The Newspaper Shop -- Friday edition

[walktalker]

Ready for another cup of digital news ?

Will Real's MusicNet play for pay?
In the latest step toward developing online music subscriptions, three big record companies are negotiating to license their music to RealNetworks Inc. for use in its planned subscription service, tentatively called MusicNet.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...702933,00.html

Hackers: Corporate security stinks!
Companies are paying more attention to safeguarding their digital assets, but the overall state of corporate data security is still poor, said hackers and security experts attending the CanSecWest conference on Thursday.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...080388,00.html

MS HailStorm is grounded in unrealistic enthusiasm
There used to be a rule in Hollywood for assessing the viability of a film project: if you can't sum up a script in a single sentence, the film will never work. I'm increasingly inclined to think that this rule applies nicely to the software business. And if that's the case, Microsoft should be worried.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/co...702939,00.html

Next Net trend: Pay for content
Online publishers can't sell enough ads to make ends meet, so they're taking a stab at another way to make money that many had once rejected: subscriptions. The trend is a risky U-turn for Internet publishers, which years ago decided that customers wouldn't pay to gain access to Web sites. But that hasn't stopped a growing number of sites from dusting off the strategy.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...080377,00.html
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,42694,00.html

Digital music: End the holy war now!
I've often heard Napster users talk about the importance of a concept we all should have learned in kindergarten: the concept of sharing. I've also heard the major record labels counter with a Mom phrase of their own: the concept of respect (as in copyright laws). Here's a new word for both of them, straight from Sesame Street: compromise.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...698585,00.html

Big Blue lights fire under new chips
IBM Microelectronics is hitting the road with its new spin on silicon for making faster computer chips. The IBM chipmaking division is working to popularize its relatively new silicon-on-insulator (SOI) chipmaking technology, both through licensing and manufacturing agreements as well as by using it in its own chips.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...080373,00.html

Zelerate nixes open-source plans
Zelerate, an e-commerce software company that hoped its open-source package would displace competitors' proprietary products, has all but shut down in a restructuring this week. The move was required because companies delayed and scaled back on e-commerce plans that would have used the software, she said. "It's a rough business environment right now".
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=mn_hd

RIAA: Gnutella not yet a threat
As the record industry tracks down post-Napster file-swapping havens, it's giving the sprawling Gnutella network a pass, at least for now. According to Frank Creighton, the Recording Industry Association of America's chief anti-piracy officer, the community of file swappers that doesn't trade through a central server just isn't enough of a problem to warrant the efforts leveled at independent OpenNap and other Napster clones.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=mn_hd

Gnutella Targeted for Piracy Control
In the wake of its legal victory over Napster, the recording industry is shifting its focus from lawsuits to high-tech silver bullets as it tries to clamp down on online song swapping. The Recording Industry Assn. of America has been meeting privately with Internet security firms to learn about their anti-piracy technologies. Soon, the record companies' trade group is expected to seek proposals for detecting and responding to piracy on Gnutella.
http://www.latimes.com/business/2001...000026934.html

Vivendi, Sony could make Duet a trio
Vivendi Universal and Sony may take on a third partner in their joint venture to sell music on the Internet, an analyst said, citing Vivendi Chairman Jean-Marie Messier. The joint venture, known as Duet, is one of several efforts by the Big Five record labels to sell records online. They're trying to keep as much as possible of the billions of dollars in sales that analysts have said they could lose to free online music-sharing services such as Napster.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=cd_mh

Time Not on Your Computer's Side
With daylight-saving time returning early Sunday morning, don't worry about springing forward your computer clocks. The computer should do that automatically. You should know, however, that it may not be the exact daylight time: Most computer clocks lose accuracy. It could be a matter of gaining or losing a couple of seconds here and there, but over a period of months, those seconds can turn into several minutes.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,42670,00.html

The New Dot-Altruism
Dot-com layoffs are generally perceived of as bad news -- but not for the nation's nonprofits. The steady stream of layoffs -- according to a recent survey, 9,533 more dot-commers were given pink slips in February -- means that many skilled, energetic potential workers who would previously shun a low-paying, do-gooder position at a non-profit are on the market, looking for something to do with themselves.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,42697,00.html

When Reporting Becomes Testifying
Declan McCullagh -- the Wired News reporter who on March 8 was subpoenaed by the Justice Department to testify in the case against cypherpunk Jim Bell -- filed a motion on Thursday with the U.S. District Court to quash the subpoena, claiming it would violate the First Amendment protections accorded to journalists.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,42735,00.html

College Nixes Napster 'Teach-In'
It sounded like the perfect way to transform Napster aficionados into political activists: A "teach-in" at Catholic University next week, followed by mass attendance at a Senate hearing the next day. But Catholic University officials decided they didn't want to have anything to do with it. The unofficial reason, according to a source close to the controversy, is that the Recording Industry Association of America leaned on Catholic University and prompted controversy-shy administrators to back away.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,42723,00.html

More news later on