Two years ago 97% of the world never heard of VoIP phone service,today it’s in use by millions of people around the world.
One of the biggest draw backs is the inability to hold conference callswith more then two or three people. Security is an another issue, mostof the free VoIP services are using codec’s that [...]
If you follow the various RIAA lawsuits against music fans over unauthorized file sharing, you certainly know the name Ray Beckerman, a lawyer in New York who not only has defended clients against the RIAA, but runs a wonderful resource, called a href=”http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/”Recording Industry vs. The People/a, that keeps people informed on various issues and cases related to the RIAA’s campaign. We a href=”http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071211/101325.shtml”don’t/a always agree with Beckerman, though we do side with him in the vast majority of cases. He is fighting an important fight, standing up for people that the recording industry has often unfairly bullied through the use of questionable legal tactics and flimsy evidence. Before Beckerman came along and took a very public stand, a href=”http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20060406/0914230.shtml”exposing/a the RIAA’s playbook, there was almost no one in the legal community standing up to cry foul at the RIAA’s actions.
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Apparently, the RIAA has had enough of him, however, and has a href=”http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/riaa-decries-at.html” target=”_new”filed motions against him directly/a, asking that he be declared a “vexatious litigant” and demanding monetary sanctions. Specifically, the RIAA is claiming that Beckerman made false statements, sending the RIAA off on tangential efforts, while trying to block every effort by the RIAA to obtain the evidence it needed in the case. Plus, the RIAA’s lawyers are not at all happy that Beckerman posted all of the motions he filed to his blog, claiming:
blockquotei
Finally, as this Court is aware, Defendant’s counsel has maintained an anti-recording
industry blog during the course of this case and has consistently posted virtually every one of his baseless motions on his blog seeking to bolster his public relations campaign and embarrass
Plaintiffs. Such vexatious conduct demeans the integrity of these judicial proceedings and
warrants this imposition of sanctions.
/i/blockquote
While it’s unclear how much truth there is to the false statements claims, complaining about the blog is simply ridiculous. From the beginning of the RIAA’s legal campaign, its own executives have always insisted that the lawsuits were part of an educational and PR campaign to promote that downloading was illegal. On the whole, the entire filing has the feeling of sour grapes on the RIAA’s lawyers’ part. They don’t like that they lost, and they hate the fact that Beckerman keeps exposing their tactics and flimsy evidence. Clearly, he’s getting under their skin a bit. It was much easier suing music fans with questionable evidence when no one was standing up for them.
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Well, well, well. The latest story about a “solution” to the “problem” of piracy has an interesting twist to it. A company named Nexicon, claims that it’s about to launch a href=”http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10057″ target=”_new”an automated piracy tracker/payment collector/a. It says that it’s able to watch various file sharing systems, tracking who’s sharing and downloading unauthorized files — and then sends them an iautomated/i letter demanding they pay up, including a “convenient” one-click payment system where you can settle up via your credit card or PayPal. Even better, the company claims that it’s trying to patent this method, which is hardly new or unique (and, you have to wonder if Nexicon is paying Amazon a license for using “one-click” payments — as the company even seems to brag that it copied Amazon’s one-click solution).
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There are plenty of questions raised by this. First, if it’s actually put into use as described, it would be the first time we see the industry attempting to target idownloaders/i as opposed to uploaders. All of the various lawsuits and pre-settlement letters have always targeted those who share the unauthorized content. But the article claims this will go after downloaders (though, it’s not entirely clear how they’ll know who actually downloads the file). Then, of course, there’s the whole a href=”http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080714/1551101673.shtml”extortion/a question of demanding payment to avoid a lawsuit — especially when the actual evidence may be rather flimsy.
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As for the patent application (which a casual search did not turn up), it’s hard to see how copying the same strategy that’s been used for years by the recording industry, merged with the already-questionably-patented Amazon 1-click method is somehow patentable.
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Oh yeah, there are also some questions about Nexicon itself. Just last week the company announced a a href=”http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080911/lath041.html?.v=101″deal with YouTube/a to provide some audio fingerprinting technology — at which point Wired pointed out the a href=”http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/09/youtube-copyrig.html” target=”_new”rather bizarre history of Nexicon/a. It started out as an online cigarette seller, that got a href=”http://www.atg.wa.gov/pressrelease.aspx?#038;id=3868″sued/a for taking orders from kids, falsely advertising cigarettes as being tax-free and then (not surprisingly) a href=”http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202424226748″failing/a to report taxes. Then there were the problems with the SEC over a href=”http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1053113/000089843203001130/cyconet-nt10q.txt”not filing/a its tax returns on time as well as a href=”http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1053113/000000000005030006/filename1.txt”questionable activities/a in some sort of a href=”http://www.alacrastore.com/mergers-acquisitions/Nexicon_Inc-2513910″reverse stock swap merger/a. Oh, and did we mention at one point the company was going to be a a href=”http://web.abqtrib.com/archives/business/013100_cyko.shtml”portal/a? These are the folks who are going to be popping up automated messages demanding you pay up for downloading a Frank Zappa tune?
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While Metallica is claiming (this time around) they a href=”http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080904/0349242167.shtml”don’t mind/a that the latest album is being shared online, someone forgot to tell the band’s representatives. TorrentFreak notes that the band’s European record label, Universal Music (in the US, the label is Warner Brothers Records) a href=”http://torrentfreak.com/metallica-interview-canceled-after-pirate-bay-row-080914/” target=”_new”has canceled the band’s scheduled interview with a Swedish newspaper/a after a reviewer for the paper reviewed a remixed version of the album that he admitted he had downloaded via The Pirate Bay.
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Universal’s claim was that this is “totally unacceptable” seems destined to backfire. This is only going to provide a lot more attention to the fact that there’s a different remix of the album available online that many people find better than the official version. Plenty of other artists ilike/i and iencourage/i others to remix their music, because it tends to get fans much more involved with the music and can help attract new fans while making existing fans more connected to the band. For all of Metallica’s a href=”http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080528/1929071251.shtml”talk/a of really embracing online fandom this time around, it keeps showing that it puts up roadblocks all around, rather than really connecting with the fans.
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MySpace has been prepping its own music offering for quite some time, and Fortune reveals the basic details. They’re somewhat… underwhelming. It’s basically a scaled up version of that UK startup we wrote about last week, where we noted that you don’t beat piracy by being more annoying. Basically, MySpace will let people post streamable music on their sites, and will then sell ads against the music, as well as link to sites like iTunes and Amazon for people who want to actually buy the tracks.
There’s nothing wrong with the idea. But, it’s unlikely to make much of a difference in the market. To say, as Fortune does, that this “promises to be the most significant rollout of a digital-music service since Apple’s iTunes” is either hyperbole or (more likely) a statement on how awful other music services have been in the interim. Yet, it also ignores the elephant in the room (as does the MySpace store) which is that it only focuses on one reason why people download unauthorized music: the free part. Yes, MySpace music will be free. But will it also match the other reasons why people like file sharing systems? The convenience? The fact that it’s unencumbered with annoying ads or DRM? The aspect of sharing and helping to promote other artists?
MySpace’s offering will have some of that, but there’s no downloading. People will be able to create playlists and share them, but that doesn’t seem all that different than, say, iMeem. As if to prove that no one involved in this project wants to mention the elephant of file sharing, check out this quote from Luke Wood, executive VP of Universal’s Interscope Geffen A&M record label:
“This is how people discover music now. It’s not happening through people reading Rolling Stone. It’s not happening through the radio. It’s happening through social networks online.”
Is it really that difficult for folks in the industry to at least admit that many, many people discover new music through file sharing? They don’t have to say that it’s okay or that it’s legal. But if they’re going to come up with something that really competes, they should at least be willing to admit what’s really happening in the marketplace. This is not to knock MySpace and the labels for trying something different. It’s great that they’re trying — but pretending that file sharing doesn’t exist isn’t how you respond to the market threat. Without being willing to even mention the elephant, it’s hard to believe that the response is going to be able to compete with the elephant.
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Last month, we wrote about how some record labels were experimenting with waiting until a song became popular and then removing it from iTunes, hoping that this would somehow encourage people to buy the physical CD instead. Of course, it appeared to really just help cover bands who quickly filled the void (and it’s likely that unauthorized file sharing shot up). However, it didn’t create a huge boost for CD sales — though, it didn’t appear to harm the artist all that much either. Jon Healey over at the LA Times lets us know that the music of Estelle, for whom this experiment was conducted, is now back on iTunes, and the Nielsen SoundScan data suggested not much of a change in album sales. They went up slightly during the time period, but not significantly — and clearly the label decided that it was better just to have the songs back on iTunes. Hopefully other labels recognize that making it more difficult to get music isn’t a particularly intelligent idea.
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While Disney is quite often painted as the leader of the pack when it comes to ridiculous and draconian copyright-related proposals, much of that can be attributed to former CEO Michael Eisner, who helped push for the Bono Copyright Extension Act to “protect” Mickey Mouse. Eisner, famously, loves to talk about the history of intellectual property law — though, he’s almost entirely wrong, attributing much of copyright law to Abraham Lincoln, who had nothing to do with it. After Eisner left, Robert Iger took over, and for a while, it seemed as if he might actually understand that he needed to learn how to embrace new technologies and not treat users as criminals.
Apparently Iger doesn’t fully believe that, though. Joining with previous statements made by the folks in charge of NBC Universal and Viacom, Iger was recently in London saying that ISPs should ban users who are caught downloading unauthorized material. While UK ISPs have agreed to send out industry warning letters, so far they’ve resisted banning users from the internet. Iger, however, thinks that’s not enough:
“We are simply asking for people who are downloading illegal files to get a warning initially then to get their service cut off.”
He then falsely suggests that ISPs are effectively relying on their content to be effective. This is the lie that Big Content likes to tell itself. That it’s really Hollywood content that gets people online, rather than communication tools or other content. But to Iger, the internet’s main purpose is apparently to distribute Disney’s content:
“Most distribution businesses succeed because they have a distribution process in place. They also have product. We contribute to that mightily. It is a joint partnership.”
No, actually, it’s not a partnership. Disney’s using the internet as a platform because that’s what customers demand. If Disney doesn’t like it, it’s free not to bother — but everyone knows that wouldn’t make much sense. And, then, of course, Iger (the same guy who said the entertainment industry should recognize that file sharing was just customers showing content companies what they wanted) falsely equates copyright infringement to “stealing.” So much for Disney taking the high road.
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Last month, of course, there was a big story around the FBI arresting a blogger who was accused of posting the music files from Guns N’ Roses latest album. He now faces many years in jail, despite simply being a fan helping to promote GNR. As we pointed out, this was a huge mistake by GNR, as appearing anti-fan is a move that will almost always backfire.
As if to provide even more evidence of that, Bob Lefsetz does a quick email back-and-forth with Eric Garland of BigChampagne, the company that tracks file sharing activity. Garland points out that prior to the arrest, there was almost no file sharing of the album, despite the fact that the leak happened a while back. However, since the arrest, the numbers have shot way up, as the arrest has really only served to alert the public that the album is available for download on BitTorrent.
Now, the cynical among you (you know who you are) may conclude that this is all a marketing ploy by the band, knowing that it would attract a lot more attention for the album, and that’s why they did it. Of course, that doesn’t explain why the FBI is involved and why a fan of the band may now have to sit in jail for many years for helping to promote the band. If this really is a cynical marketing ploy, it’s rather sickening that the FBI is assisting and a big fan of the band may end up in jail for it.
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No matter what you think of controversial film maker Michael Moore (and I’ll admit that I’m not a fan — I think he’s entertaining, but plays way too loose with the facts, even on issues where I might agree with him), over the years this been this odd compulsion by pro-copyright folks to pigeonhole Moore as being against anyone sharing his films online — despite the fact he’s clearly stated he has no problem with people file sharing his movies if it means more people see them. Yet, as we’ve pointed out, others have claimed that Moore’s worst “nightmare” came true when one of his movies was leaked online, despite the fact that the leak helped get it more attention (just as Moore wanted) making the movie quite profitable. Then there was the “legal group” that used one of Moore’s films as an example of filmmakers hurt by file sharing — again ignoring Moore’s stated appreciation of fans sharing his movies.
Well, now he’s making his stance even clearer. He’s releasing his latest movie for free online, though, oddly it will only be officially available that way for three weeks (though, I’m sure by then it will be widely available in unauthorized forms as well). As of right now, it’s a little unclear if the movie will be available for actual download or just streaming, though the website for the movie itself, called Slacker Uprising says that it will be a download. I think he’s being a bit disingenuous in claiming that he’s not planning to profit from the release, as he’s also offering a DVD for sale, which will likely do quite well. Either way, perhaps now folks will stop using the leaks of his movies as evidence that he’s against free distribution of his movies.
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Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone company, will launch an all-out assault on Apple’s iPhone today with a new range of phones that will give music lovers access to an unlimited service.
Anyone willing buy a Nokia Comes With Music pre-pay phone will be able to download up to 2.1m music tracks - about a quarter of the number available from Apple’s iTunes - onto their computer for no extra charge for 12 months.
Those tracks can be loaded onto the Nokia phone and after a year users will need to buy a new device in order to continue downloading new releases. In contrast to other so-called unlimited music services, however, if they choose not to buy a new device, they can keep all the tracks they have already downloaded.
They will still play on the user’s computer and handset, which will also still be able to send texts and make calls.
Nokia, which is hoping the phone will be popular this Christmas with parents seeking to make their children’s music file sharing legal, will today announce that the UK will be the first market to get Comes With Music.
The first phone will be its 5310 handset, although at least one more device will be announced in time for Christmas.
The company has signed up Carphone Warehouse, which has more than 800 shops, to stock the phone. Carphone Warehouse is also Apple’s sole independent stockist of the iPhone.
Nokia’s UK managing director Simon Ainslie believes the Nokia Comes With Music range will be “the number one selling product at Christmas”.
“This is a unique proposition. Nobody has launched an unlimited music service that allows you to keep your music with no catches,” said Ainslie. “What we are trying to do is bring back some value to the music industry from people who are not paying for music. There are a lot of parents who would like to legitimise their children’s purchasing of music.”
Already some internet service providers (ISPs) have sent letters to persistent illegal file sharers warning them that their activities have been noticed, having reached a deal with industry body the BPI. For many parents this will be the first indication that their children are doing anything illicit on the internet.
Nokia Comes With Music, which was first mooted last year, is a gamble for the Finnish handset maker, which supplies four out of every 10 phones sold worldwide. It risks further damaging Nokia’s already fraught relationship with many of the major mobile phone companies. Last year it provoked their ire by announcing its own suite of mobile services - under the Ovi brand - which operators saw as a direct attempt to undercut their relationship with mobile phone users.
In fact, Nokia does not yet have a mobile phone partner for Comes With Music. As a result anyone buying the phone will have to put their existing SIM card into it or sign up for a SIM-only deal such as O2’s Simplicity.
All five UK networks have held talks with Nokia about Comes With Music but none has found the service attractive - or lucrative - enough to sign up. All the operators have their music download services and see no reason to subsidise a handset that connects users with Nokia’s own music store rather than their own. But Nokia still hopes to persuade an operator to subsidise the cost of the phone, which is why it will not set the price of the first handset until next month. It is expected to cost somewhere between £100 and £300.
Nokia has decided to press on with its unlimited service because of the threat posed to its dominance of the industry by Apple, according to mobile industry insiders. Sales of the iPhone are still small - with analysts forecasting 45m will be sold by next year compared with a global market of about 1bn handsets - it could soon be made available on more networks as the original exclusive network deals it signed in the UK, France, Germany and the US come up for renewal over the next few years.
Nokia will pay the music companies a licence fee to make their catalogues available to customers and for the three major labels that have already signed up - SonyBMG, Universal and Warner Music - the service is another attempt to try and claw some revenue back from the illegal file sharers. But Nokia has yet to reach a deal with the UK’s host of independent music labels or EMI.
“Comes With Music is a way for Nokia to add extra value to its handsets and generate more stickiness for its brand,” said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner. But Nokia has tailored the service to the economic downturn in its major European markets.
“The 5310 handset is definitely more aimed at the mid-tier of the market - this is not the high-end device that people were expecting to see for Comes With Music,” she added. “They are responding to the trend we are beginning to see in Europe of people switching towards the mid-tier because of the economic climate.”
Nokia Comes With Music is the latest attempt to make digital music pay by bundling the cost together with another service or product - in this case the cost of the handset. There are already numerous subscription-based unlimited music services such as Napster and MusicStation; even Apple is rumoured to be working on one for iTunes. Rather than charging a separate subscription, the Danish internet firm TDC has bundled the cost of unlimited music with its broadband service. BSkyB recently signed a deal with Universal that could lead to a similar service in the UK. In France, Orange has launched MusiqueMax, which allows users to download up to 500 tracks a month for €12 and keep them as long as they like. All these services have some sort of digital rights management (DRM) software that prevents tracks being played after a subscription expires or means they can only be transferred to certain devices. Nokia Comes With Music uses Microsoft DRM technology, so downloaded tracks cannot be played on an iPod. Others in the music industry believe the future of digital music lies in offering DRM-free tracks that can be played on any device. Such tracks are already sold by iTunes, Amazon and handset maker Sony Ericsson in the Nordic region.
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