find Internet2 to be as hospitable to unauthorized swapping as it appears. According to Internet2's Greg Wood, the network infrastructure of many universities would allow them to apply restrictions at a campus level to Internet2 as well as the commercial Internet.

Confounding efforts to combat campus file swapping, university students have begun trading copyrighted files using Internet2 , the ultra-fast network developed by tech companies and universities.

College campuses are the front lines of the recording industry's anti-peer-to- peer (P2P) crusade, and many schools have placed technical restrictions on student downloading. However, "students often find a workaround," Chris Hoofnagle, deputy counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told NewsFactor. And Internet2, known as i2hub, may prove to be that work around.

Unlike the Internet itself, i2hub enables student file-swappers to transmit large files -- like song collections or movies -- almost as fast as you can say "Avril Lavigne." Earlier this month, a team of international researchers broke an i2hub record by transferring data over 7,000 miles at a speed of 6.25 GB per second –- approximately 10,000 times faster than an average broadband connection.

Using the i2hub for the unauthorized transmission of copyrighted material is forbidden, Greg Wood, Internet2's director of communications, told NewsFactor. "Internet2 universities have been at the forefront of working with the recording industry and motion picture industry to make prevent those things from happening."

The i2hub network would seem to be a perfect alternative for students seeking faster file swapping in the face of campus restrictions.

The high-speed network is the product of a consortium of about 200 universities, working in concert with technology companies and government, intended to develop and use advanced network technologies. Using i2hub, "Scientists and researchers are able to do things like TV- quality video conferencing...and access supercomputers for grid computing in ways the commercial Internet can't support," Wood said.

Because P2P has so many legitimate uses, the i2hub network is well-suited for this use. The network uses an application called Direct Connect that enables connected users to scour each other's hard drives.

Ironically, the company that develops the software, NeoModus, advertises it this way: "Tired of other file-sharing communities such as KaZaA, Gnutella, and WinMX? Looking for something new? Get ready to change the way you think about peer-to-peer file-sharing. Neo-Modus Direct Connect offers a complete set of tools to locate any type of media." The company also notes: "Users are able to share any type of file -- absolutely no restrictions."

Direct Connect, like the old Napster, is based on a central server model, a factor that made Napster easy to use. After legal action made this central server an easy target of record companies, today's leading unauthorized P2P services have moved to a distributed server system.
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtm...ry=netsecurity


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those Who Rule Information In Cyberspace Rule The World

The Anarchist in the Library

How the Clash Between Freedom and Control Is Leaving Cyberspace and Entering the Real World by Siva Vaidhyanathan

Reviewed by Michael Taube

Ten years ago, the briefest mention of words such as "Internet" and "cyberspace" would almost always lead to glassy-eyed stares and bemused looks. Today, these words comprise an important part of not only our lexicon but also our daily lives. The Internet has become everything to everyone, from a research tool for academics to a plaything for underage music swappers.

But Siva Vaidhyanathan, an assistant professor in communication studies at New York University and self-anointed cultural historian, believes a clash of ideologies in cyberspace is beginning to take shape. His new book, "The Anarchist in the Library," attempts to prove that basic Web freedoms are being hijacked by two old philosophies, oligarchy and anarchy. He attempts to criticize the "moral panics" that justify oligarchy and tries to dissuade "the common perception that freedoms are getting out of hand, that the anarchists are taking over the libraries."

Any interpretation of "The Anarchist in the Library" will depend on a person's point of view about cyberspace. Take music downloading and uploading, for example. Vaidhyanathan does not hide the fact that he sees benefits in peer-to-peer systems, or so-called file sharing. He enthusiastically defends music pirates such as Gnutella and Kazaa, and once described the old Napster's success as a "rational revolt of passionate fans" in the leftist magazine the Nation. Vaidhyanathan even made an unsuccessful protest to NYU's technology office after it blocked access to Napster in 1999 on any computer linked to the university's network, believing that "this decision had not considered its effect on legitimate research as well as illegitimate copying."

But while defending peer-to-peer, and claiming that its "values and habits ... have existed for centuries," Vaidhyanathan is far less eager to defend record companies. He admits to being unconvinced that each downloaded song equals "a lost sale." He views copyright as a "state-granted limited monopoly for the purpose of generating and spreading culture and information." Besides, he justifies his position in this manner: The free music he downloads each year is usually garbled or of low quality and he downloads it only so that he can see whether it is worth buying.

Of the many people who have shared music, or copied it from one medium to another, very few perform this anarchistic type of downloading or uploading to see if a song is worth paying for in a store. Many people who swap music are angry with the record companies for charging what they perceive to be high prices for CDs and tapes. Instead of letting the market set the price, the pirates have brazenly opted to steal the music, either for their own collections or private sale. This isn't freedom; it is theft.

Meanwhile, Vaidhyanathan writes that "regulating the Internet is like trying to regulate Diogenes," the philosopher who initiated the concept of cynicism. In fact, the author believes that the Internet was created on noticeably cynical principles such as borderlessness and peer-to-peer openness. Therefore, the government's decision to keep the Internet safe from things such as pornography, hate groups or downloading movies is wrong because cyberspace should just be left wide open to share and disseminate information.

"The Anarchist in the Library" also explores the various strands of anarchy Vaidhyanathan has observed, ranging from culture and control (such as the battles over piracy and copyright in India and China) to political movements and campaigns (anti-globalization rallies in Seattle and Quebec City). He also vigorously defends public libraries, the "functional expressions of Enlightenment principles" for those without wealth or power, from being brought down by commercial interests that do not respect or understand the need for flows of information.

Vaidhyanathan believes that the nation-state is in flux. He sees information being controlled by certain entities (including corporations, politicians and judges), while other entities are attempting to liberate information (including students, political activists and computer programmers). He feels that the answer may be rooted in civic republicanism, a position of anarchy that endorses "a sense that any individual's freedom is undeniably dependent on peer's freedoms." To Vaidhyanathan, the republican wisdom of Aristotle and Cicero could help deter disobedience -- a major weakness of the modern anarchist -- and replace it with higher amounts of deliberation.

If there were validity in Vaidhyanathan's assessment, the phrase "life imitates art" could easily be juxtaposed with a World Wide Web-like phrase such as "reality imitates Net." But that's not the case with "The Anarchist in the Library." The author's position on cyberspace is one shared by civil libertarians who want to protect the freedoms that appeal to them rather than the ones that could benefit our society. To activists like Vaidhyanathan, the Internet is a digital revolution they need to protect for themselves at all costs, and not for the vast majority of us who live in the real world.
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/05/02/RVGRJ6A96P1.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...VGRJ6A96P1.DTL


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Secret Japanese GSDF Data Circulating On File-Sharing Network
Mainichi Shimbun

Over 200 articles of confidential information including internal Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) data and wage scales for post office workers have been leaked onto the Internet and can be viewed with the file-sharing software "Winny," it has been learned.

An investigation by the Mainichi found the information available on the file-sharing network on Thursday.

Defense Agency officials said the internal Ground Self-Defense Force data was leaked in November 2002. A GSDF official at the time reportedly used Winny at home and accidentally released data that was on his computer.

The data included 10 types of files including an "education and training implementation plan," a "1st company full personnel list," and a "moral education form" document.

Included in the documents were addresses and personality types of GSDF members, detailed training schedules, lists of personnel at GSDF posts and vehicle conditions. The documents were reportedly several hundred pages long when printed out.

Winny is a type of file-sharing software enabling users to exchange music, photographs, video images and other information stored on their computers. Usually users designate which information they want to share, but in the GSDF case, the confidential GSDF data was accidentally shared.

In some cases, data people obtain is "released" onto the network apparently to harass others or as a joke.

The GSDF member who released the data was handed a pay cut of about 6.7 percent for one month. It also handed out a note requesting stricter measures for personal computers, but did not report the incident.

In giving a reason for its silence, the GSDF said the leaked information could not be retrieved and people would have only copied it in interest if the incident had been announced.

In separate information affecting a post office in Aichi Prefecture, a wage list for post office workers and a list of articles that had been wrongly delivered could be viewed. This month the Tokai branch of Japan Post sent documents to 2,500 post offices under its jurisdiction warning them to take care when handling information on computers connected to the Internet.

Other information the could be viewed with Winny included a worker list from the Public Security Intelligence Agency including their addresses, a list of 50,000 beauty-treatment clinic customers including phone numbers, and police investigation documents.
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20040...dm001000c.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Japanese Recording Industry Starts Anti-Piracy Campaign
Thomas Mennecke

Back in early 2003, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) began sending thousands of instant messages to P2P users. The effort was a preemptive assault on the P2P world before their lawsuit campaign in June 2003. The RIAA basically used the instant message feature on file- sharing applications, primarily Kazaa, to inform users of their immoral actions.

Using a nearly identical tactic, the RIAJ has started its own campaign against file- sharing. On May 2, 2004, the Japanese trade organization began sending out instant messages to file-traders. However, it should be noted that the RIAJ stresses that uploading, rather than downloading, is their primary target.

“Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) has started to send warnings using the IM function to individual P2P users uploading music files illegally on the Internet. This action was launched on 2nd March, 2004 to give full recognition to the illegality of uploading music files through file-sharing software and make them stop such illegal activities. Uploading MP3 files made from commercial music CDs without permission of right holders is an infringement of the Copyright Law.”

Much like the RIAA, the RIAJ will also embark on a lawsuit campaign against “certain malicious users.” Although they do not specify who will qualify as “malicious”, speculation suggests that their tactics will be similar to the RIAA. The RIAA has generally filed lawsuits against anyone who shares about 1,000 songs, keeps their shared directory exposed, and uses the FastTrack (Kazaa, Grokster) file-sharing network.

The campaign hopes to inform 1 million P2P users by the end of May. So far in the United States, the RIAA’s campaign has met with mixed results. Time will tell whether the Japanese music industry fairs any better.
http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=467


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P2P File Sharing Splits Musicians
p2pnet.net news

Musicians are sharply divided about how much impact file sharing has on the music business.

Those who earn most of their income from music are more inclined than 'starving musicians' to back the RIAA, but even very committed musicians don't believe Big Music's sue 'em all campaign is doing much good.

In fact, in terms of their careers, more artists say free music downloading online has helped rather than hurt.

Some 41% say the Net hasn't had a big effect "in allowing piracy of their music" and only 5% say free downloading has definitely - "exclusively" - hurt their careers.

That's the bottom line in a new Pew study of musicians and songwriters slated to be presented today at the Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit and which, appropriately, was done online.

"Half of the musicians and songwriters surveyed say they would be bothered if someone put a digital copy of their music on the Internet without permission (compared to 37% who say they would not be bothered and 12% who say they don’t know)," says the report, going on:

"Some 28% said they had experienced this situation firsthand. 83% have provided free samples of their work online and significant numbers say free downloading has helped them sell CDs and increase the crowds at concerts."

Between March 15 and April 15 of this year, 2,755 musicians and songwriters were asked about the way they use the Internet and their views on a host of public policy questions related to copyright and music file-sharing on the Internet.

The sample wasn't "representative or projectable to the entire population of musicians and songwriters," Pew hastens to emphasize.

"However," it says, "it brings many more voices into the debates about copyright laws, the impact of online music swapping, and the long-term prospects for the music industry."

Involved were The Future of Music Coalition, Just Plain Folks, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, CD Baby, the Nashville Songwriters Association, Garageband.com, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and the American Federation of Musicians.

Some 35% of the sample agree file-sharing services aren't bad for artists because they help promote and distribute an artist’s work; 23% agree file-sharing services are bad for artists because they allow people to copy an artist’s work without permission or payment. And 35% agree with both statements.

Thirty-seven percent say free downloading hasn't really made a difference on their careers as musicians, 35% say it's actually helped and 8% say it's both helped and hurt their career.

Only 5% say free downloading has exclusively hurt their career and 15% of the respondents say they don’t know.

Asked if online music file-sharing has made it harder to protect their music from piracy, 16% say the Internet has had a big effect in allowing piracy of their music, 21% say it has had a small effect, and 41% say it has had no effect.

Who should be held responsible for illegal file sharing online?

"The verdict is very split," says Pew. "37% of the sample said both those who run file-sharing services and individuals who swap files through those services should be held responsible. But 21% said no one should be held responsible.

"Some 17% said those that run peer-to-peer services should exclusively bear the legal burden and 12% said individuals who swap files should exclusively bear the burden.

"Yet, regardless of their personal experiences, most musicians and songwriters think file-sharing on the Internet poses some threat to creative industries that make music and movies. One-third say file-sharing poses a 'major threat' to these industries while one-third say it poses a 'minor threat.' Another third say file-sharing poses 'no threat at all' and 7% say they don’t know.

"67% say artists should have complete control over material they copyright and they say copyright laws do a good job of protecting artists."

Two-thirds of these artists say copyright holders should have complete control over a piece of art once it's produced. Some 28% say the copyright holder should have 'some control' and 3% say the holder should have 'very little control.'

"Fully 61% of those in this sample believe that current copyright laws do a good job of protecting artists’ rights, but 59% also say that copyright laws do more to protect those who sell art than to protect the artists themselves," the report goes on.

"Most of the musicians and songwriters sampled do not believe current copyright laws 'unfairly limit public access to art.' Some 46% disagree with this statement and 21% strongly disagree. However, 15% do agree that current laws unfairly limit public access to art, 8% strongly agree and 10% say they don’t know.

"In terms of their careers, more artists say free music downloading online has helped them than hurt them. Fully 83% of those in the survey say they provide free samples or previews of their music online. And strong pluralities say free downloading has a payoff for them. For instance, 35% of them say free downloading has helped their careers and only 5% say it has hurt. Some 30% say free downloading has helped increase attendance at their concerts, 21% say it has helped them sell CDs or other merchandise; and 19% say it has helped them gain radio playing time for their music. Only fractions of them cite any negative impact of downloading on those aspects of their work.

Some 60% of people surveyed say they don't think the RIAA's (Recording Industry Association of America) suits against online music swappers will benefit musicians and songwriters. Those who earn the majority of their income from music are more inclined than 'starving musicians' to back the RIAA, but even those very committed musicians don't believe the RIAA campaign will help them. Some 42% of those who earn most of their income from their music do not think the RIAA legal efforts will help them, while 35% think those legal challenges will ultimately benefit them.

Basic demographic information about respondents:

Gender
74% Men
23% Women

Age
24% are aged 18-29
47% are aged 30-49
16% are aged 50-64
1% are aged 65 or older

Music occupation
53% consider themselves to primarily be songwriters
44% consider themselves to primarily be musical performers

Percentage of annual income earned from being a songwriter or musical performer
8% earn 100% of their income from their music endeavors
8% earn 60%-99% of their income from music
12% earn 20%-59% of their income from music
41% earn 1%-19% of their income from music
25% earn no significant income from their music

http://p2pnet.net/story/1349


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Hippie Professor And His PDF Book

Free culture, creative commons, whatdya think?
Fernando Cassia

OVER THE LAST month, rivers of ink have flowed, and loads of bytes have scuttled across the Net about a book that so-called Cyberpunks, DMCA haters and other interweb freedom advocates seem to love. That's Free Culture, the latest book by Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig, who - just for the record - previously wrote titles like Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace and The Future of Ideas.

Yet another book release wouldn't be much news, hadn't he quietly released this one as a free PDF download about a month ago, even sparking derivative versions in a matter of days. This was possible because the bits based version is released under the Creative Commons licence. This free PDF version of the book, can be downloaded from a server at Stanford University, or from the BitTorrent P2P (Peer-to-Peer) file sharing network, which seems to be all the rage lately.

The author, referred to as "a cultural environmentalist", who many years ago was a court-appointed "special master" in the antitrust suit against the Vole, who has criticised SCO's Darling McBride, and who happens to be the founder of the Center for Internet Law and Society at Stanford, thinks that current copyright laws are "poisoning the ecosystem that fosters innovation" and calls his book "a wake-up showing how short- sighted interests blind to the long-term damage they’re inflicting".

He writes: "For more than two hundred years, laws in America have sought a balance between rewarding creativity and allowing the borrowing from which new creativity springs. The original term of copyright set by the Constitution in 1787 was seventeen years. Now it is closer to two hundred. Thomas Jefferson considered protecting the public against overly long monopolies on creative works an essential government role. What did he know that we’ve forgotten?"

He continues: "A free culture is not a culture without property; it is not a culture in which artists don't get paid. A culture without property, or in which creators can't get paid, is anarchy, not freedom. Anarchy is not what I advance here." Of course, if you want to help professor Lessig and Penguin Press, the publishers of the tree based version of the book, you can also buy the book for around $16.97 or £12.66 on web merchants Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and the like.

A group of bloggers have even created an "audible" version of this book, by reading aloud different chapters and hosting mp3 files across the interweb. Anyhow, despite this being somewhat old news, I haven't finished reading it yet, so I can't say if it's worth the five stars rating it currently enjoys on the Amazonian retail behemoth.

The question, however, is another: would you publish your own book like Mr. Lessig, simultaneously on paper and also distributing it for free, under a licence like Creative Commons? Have you read this book fully? Do you agree with the hippie professor? To voice your opinion, click to let me know.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15654


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Copying' Has Long History
Don Edrington

One of the omnipresent issues in computer discussions nowadays is the downloading of music files. We read of Apple's enormous success with its iPod players and its 99-cent iTunes, while services like Kazaa still offer P2P (peer to peer) tools for trading songs between site visitors. And rarely does a week pass without news of another copyright infringement suit regarding this kind of file- swapping.

I am constantly asked if it's legal to download songs found on various noncommercial sites, along with questions about how to convert songs from one audio format to another or how to "rip" selections from an LP or CD to be placed on a computer for subsequent file-sharing.

Well, I'm neither a lawyer nor a technician, and I've begun to wonder if it was legal for us to tape music off the radio back when cassette recorders first came into being. And were we committing a crime when we recorded a movie shown on TV with our VCRs? And was it really legal to buy a dual-drive recorder for the express purpose of duplicating cassettes?

My answer is simply, "I don't know." In any case, an overview of some of the terminology might be helpful for newer computer users.

The only "sounds" emanating from early PCs were a variety of "dings" and "beeps" which acted mostly as error alerts. Later on, brief musical sounds were added, along with voice messages such as "You've got mail." These sound bites are called WAV files, and your PC came with lots of them. Go to Start>Find/Search>Files & Folders and type *.WAV. The asterisk acts as a "wild card" which will find all your WAV files. Double-click them to hear what they sound like.

As computers evolved, the ability to record one's own WAV files was added, using Windows' "Sound Recorder." Go to Start>Find/Search>Files & Folders and type SOUND RECORDER. When the Recorder icon appears, drag it onto your Desktop. Double-clicking this icon brings up a miniature "recording panel" with buttons for Record, Play, Stop, etc.

With a microphone inserted in your computer's "Mic" jack, you can create a voice file by going to File>New. Next, click the round red "Record" button, and speak into the mike.

To quit recording, click the square black Stop button. To save your file, go to File>Save As and give it a name.

Over time, it was discovered that music files could be "ripped" from various media ---- and suddenly full- length songs were popping up on sites all over the Web, which can be easily downloaded, saved, and/or copied to a CD. My site has dozens of pop hits from the '40s and '50s.

Another thing done with WAVs is to convert them to MP3s, which can reduce file sizes using "compression" techniques, such as removing data beyond the range of human hearing.

For specifics on performing some of these feats of digital musical magic, type "WAV" or "MP3" or "audio file conversion" into any Web search engine.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004...2_595_1_04.txt


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Capitalism In Vietnam, The Next Generation Private Entrepreneurs Seek To Make Their Mark Wherever Opportunity Beckons
Ben Stocking

HANOI - From the moment Vuong Vu Thang sat down at a computer to play ''Prince of Persia,'' he was hooked. He started spending all his lunch money at the Internet cafe.

''Using the computer always made me so excited that eating didn't seem very important,'' Thang said. ''I didn't care about anything else.''

It showed. He failed computer class, skipped his night classes and placed dead last in a prestigious national math competition -- writing software for classmates instead of hitting
the books.

Now, at the ripe old age of 24, Thang is one of Vietnam's brightest software stars, part of an emerging group of computer whizzes who hope to put their country on the high-tech map. They are part of a new generation of private entrepreneurs trying to make their mark in any field where opportunity beckons.

His goals are unabashedly grand: ''I want to become Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL all rolled into one.''

Thang owns an online newspaper (www.tintucvietnam.com) and a Web forum (www.ttvnonline.net), both of which cater to a burgeoning youth market thirsty for new information about lifestyle and social issues. He and a group of like-minded techies recently merged their three companies into a new corporation called DTT, whose subsidiaries include the Hanoi-based Cisco Academy, where teachers certified by San Jose's Cisco Systems train Vietnamese students in computer networking.

Thang made headlines two years ago when the communist government, upset by a political posting on his site, shut down the forum just months after it had been honored as Vietnam's most popular. These days, he walks a fine line, trying to develop innovative content while appeasing a government that closely monitors the Internet.

Like millions of other teenagers around the globe, Thang loved computer games. But he also had a burning desire -- and an uncanny ability -- to understand the inner workings of the computers themselves.

He bought a translation of ``Inside Your PC,'' by Peter Norton of Norton Antivirus fame, and soon started executing DOS commands. In no time, he was writing file-sharing software good enough for his classmates to use.

Buckling down

But when his computer obsession caused his studies to unravel, Thang decided it was time to get serious.

He bought the Vietnamese translation of ``The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People'' by Stephen R. Covey. He delved into Eastern philosophy. He buckled down.

He won the national math competition -- twice.

``I learned that there is no limit to what I can accomplish, as long as I try my best,'' said Thang, who speaks excellent English even though he used to skip English class in favor of the Net cafe.

When he was 16, Thang's parents had to make a choice: Use their hard-earned savings to buy him a computer, or buy themselves a motorbike so they wouldn't have to battle the Hanoi traffic on bicycles.

``They bought me a computer,'' Thang said, ``and they say it's the best decision they ever made.''

Thang's 69-year-old father, a university professor, has never been online. His mother, an administrator at the Ho Chi Minh Museum, made her first foray this month.

When Thang enrolled at the Hanoi National University in 1997, he already knew more about computers than his teachers did. In his first year, he started consulting for computer companies on the side, including two New Jersey companies, Visionary Software and Paragon Solutions.

As a student, he was earning about $400 a month -- twice his family's income -- and gave it all to his parents.

In his last year of university, he and two friends started their own software company, VVT Innovative Solutions, which owns Thang's Web forum, Trai Tim Viet Nam Online -- ``The Heart of Vietnam.''

He and several friends left promotional fliers on every bicycle and motorbike at every high school and university in Hanoi. Soon, the site had about 30 core members.

That group has grown to about 1,000 people, who moderate forums on provocative topics like ``Living Together Before Marriage,'' an incendiary idea in this conservative society.

With his tousled hair and baby face, Thang still could pass for a high-school student, even in his grown-up gray business suit and tie. But his work has already caught the eye of a Silicon Valley magnate who fled Vietnam in a small boat 20 years ago: Trung Dung, chief executive of Fogbreak, a San Ramon software company.

``I'm looking for the kind of cream-of-the-crop software development talent that Thang represents,'' said Dung, whose first company, OnDisplay, sold for $1.8 billion five years ago.

The software Thang designed to produce his online paper claimed Vietnam's national software development prize, which he has won twice. Impressed by Thang's Web site, Dung has invited him to California to discuss possible collaborations.

Shut down

Dung liked the site better before the government chilled the political discussion.

The government shut down the site after someone left a sensitive posting about democracy. The official reason for the closing: Thang had not received government permission to operate the site.

He spent four months negotiating with bureaucrats. After he agreed to collaborate with Thanh Nien, a government-owned newspaper, they let him fire the site back up.

Now forum visitors are greeted by a notice informing them that it is a ``non-political'' site, and Thang has written a program to enforce the ``no politics'' decree.

Anytime someone leaves a posting including sensitive words such as ``democracy'' or ``communism,'' the software alerts the 200 members who voluntarily monitor the site. If the posting is deemed unacceptable, they delete it.

A pragmatist, Thang is willing to accept limits on free expression -- if that's what it takes to keep his site up and running. That's just the way things are in Vietnam, he said.

But the censors are indulgent when it comes to young love.

Many of the Web forum's 150,000 members have struck up online romances and the site will soon include a dating service.

Thang found his girlfriend through the music forum four years ago. A classical-music fan with the nickname ``Beethoven,'' he left an admiring post about ``The Moonlight Sonata'' that impressed a young Hanoi pianist.

Thang's other online venture, Tin Tuc Vietnam, covers social issues and has fewer stories chronicling the every move of high government officials -- the standard fare of Vietnam's government-owned print newspapers.

The Communist Party daily certainly can't match one of Tin Tuc's most popular features: a fashion page with pictures of scantily clad models.

Because it's privately owned, the paper is not allowed to produce its own news accounts. It uses a mix of reports from the government-owned media and reprints from foreign media. The staff writes its own fashion and music pieces.

Thang expects the paper to turn a small profit this year. His software company, meanwhile, has already lined up $1 million worth of contracts for 2004.

Thang views entrepreneurs, who create jobs and help build the economy, as patriots, a perspective increasingly shared by the government.

``That's the reason I wanted to go into business -- to change the image of businessmen in Vietnam,'' said Thang, who employs about 100 people. ``If I can expand my business into the international market, that is something that Vietnamese people can feel proud of.''
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky...gy/8572234.htm


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chaos Computer Club: Boycott The Music Industry
tina



After the legal action the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) took against filesharing users, the CCC calls for a the boycott of IFPI member companies. Blaming the users as a remedy for missing the information age is unacceptable. The industry should have adapted their business strategies to the digital world long ago anyway.

Freedom of Information Is No Crime

The CCC regards those lawsuits filed by the German section of the IFPI as highly questionable, to say the least. We won't accept the music industry trying to accomplish their goals by striking ordinary users with awe as the industry claims immense amounts for indemnification. Such claims are not even enforcable by law in Germany. The IFPI's intentions are rather to intimidate participants of filesharing services. This becomes clear with the recent campaign of the GVU (Society for the Prosecution of Copyright Infringements). Here, too, legal misinformation is spread concerning the culpability of copyright infringements, to shy away users from using p2p-services.

Copyright is no natural right, but rather a compensation for the author as he or she makes her or his work available for the general public. Predominantly, copyright is a part of the personal rights. It should also be noted that German law, unlike its American counterpart, doesn't know the concept of copyright being given away, e.g. an artist can never lose the rights for his songs to a record company. "Copyright" is therefore only partially a translation for the German "Urheberrecht". To secure the author's economical existence, certain rights to distribute his/her work are given to him or her, but they underlie certain limitations. For example, a work may still be copied freely for private use. This right, also called 'fair use', is a part of the freedom of information and a fundamental human right in the eyes of the CCC.

The music industry now is trying to undermine this fact with countless campaigns. It tries to drag down the concept of fair use to the same level with child pornography and Nazi-propaganda. The chairman of the board of the Society for Musical Performance and Mechanical Copyrights (GEMA) demanded on the German music fair Popkomm that p2p users should be pursuited using the same ways and means which have been in use by the police to pursuit child pornographers and neonazis. This is an immense infamy and degradation for filesharing users.

But the economically rather unimportant copyright industry wants to go still one step further. The new 'Guidelines of the European Union for sanctions and procedures to protect the rights of intellectual property' grant them the right to search private homes without first obtaining a search warrant from a judge. Misuse and even industrial espionage are guaranteed to happen.

So it is only natural to ask: "Will the population be criminalised as a whole, because the industry is not able to deliver the offer for the overwhelming demand? Will the individual's freedom be sacrificed for an industry's demand for market stability? How come you can make more money with cell phone ringtones than with music?"

Next to the political reasons for a boycott of the music industry, there are also a few very practical reasons:

§ with the profits from CD sales the industry finances the legal actions against our children. Why should we, as a society, finance the munition of the enemy?

§ with the profits from CD sales, the music industry finances research and production of DRM and other measures of anti-copy mechanisms. Why should we finance technologies that will keep us from exerting our right to freedom of information and fair use?

§ we have bought our right to privately copy CDs by paying GEMA dues on every raw CD and DVD and on the CD-burners as well. It is inacceptable that this right is now referred to as 'stealing'.

Why are p2p-networks so popular? There are a few reasons:

· the quality of publicly available music has gone down. Music now seems only to exist to guarantee a bigger turnover for the industry. Since most modern bands are only in the charts for a short time now, less people bother to buy expensive CDs of songs and bands which nobody will remember after a few years anyway.

· the prices for audio CDs are too high. At least the main target group of teenagers and young adults can't afford the highly priced CDs. Studies prove that popmusic's chief purchasers are adults of 40 years and up.

· CD anti-copy provisions detains people from playing their CDs in any player except the very newest. Even many CD-player for cars cannot play DRM-protected CDs. This drives many people to the filesharing services to download and burn their music to run in their players.

· the variety in music stores is limited. If you're looking for rare pieces, the filesharing services are your last resort. For people who don't live in big cities or don't have the time to visit countless music stores, the p2p-network offer the chances of finding the favorite song from 30 years ago without much running or waiting.

· filesharing services are the ideal distribution channel for the new generation - the only thing missing is an appropriate payment function. The music industry has missed out on the internet movement, while the listeners have found their own way to use current technology to share their music collection and make new friends. Most listeners would be very happy to pay their favorite artist for the music they make. But there are yet ways to be found to get the money to the artist in a more direct way.

The music industry should stop whining now! The CCC is therefore demands: hit them where they it will hurt them the most. Take away their turnover! So they won't be able to use their profits to take on legal actions and advertisement campaigns against their customers.

The CCC has made banner and images for free use to support this campaign. Filesharers may voice their anger using our images and linking to our protest in this way. Creative pixelpushers are called upon to create their own banners and images in protest of the IFPI's legal actions. Please send the link to your image (not the image itself and no attachments!) to mail@ccc.de . We ask people to link to us from as many websites as possible.

Lastly we would like to point you to the words of the German comedian Dirk Bach at the 2004 Echo Awards to the congregated 'Pop Idol'-style clone-bands: "How dare you wonder at your sales going down?"
http://www.ccc.de/campaigns/boycott-...ry?language=en


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thailand: Copyright Crackdown To Focus On 11 Locations

Meet set with copyright owners, envoys

The Commerce Ministry has announced plans to implement stringent suppression measures against copyright infringements in 11 strategic areas where counterfeit goods are widely available.

The ministry said it may |also propose the collection of |taxes from copyright owners in cases where out-of-court compensation is paid by copyright violators.

Commerce Minister Watana Muangsook said the ministry would hold a meeting with foreign envoys and copyright owners to find measures to combat violations.

After a meeting with related officials to crackdown on fake products yesterday, Watana said the ministry wanted to halt the sale of pirated products at the target areas - Panthip Plaza, Patpong, Sukhumvit Road, Tawana, Seer Rangsit, Klong Thom, Sapan Lek, Chon Buri, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Songkhla.

Watana added that foreign envoys and copyright owners would be asked to publicise the government's progress in the suppression of violations.

He said the US and the EU regularly complain that the ministry fails to cooperate with them in cracking down on intellectual property rights violations, arguing that the Thai government continues to suppress and destroy illegal products.

"Those foreign copyright owners visit Thailand twice a year |to look for pirated products in target areas. When they find one or two illegal discs, they claim Thailand is ignoring the problem," he said.

"We can say that copyright infringements in Thailand have been reduced by 80 per cent," Watana said.When piracy cases are settled out of court, the police are unable to punish violators, he said. A recent police report listed 1,000 instances of copyright violations settled out of court for Bt50,000 per case.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/page...&date=2004-04-


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

South Korea: Online Music Service Dispute Nearing Settlement
Kim Tong-hyung

A lengthy conflict between the country's largest online music provider and the recording industry could be nearing a settlement, according to some industry insiders yesterday.

The Korean Association of Phonogram Producers, a recording industry lobby group, indicated that it may relax demands to immediately ban online music site Bugs Music (www.bugs.co.kr) from streaming free copies of copyrighted songs.

"KAPP and Bugs Music are working to find a business model that could satisfy the industry and online music consumers. We might reach an agreement within the first half of the year," said a KAPP official on condition of anonymity.

"KAPP will not demand Bugs Music to immediately adopt a full-scale payment system for their music files. We understand that many music sites that implemented paid services have been under financial difficulties due to the drop of subscribers," he added.

However, official declined to confirm whether KAPP will accept Bugs Music's request of the partial implementation of the payment system.

Bugs Music operates Korea's largest online music site with more than 14 million subscribers.

It has been balking at the record industry's demands of adopting a payment system on all of its music files, claiming it would deplete its user pool. The company has been pushing the adoption of a partial payment system for certain premium services while offering to provide the recording companies advertising and marketing to its huge audience.

The two sides have been feuding since last year, when KAPP and 13 recording companies, including SM Entertainment and YBM Seoul Records, filed a provisional disposition against Bugs Music for the illegal reproduction of copyrighted music. Bugs Music maintained that users of its streaming service were unable to download songs and sought protection under the Korean Copyright Act, which shields broadcasting companies' contents.

The Seoul District Court ruled in favor of the disposition in October last year, ordering Bugs Music to delete 10,000 music files, to which KAPP and the 13 recording companies have the copyright for access, and banning them from playing new releases.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/da...0405040033.asp


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pakistan Mulls Regulation Of Cyber Cafes

ISLAMABAD, (AFP) - Cyber cafes are favourite hangouts for Pakistanis young and old to play games, chat, e-mail, surf the web... or send terror emails and watch hard porn.

But soon the Internet cafes' dual use as pseudo blue cinemas and terrorist mailing points could be a thing of the past. Concern at the cafes' seamier side has prompted the government to draft a law to regulate their activities. The use of cyber cafes by terrorists in Pakistan came to light when US reporter Pearl was kidnapped and killed in early 2002, while investigating Islamic militancy in Pakistan for The Wall Street Journal. Photos of Pearl with his hands bound in chains and a hand gun pointed at his head were e-mailed by his captors from a cyber cafe in the southern port city of Karachi. The state-run Pakistan Telecommunication Authority last year prepared a consultation paper on regulations for cybercafes. It requires all Internet cafes to register with PTA, bans under-15s unless they are accompanied by their parents, and bars under-18s from viewing porn websites and playing violent video games. It cites national security as a key concern, according to a copy of the draft, and cafes where Internet activity is deemed a security risk will lose their registration automatically. The manager of one of the scores of Internet cafes in Islamabad said it would be impossible to control what sites his clients browse and view. "The blocking of porn sites is impossible as there are millions of such web pages on the internet," he told AFP, preferring not to be named. "We, with small computer networks cannot block all porn sites, it will kill (slow down) our system." Just four years ago Internet access was available in only a few big cities in Pakistan, but since the adoption of a new information technology policy by the government in 2000, the web can be accessed from most towns. "The exact number of cyber cafes in Pakistan is not yet known as no survey has been conducted so far," Omer Khan of the private Pakistan Computer Society told AFP. Absorbed in a screen at one of the Islamabad cafes, retired banker Ahmad Ali said they gave him a cheap way to stay in touch with his son. "It is a good and affordable facility for checking my e-mail and chatting with my son who is studying in the United States," Ali told AFP. For a mere 15 cents an hour, the use of an Internet computer was not a bad deal. "I have come to e-mail a college assignment to my schoolmate, so I do not have to go to his home which is far away from my place," said high school student Furqan Ahmed. Most of the cafes provide screened-off cubicles around their computer terminals, giving users total privacy. "We provide privacy to customers because people come here and write personal e-mails to their friends and relatives and nobody wants to show others when he or she is writing a letter," the manager said. "In the cabin or behind the partition, who does what is not our business."
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040504/323/esp1z.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yahoo! Calls For Uniform EU Music Licensing
electricnews.net

Yahoo! is calling on the EU to set up a uniform intellectual property rights regime. The Web portal wants to set up a music download service in Europe. But it says its efforts are hampered by the different licensing rules across the region.

That's according to Martina King, managing director, country operations, Yahoo! Europe, who was attending an informal summit of EU ministers of communications in Dundalk, Ireland on Thursday (22 April). The meeting included a CEO Roundtable, where the heads of many of Europe's biggest ICT companies communicated their concerns about broadband rollout in the EU to the ministers.

"I have to say I was very impressed," King told ElectricNews.Net. "The ministers were very knowledgeable and seemed genuinely concerned about broadband. It was a surprise, because I came here not expecting much. I just wanted to make sure that my concerns were heard."

Chief among her worries is the lack of co-ordination in Europe on intellectual property rights policy. This non- uniformity makes it difficult to ink deals with music providers, she said. "As it is now, we have to negotiate [music download rights] in every country, and the terms are different in each. It is not like the US, which is a single market."

Her concerns were also echoed in a report released in Dundalk by more than a dozen high-tech firms, including Alcatel, OD2, Telecom Italia, AP, AOL Europe and Cisco. The report, prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers, was submitted to the ministers at the event. It called for stronger and more unified policies thoughout the 25-state bloc on issues such as spam, broadband rollout and uptake, and implementation of e-government services. It also said that EU governments need to put in place a common regulatory framework for digital services that "does not hinder the development of new business models and services in the broadband market."

Another priority in the report - one that is close to King's heart - was a call for the EU communications ministers to develop a balanced and unified approach to protecting intellectual property rights. The group of companies behind the report said tsupport the recent and highly controversial Directive on Intellectual Property Enforcement, "because it aims to harmonise minimum IPR enforcement rules throughout the enlarged EU."

But, the PwC-prepared report also noted that not everyone is on board. "Whereas service providers wish to be able to use digital content on reasonable terms, on a pan-European basis, content owners are opposed to government intervention in the process of commercial negotiation...There is therefore a real need to develop a consensus between content owners and service providers," said the report presented to the EU ministers.

In other comments, King said Yahoo! would be "very interested" in launching a co-branded broadband product in Ireland, similar to the BT Yahoo" broadband product on offer in the UK. She could not confirm if Yahoo! was in talks with any Irish telcos to launch such a product.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04...music_license/


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Microsoft To Unveil New Media Software Controls
ILN News Letter

The WSJ reports that Microsoft is set to unveil new media software that contains new digital rights management controls. The software would allow for music to be transferred to devices provided that the customer periodically renews their rights to listen to the songs. AOL, Disney, and Napster have all agreed to use the new technology.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1...699769,00.html (subscription required)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Americans Head Back Online For Music
David McGuire

An estimated 6 million people have stopped downloading copyrighted music from the Internet over fears that they may sued by the recording industry, but the overall number of Americans who download music is rising with the popularity of iTunes, Napster and other legitimate online music services, according to a survey released today by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Approximately 23 million people are active downloaders of music, based on a phone survey of 1,371 adult Internet users conducted in February. That compares to 18 million estimated downloaders in November and December 2003.

Despite the recent uptick, the number of Internet users who download music remains well below the high-water mark of 35 million reached in the spring of 2003.

Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, said the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) decision to sue thousands of Americans who illegally traded and downloaded copyrighted music files had an immediate effect on file-sharing. An estimated 38 percent of Internet users now say they are downloading music less than they used to in response to the RIAA legal effort, according to the Pew survey.

"Once the first formal legal challenges took place, the [public's] mindset shifted. There's a wariness that we never saw last year at this time."

But Rainie said the limits of the association's legal campaign are evident in the recent increase in active music downloaders. "In general it's not a great long-term business strategy to sue your customer base. There is a natural limit to how far even the aggressive legal tactics of the RIAA can reach."

The music industry has sued 1,977 people since last September, reaching settlements with 432 suspected downloaders. The average settlement amount is about $3,000, but the association can claim up to $150,000 for each pirated song.

Greg Bildson, the chief operating officer of New York-based file-sharing service Lime Wire, confirmed that the number of people using the service fell after the RIAA filed its first lawsuits last September, but those numbers bobbed up again within a few weeks.

"In the early days when there was lots of press about those things you might see a blip for a week or so. Those blips have stopped as far as I can tell," Bildson said. Roughly 350,000 people download Lime Wire's file-sharing software every week, up from about 250,000 a week last year at this time, he said.

Lime Wire provides software products that allow people to connect to the Gnutella file-sharing network, one of the two most widely used networks for trading free copies of copyrighted music, movies and software.

RIAA Chairman Mitch Bainwol said the Pew survey's latest findings are "welcome news and another indication that the message of deterrence and the availability of exciting legal services is getting through."

The Pew survey also suggests that the recent increases in the number of persons downloading music from the Internet can be attributed to the success of legal Internet music services. According to Pew, while online music services like Apple Inc.'s iTunes remain less popular than file-sharing networks like Kazaa and Morpheus, 17 percent of people who download music are now using paid services.

RIAA officials contend that lawsuits are among their most effective weapons to fight illegal downloading, which they blame for leeching hundreds of millions of dollars in compact disc sales from their members' labels. Sales fell from a high of $13.2 billion in 2000 to $11.2 billion in 2003, a period that matches the growth of online music piracy services.

But other observers of the Internet file-sharing point to other data suggesting that the number of people scared off by the music industry lawsuits has been more than offset by the glut of new file swappers.

BigChampagne, which tracks file-sharing use by tapping into the most popular networks and recording the number of active users, has measured a steady growth in activity every year, even after the RIAA began its legal barrage, according to Eric Garland, chief executive of the Atlanta-based company.

The peak number of users logged onto the top file-sharing networks at any one time rose from 6.7 million last fall to more than 8.8 million in the first few months of this year, Garland said.

BigChampagne has tracked seasonal ebbs in file sharing usage, but has seen nothing like the drop-off reported in the January Pew study. Garland attributed the disparity between the two findings to the methodologies the groups use.

Pew might have a tougher time getting honest answers from Internet users about their downloading activity because it has been "stigmatized," Garland said.

Rainie and Garland agreed that the file-sharing ranks will continue to grow into the foreseeable future.

"We're chasing a growth technology that's starting to look a lot like instant messaging or e-mail in terms of being a communications technology that's on more and more desktops every day," Garland said.

The Pew survey findings hinted that a fair amount of illegal activity could accompany that growth. About 58 percent of the survey's respondents said that they do not care if the files they download are copyrighted. And about 15 percent of Internet users said they have downloaded video files onto their computers, compared to 13 percent in Pew's November-December survey.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...67-2004Apr25?l


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pixie Worship at a Hipster Gathering
Jon Pareles

Pity the bands that shared their Saturday-evening time slot with the reunited Pixies at the fifth annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival here. It seemed that the Pixies were the only band that everyone wanted to see among the 45 rock bands, hip-hop groups and D.J.'s on the festival's four stages on Saturday.

Radiohead, the million-selling band that was the festival's nominal headliner for the festival's first day, drew its own packed crowd when it followed the Pixies on the festival's main stage and played a magnificently baleful set. But even Thom Yorke, Radiohead's lead singer, was thrilled by the Pixies reunion. "When I was in school, the Pixies and R.E.M. changed my life," he said during Radiohead's encores. A long-running band that has been dormant lately, the Cure, was Sunday's headliner; the festival's 50,000 tickets were sold out for both days.

Coachella has earned its reputation as the hipster's rock festival. Its lineup brings together the pride of college radio: a few million-sellers along with dozens of acts that have, or deserve, dedicated cult followings. It embraces Latin alternative rock and underground hip-hop along with rock; it also had far more female performers than most rock festivals manage to book.

Saturday's program included a greatest-hits set from the pioneering and famously impassive German synthesizer band Kraftwerk (which has quietly updated oldies like "Autobahn" with newer beats and technology); gorgeous reveries from the Argentine songwriter Juana Molina and from Savath & Savalas; earnest, surging, self-help rock from the Texas band Sparta, including a song denouncing President Bush and "illegal war" in Iraq; tightly wound confessionals from Death Cab for Cutie; clever braggadocio from the Hieroglyphics hip-hop alliance; and punk-funk revivalism from the Rapture, Moving Units and Erase Errata.

But the day belonged to the Pixies. In an hourlong set that charged through nearly two dozen songs, they were anything but a nostalgia act. Once again they were taking on death and love, derangement and destiny. At Coachella, in songs that dated back more than a decade, the Pixies were simultaneously desolate and hilarious, savage and absurd, sardonic and wounded. Along the way they made most of the day's other music sound one-dimensional.

Backstage, the band's leader, Frank Black, who was born Charles Thompson and called himself Black Francis when he started the band, said the reunion was instigated when he joked about it and was taken seriously. Apparently he hadn't realized how many people had cherished the Pixies. Formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992 after making five albums that were far more popular in Europe than in the United States, the Pixies taught alternative rock a trick that Nirvana would carry to a mass audience: follow a quiet verse with a loud chorus. But there was more to the Pixies than their dynamics. Frank Black latched on to familiar styles — surf-rock, folk-rock, garage-rock, punk, metal — and then knocked their structures thoroughly askew, abetted by the band.

The members of the Pixies are balder and portlier than they were a decade ago, and they had little stagecraft beyond a winged P on David Lovering's bass drum. It didn't matter a bit. Onstage, as on the Pixies' albums, Joey Santiago's lead guitar traded heroics for hysteria, with wriggling, sliding notes or cheeky dissonances, Kim Deal's bass tugged at the songs from below, and Mr. Lovering's drumming could be full and brawny or suddenly drop away, leaving skeletal bits of cymbal. Pixies' songs can't be done by rote. They need Frank Black to get all worked up: whooping, cackling, snarling and sometimes yearning with true affection. The gleeful noise never hid a troubled soul. The reunion will continue; the Pixies are booked for New York at the Lollapalooza Festival on Aug. 17 at Randalls Island.

The Pixies had their first life before alternative rock was thoroughly commodified and bands decided they had to stick to one attitude. Somehow many rock bands lost faith that their audiences could handle mixed messages. Recently hip-hop has been more likely to mingle manifestoes, humor and come-ons, though lately underground hip-hop has started to develop its own inevitable formulas.

A few bands on Saturday were willing to scramble things. The Desert Sessions, a dozen musicians convened by Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, knocked around blues and punk, jokes and love songs; Kinky, from Mexico, did border-hopping dance-music hybrids; and there was a fierce, grandly cantankerous set from . . . and You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. The Pixies reunion doesn't need to spawn imitators, but maybe it will remind rockers of the joys of inconsistency.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/03/ar...ic/03COAC.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Secret Warrant Requests Increased in 2003
Eric Lichtblau

The government's use of secret warrants to monitor and eavesdrop on suspects in terrorism and intelligence investigations continued to climb sharply in 2003, with more than 1,700 warrants sought, the Justice Department reported Sunday.

Federal authorities made a total of 1,727 applications last year before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the secret panel that oversees the country's most delicate terrorism and espionage investigations, according to the new data.

The total represents an increase of about 500 warrant applications over 2002 and a doubling of the applications since 2001, the Justice Department said in its report, which was submitted to the federal courts and to Vice President Dick Cheney as required by law.

All but three of applications for electronic surveillance and physical searches of suspects were approved in whole or part by the court. The Justice Department said it did not appeal any of the rejections, but it noted that in two of those cases, warrants were ultimately approved against the targets after changes were made in the applications. Because of the nature of the cases heard by the foreign intelligence court, no details were provided about the investigations.

Civil liberties advocates maintain that the sharp rise in the government's use of the secret warrants, made easier by the antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act, represents a worrisome trend because the authorities are held to a lower standard of proof in spying on suspects than they are in seeking traditional criminal warrants.

But Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a statement released Sunday that the new data demonstrated the Justice Department's commitment to tracking terrorism. "We are acting judiciously and moving aggressively by seeking increased surveillance orders" from the court, Mr. Ashcroft said.

In addition to the civil liberties concerns, the increased use of the secret warrants has produced logistical problems as well.

Government officials say investigators have complained of a backlog of weeks or sometimes months in warrant applications, and a staff report last month from the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks spoke of "bottlenecks in the process," which the Justice Department is seeking to correct through increased personnel and organizational changes.

Before the Sept. 11 attacks, there was widespread internal confusion regarding the process and standards for getting an intelligence warrant, leading to lapses in the case of Zacarias Moussaoui, now charged with conspiracy in the plot.

The F.B.I. told the commission that "there is now less hesitancy" in seeking the intelligence warrants, the report said. Nonetheless, it added, "requests for such approvals are overwhelming the ability of the system to process them and to conduct the surveillance."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/03/politics/03WARR.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wal-Mart's Tracking Tags Are Getting First Field Test
Barnaby J. Feder

Wal-Mart Stores has begun the first major field test of its progress toward its goal of having its top 100 suppliers use radio tags to track their shipments by the end of the year.

The company said yesterday that it had begun to receive radio-tagged shipments of 21 products from eight manufacturers at a distribution center in Sanger, Tex. It said it was also using the technology, known as radio frequency identification, to track the goods as they are sent out to seven of its Supercenter stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

The radio tagging is intended to reduce theft, better match supplies to demand for particular products and speed distribution. But the technology's supporters need to overcome concerns about its accuracy and cost.

In addition to such economic questions, Wal-Mart and the manufacturers are also confronting critics concerned about whether radio tagging will eventually allow retailers - or anyone with a radio scanner - to track what consumers do with products after they leave the store.

Products being tracked in the trial include personal care items from companies like Procter & Gamble and Gillette, Purina pet food from Nestlé and three electronic products from Hewlett-Packard. The radio tags will be attached to cases and pallets of the goods in most cases so that the individual products, which will be unpacked at the stores, will not have tags when they reach the shelves.

But two models of Hewlett's Photosmart printer and a scanner are arriving at Wal-Mart's distribution center with individual tags, which will remain on their packaging in the stores, Wal-Mart said.

Wal-Mart said that it would not have any readers installed in the retail areas of the stores to track the tags once the electronic goods leave the storeroom. In addition, the stores will provide pamphlets about the radio tagging that tell customers they are free to dispose of the tags once they have bought the products.

Wal-Mart said it hoped the technology would move into the front end of the store eventually. If customers accept the tags as a successor to bar code scanning, Wal-Mart said, it could lead to benefits like faster checkouts, returns and processing of warranties.

Unlike bar codes, radio tags do not have to be in the line of sight of a reader to be recognized. They can carry far more specific information about the product than the standard bar code, and large numbers of radio tags can be read virtually simultaneously.

Privacy advocates are concerned because the radio signals can be detected through cardboard, a typical purse or even, in some cases, walls. Wal-Mart said yesterday that the readers it was using at its distribution center and storerooms work at ranges up to 15 feet.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/01/te...gy/01shop.html
JackSpratts is offline   Reply With Quote