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13-12-02, 11:25 AM
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P2PNews - The Week In Review - Dec. 14th, ‘02
Big - Big - Big
This week sees two big trials commencing and the continuation of a third, all related to filesharing, copyrights and the net. NNU member and P2PNet founder Big Jon Newton gets 2 stories in the review and Wi-Fi breaks big in mainstream media. Enjoy, - Jack Spratts. Music Swappers: Not Just Kids…By Any Means Jefferson Graham Leslie Zdory is the music industry's worst nightmare. She visits pirate online swap service Kazaa three times a week to download songs for her custom CDs, putting favorites from artists such as the Righteous Brothers and Billy Joel into personalized packages such as "Love Songs of the 1970s." "When you buy a CD at the store, you've spent all this money, but probably only like three songs," she says. "This way, I get just the songs I like, without having to press fast-forward." Zdory isn't a high school or college student, the demographic of the majority of music downloaders. She's a 49-year-old bookkeeper for a Los Angeles law firm and the mother of a 14-year-old boy. And she's a prime example of the real woes that face the music world. The passion for free song- swapping is spreading from the core audience of teenagers to adults like Zdory. A sizeable chunk of her age group, too, is making downloaded music as regular a part of their lives as morning coffee and rush- hour commutes. According to a new study from researchers Ipsos-Reid, more than 61 million people in the USA say they have downloaded songs onto their PC from the Net. The young are the most avid users: More than 60% of those ages 12 to 24 (about 30 million total) download music. But 38% of those ages 25 to 34, and 19% of ages 35 to 54 (more than 28 million combined) also take music off the Net. "The youth are driving this in terms of frequency and adoption, but the older age groups are becoming more comfortable with it," says Ipsos-Reid's Matt Kleinschmit. "The mass market is getting comfortable downloading music." http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguid...-08-swap_x.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One division is suing P2P makers, another division is doing a deal with them… Hollywood's Digital Love/Hate Story BusinessWeek While today's technologies threaten old powers and create new opportunities, the final scene is sure to be in ones and zeros Director Robert Rodriguez' rise to fame and fortune is a story worthy of Hollywood itself. In 1992, the young Texan filmmaker made his first feature, El Mariachi, for just $7,225. The tale of an innocent guitar player mistaken for a vicious killer went on to win the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, transforming Rodriguez into a legend for a generation of aspiring directors. Over the past decade, Rodriguez has made 10 more movies. But unlike other breakthrough directors, he never abandoned his low-budget roots. His most expensive project, Spy Kids, cost $35 million -- and grossed $147 million worldwide. Most of Rodriguez' films, which include Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn, are budgeted at less than $20 million. Rodriguez, 34, keeps costs down by harnessing the power of digital technology. He shoots on high-definition video, not film, because the latter is pricey to buy, develop, and edit. Video cameras, however, can be held in the palm of a hand, which allows far more intimate filming than is possible with traditional 1,000-lb. cameras mounted on dollies. Most important, though, by keeping costs low, Rodriguez can demand full creative control -- a dream for all but the most high-powered directors in Hollywood, most of whom have to answer to profit-driven media conglomerates. In his most recent film, Spy Kids 2, Rodriguez gave himself nine production credits, including director, writer, co-producer, cinematographer, editor, and co-composer of the movie's score. He also edited sound effects and supervised heart-stopping visual effects from his home computer. Any effort to put a tagline on the trajectory of technology in Hollywood is like a scene from a bad script meeting. Will the story of technology's advance in Hollywood turn into David & Goliath Meets Star Trek? Or could it be King Kong morphs into Honey I Shrunk The Kids? Or both? The reality is that even though big movie studios and music labels could benefit enormously from digital technology, they're also terrified of technological change that could alter the status quo. That's why Lucas' and Rodriguez' move to digital filmmaking has created a schism among the Hollywood elite. And it also explains why, since 1998, the Big Five music labels, led by the Recording Industry Association of America, have unleashed an army of lawyers to crush upstarts that dare to digitally distribute music without the Establishment's stamp of approval. That doesn't mean, however, that old-line entertainment execs will be able to fend off tech innovation any more than they could keep at bay the player piano in the 1930s, cable TV in the 1970s, or the VCR in the 1980s. "When technology revolutions occur, people inevitably fight them," says Mark Stolaroff, an independent producer who spent the last five years helping low- budget filmmakers including Joe Carnahan (NARC and Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane) and Peter Nolan (Memento and Insomnia) break through at recently shuttered studio NextWave Films. "And then suddenly, you turn around and realize, wow, everything has changed." http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/...21210_5358.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Napster Goes Out With A Yodel Computers, laptops and a slew of T-shirts with a grinning cartoon cat logo will go up for auction as the now defunct song-swap company Napster cleans out its remaining physical assets. The smattering of tech goodies represents all that's left of the company dreamed up by a few college students, primarily Shawn Fanning. The company crashed and burned, but gave birth to an online song-swap revolution. Santa Clara-based software maker Roxio bought the brand name and intellectual property after Napster's bankruptcy. The leftover computer parts, laptops and Napster-logo tchotchke -- golf shirts, baseball caps and key chains -- are up for grabs at Wednesday's auction. Available for purchase on the cheap are pallets of monitors and servers that were once used as the company amassed tens of millions of users looking to trade music for free online. A federal judge ordered Napster offline last year until it could comply with an order to halt the unauthorized trade of copyright music. Napster never met that legal challenge and has remained offline ever since. Napster filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, and Roxio says it may launch some form of renewed service under the brand name in the near future. Since Napster fell off the map, other free online music trading services have taken its place, including Kazaa and Gnutella networks. The music industry has tried to counter with its subscription services, pressplay and MusicNet, but they've failed to attract anywhere near the audience the free services have. Analysts say the subscription services have fewer than 500,000 users combined, whereas Kazaa has about 3.5 million users online at any given time. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/sil...es/4711711.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Broadcast Flag - To Be, Or Not To Be? Jon Newton The official deadline for submissions to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Hollywood's Broadcast Flag scheme was passed on December 6. What now remains is whether or not this, the entertainment industry's most blatant attempt so far to directly control what consumers see and do, will be forced through. Concocted by that small group of movie companies and record labels known collectively as Hollywood (with a handful of associated hardware and software manufacturers lurking behind them), Broadcast Flag ostensibly calls for purpose-built technology to be 'inserted' into streaming stations under the pretext of preventing copyrighted items from being pirated. Actually, it's part of an ongoing, very carefully orchestrated plan by Hollywood and others to plug directly into user environments - ie, private homes - to control what's being played and/or viewed also gaining, in the process, hitherto private and confidential information from, and about, users and their habits. There was, for instance, the tightly focused RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) bid to get government sanctioning to spy on music listeners under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which it had dreamed up in the first place. It was forced to back down. But, like the tobacco industry, Hollywood operates on the dripping tap principle. Drip, drip, drip. Eventually, everyone goes mind-numb. Tunes them out. And then they slip something past. Again. http://www.p2pnet.net/issue06/lead.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Replay It Again, Sam Personal video recorders already have Hollywood running scared. Now Microsoft is pushing a new computer that will make trading TV shows as easy as using ... Napster. - - - - - - - - - - - - Farhad Manjoo "Like Mr. Ed," says Craig Newmark, "I never speak until I have something to say." It's a crisp fall morning in San Francisco, and Newmark, sipping coffee at his neighborhood cafe, is in the middle of a long discussion of the ethics involved in watching television. He's invoked TV's talking horse to explain his fight with TV's fat cats: He's suing the media companies whose executives have been calling people like him -- people who use personal video recorders, or PVRs, such as TiVo and ReplayTV -- "thieves." But Newmark, the founder of Craig's List, one of the most popular community sites on the Web, wants to talk about more than just television. He prefers to focus on "fairness," a concept that is dear to him, and that he says ought to be at the heart of not only TV but the distribution of all art. Having been indirectly accused by entertainment industry executives and attorneys of "copyright infringement" simply for using his beloved ReplayTV, Newmark has had reason, unlike many Americans, to think about whether the way he watches TV is "fair." Is he being unfair if he sets his ReplayTV to record an episode of "The West Wing," one of his favorite shows, so he can watch it later? Is Newmark "stealing" from David Letterman -- "my TV pal" -- if he sets his Replay to skip the ads on "The Late Show"? And are artists really going hungry, and is Newmark really killing an industry, if, once in a while, he transfers some of the shows he records on his ReplayTV to his notebook computer, so he can watch TV while he's traveling? It didn't take Newmark long to conclude that much of what he does with his TV is fair -- his actions are, he thinks, "fair use" exceptions to copyright laws and therefore legal. He insists that he's being equitable, not seeking to hurt artists just so he can have things his way. "When I record programs," he says, "I'm thinking about two things. First, I want studios to make a living at this. I have friends who are artists, writers and filmmakers, and I don't want them to get screwed. I try to be a good guy whenever I can. I use common sense." http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/20...pvr/index.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Other Bill The Economist For a quarter of a century, Bill Joy—“the Edison of the Internet”—has envisaged a world in which countless devices are wired together. Now he is trying to turn that vision into a reality, but not without warning of the risks to society “OPERATING systems”, Bill Joy once declared, “are like underwear—nobody really wants to look at them.” For more than 25 years, the mantra that computing should remain simple and that operating systems should be hidden in the background has been a guiding principle for Mr Joy, chief scientist and co-founder of Sun Microsystems. That quest for simplicity has made him one of the most influential and prolific inventors in the computer business. Part-scientist with the necessary scruffy hair and crumpled clothes, and part-businessman with a keen sense of marketing and strategy, Mr Joy has had a hand in developing almost every crucial technology for the Internet of the past two-and-a-half decades. He is also credited with dreaming up the technologies that made Sun what it is today. In the 1970s, he turned Berkeley Unix into the leading operating system for mainframe computers and servers. In the 1980s, he helped to design the Sparc microprocessor that is the heart of Sun's successful server business. In the 1990s, he spearheaded the development of the Java programming language for portable Internet applications. Today, he is leading the push into distributed computing, popularised by “peer-to-peer” techniques. Through it all, he has focused on moving the complexity of computing from the desktop to the network where, he has long argued, it can be managed more easily, and without the user noticing. In 1988, that vision was crystallised in Sun's enduring slogan: “The network is the computer.” In the decade and a half since setting Sun's agenda, Mr Joy's vision has turned the company into an $18 billion powerhouse, with products that are the very heartbeat of the Internet itself. http://beta.economist.com/science/tq...ory_id=1324644 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Liquid Audio Evaporates Jim Hu Liquid Audio's board of directors has voted unanimously to dissolve the company and distribute its cash reserves to shareholders. Under the decision announced Friday, shareholders will receive $2.50 per share on Dec. 20. Payments will only be made to shareholders of record as of Dec. 10. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company will continue operations until the board considers all options for its assets. The distribution of assets ends a protracted battle over the future of the online music technology company. It now appears that dissident shareholders have succeeded in their push to liquidate the company, as opposed to selling it to Alliance Entertainment. Signs of the Liquid's demise became apparent last month when CEO Gerald Kearby resigned shortly after the company pulled out of its proposed merger with Alliance. Liquid produces software that prevents digital song files from being distributed illegally. Although the company was lauded by the recording industry for its copy protection technology, it could not compete with free file-swapping software such as Kazaa, Morpheus and the now-defunct Napster. Liquid also was unable to offer enough songs for people to purchase due to the recording industry's slower pace of releasing digitally encoded versions of their copyrighted songs. In September, Liquid sold its digital encoding patents to Microsoft for $7 million. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-976359.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Can Lightning Strike Twice? Arik Hesseldahl Sit down with Martin Cooper and he can discuss mobile phones all day. He has strong opinions about all their features, on the subtle nuances of their industrial design and which models will succeed. "I buy them all," he says with a grin. He can be forgiven for what seems like an eccentric habit. After all, he invented the first handheld cellular telephone. In 1973 it was Cooper, then an engineer for Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ), who made the first call from a handheld mobile phone. Walking outside the New York Hilton Hotel in Manhattan, he called his rivals at Bell Labs, then part of AT&T (nyse: T - news - people ), on a prototype handheld phone that Motorola dubbed the DynaTrac. It took ten years to get it to market, and the first units cost $4,000. The rest of the story you know. Now Cooper wants to shake up the wireless business again. At 73, he is heading up a startup called Arraycomm that is promising to break through the confusing array of wireless technologies for delivering data. While voice phone still makes up most of the wireless business, it is the delivery of data that service providers such as Verizon Communications (nyse: VZ - news - people ), Deutsche Telekom's (nyse: DT - news - people ) T-Mobile and AT&T Wireless (nyse: AWE - news - people ) are focused on. Mobile phones are evolving into conduits for e-mail and Web data, while handheld computers and laptops are starting to adapt to a new array of wireless technologies. But the 3G wireless utopia the wireless industry has been promising has only arrived in fits and starts, with little to show for all the hype it has generated. Consumers seem only marginally interested in getting e-mail and Web pages on their phones. And other wireless networking technologies such as Wi-Fi are gaining popularity, but mostly for short- range networks in offices and homes. Arraycomm has developed a technology called i-Burst that it says can deliver a sustained data speed of one megabit per second over distances as far as five miles from the base station, during testing in Sydney, Australia. Compare that with average speeds of between 50 and 70 kilobits per second on Sprint PCS' (nyse: PCS - news - people ) PCSVision service, or about 57 kbps for GPRS services. The system, which Arraycomm deployed in partnership with Vodaphone Australia and OZEmail, Australia's biggest Internet service provider, will be available for paying customers by March, Cooper says. The service will cost $30 to $40. http://www.forbes.com/home/2002/12/0...artner=newscom ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tech Titans Launch Wi-Fi Company Richard Shim Intel, IBM and AT&T have officially thrown their combined weight behind the effort to create a nationwide network of public "hot spots" that would give people wireless broadband Internet access from just about anywhere. As expected, Intel Capital, along with Big Blue, AT&T and investors Apax Partners and 3i, announced the creation of Cometa Networks--formerly known as Project Rainbow--a new company focused on deploying hot spots throughout the United States. Hot spots are public areas where people can access the Internet using products based on 802.11b, or Wi-Fi, a wireless networking standard with a range of about 300 feet from a network's access points, or radio transmitters. "Wi-Fi will bring (wireless) computing into the general public environment, leading to increased business productivity and new consumer applications," Lawrence B. Brilliant, chief executive officer of Cometa Networks said in a release Thursday. The Cometa effort is the latest in a series of moves to create a nationwide Wi-Fi network. A handful of companies already exist that sell monthly subscriptions that provide access to hundreds of different hot spots. There are also a number of free public networks created by those who don't mind sharing their Wi-Fi connections, but cable companies have recently begun an effort to crack down on such setups. "There's a landgrab mentality in the market right now, as companies look to attract carriers who want to avoid undertaking the capital expense of building out a national Wi-Fi network," said Navin Sabharwal, an analyst with research company Allied Business Intelligence. "Cometa will act as a wholesaler to wireless carriers looking to add Wi-Fi to their services." http://news.com.com/2100-1033-976225.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Roaming Coming To Wi-Fi? Ben Charny Networking groups around the globe are working on ways for Web surfers to roam on any number of wireless networks--just as mobile phone users roam on cellular networks. The popularity of Wi-Fi--which features networking nodes that use the 802.11b wireless technology to broadcast an Internet connection over a radius of 300 feet--has spawned a number of independent companies that offer wireless services. Yet it is difficult, and prohibitively expensive, for many customers of a Wi-Fi service to use the network of another. The barrier to wireless roaming lies not in technology, but in that carriers have only just started to iron out billing issues. "The bits, the bytes and the hardware exist for roaming. We just need someone to start pulling it all together," said Barry Davis, Intel's director of platform architecture. He's attending a meeting this week of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) in Monterey, Calif., held to discuss how to jumpstart Wi-Fi roaming. The European Telephone Standards Institute (ETSI) is making a similar effort to encourage companies to explore Wi-Fi roaming. It began work on developing a standard for 802.11b wireless roaming just last year, about the time British Telecommunications began selling its own Wi-Fi service. While a standard isn't required to create roaming capability, there is industry pressure for the IEEE and the ETSI to agree on one, since it would cut costs and help development of future Wi-Fi technology. This could then be used in such industry efforts as Project Rainbow, a joint endeavor by Intel, IBM, AT&T Wireless, Verizon Communications and Cingular Wireless to create a nationwide Wi-Fi network. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-957411.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wi-Fi: As Big as Budweiser? Richard Shim A key figure for standards body the Wi-Fi Alliance says the wireless networking industry will surpass the revenue of household products such as Budweiser beer by 2006. In a keynote speech at the 802.11 Planet Conference, Dennis Eaton, chairman of the alliance and a marketing manager at Wi-Fi chip maker Intersil, predicted several changes for the industry in the coming year as well as some of its biggest hurdles. During his speech, Eaton noted the wireless networking industry, which consists mostly of 802.11b-based products, is expected to bring in $2 billion in revenue this year. Those profits are expected to grow at a compounded rate of 30 percent through 2006, he said, surpassing revenue estimates of household products such as Budweiser beer, which is expected to bring in $5 billion this year. "We're looking at Budweiser potential, going forward," he joked. The Wi-Fi Alliance certifies the interoperability of 802.11b-based products and promotes the standard. 802.11b, also known as Wi-Fi, is a technology that allows the creation of wireless networks with a radius of around 300 feet. According to Eaton, wireless networking shares characteristics of the Internet and the PC, boasting quickly falling prices, compatibility with emerging technologies, and support from large and small companies. Prices for PC cards that enable wireless networking capabilities in notebook PCs have fallen from $100 to $200 to approximately $50 to $75 per card, for example. The falling prices of products that enable wireless networking have helped Wi-Fi's popularity in the consumer market, which recently overtook the corporate market in spending levels. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-976076.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wi-Fi Is Hot, But It’s Profits Are Not Barnaby Feder With the Wi-Fi wireless Internet access standard becoming a bandwagon that even big players like AT&T, I.B.M. and Intel are joining, equipment companies big and small are hoping to ride along. But many industry analysts say it could be hard to make money in Wi-Fi, which is unlikely to represent more than a tiny fraction of the overall telecommunications equipment market for at least several years. Many of the early leaders in Wi-Fi are obscure companies like Proxim, Buffalo, Linksys and Dlink. And those that do not sell gear directly to consumers must rely on selling to Wi-Fi service providers that are themselves start-ups still trying to find their way, companies like Boingo Wireless, HereUAre Communications, FatPort and Surf and Sip. The service providers set up "hot spots" at places like airport lounges or Starbucks coffee shops, where anyone with a laptop computer or other device equipped for Wi-Fi can go online. While analysts hesitate to predict that any of these companies will survive to become widely recognized brands like Netscape, the resemblance to the Internet craze of the 1990's has been widely noted. "There is a bit of a bubble here," said Dylan Brooks, a wireless communications analyst at Jupiter Research. "We've had more than $2 billion in venture capital money flowing in, more than total revenues." Most of those ventures are destined to flop, analysts say. Even established technology companies — like Cisco Systems, the leading seller of Wi-Fi gear; Symbol Technologies; and the Hewlett-Packard Company — face an uphill battle to earn profits with Wi-Fi because competition is driving prices down so rapidly. Meanwhile, specialty chip makers like Intersil, Broadcom and Agere have been facing growing competition in the Wi-Fi market from their counterparts in Asia. And with Intel leading the charge to make Wi-Fi part of every device that carries an Intel processor, business may be tough for companies like Intermec Technologies and Linksys, which have been making some of their money from Wi-Fi adapter cards sold separately to computer owners. With prices of Wi-Fi chips and networking equipment plummeting even as unit sales are soaring, the industry's revenues are not expected to top $3 billion — 1 percent of the worldwide market for telecommunications equipment — before 2006, according to Synergy Research. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/09/te...gy/09WIFI.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Extensive Wi-Fi coverage continues in this weeks issue of the Times. http://www.nytimes.com/pages/technol...dex.html?8nwss Nick: bobbob Pass: bobbob ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gateway Spins Pressplay Service On PCs Reuters Computer maker Gateway on Friday announced a deal with online music provider Pressplay to load its PCs with 2,000 songs from music stars such as Eminem, Bruce Springsteen, the Dixie Chicks and Frank Sinatra. The deal with Pressplay, a joint venture between Vivendi Universal and Sony, capped a turbulent week for Gateway, which saw its stock fall 17 percent Thursday after the troubled PC maker warned that fourth-quarter revenue might not measure up to expectations. The news came after three consecutive quarters of losses at the Poway, Calif.-based computer maker, which has suffered from weak demand and stiff competition from rivals such as Dell Computer. Under the Pressplay deal, Gateway consumers can access the Pressplay service and features in several ways, including a 90-day free subscription to the service that contains 2,000 songs preloaded and available for streaming and downloading. By loading it on a computer, consumers, especially those using dial-up connections, will save weeks of downloading time, said Michael Bebel, chief executive officer of Pressplay. Other Pressplay plan options will also be available, some to be sold separately in hard-drive packages. Gateway signed another deal with Pressplay rival Listen.com's Rhapsody a few weeks ago, marking the first distribution pact between a computer maker and one of a current crop of subscription services, trying to lure customers away from unauthorized song-swap services that have emerged in the wake of now-idled Napster. Under that deal, buyers of Gateway desktop PCs will get a coupon for one free month of Rhapsody and a demonstration of the service on the PCs. "The Pressplay deal is significantly different because we're pioneering a way to deliver digital music on the hard drive," said Brad Shaw, a senior vice president for Gateway. http://news.com.com/2100-1040-976303.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Americans Continue To Embrace Potential Of Digital Music Ipsos-Reid's Quarterly Digital Music Study, TEMPO: Keeping Pace With Online Music Distribution, Finds Americans' Digital Music Appetite Remains Strong Throughout 2002 Over 100 Million Americans Have Listened To A Pre-recorded CD's On Their Computer, And Roughly 60 million Have Downloaded Category: Technology / Internet Location: United States © Ipsos-Reid Public Release, Ipsos-Reid Minneapolis, MN - Amid ongoing efforts by the music industry to curb unauthorized peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing and PC manufacturers' press to expand the perceived functionality of their PC offerings through audio-centric product bundles, U.S. music enthusiasts are continuing to embrace a wide range of digital music activities, and show signs of an increase in both their appetite and willingness to pay. Digital Music Behaviors Remain Strong, and Hint at Future Increases New findings from international research firm Ipsos-Reid show that over one-quarter (28%) of the American population aged 12 and over have now downloaded a music or MP3 file off of the Internet. This translates into over 60 million downloaders within the current U.S. population (according to 2000 U.S. Census figures). This measure marks a gradual increase from previous installments of TEMPO (26% in June, and 24% in April) and suggests that this online activity will continue to trend upward. In addition, many Americans are using other inherent music capabilities of their personal computer as well. Roughly half (50%) of the U.S. population aged 12 and over report they have listened to a pre-recorded music CD that was playing in the CD-ROM drive of their PC. This translates into over 100 million Americans within the current U.S. population. Further, nearly one-third of Americans report having listened to digital music files that were stored on their PC's hard drive (32%). "These numbers reinforce the notion that digital music activities, including both those more passive in nature such as listening to a CD in your PC's CD-Rom drive, as well as more interactive behaviors such as downloading and file-sharing, are not dwindling, and in fact, are gradually becoming more prevalent among the general U.S. population," said Matt Kleinschmit, Director for Ipsos-Reid and the TEMPO research program. "This is noteworthy because while 2002 has been a very volatile year for digital music in general, from ongoing file-sharing litigation and talk of prosecuting individuals for copyright violations to controversy surrounding copy-protected CD's, American music enthusiasts clearly intend to continue integrating the inherent flexibility and convenience of digital music into their traditional music listening behaviors." http://www.ipsos-reid.com/media/dsp_...d_to_view=1685 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Games Against Al-Qaeda David Ignatius CAN online gaming help defeat Osama bin Laden? That's not as silly a proposition as it may sound. A Pentagon-sponsored group called the Highlands Forum met this week to discuss what are known as 'massively multiplayer online games'. These games, which allow several million people to play, are among the hottest new trends in the Internet world, and they may have some fascinating uses in fighting terrorist networks. Defence intellectuals such as Linton Wells, a deputy assistant secretary of defence responsible for command, control, communications and intelligence, believe that the Pentagon must realign itself for 'network-centric' operations. In their view, adversaries such as Osama's Al-Qaeda group are really networks - highly dispersed units that have the same loose but robust structure as the nodes of a computer network. But the challenging idea is that the online gaming world could provide models for much more advanced ways of responding to threats. It could create real-time networks for a kind of command and control that has never been attempted. The peer-to-peer connections of the online world could also break down some of the time-wasting and bureaucratic hierarchies that continue to obstruct military planning and operations. http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/com...159687,00.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Isn't it good? Norwegians would Hollywood Persuades Norway To Prosecute Kid for Viewing His Own DVD Mike Magee THE MOTION PICTURE Association of America (MPAA) has persuaded authorities in the kingdom of Norway to try a teenager three years after he watched DVDs on a Linux computer using the Linux-based de-scrambling program DeCSS. The Electronic Freedom Foundation said in a statement that Jon Johansen will face a court tomorrow morning, with the case expected to last the course of this week. The MPAA, said the EFF, persuaded the Norwegian Economic Crime Unit (ØKOKRIM) to charge Jon Johansen after he used DeCSS when he was only 15 to view a DVD that he owns. He's charged with breaking a Norwegian law which prohibits people breaking into others' locked property to get data that they're not supposed to obtain. This is the Norwegian Criminal Code section 145(2). But Johansen owned the DVD, while the law was used in the past to prevent access to banks, telecomms companies, or other systems to look at others' records. Said Cindy Cohn, the EFF Legal Director: "Jon owned the DVDs and he's never been accused of copyright infringement or assisting in copyright infringement. He's facing criminal charges for taking the necessary steps to view his own DVDs on his own computers." EFF is helping Johansen fight the case. The kid used his dad's kit to read the DVD he owned, said the EFF. http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6614 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Norwegian Teen DVD Hacker Pleads Innocent Norwegian teenager Jon Lech Johansen pleaded innocent Monday to breaking data security laws in the first day of a widely watched trial over a program that unlocks the security codes of DVDs. Johansen was 15 when he wrote and distributed without charge on the Internet a program that unlocked copy-protected DVDs, giving Hollywood nightmares and making him a folk hero among hackers. Johansen, now 19, expressed confidence heading into the trial, saying ``We are right'' and that most people believe that, except ``the economic crime police and the film industry.'' Charges were filed after Norwegian prosecutors received a complaint from the Motion Picture Association of America. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/tech...P-DVD-Kid.html http://news.com.com/2100-1023-976510.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Programmer in eBook Case Says Software Legal in Russia A Russian programmer accused of writing software that violates U.S. digital copyright law testified on Monday that his work was legal in Russia and that he didn't care when creating it that it might be illegal in the United States. Dmitry Sklyarov wrote a program for his Moscow-based employer, ElcomSoft Co. Ltd. designed to allow people to bypass the copyright protections in Adobe Systems Inc.'ssoftware for reading electronic books. In the first criminal trial under the 1998 U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act, prosecutors say the program violates the law, which makes it illegal to circumvent copyright protections. Sklyarov said he wrote it to give more flexibility to people who purchase electronic books, such as allow them to transfer them to a laptop for mobile reading or have the computer read them aloud to the blind. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/techn...copyright.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sklyarov Takes The Stand In DMCA Trial Lisa M. Bowman The long-awaited live testimony of Dmitry Sklyarov finally got underway in the ElcomSoft trial on Monday afternoon, when the Russian programmer took the stand for the defence. ElcomSoft, a software company based in Russia, is charged with five counts of offering and marketing software designed to crack Adobe's eBooks, actions prosecutors say violate digital copyright laws. Sklyarov, whose arrest in July 2001 prompted the current case against his employer, was expected to be called as a government witness. Sklyarov was jailed after giving a speech about his company's software, but prosecutors later set aside charges against him in exchange for his testimony in the case against ElcomSoft. Instead of calling him to the stand during the trial, however, government lawyers played an edited videotape of Sklyarov's deposition and would not comment on their decision. The trial is the first major test of the criminal provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which outlaw offering software that can be used to crack copyright protection. The case also raises questions about how much control a publisher should have over its products after they've been purchased by a consumer. Because digital material is so easy to copy and distribute, copyright holders have sought unprecedented controls over their work, ranging from technical measures that prevent replicating and printing to laws such as the DMCA. However, many programmers fear such crackdowns could discourage technical development and research if engineers fear becoming the target of criminal suits. During Sklyarov's testimony on Monday in federal court in San Jose, California, ElcomSoft attorney Joseph Burton tried to paint the programmer as an upstanding assistant professor seeking to expose flaws in Adobe software as part of his dissertation. Prosecutors, meanwhile, sought to portray Sklyarov as an associate of underground hacker networks who didn't care whether the product he developed broke US laws. Sklyarov, who declined to use an interpreter while on the stand, testified that he developed the Advanced eBook Processor while working for ElcomSoft. During questioning from Burton, he said that although the software could be used for nefarious purposes such as widely distributing electronic documents, he actually intended it to be used so people could make backup copies of an eBook they'd bought, print pages, or transfer it to a reading device for the blind. "Was it your intent to violate anyone's rights?" Burton asked. "No," Sklyarov replied. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t26...zdnetukhompage ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Case goes to jury. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-977766.html?tag=fd_top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Germany Cautious on Microsoft Security Declan McCullagh The German government is worried about federal agencies adopting Microsoft's upcoming Palladium security technology, fearing the system could lead to higher costs. In what appears to be the first time a nation has criticized the technology, Germany's Ministry of Economics and Labor said in a letter to the Bundestag, or parliament, that widespread adoption of Palladium raises the "danger that applications of software for new high-security PCs require a license by Microsoft, resulting in high costs." The Nov. 26 letter was a response to queries from members of the conservative Christian Democratic Union party. The Palladium architecture relies on future "trusted" hardware for tasks such as limiting piracy and enhancing security. In part, Palladium involves encrypting certain data stored on a hard drive. But critics have said that in addition to keeping hackers away from such data, the technology could be used as a policing mechanism that bars people from material stored on their own computers if they have not met licensing and other requirements. Microsoft's licensing policies have also come under attack. In contrast to the German reaction to Palladium, White House cybersecurity czar Richard Clarke said last week that trusted computing proposals were "a good beginning, but it's not enough." Clarke called on technology companies to ensure that future operating systems incorporate security features. The German letter also expressed concern about Palladium's potential to create "substantial obstacles to market entry" to competing operating systems--particularly ones like Linux that are based on free software. It also mentioned a bill introduced by Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., that would jump-start Palladium by implanting copy-protection technology in PCs and electronic devices. http://news.com.com/2100-1001-976620.html?tag=fd_top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SEX, DRUGS and . . . file sharing? P2P’s Considering Move. The Netherlands Has Become The World's First Legal Haven For File Sharing; Will It Last? Brian Grow The Netherlands, long famous as the home of open red-light districts and marijuana cafes, can now add something else to its resume: world's first legal haven for Internet file sharing. The widespread practice of sharing music, movies and other data files on the Web suffered a blow last year when a U.S. court ruled that Napster Inc., then the most popular service for downloading free music, was violating copyright laws. While the ruling effectively shut down Napster's Web site, other file-sharing services have continued, despite the threat of new lawsuits. Then last March, file sharers won an important -- though possibly temporary -- victory in the Dutch courts: An appeals court in Amsterdam ruled that a locally based file-sharing service, the internationally popular Kazaa BV, was not responsible for copyright infringements that occurred in connection with its service. According to the court, it was the users of Kazaa who bore the legal responsibility for copyright violations, not Kazaa itself. Kazaa is a provider of a legitimate service, the court ruled, because it also facilitates the sharing of files containing works that are in the public domain, like the plays of William Shakespeare, as well as personal communications. The case isn't over. The plaintiff that originally brought suit against Kazaa, a group representing Dutch lyricists, composers and other musical-copyright holders, has filed an appeal with the Dutch Supreme Court, where a decision isn't likely until next fall. And with further appeals possible by both sides, people with knowledge of the case say that a final judgment may not be issued until 2005. But, for now, the Kazaa ruling has created a buzz throughout the global file-sharing industry. Indeed, the word is out that "the Netherlands is the only country where you know there is a positive ruling for setting up a file-sharing business," says Christian Alberdingk Thijm, a local lawyer who is handling the case for Kazaa, a unit of Vanuatu-based multimedia company Sharman Networks Ltd. http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/021209/72/35ika.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Free Content Online? Publishers Are Divided Saul Hanshell Is the era of free information and entertainment on the Internet over? That was one of the more provocative assumptions put forward by the new management of America Online in its presentation to analysts last week. With no signs that advertising sales will rebound anytime soon to their peaks of 1999, AOL said it had begun a major effort to create add-on services to sell to its members. Some of these would-be technological services like voice mail and antivirus protection. And others would be the mix of information and entertainment that has come to be known as "content" — music downloads, celebrity interviews and illustrated stories for children. At the same time, AOL's new chief executive, Jonathan Miller, predicted that other Web sites would increasingly seek to add fees from subscribers to supplement their declining advertising dollars. AOL, he argued, had a great opportunity to act as a "toll booth," gathering these services and selling them to members, adding the cost to their monthly AOL bills — and collecting a percentage. But other online publishers said last week that they did not see their businesses changing as fast and as far as AOL was describing. Extra-fee premium services are indeed the fastest-growing revenue source for many publishers. But free, advertising-supported services, they said, will be around for a long time. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/09/te...gy/09FREE.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This week Dow Jones and Company, owner of The Wall Street Journal pay site, started an ad campaign that mocks its free counterparts as uninformed, simplistic and unreliable. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/12/bu...ia/12ADCO.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In Software, Still Testy After All These Years Steve Lohr They are like an old divorced couple, I.B.M. and Microsoft. They have a long history of mutual admiration and animosity. Formerly partners, they still cooperate from necessity in a spirit of wary pragmatism, but they are fierce antagonists. Now, the rivalry is heating up and, once again, the battlefield is software. Friday's announcement that I.B.M. plans to pay $2.1 billion for Rational Software, a leading supplier of software tools, is another significant step in I.B.M.'s aggressive drive to build its prowess in software based on Internet standards. In so doing, I.B.M. is positioning itself as the main challenger to Microsoft and its dominance of the software industry. "Microsoft and I.B.M. are competing over who defines the dominant systems model of computing for the next 20 years," said David Cearley, a senior vice president of the Meta Group, a research firm. For I.B.M., the current competition is something of a second chance. Microsoft famously outsmarted I.B.M. in personal computer software. In 1981, I.B.M. had ensured the upstart Microsoft's succcess by selecting its software to run the I.B.M. PC. Then, in the late 80's, the companies agreed to work together on personal computer operating systems. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/09/te...gy/09BLUE.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MP3.com Spins Spam, Company Unrepentant David Gallagher It is called opting out, and it is the method that most major commercial Web sites offer to users who do not want to receive promotional e-mail. But visitors to the music site MP3.com may discover that not all methods of opting out are created equal. MP3.com, owned by Vivendi Universal, requires users to provide an e-mail address before they can listen to music. Then, without offering a choice or notice, the site adds that address to six mailing lists, including a music newsletter and one for "partner product announcements." A note at the bottom of the messages sent to the lists offers two ways to avoid receiving e-mail. The first, less user-efficient method involves clicking a link. But as it turns out, this removes the person's address from only one list. The second way is to send the message to an "unsubscribe" address. Mike Matey, the general manager of MP3.com, said the second method removed an address from all of the site's lists. There is also a third approach: The user can go to the site's e-mail preferences area to opt out. But because of the confirmation screens for each list, it can take 21 pages of clicking before the user is reasonably assured of being removed from all the mailing lists. Anti-spam activists are critical of MP3.com's handling of its users' addresses. "If they're not telling the users what's going to happen, then that's what we consider spam," said John Mozena, a founder and vice president of the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail. Even the the industry's Direct Marketing Association, which is more moderate on the issue of promotional e-mail, encourages its members to tell site visitors how an address will be used at the moment it is collected. Mr. Matey of MP3.com says the site's privacy policy discloses that the company may send users e-mail. "In our opinion, we're being compliant with what's legally acceptable and are trying to work with consumer advocacy groups," he said. But the company needs to be aggressive with its e-mail marketing, Mr. Matey said, "to keep the lights on and to keep the service free for people." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/09/technology/09OPT.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Barbie Travel Train a menace to the music industry? Big Brother, Take My Little Sister! Matt Richtell In the name of safeguarding intellectual property, recording, movie and television interests went after Napster and its ilk. Then they took aim at consumer electronics makers. Their Public Enemy No. 3 may be Mia Singletary. To them, she is a diabolical creature, armed not with the Internet or a digital music player, but with something much more nefarious. She wields the Barbie Travel Train. The most cunning thing about Mia may be her appearance, and the way she camouflages herself beneath the pigtails. Mia is 5, and she must be stopped. Thankfully, Senator Ernest F. Hollings, Democrat of South Carolina, has stepped up to the plate. In March, Senator Hollings introduced a bill to prevent illegal copying of intellectual property, like music recordings, television programs and movies, and to spur growth of high-speed Internet access. The bill would force makers of digital devices, like recording equipment or TV recorders, to include technology in the devices to prevent unauthorized copying of copyright material. (The bill never made it out of the Senate Commerce Committee, though Mr. Hollings is contemplating whether to reintroduce it in the next session of Congress, according to his office.) But detractors of the bill, like Edward W. Felten, an associate professor of computer science at Princeton, assert that the language is so broad as to cover dozens of products that use digital processors to record, process and play content. Those may include hearing aids, audio key chains and even Billy Bass the Singing Fish. Then there is the Barbie Travel Train, which can record a few seconds of audio, like "all aboard" or "next stop New York." On the face of it, it may seem unnecessary for a bill to cover such gadgets, unless you consider two crucial concerns. First, isn't there something evil about the sound of a singing fish? Second, the bill might seem overly broad unless you understand the duplicitous faculties of young pirates. At the Toys "R" Us in San Francisco recently, Mia Singletary was shopping with her mother, eyeing the Barbie Travel Train. The inevitable question arose: "Would you use this train to steal lots of intellectual property?" At first, she didn't answer, almost as if she didn't understand the question. But then she smiled. "Yes!" she said, bouncing on her toes, as her pigtails bobbed. "And how exactly would you use it to steal intellectual property?" she was asked. "I would buy it," she said. Her logic wasn't tracking. Was she realizing that she had been totally busted? James McMillian, a Toys "R" Us employee who was stocking toys, at first seemed speechless when asked whether the store was selling the likes of crowbars to second- story men. "This?" he asked as he picked up the Barbie Travel Train box. A moment later, he regained his composure and made a ludicrous suggestion: "Why not just buy a regular recorder?" The beauty of the Barbie Travel Train was then explained to him: it could be easily smuggled into a rock concert under a pile of several blankets or a large tent. Then the train could be used to record several seconds of a bootlegged song. "I guess people wouldn't expect you to use this," Mr. McMillian acknowledged. A few aisles down, a Toys "R" Us saleswoman stood beside one of the more obvious piracy tools — a product known on the street as the "baby monitor." It allows parents to monitor their infants by broadcasting the baby's voice. But it could also pick up and transmit the sound of the television in the background. The saleswoman was asked: "Isn't this a veritable piracy starter kit for infants?" "You mean like babies?" she asked. THE staff at Senator Hollings's office was being a bit humble about the piracy bill. Andy Davis, a spokesman for the senator, said he "didn't think" that the Barbie Travel Train or the Singing Fish was what his boss intended to regulate, but that he did want to make sure that intellectual property was protected, in particular to spur the growth of broadband. That said, Mr. Davis suggested that the senator might consider changes in the law's wording. "When someone introduces a bill, it rarely looks the same when it's passed into law," he said. Back at Toys "R" Us, Mia's mother, Margaret, asserted that her daughter knows what stealing is but wouldn't steal, or know how to use the Barbie Travel Train to do it with intellectual property. "She's only 5," Ms. Singletary said. Still laughing, she wandered off but then added jokingly: "Now my boys — they're a different story." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/08/bu...ey/08SLAS.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Coalition Urges Ottawa to Scrap Levy on Discs `System is flawed,' tech group insists Formal hearings to begin next month Tyler Hamilton The chief executive of Hewlett-Packard (Canada) urged the Canadian government yesterday to do away with a 5-year-old tariff on blank recording media a month before hearings commence on a proposed increase to the controversial levy. "We are asking the federal government to repeal the private copying law that created the levy because this system is flawed," said Paul Tsaparis, CEO of HP Canada, in a statement. Tsaparis, along with the heads of major Canadian retailers and high-tech companies, including Intel of Canada and Best Buy/Future Shop, gathered in Toronto yesterday to protest the levy. Sixteen companies from both industries have grouped together as the Canadian Coalition for Fair Digital Access to create public awareness of the tariff, which currently affects blank cassettes, MiniDiscs and recordable CDs, but could soon be expanded to include MP3 players, flash memory cards and other electronics devices. The levy, enforced by a music industry group called the Canadian Private Copying Collective, was designed to compensate artists for the public's private copying activities. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...l=969048863851 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IT Critical of Digital TV Rules Jim Hu Signaling Silicon Valley's growing rift with Hollywood over digital media, an information technology trade group has asked regulators to revise a proposal to prevent digital television from being copied over the Net. The IT Coalition told the Federal Communications Commission late Friday that device makers should not bear the main burden of protecting TV content as the industry switches from analog to digital broadcasts. Rather than force equipment makers to include technology for scrambling signals on the receiving end, as the FCC's plan currently suggests, broadcasters should be required to scramble signals before they're sent, the group argued. "If the FCC thinks it's necessary to do, the better solution is to encrypt at the source," said James M. Burger, an attorney for Dow Lohnes & Albertson, a law firm that represents the IT Coalition, a group with members including Microsoft, Apple Computer, Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Intel. Remarks from the IT Coalition on Friday came in response to an FCC deadline for public comments on the digital TV plan. A wide coalition of broadcasters and entertainment industry professionals, including the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), ABC, CBS, Fox Broadcasting, the National Association of Broadcasters, and the Screen Actors Guild, also submitted comments Friday in a joint filing. The debate over copy-protection schemes for digital television is just one flash point in a larger conflict between the entertainment and technology industries over digital media. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-976556.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Web Radio's Personal Edge BusinessWeek Stripping off the Top 40 straightjacket, online listeners enjoy their own playlists while hearing new music -- and many are buying what they hear. Will Redfield hates traditional radio. For his taste, it has way too many commercials and sound-the-same pop tunes. "I'm looking for real, new rock sounds that get my blood flowing," says Redfield, a 30-year-old software sales manager in San Francisco, who adds, "It's hard to find bands that meet that requirement." That's why Redfield has turned to Internet radio. For $4.95 per month at Listen.com's Rhapsody Radio Plus service, he can program his own personalized online "station" with six to eight artists that he has chosen. Rhapsody's software then adds 10 or 12 other bands that Redfield is also likely to enjoy, based on their style of music. It's the perfect solution: Redfield avoids mass-market pop songs and at the same time is introduced to bands he might otherwise never learn about. "Half my problem when I'm listening to songs on the radio is that I don't hear the song title or the name of the artist. Or I do -- and I don't remember it," he says. Not so on Rhapsody, which displays the song title, band name, and album cover for every song -- and provides a link to a place where Redfield can make online purchases of the albums he enjoys. If you believe the music industry, online piracy is behind the decline in music sales, which fell 7% in the first six months of 2002, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). But the experiences of music lovers such as Redfield suggest that declining sales result more from a disconnect between what the industry wants to push and what consumers want to hear. As recently as this summer, digital-media pundits had all but written off Web radio. The music industry was demanding sky-high royalty fees that threatened Webcasters, large and small alike. And unlike traditional radio, which uses a blanket signal to cover an area no matter how many people tune in, online radio stations must pay to send an individual stream to each listener's computer. Webcasters call it the "paradox of popularity": The more customers you have, the higher the cost of doing business (see BW Online, 6/21/01, "Web Radio Pioneers Sing the Blues", 4/2/02, "Saving Web Radio: The 5% Solution"). Today, however, Web radio is making a miraculous recovery. On Dec. 5, President Bush signed into law legislation that will allow small Webcasters to pay royalties as a percentage of revenues, rather than swallow a per-song/per-listener fee. Webcasters with more than $1 million in annual revenues will pay $0.0007 per stream per listener as ordered by the U.S. Copyright Office. On the technology front, online stations including Radio Free Virgin and National Public Radio are beginning to employ peer-to-peer architecture to lower the costs of streaming. Instead of broadcasting an individual stream to each listener from a central server, the stations enlist the computers of listeners (with their permission) to rebroadcast streams to other listeners nearby. Zach Zalon, Radio Free Virgin's general manager, says this new technology has cut the station's bandwidth costs by an average of 40%. http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...21210_4342.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Make Your Own Music, Even if You Can't Play a Note J.D. Biersdorfer If you like music and want to make your own even if you can't play an instrument, get Mad - a MadPlayer, that is. The new MadPlayer by MadWaves is an addictive, pocket-size recording studio, MP3 player and FM radio that packs a library of 600 musical instruments and sounds into a device slightly larger than a Game Boy video game player. It can instantly create and spin out original songs in a variety of musical styles including rhythm and blues, hip-hop, New Age, techno and reggae. The MadPlayer uses an intuitive operating system and an extensive collection of algorithms to construct musical sequences. The aspiring mix master can select a musical style from the MadPlayer menu and then change the layers of the song in progress, adjusting the drum and bass lines, adding new riffs and lead instruments or blending in special effects like samples and vocals, which can be recorded into the player with an included headset and microphone. The new songs can be saved and stored on the 32-megabyte SmartCard that comes with the player, which can handle files in the MP3, WMA, MIDI and WAV formats. The MadPlayer, which works as a stand-alone device and can connect to Windows and Macintosh systems for downloading and uploading songs, has a suggested price of $299. More information on the MadPlayer, along with a list of stores that sell it, is at www.madwaves.com. Songs created by the MadPlayer are also copyright-free, so the user can steer clear of those legal issues that often dog digital music. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/12/te...ts/12madp.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New Tools for Domestic Spying, and Qualms Micheal Moss Ford Fessenden When the Federal Bureau of Investigation grew concerned this spring that terrorists might attack using scuba gear, it set out to identify every person who had taken diving lessons in the previous three years. Hundreds of dive shops and organizations gladly turned over their records, giving agents contact information for several million people. "It certainly made sense to help them out," said Alison Matherly, marketing manager for the National Association of Underwater Instructors Worldwide. "We're all in this together." But just as the effort was wrapping up in July, the F.B.I. ran into a two-man revolt. The owners of the Reef Seekers Dive Company in Beverly Hills, Calif., balked at turning over the records of their clients, who include Tom Cruise and Tommy Lee Jones — even when officials came back with a subpoena asking for "any and all documents and other records relating to all noncertified divers and referrals from July 1, 1999, through July 16, 2002." Faced with defending the request before a judge, the prosecutor handling the matter notified Reef Seekers' lawyer that he was withdrawing the subpoena. The company's records stayed put. "We're just a small business trying to make a living, and I do not relish the idea of standing up against the F.B.I.," said Ken Kurtis, one of the owners of Reef Seekers. "But I think somebody's got to do it." In this case, the government took a tiny step back. But across the country, sometimes to the dismay of civil libertarians, law enforcement officials are maneuvering to seize the information-gathering weapons they say they desperately need to thwart terrorist attacks. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/10/national/10PRIV.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet Filters Block Health Information, Study Finds John Schwartz Teenagers who look to the Internet for health information as part of their "wired generation" birthright are blocked from many useful sites by antipornography filters that federal law requires in school and library computers, a new study has found. The filtering programs tend to block references to sex and sex-related terms, like "safe sex," "condoms," "abortion," "jock itch," "gay" and "lesbian." Although the software can be adjusted to allow most health-related Web sites to get through, many schools and libraries ratchet up the software's barriers to the highest settings, the report said. "A little bit of filtering is O.K., but more isn't necessarily better," said Vicky Rideout, vice president of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which produced the report, to be published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association. "If they are set too high, they can be a serious obstacle to health information." The researchers found that filters set at the least restrictive level blocked an average of 1.4 percent of all health sites; at the most restrictive level, filters blocked nearly a quarter of all health sites. The amount of pornography blocked, however, was fairly consistent, going from 87 percent at the least restrictive level to 91 percent at the most restrictive settings. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/10/te...ND-FILTER.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bandwidth Savings of Up to 90 Percent Press Release, Onion Networks Onion Networks Tornado Content Delivery Network™ 1.0 Provides Enterprise-Class E-learning and Training Content Delivery Solutions and Video-On-Demand Solutions for the Entertainment Industry A Software-Based Alternative To Akamai and Network Appliance Provides Fast, Secure Content Delivery While Leveraging Existing Network Infrastructure Minneapolis, Minn., Dec. 9, 2002 - Onion Networks today announced the availability of Tornado CDN™ 1.0, a software-based Enterprise Content Delivery Network (ECDN) that accelerates content delivery by leveraging the underutilized resources within an enterprise network, including desktop computers, to deliver rich media without requiring expensive network hardware upgrades. The ECDN industry is characterized by hardware vendors such as Cisco and Network Appliance, who provide Web caching hardware solutions, which have been retrofitted to allow cooperation between caching devices as a means of improving performance. Unfortunately, customers are forced to pay a premium for these hardware-intensive products. "Our vision is to provide products that fundamentally change the economics of computer networking, enabling whole new classes of applications that weren't previously feasible", said Justin Chapweske, CTO and founder, Onion Networks. "By creating a software-based product that leverages underutilized network resources, Onion Networks enables efficient content delivery in scenarios once considered impractical, including those involving remote offices or very large content." In addition to the cost savings, Tornado CDN™ 1.0 key product features include: Fast parallel downloads (2x - 10x faster than HTTP or FTP) Plug-and-play integration with existing enterprise systems with zero modifications to existing web servers required, allowing instant deployment to a global organization Unparalleled security and integrity verification Peer-to-peer content delivery and caching Bandwidth savings of up to 90 percent Cross-platform support for Windows, Mac, and Unix desktops Support for open standards, such as HTTP http://onionnetworks.com/press_20021209.php ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ XoloX Ultra 1.4 Released Press Release, Xolox B.V. XoloX Ultra 1.4 is high-performance, user-friendly, peer-to-peer file-sharing software that includes ultra peer connections for faster searches, more downloads, and better network connections. XoloX automatically installs, configures, and connects with a simple one-click control. You can search for audio, video, images, documents, software, and more using the Gnutella Network or the Web. Find MP3, WMA, and Ogg music, MPEG, DiVX, ASF, MOV, and AVI movies, and JPEG and GIF pictures. Security features allow you to automatically scan files for viruses, preview files, and ban servers hosting malicious and fake files. A parent-controlled adult filter is included for family use. XoloX delivers ultrafast results by automatically downloading parts of the same file from many users all at once and enables multiple searches simultaneously while automatically resuming broken and unfinished downloads. XoloX doesn't just retry, it re-searches the network until it finds what you want. http://download.com.com/3000-2166-10172044.html Caution: download may contain 3rd party wares – Jack. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ File-Sharing A Good Thing For Record Sales? Tech N9ne Thinks So MTVNews In the heated debate over file sharing, two music biz execs strongly believe what most of their industry peers contest with equal vigor — that giving away music for free is good for sales. So convinced are former Priority Records honchos Mark Cerami and Dave Weiner that they've got more than $100,000 hanging in the balance. Cerami's M.S.C. Music & Entertainment is encouraging people to download 20 of 27 tracks from rapper Tech N9ne's latest album, Absolute Power, at no cost. They want to prove that file sharing, like radio and video play, is a promotional tool that boosts the sales of albums that deserve it. "The reality is that file sharing has given you, the fan, an opportunity to sample the music before wasting your hard- earned money on lousy records," reads a post on www.therealtechn9ne.com, where the Absolute Power tracks are available. "The Internet has given music buyers your own personal listening station at home, and the major labels can no longer fool the consumer. They don't want you to sample their music because they know that if the fans realize that there are only two good songs on a record, you will not buy it. ...We believe in our product." To spread the word that the label is offering for free what its industry peers are charging $16.99 for, M.S.C. has sunk what would have been a video and/or radio budget for a second single — at least six figures, Weiner claims — into two TV commercials, according to Tech N9ne's publicist. The ads, shot as a send-up of the ubiquitous Gap spots, show the rapper introducing "The Industry Is Punks," from Absolute Power, then asking viewers to visit his Web site to download the tracks. The ad campaign, titled F.T.I. ("F--- the Industry," or more politely "Free the Industry," for those wondering what the initials on Tech N9ne's T-shirt stand for), launched November 21 and continues through December 13. The ads air on MTV, Fox and Comedy Central. Those who buy Absolute Power will, in addition to receiving the seven tracks unavailable online, receive a companion DVD that includes interviews and concert footage (see "Tech N9ne Says 'Industry Is Punks,' Goes Own Way For Power"). http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/145...headlines=true ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TiVo Takes on Tunes Reuters TiVo said Thursday that its television recording system will soon be able to play digital music and show pictures stored in personal computers. Data stored in file formats such as MP3 and JPEG will be accessible via televisions that are connected to a TiVo set-top box, company Chief Executive Michael Ramsey told investors at a Credit Suisse First Boston conference. TiVo will likely charge an additional fee for the premium service, which will be launched in January at the Consumer Electronics Association's CES conference in Las Vegas, Ramsey said. "There's a whole set of packages that we are doing, and the main theme is around broadband and home networking. It is our next big thing," Ramsey told Reuters after the presentation. http://news.com.com/2100-1040-977098.html?tag=lh ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Macrovision Takes On Audio John Borland Macrovision, best known as the creator of the copy protection technology that's contained on virtually every commercial videotape, said Tuesday that it is forming a new division focused on music piracy. The company has been steadily increasing its profile in the music industry for a year, with successively deeper moves into the business of protecting audio compact discs from copying. The creation of the new division marks the close of Macrovision's acquisition of one of its main rivals, Israel-based Midbar Technologies. "Digital rights management and copy protection solutions for the worldwide music industry represent one of Macrovision's most important growth opportunities," Macrovision CEO Bill Krepick said. "This new division further underscores Macrovision's commitment to the audio space." The company's recent moves are part of a spurt of consolidation in the copy protection business that appears likely to set the stage for a new era of experimentation, if not actual adoption. After Macrovision's acquisition of Midbar, Sony announced that it was jointly acquiring digital rights management company InterTrust and licensing another similar technology from Content Guard. Various divisions of Sony have also created their own copy protection technologies for audio CDs as well. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-976830.html?tag=cd_mh ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Madster Still Upster Jon Newton A US federal judge has ordered Madster owner Johnny Deep to take his site down. Like, now. And if he doesn't do so, Madster's ISP should yank it, says Cary Sherman, President of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). Notwithstanding, Madster is still up and running. The same judge, Marvin Aspen, had already ordered Madster to halt trading but as Slyck's Tom reported, "Johnny Deep ... contends that his network is decentralized, and therefore cannot be stopped." Cease and Desist Judge Aspen has booked a hearing on December 19 to discuss whether or not Deep is in contempt of his [Aspen's] original order. In the meanwhile, the present temporary restraining order, issued on December 2, is in effect until December 22. http://www.p2pnet.net/issue06/page1.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ogg On Your Palm Press Release, Aerodrome Software AeroPlayer turns your Palm Powered handheld into a portable audio player by playing digital audio files stored on an expansion card. Just plug in your headphones and listen to your music anywhere you go... CD-quality stereo stereo sound playback 4-5 hours typical battery life on a full charge Automatic screen shut-off for increased battery life Transfer files easily with HotSync or a card reader (no silly proprietary desktop software) Support for multiple audio formats via third-party decoder plug-ins (coming soon) built-in Ogg/Vorbis support (MP3 and WAVE plug-ins coming soon!) Learn more about Vorbis AeroPlayer presently runs on Palm's Tungsten T handheld, and we'd like to support all Palm OS 5 devices. Download the pre-release beta! (version B1): ZIP file PRC file http://www.aerodromesoftware.com/files/AeroPlayer.prc Please read the FAQ before submitting feedback or bugs, and don't forget to mention what version you're using! http://www.aerodromesoftware.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet Makes Dow Jones Open to Suit in Australia Felicity Barringer The Australian High Court ruled yesterday that a local businessman could bring a libel action against Dow Jones & Company in a local court, a decision that reignited publishers' fears that posting material on Web sites could leave them open to libel prosecution in any country with Internet access. A string of decisions like the one from Australia could ultimately end up restricting Internet communication, lawyers for a group of American and Australian publishers said. The fear, they said, is that the laws of the most censorious and autocratic governments could then be applied to material originating in countries with strong legal protections for speech and debate. The Australian ruling — the first by the highest court in any nation in which the Internet is in widespread use — held that Joseph Gutnick of Melbourne could sue Barron's and its corporate parent, Dow Jones, in Mr. Gutnick's home state, Victoria, where the libel laws are quite strict. Victoria "is where the damage to his reputation of which he complains in this action is alleged to have occurred, for it is there that the publications of which he complains were comprehensible by readers," the opinion by four of the seven justices stated. The other three justices concurred in their own separate opinions. The court reasoned that in the Internet era, libel occurs in the jurisdiction where articles are read, not where a publisher places material on an Internet server. Dow Jones lawyers said that several hundred people in Victoria use the Web site where the article was posted. In the Barron's article from October 2000, the reporter, Bill Alpert, wrote in part: "Some of Gutnick's business dealings with religious charities raise uncomfortable questions. A Barron's investigation found that several charities traded heavily in stocks promoted by Gutnick. Although the charities profited, other investors were left with heavy losses." The article continued: "In addition, Gutnick has had dealings with Nachum Goldberg, who is currently serving five years in an Australian prison for tax evasion that involved charities." In an interview with Australia's Channel 9 television, reported by The Associated Press, Mr. Gutnick said that the decision would re-establish the principle "that the Net is no different than the regular newspaper." He added: "You have to be careful what you write." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/11/technology/11NET.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yahoo Webcasting Layoffs Yahoo said yesterday that it had laid off an unspecified number of workers in its broadcasting services unit as part of a financial makeover. The company would not say how many workers lost their jobs in a shake-up that affected offices in Dallas, Atlanta and London. The cuts were not large enough to be considered material, a Yahoo spokesman, Chris Homan, said. Yahoo ended September with 3,587 employees. The job cuts will not affect any of the Webcasting services that the affected divisions provide, Mr. Homan said. With online advertising in a slump, Yahoo has been trying to capitalize on the popularity of its Web site to sell more online services. At the same time, Yahoo has been pruning less profitable units and laying off employees to reduce expenses. Last year, Yahoo laid off 660 workers. Yahoo shares rose 53 cents, to $16.57. (AP) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Charter Broadcasting Layoffs The cable television giant Charter Communications Inc. plans to streamline its operation in a move that will result in a number of layoffs, the company said yesterday. Charter executives offered no details, saying only that the cuts would be "significant and determined by year-end." The company said it would announce estimated savings from the layoffs and streamlining efforts when fourth-quarter earnings results were released in February. The company's stock has lost 90 percent of its value since peaking at $22 a share in August 2001. Yesterday, shares rose 1 cent, to $1.53. Noting that Charter has acquired 14 companies in three years, the chief executive, Carl Vogel, called the restructuring a natural step in the consolidation. Charter said it would consolidate operations into five geographically clustered divisions and make cuts at its offices near St. Louis. (AP) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hughes Shutdown Strands Broadband Users Ben Charny Satellite television company Hughes Electronics will shut down its DirecTV DSL service in the next few months, forcing about 160,000 customers to find broadband services elsewhere, the company announced Friday. A Hughes representative said the company has created a Web site to help displaced subscribers find another provider. Hughes Chief Executive Jack Shaw, in a statement, blamed the move on the failure of Hughes and chief rival EchoStar to merge. The deal was scuttled earlier this week, forcing Hughes executives to for ways to cut costs. Shaw said the first decision was to close the money-losing DirecTV Broadband division and shutter its DirecTV DSL service. About 200 workers were told Friday they will lose their jobs as a result, the company said. Hughes purchased DirecTV Broadband, then based in Cupertino, in April 2001. "When the merger agreement was terminated earlier this week, we promised our shareholders and customers that we would move quickly to strengthen the profitability and efficiency of our company," Shaw said in a prepared statement. "This decision by DirecTV Broadband is the first of those moves." Satellites, digital subscriber lines and cable modems are the three major ways Web providers deliver broadband to homes and offices. The shutdown does nothing to counter assertions from research firm The Yankee Group, which expects satellite broadband service to be a distant third in popularity to cable modems. Hughes and EchoStar had hoped a merger would bolster their competitive edge against cable operators and improve their ability to carry local TV programming. Antitrust regulators and the Federal Communications Commission argued that the union would greatly decrease competition for paid television service. The FCC blocked the deal in October. The companies canceled their merger plans when they determined that the deal could not be completed within the time allowed under the merger agreement, the two parties said in a statement. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-977873.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AOL Moving Music Unit Bloomberg News AOL Time Warner's WEA Corporation unit, the distribution division of the company's Warner Music Group, will close some branch offices and move its headquarters to New York from Burbank, Calif. The company will be reorganized into four regional offices, in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New York, instead of the current 10 offices, the Warner Music Group said. The reorganization will start on Jan. 1. About 50 jobs will be moved to WEA's new headquarters in New York, the company said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Police Search French Vivendi Offices Kerry Shaw French investigators searched the offices of Vivendi Universal and the home of its former chief executive, Jean-Marie Messier, today, as they pursued an inquiry about the company's accounting. The search, conducted by the three investigating judges as well as French police, was part of an investigation begun by the Paris prosecutor's office in October. The issue is the accuracy of reports made to investors in 2000 and 2001, when Mr. Messier ran the company. Officials were searching for agendas, accounting documents, e-mail messages or "anything that could be useful to their investigation," explained Maryvonne Caillibotte, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor's office, who said that it was a routine part of the investigation. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/13/bu...ss/13VIVE.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nokia Downturn Suzanne Kapner Nokia, the world's biggest maker of cellphones, reduced its sales targets today, its sixth warning this year, citing slower demand for new phones with updated technology like color screens and digital cameras. But the company, based in Espoo, Finland, said fourth-quarter profit would meet its previous forecast of 23 cents to 25 cents a share. The lowering of Nokia's sales estimates underscores a worrying trend for the mobile phone industry, which has been banking its hopes for a sales revival on new features like phones that connect to the Internet. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/11/bu...ss/11NOKI.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SBC Switches to Single Brand Margaret Kane Regional telephone operator SBC Communications said Tuesday that it will use a single brand to market its services. The company said the move will unify offers previously marketed through regional brands such as SBC Southwestern Bell, SBC Pacific Bell, SBC Nevada Bell and SBC Ameritech. The SBC SNET brand will continue to be used in Connecticut. SBC will continue to offer wireless services through nationwide through Cingular Wireless, a joint venture with BellSouth. http://news.com.com/2110-1033-976646.html?tag=cdshrt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CEO of iPod Chipmaker Quits Ian Fried The chief executive of PortalPlayer, the start-up whose chip powers Apple Computer's iPod digital music player, has resigned. John Mallard, who was chief technology officer at National Semiconductor before helping launch PortalPlayer in May 1999, stepped down last week. No reason was given for the move, which was made by "mutual agreement" with the board, according to Michael Maia, the company's vice president of marketing. "The board has requested, and (Mallard) has agreed, to stay on in a consultative role," Maia said. The company's chairman, former National Semi executive Richard Sanquini, has been named acting CEO. PortalPlayer's chief operating officer, R.S. Turnbull, is also switching to a consultant role at the company, Maia confirmed. He declined to comment on the reasons for the switch. A search for a new CEO is under way, with both internal and external candidates being considered, Maia said. PortalPlayer provides technology for hard drive-based portable music players as well as for digital home stereo components, such as CD recorders. In addition to its role in the iPod, which has never been formally announced, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company's technology is used in several products by less well-known companies in the United States, China, Japan and Germany. http://news.com.com/2100-1040-976740.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AOL To Announce New High-Speed Cable Deals Jim Hu AOL Time Warner Chief Executive Richard Parsons said the media giant is "close" to announcing new deals with cable companies to offer America Online on broadband networks. Parsons, speaking at the UBS Warburg Media Week Conference in New York, would not name which companies AOL Time Warner is negotiating with, but added that a deal could solidify within the month. "We are close with several other MSOs," Parsons said, referring to the industry acronym for large cable networks, known as multiple system operators. "I firmly believe by the end of the year we'll have additional things to say on that front." Parsons said the model for such deals is AOL's August partnership with AT&T Comcast that allows AOL to market a high-speed version of its service to AT&T Comcast cable customers for an extra fee. Under that deal, AOL agreed to provide only the front end for a co-branded version of AT&T Comcast's Internet access service, with AT&T Comcast running the back-end technology and billing. AT&T Comcast is the largest cable operator in the United States, with some 22.3 million subscribers. Sources close to AOL said the company has been in talks with Cox Communications, Charter Communications and CableVision to provide similar arrangements. An AOL representative declined to comment on pending cable deals. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-976749.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Survey: DSL Growth Hits Record High Ben Charny The number of digital subscriber line customers worldwide grew at an unprecedented rate from July through September, providing signs of life for the broadband market, according to a survey from the DSL Forum. More than 5 million people worldwide signed up for DSL service between July 1 and Sept. 30, an increase of nearly 20 percent over the previous three-month period, according to the survey, which was released Tuesday. The percentage increase is the largest ever recorded by the DSL Forum, said the group's chairman, William V. Rodey. Rodey added that the findings are encouraging him to stick with the forum's target of 36 million DSL customers worldwide by year's end and 200 million DSL subscribers by 2005. The survey found that there are now about 30 million DSL users globally. That figure doesn't include high-speed Web surfing done via cable modems, which in general cost about $10 less a month in the United States than DSL service does. By most estimates, there are 15 million cable modems in use in the United States, twice as many as there are DSL connections, but there are only 5 million other cable modem connections anywhere else in the world. "In the U.S., (cable modem providers) are beating the hell out of us," Rodey acknowledged. "But globally we're beating the hell out of them." http://news.com.com/2100-1033-976791.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Perspective: A High Price for Broadband Declan McCullagh Why doesn't everyone in the United States have a high-speed Internet connection at home? The most obvious answer--that broadband connections remain unavailable--is not the correct one. The truth is that at least three-quarters of American homes have cable modems or DSL service available to them. The real answer is that most people still choose not to subscribe. They feel that $40 or $50 a month is too high for the benefits they receive, and they're happy to sip bandwidth through a straw or forgo Internet access at home completely. This brings us to Washington's political class, which doesn't care much for the choices that Americans have made. Politicians have been busy for the last few years concocting new tax- and-spend schemes that would funnel billions of dollars into subsidizing high-speed connections. So far, none of these dubious proposals has become law, but that could change when the new Congress convenes in January. But I worry about what happens when politicians begin to concoct new spending programs and invent new bureaucracies, even if they sound good on paper. One near-inevitable outcome, in my experience, is increased government meddling in technical standards and more regulations aimed at an industry that may not be able to easily afford to comply. http://news.com.com/2010-1069-976486.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Music Industries’ New Lows USAToday Just ask any teenager: Nobody who's anybody pays retail for music. Thanks to software that is readily available on the Internet, free music files can be easily downloaded. To the music industry, the practice amounts to theft on a massive scale, even when it's done merely for personal use. Industry officials claim that the 2.6 billion music files downloaded each month cost songwriters nearly $3 billion a year in income. What the trend really points to is a huge consumer demand for easy-to-find, low-cost music. But instead of moving quickly to compete in this new marketplace, the industry has launched an aggressive campaign to stop consumers from even sharing music as they would a VCR tape. Its intrusive methods ignore market realities and threaten the privacy of millions of computer users. Today, for example, industry officials will sit down with university administrators, hoping to enlist them to fight music sharing by college students. The industry wants universities to bar music downloading and monitor compliance at the risk of invading the privacy of students surfing the Web. Among other industry efforts: Pushing Internet service providers to squeal on customers. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) went to court in August to force Verizon Internet Services to turn over the name of a customer RIAA believes is illegally sharing music files. A victory would give the industry wide latitude to get the names and addresses of suspected file swappers. Verizon has refused to turn over the name, arguing it is obliged to protect customers' privacy. Lobbying Congress to legalize computer hacking. The industry is pushing a bill that would exempt copyright holders from computer-hacking laws if they are trying to stop the illegal sharing of their work. Bill sponsor Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., says the change is needed because current anti-hacking laws prevent copyright holders from protecting property disseminated on the Internet. But the legislation would leave the door open for abuse by copyright owners, according to Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a Washington-based non-profit Internet-advocacy group. The industry defends its actions as necessary for protecting intellectual property. And certainly, piracy for profit is a concern. But the industry's campaign won't make file sharing go away; it's simply too pervasive. As a research paper sponsored by Microsoft recently concluded, this "genie will not be put back into the bottle." A better alternative for recording companies is to enlist music fans, not fight them, by offering "better than free" services. That means giving them large, easy-to-navigate Internet catalogs of songs that can be bought at low prices. The industry says several such sites are up and running, but that free downloaders still need to be attacked if the paying sites are to succeed. Its argument ignores the fact that even young consumers readily pay for things available for free if they see added value. Bottled water sells because it is seen as healthier than tap water. About three-quarters of homes pay for cable or satellite to access more channels than they can get from free over-the-air broadcasts. The music industry can better lure consumers by treating them as ardent fans, not petty criminals. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion...our-view_x.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Piracy is Progressive Taxation, and Other Thoughts on the Evolution of Online Distribution Tim O'Reilly The continuing controversy over online file sharing sparks me to offer a few thoughts as an author and publisher. To be sure, I write and publish neither movies nor music, but books. But I think that some of the lessons of my experience still apply.Lesson 1: Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy. Let me start with book publishing. More than 100,000 books are published each year, with several million books in print, yet fewer than 10,000 of those new books have any significant sales, and only a hundred thousand or so of all the books in print are carried in even the largest stores. Most books have a few months on the shelves of the major chains, and then wait in the darkness of warehouses from which they will move only to the recycling bin. Authors think that getting a publisher will be the realization of their dreams, but for so many, it's just the start of a long disappointment. Sites like Amazon that create a virtual storefront for all the books in print cast a ray of light into the gloom of those warehouses, and so books that would otherwise have no outlet at all can be discovered and bought. Authors who are fortunate enough to get the rights to their book back from the publisher often put them up freely online, in hopes of finding readers. The web has been a boon for readers, since it makes it easier to spread book recommendations and to purchase the books once you hear about them. But even then, few books survive their first year or two in print. Empty the warehouses and you couldn't give many of them away. Many works linger in deserved obscurity, but so many more suffer simply from the vast differential between supply and demand. I don't know the exact size of the entire CD catalog, but I imagine that it is similar in scope. Tens of thousands of musicians self-publish their own CDs; a happy few get a recording contract. Of those, fewer still have their records sell in appreciable numbers. The deep backlist of music publishers is lost to consumers because the music just isn't available in stores. There are fewer films, to be sure, because of the cost of film making, but even there, obscurity is a constant enemy. Thousands of independent film makers are desperate for distribution. A few independent films, like Denmark's Dogme films, get visibility. But for most, visibility is limited to occasional showings at local film festivals. The rise of digital video also promises that film making will soon be as much a garage opportunity as starting a rock band, and as much of a garret opportunity as the great American novel. http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/200...cy.html?page=1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Racing Against Time Lawrence Lessig In 1998, Congress passed the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which extended the term of existing and future copyrights by 20 years—from 75 to 95 years for corporate works, and life plus 50 to 70 years for literary works by authors. This was the eleventh time in 40 years that Congress extended copyright terms. Its effect is to stop, or "toll" the passing of copyrighted work into the public domain. When it expires, the public domain will have been tolled for 39 out of 55 years, or 70 percent of the time since 1962. These perpetual extensions of existing terms harm Internet growth. They make it harder for content to be deployed on the Internet; they increase the cost of innovation. Thus, in a constitutional challenge to the Sonny Bono Act, argued before the Supreme Court in October, the Internet was offered as Exhibit 1 against the statute. The Internet, the court was told, makes it critically important that copyright terms actually be, as the Constitution requires, "limited." This is a hard argument to make. I know, because I argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court in October, on behalf of plaintiffs who depend upon the public domain for their livelihood. It is difficult for lawyers and for businesses to see how the Internet changes things—hard for lawyers because they are typically far removed from the Internet, and difficult for businesses because they often don't see just how the law really regulates. But it is crucial for the future of innovation and growth that both sides come to see why a new technology makes an original constitutional value so much more important. http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,3959,762935,00.asp Until next week, - js. Current Week In Review |
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13-12-02, 06:53 PM
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Guardian of the Maturation Chamber
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Unimatrix Zero, Area 25
Posts: 462
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Some issue!
What a bumper digest!
 Just in time for the festive season?   Quote:
  These are some worrying developments as pertaining to copyrights, ISPs, the activities of the media conglomerates and legislation such as the DMCA!  Thanks for the "Barbie Train" story...   I must confess that WiFi, and even DSL availability, is practically nonexistant in my country; but it's an interesting technology nonetheless, particularly in relation to p2p networks.   |
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