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Texas
- 
Computer
- Music
- 
Entertainment
- 
Company
- 
Privacy
- 
Hacking
- "Texas
sues Sony under anti-spyware law." ... "The state
[of Texas] sued Sony BMG Music Entertainment on Monday under its new anti-spyware
law, saying anti-piracy technology the company slipped into music CDs leaves
computers vulnerable to hackers." ... "Attorney General Greg Abbott accused
Sony BMG of surreptitiously installing "spyware" in the form of files that
mask other files Sony installed as part of XCP."
-AP via -USATODAY
US
- 
Japan
- Music
- Entertainment
- Hacking
- Business
- "Viruses
use Sony anti-piracy CDs: Virus writers are exploiting
Sony's controversial anti-piracy software to hide their malicious creations."
... "In late October Sony was found to be using stealth techniques to hide
software that stopped some of its CDs being illegally copied." ... "Now
three virus variants have been found that use the Sony software to evade
detection by anti-virus programs." ... "The stealthy methods that Sony
BMG used to protect its anti-piracy system were uncovered by Windows programming
expert Mark Russinovich on 31 October." ... "The CDs affected are only
being sold in the US."-BBC/News
Microsoft
- Computer
- Music
- Marketing
- "Judge:
Microsoft's music player gaffe is 'concern'." ...
"A federal judge scolded Microsoft on Wednesday for devising a marketing
plan that would have forced portable-music player makers to package only
Windows Media Player with their products." ... ""It seems to me that at
this date, you should not be having something like this occur," U.S. District
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said at a status conference here, adding that
she found the issue "one of concern."" ... "As previously reported by CNET
News.com, a recent federal court filing revealed that Microsoft initially
drafted a marketing agreement with language indicating that manufacturers
that signed on would be barred from supplying software other than the Windows
product." -By Anne Broache -CNET
/News via -ZDNet>News
Washington
- Microsoft
- Computer
- Music
- Business
- "Microsoft
to Pay RealNetworks $761 Mln in Settlement (Update4)."
... "Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, agreed to pay
RealNetworks Inc. $761 million in a settlement that removes the last major
antitrust lawsuit brought by a Microsoft competitor." ... "RealNetworks
shares surged as much as 48 percent after Microsoft said it will pay $460
million in cash and provide services worth $301 million to promote RealNetworks'
Rhapsody online music service and digital games, the companies said today."
... "The agreement silences one of the most vocal critics of Redmond, Washington-based
Microsoft, which has agreed to pay more than $4 billion to settle antitrust
cases." -By Rebecca Barr and Matthew Newman
-Bloomberg
Hurricane
Katrina - Disaster
- 
-
-
- "Kanye
West criticizes Bush on TV benefit show." ... "Hip-hop
star Kanye West added his voice to those from the U.S. African-American
community who see race as a reason for the poor emergency response to the
disaster in New Orleans." ... ""(U.S. President) George Bush doesn't care
about black people," he declared Friday night on a benefit concert broadcast
on NBC -- before the camera cut away from him." ... "West also said America
is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow
as possible."" -With contributions by Graham Richardson
-CTV.ca
Hurricane
Katrina -
-
- 
-
-
- "NBC
deletes rapper's remark from telethon: Kanye West
said Bush 'doesn't care about black people'." ... "Kanye West's impromptu
attack on President Bush during a live telecast Friday night prompted NBC
to delete his remark in its West Coast broadcast of the benefit for victims
of Hurricane Katrina." ... ""George Bush doesn't care about black people,"
West said. The rap star also criticized coverage of the catastrophe, saying,
"I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family,
it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for
food."" -By Matea Gold and Scott Collins
-LAtimes via -HoustonChronicle.com
- Drugs
- "Tackling
crime, Baltimore [Maryland] style." ... "Such is
the self-confidence of the drug-dealing fraternity, that last year they
made a DVD called "Stop Snitching"." ... "After a few months of careful
production, they've [the police] released a video of their own, complete
with hip hop soundtrack." ... "Videos are not the only potent hip hop medium
that the police are dealing with." ... "A few months ago, several manufacturers
began making Stop Snitching T-shirts, and one local chain began selling
them in its stores." ... "The police have now printed their own T-shirts
too." -By Matthew Wells-BBC
/News
-
-
- 
-
- "MTV
Site Revs Into Overdrive." ... "MTV on Wednesday
unveiled plans for MTV Overdrive, a Web channel through www.mtv.com offering
more advanced viewing and video-on-demand capabilities for an audience
accustomed to instantaneous content." ... "The initiative is a great example
of giving viewers MTV programing "available whenever they want it," [President
of M TV networks Van] Toffler said. He added that the online platform gives
"much more breadth and depth" than what can be offered on TV." (1, 2)
-By Kathleen Anderson and Chris Marlowe
-HollywoodReporter -Reuters
-
-
- "Music
Pirates Going Clean." ... "For whatever reason, the
number of Internet users who download music free of charge took a dive
over just six months last year." ... "A couple of things happened that
may explain the decline." ... "Last September, the Recording Industry Association
of America began suing individuals for downloading music files -more than
340 cases so far. That might have pricked the conscience of many digital
freeloaders, or at least scared them off." ... "The other change was Apple
Computer's promotion of its iPod listening device and iTunes website, which
allows many popular songs to be downloaded for 99 cents each. Other websites,
including the one that once offered free downloading, Napster, also began
to offer paid service." -CSMonitor
-
- 
- "The
recording industry gets silly." ... "Just before
the holidays, a United States appeals court ruled against the recording
industry, which had been trying to wrest the names of suspected pirates
from Internet Service Providers. The court said that the industry's strong-arm
tactic "borders upon the silly." No joke." ... "This in important step
to preserving privacy amid the hysteria over piracy. The ruckus started
when the Recording Industry Association of America attempted to force Verizon,
one of the country's largest Internet Service Providers, to turn over the
names of subscribers suspected of swapping pirated tunes. The new ruling
reverses an earlier decision that allowed the RIAA to subpoena companies
such as Verizon to get user names." -By David Kushner
-RollingStone.com/news
- "Canada
to Charge Music Royalties on MP3s." ... "The cost
of an MP3 player will increase in Canada after the government's copyright
agency decided Friday to charge a tax of up to $19 per unit to reimburse
singers and songwriters." ... "The new levy on MP3s will use a sliding
scale depending on memory size: $1.50 for units with up to 1 gigabyte,
$11.25 for 1 to 10 gigabytes, and $19 for devices of more than 10 gigabytes.
Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod player, for example, comes with 10, 20 or 40
gigabytes." -By Colin McClellan
-AP via -WashingtonPost>TechNews
-
- Civil
Liberties News
- "Outkast
Denied By U.S. Supreme Court In Rosa Parks Case."
... "The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition by Outkast and
their record labels asking the court to intervene in a lawsuit involving
civil-rights icon Rosa Parks and the rap duo's Grammy-nominated single
bearing her name. The move clears the way for Parks to sue Outkast for
what she claims is false advertising." -MTV.com
/ News
- "Sony
and Bertelsmann Announce Plans for Merging Music Units."
... "Bertelsmann A.G. and the Sony
Corporation said today that they had signed a preliminary agreement
to combine their music divisions in a joint venture, becoming the latest
dance partners in an industry roundelay that reflects the turbulent economics
of recorded music." ... "The nonbinding letter of intent signed by Bertelsmann
of Germany and Sony of Japan envisions a 50-50 venture to be called Sony
BMG. It would be the world's second-largest music company, after Vivendi's
Universal Music Group, with 25 percent of the global market and a stable
of stars ranging from Elvis Presley and the Dixie Chicks to the cellist
Yo-Yo Ma." (1, 2)
-By Mark Landler -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
- "The
MP3 Economy: How labels and artists divvy up
your MP3 dollar." ... "The Artist's Cut: Twelve percent is
average, but successful bands often hammer out better contracts. In many
major-label contracts, charges for "packaging" and promotional copies are
subtracted from the artist's cut, leaving the talent with a measly 8 percent."
-By Nancy Einhart 200306
Ed. -Business2.0
-
- 
- "Hatch
Takes Aim at Illegal Downloading." ... "During a
discussion on methods to frustrate computer users who illegally exchange
music and movie files over the Internet, [Utah's Republican Senator Orrin]
Hatch asked technology executives about ways to damage computers involved
in such file trading. Legal experts have said any such attack would violate
federal anti-hacking laws." ... ""No one is interested in destroying anyone's
computer," replied Randy Saaf of MediaDefender Inc., a secretive Los Angeles
company that builds technology to disrupt music downloads. One technique
deliberately downloads pirated material very slowly so other users can't."
... ""I'm interested," Hatch interrupted. He said damaging someone's computer
"may be the only way you can teach somebody about copyrights."" -By
Ted Bridis -AP
via -WashingtonPost
>TechNews
-
-
- "Judge:
Millions of CD buyers owed money: A judge has
approved a settlement agreement in a music antitrust lawsuit that will
result in more than 3.5 million consumers receiving nearly $13 each." ...
"The lawsuit, signed by the attorneys general of 43 states and territories
and consolidated in Portland in October 2000, accused major record labels
and large music retailers facing competition from discounters like Target
and Wal-Mart of conspiring to set minimum music prices." ... "The defendants
-- Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music Distribution, Warner-Elektra-Atlantic
Corp., Universal Music Group and Bertelsmann Music Group, and retailers
Tower Records, Musicland Stores and Transworld Entertainment -- deny any
wrongdoing. Attorneys representing the companies declined to testify in
court." -AP
via -CNN
-
-
- "Software
Bullet Is Sought to Kill Musical Piracy." ... "Some
of the world's biggest record companies, facing rampant online piracy,
are quietly financing the development and testing of software programs
that would sabotage the computers and Internet connections of people who
download pirated music, according to industry executives." ... "The record
companies are exploring options on new countermeasures, which some experts
say have varying degrees of legality, to deter online theft: from attacking
personal Internet connections so as to slow or halt downloads of pirated
music to overwhelming the distribution networks with potentially malicious
programs that masquerade as music files." (1, 2)
-By Andrew Ross Sorkin
-NYTimes via -Google-News
-
-
- "Hail
to the Chicks! Dixie gives the Dixies a warm
welcome." ... "Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines began the band's U.S.
tour with an open invitation to heckle her. "If you're here to boo, we
welcome that because we welcome freedom of speech," she said from the stage
of Greenville, South Carolina's Bi-Lo Center Thursday night. "So we're
going to give you fifteen seconds to get whatever you have out."" ... "Instead,
the 15,000-strong crowd erupted in cheers." ... "It was the Dixie Chicks'
first U.S. concert since Maines told a London audience on March 10th that
they were ashamed the president is from their home state of Texas." -By
Andy Paras -RollingStone.com/news
-
- 
- "4
students to pay fines for 'Napsterlike' sites." ...
"Four college students will pay the major music labels fines ranging from
$12,000 to $17,000 each for sharing music on campus networks, the first
time file-swapping individuals have agreed to pay damages to the music
industry for copyright violations." ... "Students at Princeton, Michigan
Tech and Rensselaer were sued in early April for setting up what the Recording
Industry Association of America called "Napsterlike" internal networks
that shared up to 1 million songs on campus servers. The RIAA asked for
$150,000 a song; the four settled out of court Thursday for $60,000." -By
Jefferson Graham -USATODAY
-
-
- "Recording
industry targets users of Kazaa, Grokster with warnings."
... "The Recording Industry Association of America, a trade association,
will collect the user names of those it suspects are offering copyright
material with the Kazaa and Grokster file-sharing services, RIAA President
Cary Sherman told reporters during a conference call Tuesday." ... "He
called the effort "educational" and said "there's no enforcement connected
to this."" ... "In a separate action, the RIAA has sued four college students
who allegedly offered more than 1 million recordings over the Internet,
demanding damages of $150,000 per song." -By Alex
Veiga -AP
via -SFGate.com
-
- "Pop
and Politics: Grammy Organizers Deny Stifling
Anti-War Artists." ... "Some musicians say they were warned not to use
the Grammy podium to make anti-war statements, but show organizers deny
any effort to stifle the artists." -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
- "Net
Providers Must Help in Piracy Fight: Judge
Orders Internet Providers to Help Trace Users Who Illegally Download Music."
... "Internet providers must abide by music industry requests to track
down computer users who illegally download music, a federal judge ruled
Tuesday in a case that could dramatically increase online pirates' risk
of being caught." ... "The decision by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates
upheld the recording industry's powers under a 1998 law to compel Verizon
Communications Inc. to identify one of its Internet subscribers who was
suspected of illegally trading music or movies online." ... "Verizon promised
Tuesday to appeal and said it would not immediately provide its customer's
identity." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
