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file sharing
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BoingBoing notes that the U.S. House of Representatives has passed the notorious PRO-IP bill that " puts local law enforcement in a position to demand the forfeiture in criminal proceedings of stuff used to violate copyright. Which means that instead of the RIAA simply trying to collect fines, they can also incite local authorities to collect all the computers and related gear that was used to pirate." [ BoingBoing ] (Thanks, John!)
Nine Inch Nails is offering their new album for download "one hundred percent free," on their website. They'll also release a CD and a vinyl version in July for those of you who like paying for stuff. "The music is available in a variety of formats including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE," says NIN. Will you buy a record that the band gives away? [NIN]
file sharing
drm
Microsoft Stops Supporting MSN Music DRM, Tells You To Hurry Up And Transfer Your Songs
David says:Yet another reason not to buy DRM music. They are telling us that we have to burn our music to CD format since no additional computers or devices can be authorized after August 31, 2008. So let's see. Burn to CD, then rip said CD to MP3. Couldn't they just give us a tool to do it for us, just this once?David forwarded a copy of the email Microsoft sent him about the expiring DRM. Reading it gives us a headache. More »
worst company in america
Universal Music Group: Throwing Away Promotional CDs Is An "Unauthorized Distribution"
All promotional CDs are forever the property of Universal Music Group and giving or throwing them away are "unauthorized distributions," according to a brief filed by UMG. In a lawsuit filed in federal court, UMG claims that ownership rights to promotional CDs, typically sent to DJs, reviewers, and others in the music business to generate hype for new releases, are expressly retained by the label. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is taking up the fight against this absurd position in UMG v. Augusto. More »
new and exciting products
MySpace To Launch DRM-Free Music Store
MySpace is starting a DRM-free music store, says the NYT.Exact terms of the deal and details about the new site, like prices for downloaded music tracks, were not disclosed. But MySpace did say the site would offer songs free of digital rights management software or D.R.M., which is used to prevent illicit copying but can create technical hurdles for buyers. The songs would be playable on any portable music device, including Apple's iPod.The store will also feature ring tones, tickets, T-shirts, and all that other stuff the kids like. More »
worst company in america
Round 4: Google Vs Sony
Google is like the elephant that never forgets... and it knows all of your personal information. Do you trust it not to be "evil?" Or is Google just a nice name for "Big Brother?" Let's not forget how they bowed to Chinese government demands that Chinese users be prevented from seeing certain search results, like information about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Sony is a member of former Worst Company in America winner, the RIAA. When its not fake blogging, it can be found installing a rootkit on your computer and finding lots of ways to void your warranty.
This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america/
STILL OPEN FOR VOTING: Ticketmaster vs Wachovia, Facebook vs The American Arbitration Association, Comcast vs Menu Foods
(Photo:Jeff Sanquist)
riaa
RIAA Pockets Filesharing Settlement Money, Doesn't Pay Artists Whose Copyrights Were Infringed
None of the estimated $400 million that the RIAA received in settlements with Napster, KaZaA, and Bolt over allegations of copyright infringement has gone to the artists whose copyrights were allegedly infringed. Now the artists are considering suing the RIAA. More »
Rumor has it that the RIAA is plotting to steal from anyone who has ever illegally downloaded music a single hour of sleep early Sunday morning. Adjust your clocks accordingly.
Trent Reznor's "free sample" music marketing experiment is a success. [Ars Technica]
48% of teenagers haven't bought a CD in a year, meaning that 52% of teenagers still buy more CDs than we do. [LA Times]
corporate influence
House Passes Bill That Would Require Colleges To Practice Network Filtering
Last week the House voted 354-58 to approve a college funding bill that requires colleges to "make plans to offer some form of legal alternative to P2P file-swapping" and to implement some form of network filtering. Luckily for sane people everywhere, the White House has already made veto-noises at the bill for other reasons—but still, the MPAA came that much closer to forcing its admittedly false worldview on universities. More »
privacy
Verizon To Hollywood: We're Not The Piracy Police
AT&T and Comcast may be willing to help Hollywood control piracy on their networks, but Verizon wants none of it, says the New York Times. More »
RIAA website hacked. Over the weekend, some hacker-types took it upon themselves to delete the RIAA's website. [TorrentFreak]
sales
Video Game Industry On Nitro While Music Cries Alone In The Dark With No Friends
The video game industry is on fire! Wooo! Sales are up! Times are good!In December, Nintendo had its biggest month ever with the hot-selling game system. Holiday shoppers bought 1.4 million Wiis, according to sales data released Thursday by the NPD Group. The Wii's success helped drive the video game industry to a record-setting $17.9 billion in sales, about 43% higher than 2006's $12.5 billion, which was also a record.Meanwhile the music industry isn't having such a fun time. Sales are down. People are getting fired at EMI and the Rolling Stones are all pissed off about it. More »
Sony has agreed to sell its songs DRM-free on the Amazon MP3 store, completing the set—now all four big record companies are on board. It's amazing how a little iTunes competitiveness will bring a bunch of executives together. [New York Times]
drm
Napster Drops DRM, Will (Finally) Sell MP3s
Napster, once a file-sharing service that famously drug the RIAA kicking and litigating into the digital music era, will finally drop DRM and start selling mp3s, says Ars Technica. More »
riaa
Sony BMG Will Drop DRM
BusinessWeek says that Sony BMG will join us here in the 21st century when they become the last of the top 4 big record companies to drop DRM.More »
In a move that would mark the end of a digital music era, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is finalizing plans to sell songs without the copyright protection software that has long restricted the use of music downloaded from the Internet, BusinessWeek.com has learned. Sony BMG, a joint venture of Sony (SNE) and Bertelsmann, will make at least part of its collection available without so-called digital rights management, or DRM, software some time in the first quarter, according to people familiar with the matter.
