Peer-To-Peer News - The Week In Review – May 24th, '03

[JackSpratts]

Vanishing Act

Last week Disney announced a new take on an old idea, the self erasing videotape. Now returning movies to the video store may be as rare as a friendly RIAA exec.

Originally the chore of having to return a movie to the video store was so that store owners could rent out the movie again and again and make a few bucks on their investment. Hollywood was against the whole rental idea to begin with and sued and lost in a failed attempt to stop the practice but that’s another story…the point is returning a flick wasn’t punitive, it was just business. The faster a customer brought in a film, the sooner it could go out again for more cash. Late fees insured the customers took the rental business seriously and helped make up some of the lost income on a hot mover. But the concept behind returning a movie has changed. Now it seems the only reason to bring it back is so you don’t get to keep it. They don’t need a returned copy of a tape or disc when you’re renting via the mail or over the internet and when the copying cost to the studio approaches zero.

This is interesting. Once such a paradigm shift occurs in the thinking of a media executive it’s only a matter of time before somebody comes up with the self destructing movie. Turn ownership into a “temporary viewing experience” controlled by the studio. Indeed, what took so long? The process couldn’t be simpler: The studio mails you a movie and you throw it out. Who needs inventory? Clerks? Warehouses? This can work with more than just movies obviously. CD’s and student course materials come to mind as well as sheet music, professional journals and just about any other kind of digital information you can imagine (no more used book sales on the college quad getting in the way of publishers’ new sales for instance, if the book you “bought” last fall erases itself at the end of the semester). Harried consumers might take to this time-saver if the items are so cheap, say a dollar or two, that the low prices and greater selections make up for having such a temporary usage window. Pay-Per-View, the main competitor when it comes to movies, is an obvious target of the scheme but if the model proves successful expect to see companies trying it out with other media.

This can only work of course if people are forcibly prevented from cracking the expiration dates. Studios won’t want the blind hacking them so they can hear the contents, or before the material just plain vanishes off living room shelves. Thanks to Washington that date is legally absolute and comes with severe penalties for tampering, like the felony provisions already inherent in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and which should do nicely for starters. Forget about “popping the movie in the icebox” to slow down the process like you might with a gallon of milk. You’ll never get away with it. Note to Californians: Now it’s three strikes and you’re out. When you’re busted for the third time with that hacked copy of Alice In Wonderland you helped a blind pal listen to - it’s down the rabbit hole for you – for life! No appealing to the Supreme Court either you whiner, they’ve already said life in prison for stealing one videotape is A-OK with them. And oh yeah, don’t expect any help from Congress. Here’s one representatives’ take on University file swapping, another possible violation of the DMCA, "While I'm sympathetic to the young people, they're breaking the law,” and they oughta be arrested, says Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-California). She oughta know, in all likelihood she helped pass the bill. "If there are no consequences to these students," she continues, "there will be no change in behavior.” That behavior she’s soothingly sympathetic to was completely legal - until she and her pals made it illegal. Little Jimmy better step away from that P2P.


Maximum Waters. Does she want “the chair” for little Jimmy?
Waters, who supports the DMCA with a vengeance, was
probably part of the mysterious group that voted for it –
although not even her own office can say for certain whether
she was or wasn’t!

Anyway, what gets my interest is where this is all heading. With serious penalties like life in prison waiting for those who make a personal copy of a movie - will the behavior of Americans change when it comes to how we now buy our media? Will we be content to settle for “temporary viewing experiences” instead of ownership? Will we be comfortable knowing we can’t send a song or poem to comfort a sick friend because it will put us both in jail? Will we accept not reading aloud to a child - because it’s a felony violation of the user agreement in an ebook? And if we can never again do the things we’ve always been able to do with our books and our tapes and our records, simply because they’re now made of ones and zeros, what then was the point of this entire digital transformation? What became of the revolution that was supposed to usher in a grand new era of convenience and culture, this digital promise? It appears the revolt may succeed only in sending us all into a digital gulag. A place of rigid and demeaning codes of behavior strictly and harshly enforced by a thoroughly compromised U.S. Congress, working under a handful of feudal media barons claiming ownership of our very thoughts. Will we accept this diminished status?

If this bizarre and disquieting Disney dystopia takes off and we can never again own the media we buy, well then, why will we buy it at all? So here’s an idea. Just do what I do; go the library and borrow it. For free. You might as well. The media companies don’t want you to own it and if you can’t keep it you’re borrowing it already. It may take a while but they'll probably get the message. In the meantime just think of all the shelf space and landfills you’ll save.

Viva la bibliotheca!




Visit your local library. Before it’s too late!









Enjoy,

Jack.








Report finds growing interest in copy-protection technologies
George Leopold

WASHINGTON — A government report has identified more than 100 companies developing or offering copy-protection technologies to prevent infringement of copyrighted materials. In a report to Congress released Tuesday (May 20), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said leading technologies to prevent against theft of digital content include hardware- and software-based digital rights management architectures, encryption, authentication and digital watermarking technologies.

Lawmakers are attempting to push digital copy-protection technologies as a way to break a stalemate between Hollywood and the computer industry over how to protect copyrighted content. Resolving the issue is seen as a way of boosting demnd for broadband technologies.

"Protection of America's digitized copyrighted works is an increasingly important part of intellectual property protection, and this report provides a snapshot of technological protection systems in today's dynamic marketplace,” James Rogan, undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, said in a statement releasing the report.

The survey was mandated by passage last year of the Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act. The law seeks to prevent infringement of digital copyrights.
http://www.electronicstimes.com/story/OEG20030520S0038

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

When customer backlash over its antipiracy technology hit the company's bottom line, Intuit did the right thing: It dropped the feature.

Intuit's Lesson for Microsoft and Hollywood
Eric Hellweg

Last week investors sent Intuit (INTU) stock up about $2.70 (roughly 8 percent) after the company reported solid third-quarter results. But tucked inside the earnings announcement was a policy change that may generate bigger revenues for the company in the future.

All told, the company had a strong quarter. Revenue increased 29 percent, year over year, to $634.7 million. Net income rose to $294 million. All good -- except the company had told analysts to expect revenues between $685 million and $725 million.

To address the difference between the company's initial estimates and actual revenues, Intuit announced some changes. CEO Steve Bennett said in the earnings statement that Intuit would no longer require its users to use an "activation" feature with its flagship product, TurboTax, the No. 1 tax-preperation software program.

At this point you might be thinking, "Huh? What does an activation feature have to do with almost $100 million in lost revenue?" As it turns out, the activation feature was new to TurboTax 2002, and it required users to unlock the program on one host computer. Instead of being able to install the program on multiple computers (say, both the PC in the den and the laptop at work), customers could load the full-featured version of the software only on a single machine.

When Intuit launched the copy-control program, it predicted that revenue would increase, since customers who had previously purchased only one TurboTax program would have to buy a separate copy for each computer in the house. That assumption was dead wrong. Instead, the move triggered a consumer backlash the likes of which Intuit had never seen.

Customer reviews on Amazon.com (AMZN) tell the tale. For the 2001 version of TurboTax (which had no activation feature), the average customer-satisfaction rating was four and a half stars. For the activation-enhanced 2002 edition, the average rating dropped to one and a half stars, and the reviews bore titles such as "scumbags," "disaster," and, perhaps presciently, "the demise of TurboTax." Also telling was the fact that the 2001 product generated just eight reviews. For the 2002 version, 578 customers were sufficiently enraged to go online and spread the word about how bad their experiences had been.

To its credit, Intuit listened to these complaints and reversed course. "We're taking a mulligan," says Julie Miller, a company spokeswoman. "The customer reaction was unexpected."

Unfortunately for customers -- and ultimately, investors -- many other companies don't react to negative consumer groundswells as quickly as Intuit did. Some companies (read: Microsoft (MSFT)) and entire industries (read: the entertainment sector) are busily building so-called digital rights management technology into products to stop consumer piracy. But DRM, like a soufflé, is incredibly hard to get right, and many of these companies are designing their DRM strategies to address the extreme upper reaches of the piracy bell curve.

Without a doubt, piracy is a major concern for companies that produce digital goods. And in countries like China, where copied software programs outnumber legitimate ones, stringent antipiracy technology is clearly needed. But the lesson to be learned from Intuit's experience is that when companies employ antipiracy technology that's intrusive to the vast majority of their law-abiding customers, they risk reducing their markets. Indeed, that's one of the reasons Apple's (AAPL) new music service has attracted so much attention: It uses DRM systems that are practically invisible to the user.

Dropping the activation feature from TurboTax was the right move for Intuit, and the company is lucky that the mistake didn't do more damage to its financials. And therein lies a cautionary tale for investors: Keep your ears tuned to customer complaints about overly restrictive DRM policies. As more companies cast about, trying to find the right balance between protection and customer satisfaction, chances are they'll get it wrong many more times before they get it right.

http://www.business2.com/articles/web/0,,49577,00.html

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

EU heeds labels' complaints on piracy law
Matthew Broersma

A new European Union proposal for harmonizing intellectual property law enforcement across member states has come under criticism from the first parliamentary committee to review it.

The committee has suggested that the proposal may need to be modified to better reflect the interests of the music and film industries.

The EU issued the proposal in January, with the aim of harmonizing different systems for enforcing intellectual property laws, including copyrights and patents, across member states. The proposal aims to strike a balance between the needs of rights holders and users, concentrating on the most commercially damaging infringements rather than on individuals who may be breaking the law, such as users of peer-to-peer file-trading services.

This approach hit a flat note with the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), however, which in January issued a "dismayed" statement calling for the proposed measures to be beefed up. "The (European) Commission's proposal is inadequate in view of the magnitude of the piracy problem and fails to introduce urgently needed measures to hold back the epidemic of counterfeiting," the record industry trade group stated.

The proposal is now under review by the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market, which recently issued the first draft of its report on the matter, arguing that the proposal's approach, as it stands, may be problematic.

Janelly Fourtou, the committee's rapporteur, included many of the record industry's arguments in the report. "The Commission considers it essential to crack down on the 'big' offenders, and the proposal accordingly focuses on infringements committed for commercial purposes or causing significant harm to right holders," she wrote, noting: "This view has been severely criticized by some industries."

Fourtou also saw as problematic the proposal's insistence that the pursuit of intellectual property pirates should not create "barriers to legitimate trade," suggesting that this appeared to be an unnecessary caution.

However, Fourtou said she would support an attempt to have the directive adopted at first reading, because of time constraints. The Legal Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote on the proposal on Sept. 11.

But even more stringent enforcement rules in the EU may have little real impact on large-scale piracy, since the culprits largely reside outside the region, according to legal experts.

Still, copyright holders feel they must do anything they can to stop what they perceive as a tidal wave of cheap copying technology, according to Michael Horn, a lawyer with Masons.

"The majority of these publishers and distributors feel like they're potentially fighting a losing battle," he said. "They may want to try to ramp up legislation to such an extent to have as many weapons in their arsenal as possible. They will attack any way they can, even if it involves pushing through relatively draconian legislation."
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-1003578.html

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

Ultra Wideband: Gaining Momentum
Roy Mark

While most regulatory decisions made by the Federal Communications

Commission (FCC) often take years to be felt in the consumer market, an FCC ruling made just 15 months ago may well result in new wireless electronic products parked under this year's Christmas tree. The most likely items will be camcorders that wirelessly stream video to a television set or computer hard drive.

And, to listen to the burgeoning ultra wideband (UWB) industry, that will be just the start. The industry and bullish analysts are predicting television sets that wirelessly send different programs to other television sets in the house, flat screen computer monitors that can be wirelessly tethered to a CPU located anywhere in the home, and wireless connections between VCRs and televisions to streamline that rat's nest of wires behind the home entertainment center.

UWB, on paper at least, seems to be ideal for consumer electronics applications such as camcorders, laptops, DVDs, and digital cameras to wirelessly communicate with each in a home environment. The wirelessly networked home, of course, has long been an elusive goal for consumer electronics companies.

Wireless transmission of video is seen as the key to making it become a reality.

Today's digital video transmissions use MPEG-2 for encoding and require up to 12 Mbps to broadcast the video. In addition, higher rate encoding standards such as HDTV and MPEG-2HD (High Definition) use higher rate transmissions in excess of 20 Mbps per video stream. Leading DVD companies have stated that they are moving to MPEG- 2HD, underscoring the need for a wireless home technology that can deliver extremely high bandwidth for multiple channels of digital video transmission.

For the all the success of the various flavors of 802.11, the technology is inherently unsuitable for streaming video. 802.11a carries a data transfer rate of 54 Mbps and can reach roughly twice that speed using proprietary 'turbo' architectures. In theory, 802.11a has a hypothetically greater range than UWB.

However, as an Ethernet derivative designed as a packet based data networking protocol, it is unsuitable for intensive multi-media applications since it depends on data packets arriving in order and in time.

XtremeSpectrum, a Vienna, Va.-based UWB firm, is predicting that its products will have a range of 30 feet with data rates around 100 Mbps. Chip making giant Intel has a goal of 500 Mbps.

Another fundamental flaw in 802.11a technology for video streaming is that its power consumption requirements of around 1.5 to 2 W makes it almost completely unsuitable for battery dependent devices like PDAs, and even many laptops with short battery lives.

And then there is the question of cost. Currently, consumer NIC cards for 802.11a are roughly $150 to $200, which could be too high for broad consumer adoption. XtremeSpectrum has a chip set that is approximately $20 per 100,000 units.
http://siliconvalley.internet.com/ne...le.php/2208231

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

Has NTL gone soft on 1Gb cap?
Tim Richardson

There's speculation that NTL has softened the stand on its 1Gb a cap for its broadband users.

In a conference call earlier this week NTL boss Barclay Knapp was asked whether the cableco had seen an improvement in its network performance following the introduction of the cap in February.

Here's what he said: "In terms of broadband, we did get a lot of...er...I made a lot of friends with a lot of our high users in the sense that they felt free to email me directly about this 1 Gigabyte cap and I emailed them back.

"I think significantly it was a guideline. We used it to contact customers who were doing a lot of filesharing and peer to peer in the busy periods and
we politely asked them to not do that and we have seen a shift in usage and that's done two things. It has improved the overall level of service and it's actually reduced the capital spending going forward."

Crucially he then says: "We don't see the need now to impose a rigid cap in the sense that we don't turn anybody 'off' and we haven't raised prices on anybody."

What was it he said? "We don't see the need now to impose a rigid cap..."

AntiCap, the Internet lobby group committed to campaigning for unlimited broadband services, believes NTL should formally lift the cap and admit it was wrong to do so in the first place.

A spokesman for AntiCap told El Reg: "According to the [latest figures] broadband is one of NTL's most profitable services and margin continues to improve.

"NTL haven't been able to come up with a single case of someone over using the service and yet have disenfranchised many thousands of customers. Either they got their numbers wrong or the cap...was a move to reduce usage and boost revenue.

"The honourable thing would be for NTL to apologise for offending so many customers and to remove any reference to usage limits/ guidelines from their 'User Policy'."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/22/30743.html

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

What's going on with the Internet?
Computing brothers at OHSU's OGI School of Science & Engineering say the Internet may never be perfect
Sydney Clevenger

The Internet grew too fast. A system originally meant for research purposes, it has quickly become indispensable to businesses and consumers around the world. Because it was cobbled together, it is plagued with problems, from weak security to service disruptions.

Two brothers, both computer science and engineering experts at Oregon Health & Science University's OGI School of Science & Engineering, based in Hillsboro, Ore., hope to see the Internet become more secure and reliable. But the problems are so massive that, they predict, even after some problems are solved, we may simply have to learn to live with a flawed system.

"The Internet was originally intended as an educational and research tool with a small set of users, applications and operating environments," said Wu- chi Feng, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science in the OGI School of Science & Engineering. "As it has matured, increasingly it is being used for purposes that had not been envisioned when it was architected."

As the Internet became commercialized during the mid-1990s, the diversity of users and applications exposed its weaknesses. But, with the enormous installed base of routers, switches and end-hosts, it is difficult to make any fundamental changes in the way the network operates. Instead, people resort to quick fixes that only make things worse in the long run.

"As weaknesses in the network have become apparent, we've seen Band-aid after Band-applied to address them," said Wu-chang Feng, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science in the science and engineering school. "The Internet was constructed with weak notions of security and quality of service, and without regard to what businesses or governments required out of the network. Thus, it comes as no surprise that it is susceptible to attack, has service problems, and does not fully meet the demands of all of its users."

A good example of how the evolution of the Internet has created problems is the battle over music copyright. There is a fundamental tension between the free exchange of information that the Internet enables and the prohibition of certain forms of communication sought by the music industry.

As originally built, the Internet enables open, anonymous communication. With the advent of peer-to-peer networks in the late 1990s, where any computer is able to act as a file-sharing server, the music industry has sued to force Internet Service Providers to prohibit file sharing. But the architecture of the underlying Internet protocols makes this extremely difficult.

"People are trying to put in roadblocks to maintain some accountability in the Internet, but because of the way the Internet is architected, it may be futile," said Wu-chi, 34, the older of the two computing brothers. Added Wu-chang, 32, "We don't want to sound pessimistic, but short of completely shutting down the Internet and starting all over with a different architecture, there's only so much that can be done."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-wgo051503.php

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

Sumitomo Electric Networks to Develop Products with Digital Fountain
Press Release

Digital Fountain, provider of data-delivery solutions, has announced that Sumitomo Electric Networks, a Japanese provider of Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) and Fiber Optic network equipment, is licensing Digital Fountain's Meta-Content technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Sumitomo Electric Networks will license Digital Fountain's Meta-Content technology for video and audio transmission to develop, manufacture, and distribute a range of video and audio distribution and transmission products. Sumitomo Electric Networks is developing content distribution products that will enable network service providers and communication carriers in Japan to deliver content distribution services over a broadband infrastructure. Built on top of transport technology from Digital Fountain, these new products will enable network service providers to distribute live video to commercial customers and consumers. Sumitomo Electric Networks plans to use the Digital Fountain technology to develop Server and Set Top Box equipment for commercial on-demand and live video distribution, consumer entertainment delivery, and peer-to-peer applications, including video conferencing and remote content sharing. Sumitomo has the right to develop and market video and audio transmission products based on the Embedded Fountain Live technology in the Japanese market. As a strategic partner, Sumitomo Electric Networks will also work to promote the Digital Fountain technology as a de facto standard in the worldwide content delivery network market. The licensing business, which complements the Transporter Fountain product family, allows Digital Fountain to work with partners who seek to apply the technology in new markets. Potential market opportunities include: wireless data broadcast, digital radio, SAN replication, military systems, and a range of wireless devices.
http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/...ArticleID=4384

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

Congress Puts The Screws To P2P Again
House Committee hearing explores privacy issues

Grant Gross
U.S. congressmen raised concerns over whether peer-to-peer (p-to-p) networks are exposing users' personal information, but witnesses at a House Committee on Government Reform hearing Thursday produced little evidence of that happening on a large scale.

"Users of these programs need to be aware that sharing personal information can open the door to identity theft, consumer fraud or other unwanted uses of their personal data," Davis said. "Parents, businesses and government agencies also need to be aware of these risks if their home or office computers contain file-sharing programs."

However, James Farnan, deputy assistant director of the Cyber Division at the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, said his agency hasn't received any complaints of identity theft through p-to-p networks, but victims using p-to-p services may not report the crime if they are using p-to-p to illegally trade files.

Nathaniel Good, an information graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, showed the committee files downloaded from users of popular p-to-p service Kazaa. Good identified entire contents of e-mail inboxes, credit card information on spreadsheets, and employee bonus salary agreements, all presumably shared accidentally.

"There's a lot of stuff here the person doesn't want the rest of the world to download," Good said.

In the newest version of Kazaa, the default setting allows only files to be downloaded from a downloads folder, said Kazaa lawyer Philip Corwin. Users would have to change the settings to share tax documents or credit card information elsewhere on their hard drives, he said.

"You have to go in and choose to share that file or everything on your C drive," said Corwin, who attending the hearing but was not on the witness list.

Corwin said he hopes the committee will also look into the music industry, which he called the "greatest threat to privacy" for trying to subpoena the names of file downloaders and which has pushed for legislation that would allow the industry to go into individual computers and delete files. Corwin cited a May 4 New York Times article saying the recording industry is also trying to develop software to delete files from remote computers.

"I hope [the committee] is going to look into the millions of dollars Hollywood is spending on very aggressive invasive technologies that appear to be in violation of existing U.S. law," Corwin said.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/...privacy_1.html

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

Flexplay Introduces “EZ-D” 48 Hour DVD
Press Release

Flexplay Technologies, Inc, a privately held company based in New York, today announced that Buena Vista Home Entertainment Division of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) will use its flexible play DVD technology to make movies available to consumers in test markets beginning this August. The introduction of this innovative product, branded "EZ-D", will include BVHE titles The Recruit, Rabbit Proof Fence, The Hot Chick, 25th Hour, Heaven, Equilibrium, Frida and Signs.

EZ-D will incorporate Flexplay's proprietary flexible play technology into a standard DVD. A Flexplay enabled DVD is similar to a conventional DVD, except that it has a 48 hour viewing window that begins when the disc is removed from its packaging. Consumers will then be able to enjoy the movie as many times as they wish during this time frame. After 48 hours of impeccable play, the DVD will no longer be readable by the DVD player and can then be recycled. A Flexplay enabled DVD works in all players, DVD drives and gaming systems designed to accept a standard DVD. GE Plastics, a division of GE (NYSE: GE), has been a key strategic collaborator in the advancement of Flexplay's proprietary technologies, developing a new patented Lexan resin co-polymer essential to the flexible play design.

EZ-D's goal is to expand the overall home entertainment market by appealing to consumers whose rental consumption has diminished due to the perceived inconvenience of the current rental process. EZ-D will give these consumers easy access to recently released titles in places they already shop and the opportunity to watch them at their convenience without worrying about returns, late fees or scratched discs. EZ-D offers retailers the opportunity to expand their existing DVD business; and for first time DVD retailers, easy entrée into the growing DVD category.

"We are thrilled that EZ-D discs containing Buena Vista Home Entertainment content will be available to consumers beginning in August," said Alan Blaustein, CEO of Flexplay. "We believe that EZ-D will become synonymous with Flexplay's innovative technology and that consumers and content providers will soon appreciate the convenience and ease that a Flexplay enabled EZ-D will offer."

Bob Chapek, President of Buena Vista Home Entertainment said, "We are very excited to be utilizing Flexplay's technology to introduce EZ-D. This is a great opportunity for us to test consumer receptiveness to this new product in a live market setting. We believe consumers will enjoy the benefits of EZ-D without the inconvenience of making extra trips, returning movies, and paying late fees."

Art LeBlanc, President of Flexplay noted, "This is a breakthrough in the DVD manufacturing process and the introduction of EZ-D represents a major technological achievement for the industry."

GE Plastics' new Lexan resin co-polymer used in the Flexplay DVD is an essential component of the flexible play technology and is a result of the company's two-year strategic development program with Flexplay. The new co-polymer represents a technical breakthrough for Lexan resin.

"Our strategic development efforts with Flexplay have resulted in yet another innovative product milestone for our Lexan resin," said John Dineen, Vice President and Global Lexan Business Leader for GE Plastics. "This is exciting new technology that can help revolutionize and expand the DVD marketplace. We are fully committed to maximizing this technology globally."

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

Movie Studios Sue Makers of DVD Copying Software
Bob Tourtellotte

Hollywood's major movie studios on Thursday turned up the legal heat on makers of DVD copying software, squaring off against one company in a California court and suing five others in New York.

In the latest development, lawyers for Paramount Pictures Corp. and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. filed for an injunction in U.S. District Court in New York to bar five companies from selling DVD copying software.

The suit names Internet Enterprises Inc., RDestiny LLC, HowtocopyDVDs.com, DVDBackupbuddy.com and DVDSqueeze.com as defendants. None could immediately be reached for comment.

In federal court in San Francisco, lawyers for other film companies argued that the DVD X Copy and DVD Copy Plus software made by St. Louis-based 321 Studios could not be judged to be legal because it violates copyright law.

Both suits center on the same basic issue of whether selling DVD copying software is illegal under 1998's Digital Millennium Copyright Act as the studios claim, or whether it is legal under "fair use" provisions of U.S. copyright law as the companies believe.

Last year, in its preemptory suit, 321 asked a federal judge to rule its software did not violate the DMCA. The studios, under the Motion Picture Association of America, countersued seeking a summary judgment to dismiss the case.

On Thursday, Judge Susan Illston of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, heard arguments from attorneys, then adjourned to consider the case, according to both sides. The judge did not say when she might issue a ruling, they said.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=2753526

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

Roxio Close to Deal to Acquire Pressplay
Anna Wilde Mathews and Don Clark

Roxio Inc. (ROXI) is close to a deal to acquire pressplay, the online-music operation owned by the music units of Vivendi Universal SA and Sony Corp., according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The proposed deal is part of a plan under which Roxio would wind up launching a music service under the name of the defunct file- swapping network Napster.

Roxio, Santa Clara, Calif., would pay about $30 million in cash and stock, these people said. Pressplay was launched by Vivendi's Universal Music Group and Sony's Sony Music Entertainment as a legitimate alternative to online peer-to- peer services such as the now-shuttered Napster, which allow users to illicitly trade songs over the Internet.

In a bit of high irony, pressplay -- launched to battle Napster -- will evolve into a successor that will bear the Napster name. Roxio can develop a modified service with that name because it acquired Napster's name and intellectual property for $5 million at a bankruptcy sale last November.

The deal, which is not final, would result in Universal and Sony holding an unspecified stake in Roxio. Just this week, Roxio reiterated to investors it has plans to launch a legally viable version of Napster within 12 months.

Pressplay requires users to pay a monthly subscription fee for unlimited, but temporary, access to songs. Users can also pay to permanently download songs.
http://money.cnn.com/services/ticker...LINE001146.htm

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

Fizzer Virus Apparently Hacked To Make It Self-Destruct
Mitch Wagner

A British security firm has apparently taken over a Web site that was used by the Fizzer virus, and is using that site to automatically dispense software that uninstalls the virus from infected computers.

Like many viruses, Fizzer attempts to contact an external Web site when it infects a PC. The Web site was intended to be used by the virus authors to download additional instructions and updates. In the case of Fizzer, the Web site was located on the Geocities server and British security firm IC5 Networks took over the site. Now, when the virus attempts to contact the site, the site instead downloads code that removes the virus, according to a report on Slashdot. The Slashdot item links to a message apparently on the IC5 Web site, notifying readers about the fix.

Anti-virus firm Trend Micro accessed the site and found a note from a group calling itself the "Fizzer Task Force," "claiming they have altered the file, which is supposedly an update for Fizzer, with non-malicious code that can actually uninstall Fizzer from an infected machine," said Rommel Ramos, of the antivirus group at Trend Micro.

He added, "But when we tried accessing the site, the file is not available."
http://www.internetwk.com/breakingNe...cleID=10000182

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

Post 9/11 Follies

David Nelson, could you step aside for a few moments?
Margie Boulé

Boule: There's no way to get off the list

If your name is David Nelson you can expect to be hassled, delayed, questioned and searched before being allowed to board aircraft anywhere in the United States for the foreseeable future.

Since the horrific attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the federal Transportation Security Administration has, without any public announcement, created a two-tiered list of names "to protect our aviation system," says Nico Melendez, the agency spokesman for the West Coast, who is based in Los Angeles.

The name David Nelson apparently is on one of those lists.

"There is a 'no-fly' list," he says. "That's people who cannot fly, period," because they've been determined to be or are suspected of being "a threat to civil aviation or to national security."

Details about the list are "considered sensitive security information and cannot be released to the public," Nico says, but the Wall Street Journal suggests there are about 300 names on the "no-fly" list.

There's another list that Nico calls the "selectees list." Might as well call them "suspectees." This is a much larger list of names, accumulated, Nico says, from information obtained from intelligence agencies and the airlines. These folks may be allowed to fly but only after they're intensely scrutinized by airline, law enforcement and security personnel.

People whose names are on the two lists undergo what is not a routine security screening, in which you're asked to remove your shoes or empty your pockets. This week 18 men named David Nelson, all residents of Oregon, confirmed they have been repeatedly delayed at airport counters and security checkpoints in the last year or so.

Take the February experience of Dave Nelson of Salem, a lobbyist whose largest client is the Oregon Seed Council. Dave often travels for business, sometimes accompanying the governor on trade missions. "We were on our way to a trade show in Atlanta," Dave says, "trying to use the auto-check-in for baggage. We punched in our information, and the computer wouldn't accept it."

Dave and his wife, Leah, stood in line until an agent was available at the Delta counter. "We gave him our info, and he kept punching on his computer for about 10 or 15 minutes. . . . Then he says, 'I have to go in the back room.' He took off, and we stood there another 10 minutes. I asked L1 another clerk to find out where he'd gone."

After more waiting, they were told a supervisor was being sought. "Nobody would tell us what was going on," Dave says. "It's been 30 or 35 minutes by now. Finally the guy came out and said, 'You'll have to talk to the cop behind you.' We turned around, and there's a security guy." Dave says the officer told him there was a list of suspicious people, "and you're on the list."

Dave was asked for I.D. and turned over his driver's license. "They called downtown and ran a criminal check, and I was clean. Then the counter clerk had to call national Delta and get permission for me to go on the airplane. We were now pretty close to takeoff time." Dave and his wife were issued tickets, but again at the gate Dave was thoroughly frisked, searched and identified.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/orego...7124142830.xml

Security?

Either I am on the list or I am not. This is not rocket science. So what kind of research is required? Does this mean a minute examination of my entire life? Perhaps it's just coincidence, but some people found it funny and ironic last Sunday when soloist David Nelson stepped forward at the Willamette Master Chorus concert and sang, "Nobody knows the troubles I've seen."

Just that morning, in this column, readers learned of the problems men named David Nelson have been encountering at airports across the country and around the world since the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. Since then, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration has put together two lists of names of people to be scrutinized before being allowed to fly on commercial air flights. One is a "no fly" list, rumored to have about 300 names. The other is a list of "selectees," who are to be questioned, searched and cleared before being allowed to travel. The second list appears to be much longer.

Last week TSA spokesman Nico Melendez confirmed the existence of the lists but would not answer questions about when they were created, what criteria were used to add names or how names are added or removed.

One thing is clear, however: the name David Nelson is on one of those lists. The 18 Oregon men interviewed for last week's column all said they had been questioned and delayed whenever they flew. And they were just the beginning. After the column ran, one David Nelson, a professor at OSU, wrote that he's not been bothered at airports. But many other David Nelsons reported they'd been hassled and delayed every time they flew in the last few months. Some missed connecting flights. A number were told their name is on a list of suspicious people.

For some, the column was an explanation. "Thanks for letting us know why it took something short of a strip search at the airport when my husband, Dave Nelson, and I flew to Hawaii in March," wrote Shirley Nelson of Gresham. Dave and Shirley thought it was just bad luck when Dave was pulled aside every leg of their trip. Shirley says "he'll think hard about future air travel until his name is removed from the list."

Most David Nelsons agree there is a need for heightened security at airports. What bothers them is there's no way to clear themselves for future flights, and no way to get their name removed from the list. "They should have some clue about the person" they're seeking, wrote David A. Nelson, who works at Tektronix. "A basic description, for example. At least then the Davids who do not fit the description could get a quick pass. . . . Better yet, after hassling each of us once, create a leave- these-guys-alone list."

But reader David D. Gray says that would never work. "What permanent ID do you provide . . . that can't be transferred or modified by terrorists? Photo ID? Like the ones routinely faked by terrorists? . . . I suggest leaving the job up to the people in charge and experienced in doing it. . . . I think they're doing the right thing."

But are they?

Last week The New York Times reported civil rights advocates have filed suit in San Francisco, demanding the government provide reasons why "hundreds of people -- some of them vocal critics of the Bush administration -- have ended up" on the airport lists. The article cited and quoted antiwar demonstrators and other political critics who claim their names are on the lists.

Of course, many people who are not activists or terrorists or security threats are discovering their names are listed. Like Portlander Lois Kincaid. "I found out about it on my last flight, May 2," Lois wrote. "I have been so relentlessly hassled in airports, I finally asked an intelligent-looking agent what the deal was. His reply? 'You're on a list of suspicious people.' " Lois flew to Caracas, Venezuela, with a group of 10 Americans recently. "I was the only one checked, and I was checked in every single airport. . . ." At one, Lois says she was "terrified" when "agents came at me snapping on rubber gloves."
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/orego...4819689090.xml

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

RIAA Pit of Confusion
salimfadhley

After reading about the RIAA threatening to sue yet another innocent archive operator, I
decided to take some direct action: It occurred to me that the RIAA keep falsely accusing others of piracy because they put their faith in an unintelligent spider - a fact which can be simply exploited to make my servers into an RIAA no-go-zone...

Whilst spidering is nothing to worry about (and only to be expected on a public site), the way the association fires off legal threats based on this spider results alone seems wrong. Since this spider does not actually look at the whole title of the file, or even it's content, I figured I could have some fun at their expense:

What if I could write a `tarpit' script that could create a large number of interlinked automatically generated web sites. If their spider tried to scan my server it would be fooled into thinking that it had found a treasure trove of MP3 sites. Anybody who took the time to look at the site could see that the site contains no pirate content at all.

How might the RIAA react to such a thing?

· They could upgrade their spider so that it only recognises valid tracknames that are in-fact MP3s. (e.g. it would know that `elephant_wiggle-Madonna.mp3' is not a real Madonna song). This would limit their ability to detect only correctly named MP3 files, and force them to use their spider responsibly.

· Every single suspect site would need to be hand-checked in order to verify that a genuine breach of copyright has taken place - this would substantially decrease the return on investment for their spidering project because it would be labour intensive, again forcing a more responsible approach to detecting offenders.

· They could blacklist my server to prevent their spider from looking at it in future – that would be at least a small victory. If they blacklisted enough servers it would be the same as giving up!

· They could send me a legal nastygram instructing me to disable my tarpit... Since I do not live in the USA, this might not be enforceable.

How it works –
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/5/16/163447/493

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

C’est vrai ca?
Holy Peepers Batman! French Site Fingers File-Sharers!
Paul Rotello

According to French Anti-File-sharing site RetSpan (Napster backwards), it’s relatively easy to identify the names of people sharing files on P2P’s without actually resorting to illegal means, like hacking an ISP’s database etc. I mean, if the French can do it, how hard can it be? To prove their point they’ve offered up the identities - and a few details - of some swappers in France and other locations, including America (actually a church in NYC). Being civilized French, though, they’ve tastefully hidden actual names.

As the page is in French, here follows a rough translation.

“Finally, numerous people gave out some doubts on the capacity of RetSpan to identify the internauts who distribute illegally on the P2PS networks of the files submitted to the rights of authors. In answer to these doubts, RetSpan proposes some meaningful examples of internauts identified legally below (and without having raised addresses them IP). The personal data concerning these internauts took like examples have been returned anonymous and are detained by RetSpan under their anonymous shape, in accordance with the recommendations of the CNIL and in order to respect life deprived of the identified internauts. The quoted cases are yet real cases.

[NB: To identify these internauts using the P2PS networks to distribute the pirated files illegally, no tool and no software has been dealt either indirect of his/her/its normal use.]

- F * * * * * F * * * * *: F * * * * * is a young student of 18 years living in Fragnes (street of them TO * * * * *). Thanks to his/her/its access to Internet, F * * * * * downloads and distribute a few hundreds of MP3 files. Mainly the single that are at the head of the sales.

- L * * * * *: this internaut lives in the city of Le Mans, in Sarthe. He/it distributed more than 5000 files pirated at the time of his/her/its identification. About 3 weeks before the exit of the last album of Massive Attack in the stores, L * * * * * to put to disposition of the users of KaZaA the entirety of the album in MP3.

- S * * * * * HS * * * * *: this high school student (resident P street * * * * * in Saint - Mard) likes music, therefore he/it downloads the hit songs of the moment mainly. But he/it also likes the movies. The movies to thick budget Hollywood, as well as of the illegal or forbidden videos to the miners. His/her/its parents probably ignore what is a P2P network and what the teenagers can find there.

- M * * * * * and J * * * * * M * * * * *: since a small office situated to the ground floor of their workplace, the managers of the E hotel * * * * * (hotel situated in border from the peripheral boulevard to Paris, subsidiary of a big group French hotelier) use a computer professionel to download the thousands of music pieces in all kind: jazz, rock, pop, French variety...

- K * * * * *: this internaut works in USA, in the local of the church Saint T * * * * * to New York. Only some files are proposed to the downloading since his/her/its computer, notably several songs of the last album of Nick Cave And the Bad Seeds, that was already distributed since this computer several weeks before the exit of the album in the trade.

- M * * * * * C * * * * *: used of the B group * * * * * C * * * * *, implanted in several score country on the planet, M * * * * * uses the network of the enterprise to download the hundreds of files pirated thanks to KaZaA. In such a case, it is the multinational B * * * * * C * * * * * that risks to have to pay for important damages, because of the machinations of M * * * * *.”

http://www.retspan.info/

So who needs those pesky subpoenas anyway?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Running a Tab Wacky tally of file sharing numbers here. http://eurohost.webmatrixhosting.net/retspan/count.aspx

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

Tower Records shops world for a new future
Mark Anderson

The decision to offer the iconic Tower Records retail brand to buyers could bring anything from a whole new type of retail play to a full-blown fire sale where a purchaser is mainly interested in the chain's prime store locations.

Few are willing to hazard a guess what price West Sacramento- based parent company MTS Inc. might fetch for Tower's world- famous chain of music, book and video stores, in part because the market is thrashing like a fish on a dock. Tower isn't the only property on the sales block, and the core of its business is under pressure from new technology on one side and brick-and-mortar behemoths on the other.

Privately held Tower isn't saying much. "We can have no comment on the financial process, whether it be a merger, a potential sale or a partial sale," said Louise Solomon, company spokeswoman.

The man who's offering it to potential buyers is chattier.

"There has been a lot of interest, and there has been interest from nontraditional businesses. It is not just retail interest," said Lloyd Greif, chief executive of Greif & Co., the Los Angeles investment banking company hired by Tower to explore a merger or acquisition. "We've already had some interesting discussions at this point," he said. "Global brands demand global interest."

While Greif paints Tower as a "stellar international brand," others see the entire store-based retail music industry collapsing on itself.

"The rats are leaving the sinking ship. Not to be disparaging, but the problem is that there are too many stores. The only part of the industry that is growing is used CDs," said George Rosenbaum, chairman of Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, a Chicago-based survey research firm that specializes in retail and shopping.
http://famulus.msnbc.com/famuluscom/...8.asp?bizj=SAC

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

Adult film industry profits from services
Benny Evangelista

As Apple Computer and other rivals backed by the music industry try to draw users away from the popular file-sharing programs, there's one area in which they can't compete: porn videos.

While much has been reported about the billions of free music and Hollywood movie files on the file-sharing services, there's been far less attention paid to the abundance of pornography available for download.

According to a study of an 18-day period in February by Palisade Systems Inc. of Ames, Iowa, about 42 percent of the 22 million searches on one of the main file-sharing networks were for pornographic video, compared to 38 percent for copyright-protected audio files.

Most of the controversy surrounding file-sharing programs like Kazaa, Grokster and Morpheus has centered on the trading of free music and movie files. The recording and film industry call this practice piracy and have filed copyright infringement suits trying to shut them down.

But the adult film industry has not taken such a stance, despite the plentiful amount of porn available. Instead of fighting file sharing, some in that industry -- estimated to be generating $750 million to $1 billion per year in revenue -- are quietly finding new ways to profit from it.

"The porn guys are smart, they've figured out how to use the technology," said Grokster President Wayne Rosso.

Rosso said that his firm, incorporated on the island of Nevis, West Indies, doesn't track what Grokster users are trading, but that he believes the amount of pornography on the network "is less than the percentage of porn on the Internet as a whole."

But the adult filmmakers "know how to market themselves," Rosso said. "You've got to sit there and say to the recording industry or the movie industry, 'Look at what these guys are doing. Why can't you take a cue from them?' "

The adult film industry is "leveraging the power of peer-to-peer," which creates a large online social gathering of potential customers, said Aram Sinnreich, a doctoral fellow at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communication.

"The lesson I suggest (the recording industry) learn from the porn industry is: How do you use free to promote paid?" he said.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...&type=business

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

Online File Sharing Thrives in USA

comScore Networks reports that despite growth in most sectors of consumer e-commerce, online sales of recorded music in the USA have continued to decline sharply for three consecutive quarters. At the same time, millions of Internet users continue to use online file-sharing services even as some of these applications have vanished.

The comScore analysis - based on the actual online activity of more than 1.5 million representative Internet users - shows that 2002 online music sales through the third quarter were $545 million, down 25 percent from the $730 million spent over the same period last year. In fact, the decline in online sales of recorded music has accelerated throughout 2002, with sales declining versus year-ago by 12 percent, 28 percent and 39 percent in the first, second and third quarters of 2002, respectively. In contrast, online sales of all products (excluding auctions) increased 30 percent, 28 percent and 30 percent over the same three quarters.

The decline in online music sales far exceeds the decline in overall shipments of recorded music as recently reported by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). While the RIAA reported in August 2002 that total U.S. music shipments dropped seven percent in the first half of 2002 versus the first half of 2001 ($5.93 billion versus $5.53 billion), comScore data shows that online sales of music fell 20 percent (from $531 million to $424 million) over the same period.

‘The music industry attributes the decline in online and offline music sales to a variety of factors, such as a slow economy, fewer hit songs, piracy, CD-burning and file-swapping among others,’ said Peter Daboll, division president of comScore Media Metrix, a division of comScore Networks. ‘While a host of factors inevitably impact consumer behaviour, the greater sales decline online as reported by comScore would suggest that Internet file-swapping and CD-burning are having a severe negative impact on music sales among Internet users.’

After the fall of legendary file-swapping pioneer Napster, comScore data shows that U.S. consumers quickly flocked to numerous alternatives, including Kazaa and Morpheus. Each of the latter two increased its average monthly U.S. home user base from less than one million in the second quarter of 2001 to 4.6 million and 7.1 million, respectively, in the first quarter of 2002. By the close of the third quarter of 2002, Kazaa had built an impressive following of 9.4 million average monthly U.S. home users.

‘comScore Media Metrix will continue to report online purchases of music as well as usage of file- swapping,’ concluded Daboll. ‘In addition, we'll be conducting more in-depth analyses and looking at key online segments such as the university population, an audience which our data show contains many heavy users of file-swapping services.’
http://www.mrons.com/drno/news1980.htm

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

He May Shy From Tanks but Not the Massed Media Forces

One lawyer helped a file-sharing network beat the entertainment industry. Now he seeks new battles.
Jon Healey

One day in the early 1970s, as the Vietnam War dragged on and the antiwar movement gathered steam, students at the University of Pennsylvania seized the campus quadrangle and barricaded themselves behind its iron gates.

Mayor Frank L. Rizzo sent in the Philadelphia police. Just so there would be no misunderstanding, the cops rolled up in a Sherman tank with a 75-millimeter cannon.

"Everyone sort of assumed it wasn't loaded, but no one wanted to find out," Michael H. Page, a former Penn philosophy major who was among the demonstrators that day, recalled recently. "We declared victory and left."

Page now is a lawyer at Keker & Van Ness in San Francisco, surrounded by high-tech clients instead of antiwar activists. But when he signed on to defend Grokster, the five-person company behind a controversial online file-sharing network, he ran into the courtroom equivalent of a Sherman tank: the massed force of the major record companies, music publishers and Hollywood studios.

And this time, he really did win.

Grokster and other file-sharing systems let users find and copy music, movies and software from one another's computers. They're like giant neighborhood garage sales, but everything is free and supplies are unlimited.

The music industry blames widespread file sharing for slumping CD sales, and the movie industry fears it will have the same problems as soon as consumers have faster connections to the Internet. The industries have sued the most popular file-sharing companies, winning pretrial rulings that shut down the popular Napster Inc. and Aimster networks.

Late last month, however, U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson in Los Angeles ruled that Grokster and Streamcast Networks Inc., which distributes Morpheus file-sharing software, didn't violate the studios' or labels' copyrights. Although Wilson found that songs and movies were being copied illegally on those networks, he said the two companies weren't liable because they didn't monitor or control users' behavior.

The ruling, which the entertainment companies plan to appeal, blew a gaping hole in the industry's anti-piracy strategy and legitimized a legion of file-sharing upstarts. By helping firms such as Grokster grow stronger, the decision also may increase the pressure on entertainment companies to work with file-sharing networks.

Page doesn't claim full credit for the victory. Two prominent West Coast law firms and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a public interest group, did the legal heavy lifting early on before circumstances pushed Page into a more prominent role.

"I've likened it to drafting a bicycle behind two semis," Page said. "All of a sudden, one of them rolls and the other turns left."

Page helped frame the case as a battle not over piracy, but over technology. For Page and his allies, it became a fight to preserve a key principle of the law: that products with legitimate uses shouldn't be outlawed just because they can aid lawbreakers.

That principle was established in a landmark 1984 Supreme Court decision that held that the Sony Betamax videocassette recorder didn't violate the Hollywood studios' copyrights: A technology with substantial, legitimate uses couldn't be banned because of the way some people chose to use it.

The parallels between that case and Grokster were so strong, Page said, he was sure he would win.

"The thought that we might possibly lose did cross our mind," Page said with his characteristic deadpan humor during an interview at his cramped office in a converted warehouse on the northeastern end of San Francisco's financial district. "We didn't think it was likely."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,6542102.story

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

SBC plans public Wi-Fi network
Ben Charny

SBC has recently taken steps toward building a public wireless local area network, the company said Monday.

The service is an attempt to fend off competition from the cable industry, say analysts, who note that SBC is the second major telephone company to use the popularity of Wi-Fi wireless networks to better compete against such rivals.

SBC spokesman Michael Coe said the broadband and telephone provider has begun shopping for the equipment needed to create public hot spots, which are places such as coffee shops or hotels where SBC customers can connect to the Internet or their office computers without wires.

Nearly a dozen equipment makers--including Cisco Systems, Proxim and Symbol Technologies--are expected to respond to the request for proposals SBC made last week.

The telecom company recently appointed a vice president of Wi-Fi, Brooks McCorlce, who is exploring "the best way for SBC to deploy Wi-Fi," Coe said. SBC has already been selling Wi-Fi access points to subscribers of its SBC Yahoo DSL (digital subscriber line) service and to its corporate customers, the spokesman said.

SBC and Verizon Communications have been experimenting with Wi-Fi technology to attract subscribers with as many services as possible. The hope is that providing customers with bundles of services will keep them from leaving for rival services.

The bundling tactic could help stave off cable companies' recent efforts to gain share in the local phone-service industry, according to some analysts. Some cable companies have grabbed 20 percent to 30 percent market share for local phone service in some areas.

Coe would not give further information about SBC's Wi-Fi plans, other than to describe them as "aggressive."

DSL providers and cellular telephone service companies have also been adding hot spots into their major markets. For instance, Verizon Communications last week unveiled 150 of the 1,000 Wi-Fi hot spots it plans to open at pay phones throughout Manhattan. The hot spots are available for free to Verizon's broadband customers.
http://news.com.com/2100-1039-1007820.html

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

Ted Turner
Gone With the Wind

Ted Turner is a worried man. His media career is gone with the wind. His faith in the United Nations looks naive. He thinks humanity's on the verge of extinction, and he's down to his last billion.
Patricia Sellers

Even when he is down, out, tired, miserable, wounded, worried, and wiped out--all words that spill from Ted Turner when he's asked how he's doing these days--he is, as ever, in motion. "I went 90 miles an hour through my career," he says as he dashes around his brand-new office in Atlanta. "I built a multibillion-dollar company, and I won the America's Cup. I was the greatest sailor in the world. I ran through three wives and numerous girlfriends, and I wore them all out! I smoked through life!" In case anyone questions it, the Mouth of the South adds, "I'm still going fast!"

This is Ted spinning in the Turnerverse--that's what he calls his private world outside his public role at AOL Time Warner (parent of FORTUNE's publisher). The Turnerverse is expanding: Turner has just cashed out more than half of his holdings in America's largest media company for $790 million and is quitting--"in disgust," he says--his job as vice chairman. Within days of announcing his departure he had packed up his 91 framed magazine covers of himself, his 400 sailing trophies, his World Series ring, his 34 honorary degrees, and his multitudinous media accolades and shipped all this stuff from Atlanta's CNN Center, where he had kept his office for 16 years, to a building two blocks away at 133 Luckie Street. The new address is a good omen, he figures.

Signs of success give comfort to the displaced titan. "Look!" Turner shouts, pulling back the curtain in his new office to show off his perfect view of the giant red CNN logo that identifies his former headquarters. Grabbing a spear that leans against one wall, he pretend-hurls it across the room: "This is Jackie Joyner-Kersee's javelin from the Goodwill Games," he says, referring to the scheme he hatched in 1985 to end the Cold War. On his desk a wooden sign reads either lead, follow, or get out of the way--Turner's lifelong credo, which he has been thinking about a lot lately. Finally parking himself beside the Oscar for Gone With the Wind he acquired when he bought the MGM film library in 1986, he asks, "So, what's this story about?" Ted's New Life, I reply. He emits his habitual "Awwww!" and then says, "Right now I'm kind of like Rhett Butler walking out the door on his way to Charleston to look for a more noble life."

"Or," he adds, "it's about sex!"

This is the grandiose and profane Ted Turner we have come to expect in the nearly 30 years since he first burst onto the public stage, a brash young man with a big mouth and crazy ideas. He still has both of those, but he's now troubled by a new sensation: a feeling that he's lost control.

He gets that feeling when he's thinking, which he often is, about his fortune. Or what's left of it. As AOL Time Warner stock tumbled 81% from its high in 2000 to $13, Turner's holdings declined from $10.7 billion to $1.4 billion, in shares he owns directly or controls. That's a drop of over $9 billion. But Turner sold--and mainly gave away--large amounts of stock in the interim, bringing his actual losses down to about $8.5 billion. Long before he stunned Wall Street and the media world by selling 60 million shares in May, he'd been kicking himself for not diversifying. He acquired his shares in 1996 when he sold Turner Broadcasting--CNN, TNT, the TBS Superstation, Turner Classic Movies, the Cartoon Network, New Line Cinema, and several sports teams, including the Atlanta Braves--to Time Warner. In 2000 Time Warner agreed to combine with AOL in the biggest corporate merger ever. Turner rode the stock down as the company's troubles, including onerous debt and accounting problems, piled up. "I'm the stupidest person in the world not to have sold earlier," Turner says. He has only one other significant investment: land, of which he owns more than anyone else in America.
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/ceo/a...450917,00.html

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

Spain’s PureTunes On Hold For Now, Response “Overwhelming”
Brian Garrity

A new for-pay digital music service being distributed through the Grokster peer-to-peer network in the U.S. is running afoul of the recording industry by selling unlimited access to major-label music without authorization.

Puretunes, based in Madrid, allows consumers to download all the MP3 files they want, in subscription packages ranging from $3.99 for eight hours of access to $168 for a year. The company does not have licensing deals with the major labels; however, it is vowing to compensate rights holders. Puretunes claims that since it has deals with the Spanish Association of Authors and Editors and the country's Association of Artists, Performers, and Players, it is legal under Spain's copyright law. Representatives for the two bodies were unavailable for comment.

Distribution was to begin yesterday (May 20); however, Grokster president Wayne Rosso says the effort had to be tabled shortly after launch due to overwhelming consumer response that flooded Puretunes' servers.

http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/ar...ent_id=1892042

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

Pioneer broadens DVD support in drives
Richard Shim

Pioneer Electronics is aiming to reduce confusion in the DVD rewritable market by incorporating support for several major formats with its next-generation drive.

The Long Beach, Calif.-based electronics maker will announce Monday that its sixth- generation drive, the DVR-A06, will arrive in the United States in June. The drive will retail for $329 and support DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, CD-R and CD-RW. The DVD+RW format includes support for DVD+R media. The DVR-A06 will be for use inside PCs; an external version, which can be connected to a PC via a cable, will likely follow in three months to four months, said Andy Parsons, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Pioneer Electronics.

"The market has been confused," said Parsons, referring to the confusion the incompatible DVD rewritable formats may have caused in consumers. "We're hoping that by changing our strategy, we can help grow the market and ease customer confusion."
http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-1007520.html

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

Speeding's the ticket for U.S. surfers
Stefanie Olsen

More Americans are signing up for high-speed Internet access this year, and cable and digital subscriber line providers are duking it out for their dollars.

Nearly 2 million people began using broadband service in the first quarter of 2003, pushing the total U.S. tally to 19 million subscribers, according to a new study by the Leichtman Research Group.

More of those subscribers opted for cable Internet access than for access via DSL, the study said. The top cable companies added 1.2 million people for the quarter, for 65 percent of the total market.

"Both cable and DSL had a record-setting quarter in the first quarter of 2003, but cable continued the trend of adding nearly twice as many subscribers as DSL," said Bruce Leichtman, president of the research company.

Major DSL providers are launching lower-priced services to push adoption. For example, Verizon Communications and Microsoft earlier this week unveiled their long-awaited joint DSL service for $34.95 a month, with a $5 discount for customers of certain Verizon voice service plans.

All the leading Internet service providers--including Microsoft's MSN, AOL Time Warner's America Online and EarthLink--are trying to reinvent themselves as providers of high-speed Net access to battle the defection of subscribers to discount dial-up companies and broadband providers.

Cable companies have a wide market to capture, too. The top 10 U.S. cable providers have equipment in place to supply broadband Internet to 87 million potential subscribers. Only 14 percent of these have signed up for cable Net access, however.

Of the cable companies, Comcast led in broadband adoption in the first quarter, with 417,000 new high-speed Net access subscribers and a total customer base of 4 million. AOL Time Warner came second with 260,000 new customers and 2.7 million total, according to the report.

In the DSL niche, SBC Communications headed the pack, with 271,000 new customers and 2.5 million total. Verizon followed with 160,000 newbies and 1.8 million cumulative.

The data was compiled through reported totals in the various companies' quarterly reports, according to Leichtman Research Group. That excludes private companies, whose numbers were estimated.
http://news.com.com/2100-1024-1003915.html

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

Music Industry Crackdown Hasn't Fazed Ohio U. Filesharing Hub
Brandon Worth

Despite the loss of its original administrator, a student- operated computer file-sharing network at Ohio University continues to hum away in the face of continued efforts by record industry and university officials around the country to target students suspected of using similar networks to illegally obtain copyrighted music and movies.

On May 8, The Athens NEWS reported use of the computer program, OU Direct Connect, by more than 300 OU students to swap thousands of computer files, such as MP3 song files. Just days before, the Recording Industry of America had settled a $98 billion lawsuit with four college students who controlled file- sharing hubs on their schools' networks, and Ohio State University officials in Columbus aggressively dismantled a file- sharing network on that campus.

Sean O'Malley, public relations manager for OU Communication Network Services, said Friday that OU continues to allow students to share computer files and only investigates the media downloading activities of students when complaints are filed with CNS.

So far, CNS has received no complaints about students using OU Direct Connect, he said.

http://www.athensnews.com/issue/arti...story_id=12729

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

Has Copyright Law Met Its Match?
Access by the disabled provides challenge to controversial DMCA.
Elsa Wenzel

Electronic books should be the easiest books for the blind to "read." Software can instantly translate the digital files into sound or Braille.

So why can't the 10 million Americans who are blind "read" the latest Michael Crichton thriller or George Pelecanos mystery?

A copyright law glitch, thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, is the culprit. But fixing it could also be the key to changing the law's restrictions on using digital material.

A battle has been joined, pitting consumers like the blind and their advocates against the publishing and entertainment industries. On the one side, people with disabilities and digital rights advocates say the law is too broad, by limiting access to content and not accommodating advances in technology. On the other side are book publishers who argue the DMCA actually promoted the growth of e-books by protecting copyright.

And some say the controversy illustrates why the DMCA should never have become law in the first place.

Limited Access

The DMCA punishes people with disabilities, say some experts in law and technology. They contend it clashes with existing copyright laws and even the Constitution.

"This law has to be reformed," says Robin Gross, an attorney and executive director of IP Justice, an international civil liberties organization.

"Freedom of speech guarantees of the Constitution explicitly require that copyright holders do not have total control over" how someone experiences their work, Gross says. But she contends the DMCA reverses that right by allowing copyright-holders to lock a PC from giving voice to e-books.

http://pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,110783,00.asp

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

Lava wave

Question

If I had to save myself by surfing down a molten lava flow, what would I be able to stand on that wouldn't melt from the heat of the lava?
Ben Williams (aged 6) , Bristol, UK

Answers

Just take an old surfboard, punch lots of holes through it and connect them to a water tank placed on top of the board. Water escaping through the holes will create the same effect that you can observe when spitting on a hot iron plate: the droplets dance on the plate for quite a long time because they are separated from the plate by a thin layer of steam, which is a bad heat conductor.

This effect would allow you to surf on the lava wave, because the board would be cushioned from the lava by the steam layer. The friction between the board and the lava would be virtually zero. I think that this creation should be known internationally as the sizzleboard!

Radko Istenic , Ljubljana, Slovenia

http://www.newscientist.com/lastword....jsp?id=lw1010

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

BT Group "peer perform"
Bear Stearns

Analyst Jonathan Dann of Bear Stearns issues a "peer perform" rating on BT Group (BTY).

The analyst expects the BT Group to report FY03 results in line with consensus. The analyst prefers Telecom Italia to BT Group as the former offers higher growth, better yield and is currently trading below its reasonable price.

http://www.newratings.com/new2/beta/...asp?aid=293873

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

Singer Elvis Costello Defends Outspoken Artists
Reuters

British singer-songwriter Elvis Costello on Tuesday defended musicians who speak their minds in these "fairly dangerous times" and warned Americans to guard against "any attempts by people who swindle their way into office."

Addressing a music industry dinner in Beverly Hills, California, Costello also criticized the British political system, which he described as "privileged people handing wigs to one another making the laws of the land."

The 48-year-old musician, famed for such songs as "Oliver's Army" and "Everyday I Write the Book," was being honored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, a music licensing group that also campaigns for artists' rights.

Costello drew loud cheers from the black-tie audience, which included songwriters Stevie Wonder, Rick James, Burt Bacharach, Solomon Burke and Nelly.

"We all live in fairly dangerous times in terms of freedom of speech and freedom of expression," Costello said.

"A lot of the songwriters that I've admired and learned from ... are people who spoke in matters of conscience as well as matters of the heart. I think that it's essential that we defend that right."

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=2784401

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New MSN Messenger

Version 6.0 here. http://www.p2p-zone.com/underground/...threadid=16407

Thanks Napho!

Info:http://www.betanews.com/article.php3?sid=1052786784

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

Music Industry Goes on Offensive to Push Downloads
Reuters

The music industry on Wednesday launched a new Web site aimed at informing consumers where to look on the Internet to buy music downloads, its latest effort to win over fans from free file-sharing networks.

The Web site, www.Pro-Music.org, was designed by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), a global trade group representing major and independent music labels and publishers.

The site carries technical tips on industry-backed download services, such as Pressplay and MusicNet. It also contains pleas from artists like Russian singing duo t.a.T.u asking fans to pay for music downloads rather than go to free file-sharing networks where countless tracks are swapped each day.

The music industry blames so-called peer-to-peer networks for part of the decline in recorded music sales, a slump some predict will continue for years, eating further into sales.

In addition to education initiatives, the group has stepped up lobbying efforts and has urged music labels to develop more compelling commercial download services.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=2783650


Top Ten Music Websites in the UK, April 2003

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, at home and work combined, April 2003

Digital Download Day 2 Only Partial Success - report
David Minto

Digital Download Day 2, the event organised by music company OD2 to raise the profile of legal internet music downloads, can only be considered a partial success, according to the latest figures from Nielsen/NetRatings.

The event on 18 April helped the website of the company sponsoring the event, OD2, attract 523,000 visitors during April to become the UK’s fifth music website for that month. Nielsen/NetRatings reports that other paid download sites are also starting to increase the size of their audiences. Subscription site Emusic.com is the most prominent example, with 165,000 UK users during the quarter ending in March 2003.

Yet Nielsen/Netratings’ figures also reveal that file-sharing sites still bring in high audiences, with Kazaa the most popular music site in the UK, attracting over 1.3m people in April, almost double that of the next nearest site, CD- Wow.

“The music industry has been suspicious of the Internet as a medium for selling music, pointing to file-sharing as the reason for falling sales,” commented Nielsen/NetRatings European Market Analyst Tom Ewing. “But these figures show that at present CD retailers like CD-Wow and HMV are attracting higher online audiences than any paid download site. You only need to look at the success of Amazon, as well as these sites, to see that there’s a market for buying CD’s online which dwarfs the paid download audience,” said Ewing.

He went on: “The problem for paid download sites is that while security, legitimacy and convenience are their main advantages over the file-sharing communities, those advantages are also shared by sites which sell actual CDs. Events like Digital Download Day 2 are a poor indication of demand for paid downloads because they are offering a limited amount of free credit so users don’t actually need to pay anything.”

http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=16419