http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5101550.html

Media companies quietly using P2P networks
 
Reuters
November 3, 2003, 3:40 PM PT
 
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 Even as entertainment companies remain locked in legal battles against file-sharing services, some are quietly experimenting with ways to use the networks to their advantage.
One company, called BigChampagne, is tracking music downloads for radio giant Clear Channel. Another, Jun Group, is deliberately releasing music to Web file sharers in order to generate buzz.

Jun Group's Mitchell Reichgut, a former advertising executive, said his service provides record labels with the means to transform their decades-old model for selling music.


 

"Basically, the labels have a choice. They can fight and continue losing money or try to tweak this 100-year-old model and get immediate results for artists, consumers and sponsors," Reichgut said.

Jun Group recently reached agreements with a songwriter, a beverage company and a TV network--entities that would normally be very careful to protect their products--to release their content onto peer-to-peer networks.

BigChampagne also tracks song-swapping networks such as Kazaa and Morpheus for record labels, which in turn use the data to persuade radio stations to play their songs.

Tracking downloading activity can predict a hit before a song gets radio airplay. If a particular song is heavily downloaded, a record label could use that as a selling point to ask radio stations to put the song in a heavier rotation.

"At any particular moment, we're working with most of the labels. This is an industry that relies on immediate data on consumer reaction," said Eric Garland, BigChampagne's chief executive officer.

Label executives say BigChampagne provides both a gauge of consumer tastes and an indication of piracy trends.

"We're definitely using it as a tool. It's just part of a bigger trend of the labels using real data to figure out marketing plans--as opposed to radio charts that are not tied directly to consumer information," said Jeremy Welt, head of new media at Maverick Records, a Time Warner label.

Undercutting the legal battle
Many labels are hesitant to admit that they are talking with Jun Group or using BigChampagne, due to the industry's antipiracy fight. The industry's argument in court battles against file sharing hinges in large part on the argument that file-sharing networks serve no purpose other than to foster copyright infringement.

Record labels' use of file-sharing networks for market research or promotion purposes could undercut that legal claim.

"It's remarkable, the disparity between the labels' legal battle and their understanding that product is moving online and a desire to be at the fore of the movement," Garland said.

While BigChampagne uses music download data for market research, Jun's promotion method is more direct. It distributes material to the top levels of the file-sharing universe--the more technical users who trade files on Internet Relay Chat and Usenet.

"Known as the Internet arbiters of cool, they get the content first and distribute it through the rest of the community, creating a buzz. That is why it is such a powerful vehicle for marketing," Reichgut said.

From this top tier of Internet hipsters, the content potentially trickles down to millions of people on networks like Kazaa.

Reichgut said Jun used this method to boost ratings for a daytime program on a TV network that wished to remain anonymous.

"The show had a spike in ratings after Jun made a clip available on file-sharing networks," said Reichgut, who formed Jun with a former Harvard University physics professor, Mitch Golden, and antipiracy consultant Bruce Forest.

Jun detailed another deal with chocolate drink maker Yoo-hoo, which is owned by Cadbury Schweppes, and Kevin Martin, former front man for the rock band Candlebox.

Under the deal, Yoo-hoo sponsored a five-song release by Martin's new band, Kevin Martin & the HiWatts, which involved giving the songs away online. Unlike typical record deals, the songs carry no restrictions and can be freely copied. The catch is that, when played, they display a message on listeners' computers that credits Yoo-hoo.

Under the deal, Martin got a fee from Yoo-hoo and financial support for his tour, while Yoo-hoo gained access to millions of file sharers.

Jun and Yoo-hoo now have a patent that's pending on Jun's proprietary method for distributing content.

Jun expects to announce more deals with recording artists and movie companies, while BigChampagne recently signed a deal to provide data to Clear Channel Communications' Premiere Radio Networks, which runs the airplay-tracking system Mediabase.

Maverick Records' Welt said there were still mixed feelings about using the services.

"It's unfortunate that all this file sharing is happening, and we have to see all the music that is being taken, but at the same time, we have to look at it from every angle. We'd rather get this data from legitimate digital sales and stores, but we're in a transition phase right now," he said.


Story Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main_news.cfm?NewsID=7251

P2P Euro law 'will make crooks of us all'
By Macworld staff

 
Also in the news
- Poll: 50% of Macworld readers MacExpo-bound
- UK broadband rollout 'bound by red tape'
- G5, iTunes take 2003-innovation crown
- US inquiry fuels Web-patent row
- The Times in Mac/PC head-to-head
- 640MB iBook RAM barrier smashed
- Flash MX update posted
- Top music school in free-lesson bonanza
- Toshiba to double iPod-drive production
- MS face-off with EC regulators
- Adobe buy-out is XML tonic
- iPods seal clubbing fame
- Music ISP poses iTunes threat
- P2P Euro law 'will make crooks of us all'
- Sony CD-protection tool on-test
 
 
A proposed European law will turn millions of file sharers into criminals, a top technology analyst has warned.


The European Intellectual Property Enforcement Directive will target those who use peer-to-peer networking software to share unlicensed copies of music, movies and other products. and even argues that file sharers should be sent to prison.


Bill Thompson, a technology analyst writing for BBC News who admits to using file-sharing service KaZaA, said: "That means me, and it probably mean you as well, if you're a regular Internet user who has realised that there is a lot of old music out there that you simply can't find in record stores, but is easily available over one or other of the P2P networks."


"If passed, this law means that anyone who thinks that their copyrights are being breached could use the courts to obtain personal information from internet service providers or web hosting companies.


"But it also means that breaking technical copyright protection measures for any reason, even if it is to make a legally-permissible copy of a file for backup purposes, would itself be illegal.


"It's important to press for changes before the Directive is finalised, since national governments have limited scope for changing things after that point."
 
P2P Euro law 'will make crooks of us all'
By Macworld staff

 
Also in the news
- Poll: 50% of Macworld readers MacExpo-bound
- UK broadband rollout 'bound by red tape'
- G5, iTunes take 2003-innovation crown
- US inquiry fuels Web-patent row
- The Times in Mac/PC head-to-head
- 640MB iBook RAM barrier smashed
- Flash MX update posted
- Top music school in free-lesson bonanza
- Toshiba to double iPod-drive production
- MS face-off with EC regulators
- Adobe buy-out is XML tonic
- iPods seal clubbing fame
- Music ISP poses iTunes threat
- P2P Euro law 'will make crooks of us all'
- Sony CD-protection tool on-test
 
 
A proposed European law will turn millions of file sharers into criminals, a top technology analyst has warned.


The European Intellectual Property Enforcement Directive will target those who use peer-to-peer networking software to share unlicensed copies of music, movies and other products. and even argues that file sharers should be sent to prison.


Bill Thompson, a technology analyst writing for BBC News who admits to using file-sharing service KaZaA, said: "That means me, and it probably mean you as well, if you're a regular Internet user who has realised that there is a lot of old music out there that you simply can't find in record stores, but is easily available over one or other of the P2P networks."


"If passed, this law means that anyone who thinks that their copyrights are being breached could use the courts to obtain personal information from internet service providers or web hosting companies.


"But it also means that breaking technical copyright protection measures for any reason, even if it is to make a legally-permissible copy of a file for backup purposes, would itself be illegal.


"It's important to press for changes before the Directive is finalised, since national governments have limited scope for changing things after that point."

http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5106581.html?tag=st_lh

Kazaa to launch P2P print ads
Last modified: November 12, 2003, 3:13 PM PST
By John Borland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

           
Kazaa parent Sharman Networks plans to unveil its first offline advertising campaign next week, in which it will exhort computer users to defend file swapping and tell entertainment companies they can make money too.

The Australian company has been scrambling for months to find a way to convince record companies and movie studios that it is sincerely interested in becoming a legitimate, licensed distributor of mainstream entertainment content. It hasn't yet been successful--Sharman and Kazaa, its file-swapping software, are still the target of lawsuits from the entertainment companies. Sharman hasn't struck any large-scale distribution deals with major studios or record labels.

According to a brief statement previewing the campaign, the print ads will be a "call to action to peer to peer (software) users to communicate the message that, given the chance, users will pay a fair price for movies, music and games from P2P networks."

The ads are also intended to tell traditional entertainment companies that they are "missing a huge opportunity" to reach file-swapping communities, according to the statement.

For much of its two-year existence, Sharman has been pursuing two goals that many see as mutually exclusive. Its Kazaa software has created far and away the largest file-swapping community online, built in great part on the unauthorized and unregulated exchange of copyrighted works, such as music and movies.

But it also has worked increasingly closely with Altnet, a division of Brilliant Digital Entertainment, to persuade the file-swapping community to buy or download authorized versions of entertainment content such as music or video games. Ultimately, the company has claimed in lawsuits filed against the recording industry and Hollywood studios, it intended to push unauthorized sharing almost wholly off the network.

"By relegating non-(copy protected) files to a subordinate and comparatively unattractive access location...Sharman intended to promote and encourage only business appropriate file sharing and to share the net payments for (copy protected) works lawfully exchanged by users of the (Kazaa) software with Altnet," court papers filed by Sharman in September said.

Sharman and Altnet have also been working though a trade association they started, the Distributed Computing Industry Alliance, to try to create a forum where entertainment companies, Internet service providers and file-swapping companies can agree on business models that serve all three interests. To date, that group has found it difficult to attract other parties into serious discussions, however.

The Sharman print ad campaign will launch on Nov. 19, the company said.

http://news.com.com/2100-1026_3-5106684.html?tag=nefd_top

Share "True Crime," do the time
Last modified: November 12, 2003, 4:20 PM PST
By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

           
A forthcoming copyright bill backed by key U.S. senators would place file swappers in prison for up to three years if they have a copy of even one prerelease movie in their shared folders.

In addition to the prison term, the Artists' Rights and Theft Prevention Act would punish making such movies available on a public "computer network" as a federal felony with a fine of up to $250,000. It would not require that any copyright infringement actually take place.

Senators John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., plan to introduce the legislation at a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Joining them at the event will be actress Bo Derek, Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) President Jack Valenti, and Mitch Bainwol, chairman of the Recording Industry Association of America.

Hollywood studios have fretted for years about Internet distribution of prerelease movies, meaning films that have not appeared on DVD or in theaters. Footage of "Star Wars: Episode II," "Tomb Raider" and "The Hulk," has reportedly surfaced on peer-to-peer networks before their commercial distribution. In September, the major studios responded by halting their normal practice of sending DVD "screeners" to Academy Award judges.

A copy of the bill seen by CNET News.com, marked "Discussion Draft," represents one of the fiercest attacks yet on peer-to-peer networks from copyright holders' allies on Capitol Hill.

The threat of a three-year prison term kicks in when anyone makes an illicit copy of a movie "available on a computer network accessible to members of the public" when the film "was intended for commercial distribution but had not been so distributed at the time." Once the film is commercially distributed, the felony penalties appear to no longer apply.

Peter Jaszi, a professor at American University who teaches copyright law, said he is "deeply troubled" by the wording of the draft legislation because it does not say that any actual copyright infringement must take place--only that the file be available in a shared folder, Web site or FTP (File Transfer Protocol) site. "It says we don't care if anybody got any of these copies," Jaszi said. "We're going to conclude that at least 10 people did. It relieves the copyright owner of having to prove that any violation of their rights actually happened."

MPAA spokesman Rich Taylor said that "this legislation will go a long way toward targeting one of the most serious contributors to piracy right now, which is the practice of camcording motion pictures. It's the first time the U.S. Senate has had legislation that specifically addresses the threat of camcording."

"Piracy for too long has been high reward and low risk," Taylor said. "Legislation such as that being introduced tomorrow will go a long way toward changing that equation."

The Cornyn-Feinstein bill also creates another federal felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, for using "an audiovisual recording device" in a movie theater to make a copy of a film and boosts civil penalties available to MPAA member companies when suing over prerelease movies placed on the Internet.

Cornyn's office did not respond to a request for comment. "Copyright piracy is a serious threat not only to the entertainment industry, but also to a U.S. economy struggling to get back on its feet," Cornyn said in a statement. Senators Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are co-sponsors of the bill.

A related proposal has been introduced in the House of Representatives. It covers surreptitious recording in theaters but does not include the three-year prison term for making a prerelease movie available online.

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5099738.html

RIAA files 80 new file-swapping suits
 
By John Borland
CNET News.com
October 30, 2003, 2:13 PM PT
 
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The Recording Industry Association of America on Thursday said it filed 80 new lawsuits against alleged file swappers, a move that comes after a wave of letters it sent earlier this month that warned targets of their legal risk.
The action marks a second round of suits against computer users who, record label investigators say, have made hundreds or even thousands of copyrighted songs available for download through peer-to-peer services such as Kazaa. The first round, filed in early September, targeted 261 individuals accused of putting "egregious" amounts of music online.

That first wave of suits helped dramatically raise awareness of the legal risks of file swapping, but also drew considerable criticism from lawmakers and consumer groups who said the RIAA risked violating individuals' rights or had sued the wrong people. In response, the group agreed to notify the potential targets of its lawsuits before filing.


 

It subsequently sent warning letters to 204 people early in October, saying they had been identified as likely targets of a new round of suits. On Thursday, the group said that 124 of those people decided to try to resolve the issue without going to court.

"We are pleased that our efforts to extend illegal file sharers an additional chance to come clean and work out settlements are proving successful," RIAA President Cary Sherman said in a statement. "The fact that the overwhelming majority of those who received the notification letter contacted us and were eager to resolve the claims is another clear signal that the music community's education and enforcement campaign is getting the message out."

There is some evidence that the controversial RIAA lawsuits against ordinary computer users are making a dent in the file-swapping world. According to Web analysis firm Nielsen/NetRatings, weekly usage of the Kazaa software in the United States plummeted from a high of 7 million people in early June to just 3.2 million people in late October.

"Use of the application has been on a rapid decline and has not recovered since the RIAA announced its lawsuits and started going after individuals," said Max Heiniman, a Nielsen/NetRatings spokesman.

Evidence of considerable consumer interest does remain. According to Download.com, a software aggregation site operated by News.com publisher CNET Networks, nearly 2.1 million people around the world downloaded the Kazaa software last week alone. That's significantly lower than the 2.5 million Kazaa downloads per week posted in early May, but represents strong ongoing momentum despite the lawsuits.

The RIAA said that a total of 156 people have agreed in principle to settle the lawsuits, a figure that may include some people who received the warning letters in the latest round. The group did not provide an average settlement amount, but the first such agreement, with 12-year-old New York public housing resident Brianna Lahara, totaled just $2,000. Other settlements have ranged near $3,000, according to sources familiar with the agreements.

Several groups, including the P2P United file-swapping software trade association, offered to pay Lahara's settlement costs.

The RIAA also said it had received 1,000 applications for amnesty from lawsuits under its "Clean Slate" program. Under that offer, people who believe they may be at risk of a lawsuit must fill out a form promising not to download or upload copyrighted music without permission and swear they have deleted any illegally obtained songs from their computers.

Critics, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, have lambasted the program as holding potential dangers to participants' privacy and legal rights.




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http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031029/dcw026_1.html

Sharman Networks Launches Kazaa v2.6 Beta
Wednesday October 29, 11:13 am ET
New Beta Version Introduces Magnet Links and Kapsules


SYDNEY, Australia, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Sharman Networks Limited today launched the Beta of Kazaa v2.6, the latest update of the world's most popular file sharing software. The new version presents users and the entertainment industry with features such as Magnet Links, Kazaa Kapsules, single click purchasing and the option to run multiple searches at the same time.
Magnet Links connect Kazaa users outside the application directly to peer- to-peer technology. This means that through their websites, entertainment companies are able to offer files to Kazaa users, downloaded via peer-to-peer. This offers significant bandwidth savings for companies like computer game manufacturers who often sell games that are over 500 megabytes in size. By utilizing Magnet Links, these content providers can efficiently promote and sell their products. This also enables consumers to benefit from faster, cheaper and more varied content as a result of the efficiency of peer-to-peer technology.

"Magnet Links combine Kazaa, the world's most popular peer-to-peer application, with the world's most popular Internet browsers," said Nikki Hemming, CEO of Sharman Networks. "The links are available to anyone who wants to benefit from the cost savings of peer-to-peer and the popularity of Kazaa. Magnet Links are a further example of our efforts to bring artists and consumers closer together in the most powerful way."

With Kazaa v2.6, users can purchase individual files with a single click. This delivers content providers a seamless consumer purchasing system that compliments the distribution power of the application. In addition, v2.6 improves searching functionality with the ability to run multiple searches at the same time.

The launch of Kazaa Kapsules 1.0 in this latest version is designed to enable artists to offer music, video and promotional material in a digital package or "Kapsule." This gives consumers a single purchase point for multiple files of varying formats combined together as a compelling offering. For example, musicians will now be able to offer a much greater variety of material, such as images, audio, video, lyrics, tour dates, and band information in one place. Equally, computer game companies can include game guides and hints, and movie distributors can include 'behind the scenes' footage.

Kapsules are designed for maximum usability with two areas: Interactive windows, which contain information about the offered content, and Kapsule windows, which contain the actual files. Users will be able to view both windows at the same time, so that information on the contents (files, price, and exclusive elements) will appear alongside the content itself.

Magnet Links, Kapsules and single click buying further cement Kazaa's position as the world's leading peer-to-peer software and build on its partnership with Altnet, the world's largest distributor of licensed, secure content on the Internet. Every month, Kazaa users download millions of licensed computer games, music, videos and software applications through Sharman Networks' relationship with Altnet.

"The advances in version 2.6 have been designed to meet the needs of consumers and content owners, who are the key forces in the success of digital distribution over the Internet. It is encouraging to see content such as videogames, that can be up to 100 times larger and cost 30 times more than a single music file, being purchased by Kazaa users every day," said Hemming. "Seamless purchasing is an important step forward and these advances that tap into powerful peer-to-peer technology will be welcomed by consumers and artists alike."

Kazaa v2.6 Beta is available to test in unlimited numbers at www.kazaa.com. Please see the kazaa.com site for important technical information about this release. The final version will be available in the coming weeks.

ENDS
About Sharman Networks Limited
Sharman Networks Limited distributes the popular Kazaa Media Desktop

software, the leading peer-to-peer application that allows users to search,
download, organize and interact with a variety of file types. Founded in
2002, Sharman Networks is a private company committed to distributing
computing software applications that are pioneering the digital revolution.
Sharman Networks is a worldwide operation. For more information about Kazaa
Media Desktop, Sharman Network's leading P2P software application, please
visit Kazaa.com.

WASTE ROCKS !!!!

http://www.apcmag.com/apc/v3.nsf/0/D6C25C2...7EFCA256DCD0082A79A

No fear peer-to-peer

Thursday 30, October 2003

By Dan Warne

Software tutorial

Truly secure P2P deploys military-grade encryption. Dan Warne shows how to share files among friends without anyone else snooping on you.

 This article is featured in APC October 2003 Back issues
SubscribeWith the copyright police increasing its monitoring of popular file-sharing networks like KaZaA and eDonkey, savvy users are turning to WASTE, a new program that relies on file encryption and ad hoc networks of trusted members to escape prying eyes.

Our feature story on page 28 of this issue explains the “why” of WASTE; but here you’ll find the “how”.

What makes WASTE different from other file-swapping systems is that it has no central server. Instead it operates as a mesh in which each user connects to a few other users to form a loosely-structured P2P network. However, this group is virtually impenetrable to anyone who hasn’t been specifically authorised to join the group using PKE (public/private key encryption) technology.

PKE encryption in general works like this: each user has two keys — a private key and a public key. The public key can be given out to anyone, because it only allows them to encrypt a message to you. The same public key cannot be used to decrypt that message. Once you’ve received the message, you decrypt it with your private key, which you never disclose.

WASTE uses public keys to ensure that each user is known on the network, and bona-fide. As each public key is unique, and linked to the private key stored in your copy of WASTE, there’s no chance that someone can pretend to be you in order to gain access to the network.

The initial setup of WASTE guides you through creating a unique username and a private key, as well as automatically generating a matching public key.

To be accepted onto a network of WASTE users, a member of that group has to email you their public key, which is simply a block of what looks like random letters and numbers. This is entered into your WASTE client software through the Preferences panel’s Public Keys section — the same location to which you export your own public key so it can be shared with someone else.

If you’re not too concerned with security and are just curious, there’s a database of public keys at www.s4s.ip3.com/wasteb. You’ll also need to submit your public key there and wait for at least one other user to manually add your key to their system.

Alternatively, you can chat to other WASTE users on IRC. Join the WASTE channel on the http://irc2.p2pchat.net server and swap your public key with anyone who’s online at the time.

To connect to a network of WASTE users, enter the IP address of one user with whom you’ve swapped public keys into the WASTE connect box.

You’ll also need to open port 1337 on your firewall, which is the port used by WASTE (this is a joke on the part of WASTE creator Justin Frankel, as 1337 is hacker-speak for “leet” — shorthand for “elite”).

Once you’ve both swapped keys, you’ll be accepted as a trusted member of the network and permitted to make connections to other people on the same network, because your key is automatically broadcast to the rest of the group and added into their copy of WASTE.

You can browse other users’ directories, search for specific files, and also chat using the WASTE chat client. Chat sessions and file swapping goes directly between the active computers rather than via a central server.

When you start a file transfer it’s encrypted using the fast but secure, open source “Blowfish” model to protect you from monitoring. Even 128-bit encryption is virtually crack-proof through brute-force, so you can be certain that any files you transfer, and any discussions you have with other users, are completely secure.

Of course, one weakness in WASTE’s security model is that it’s easy for other users on the same network to get hold of your public key. If you’re worried about this, simply reject other users’ public keys. Remember: if both of you don’t have each other’s public keys, neither of you can connect and view what’s on the other’s computer.

To do this, open Preferences, select Pending keys, then remove the tick from Auto-accept broadcasted public keys.

The latest WASTE client for Windows is included on this month’s cover CD set. There’s a Mac OS X client in development that allows encrypted chat and file serving but not downloading from other users (you can find it at hummusandpita.com/waste). A command-line Linux version is in alpha development at grazzy.mjoelkbar.net/waste.

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,113133,00.asp

Three Minutes With RIAA Chief Cary Sherman
 
New music industry leader wants to embrace online opportunity as well as quash piracy.

Tom Spring, PCWorld.com
Thursday, October 30, 2003
 To millions of people, Cary Sherman is about as popular as the New York Yankees are in Boston. As president of the Recording Industry Association of America, Sherman has vigorously prosecuted online music pirates, as the archenemy of popular file-swapping services from Napster to Kazaa.

Sherman, 55, coordinates the RIAA's legal, policy, and business objectives. Before joining the RIAA in 1997, Sherman worked at the Washington D.C. law firm of Arnold & Porter, where he headed the firm's Intellectual Property and Technology Practice Group. Sherman not only represents musicians and songwriters, he is one as well.

  
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His challenges today are daunting. He wants to wean millions of people off freewheeling file-swapping networks and steer them toward legitimate online music services. Sherman also says he aims to lead the music industry into wholeheartedly embracing the Internet and uploading its entire repertoire for legal online distribution.

PC World invited Sherman to weigh in on a variety of hot topics, from suing music fans to buying songs online. An edited transcript of the conversation follows.

PCW: How are your efforts to protect your members' copyrights going?

Sherman: Good. People are more aware now than ever before that uploading and downloading other people's copyrighted music without permission is illegal. They're thinking twice about doing it.

Having taken the action we have--namely, going after individual infringers--it looks preliminarily as though we are seeing a beneficial impact.

PCW: How have enforcement efforts evolved over time, and how might they change in the future?

Sherman: We started with an education campaign, and have been running it for a number of years. Next we combined education with litigation against the peer-to-peer services for facilitating infringers.

But it became obvious that it would be necessary to go after the individual infringers once the courts ruled that Grokster and Morpheus couldn't be held liable for the copyright infringements.

We will continue to pursue infringers. Anything less is like telling people that there won't be anymore cops looking for speeders.

But the most significant component of our strategy is to offer legitimate alternatives. Unfortunately, some people feel they have an inalienable right to steal music.

PCW: So protecting copyrights includes offering new services like Apple ITunes.

Sherman: That's right. It's very difficult for legitimate services to compete with stolen copies of the same product. The RIAA is, in effect, taking action against a shoplifter in order to preserve the retailers' market.

PCW: Don't you risk perpetuating a decline in CD sales by suing music fans?

Sherman: People need to understand enforcement actions are intended to support the legitimate alternatives. If consumers gravitate toward those legal services, we will have done our job.

The only people who will not buy CDs because we are taking action against infringers are the people stealing music. That's not a very good customer base.

Retailers sue shoplifters. DirecTV has filed over 10,000 cases against people who steal their satellite signal. It just surprises me that when record companies do precisely the same thing, people think that it will alienate their customers.

PCW: What's the public's biggest misconception of the RIAA?

Sherman: People think the RIAA is insensitive to what consumers want and assume we are trying to preserve old business models. That couldn't be further from the reality.

The record industry has woken up to the reality of the new Internet marketplace. We are excited about the prospects that the Internet offers for an entirely new distribution mechanism for music.

We just have to bring the piracy under control to enable new business models to take root and prosper.

PCW: What kind of new business models are you talking about?

Sherman: We are already making a lot of new business models. Just look at the past month, with the opening of Apple ITunes [for Windows], Napster is launching, and BuyMusic.com is only a couple months old. The number of legal download and subscription services that are getting really good reviews right now is staggering.

PCW: When do you think consumers will embrace legitimate services? I keep trying these services out, and am disappointed because of restrictions--and I still can't find all the music I want.

Sherman: First off, artists have an obligation to support the rest of the artistic community by licensing their works. Music services have not been able to get licenses from superstar artists like the Beatles. When an artist refuses to license their work, I think that is a vote in favor of piracy instead of the legitimate marketplace.

PCW: Do you feel like you need to improve the RIAA's image with music fans?

Sherman: We aren't trying to win a popularity contest. This is about whether you're going to have a vibrant music industry and an investment to support artists' careers. If somebody has to be the heavy on this, better that it be the RIAA than the artists whose livelihoods are at stake.

PCW: Do you believe that the RIAA's interests come before the interests of Silicon Valley companies that are trying to market tools that give consumers the ability to do more with their media?

Sherman: No. This is not a question of one industry's interests being more important than another's. It's a question of finding the right balance.

We love new technologies and have inevitably prospered from them.

What we are opposed to is businesses built on infringing other people's copyrighted products. We love peer-to-peer technology; we hate businesses that are built on using peer-to-peer to sell advertising with the draw of stealing other people's works.

There are legitimate ways to use technology, and then there are abuses of technology, and just because you go after the abusers doesn't mean that you have a problem with the technology.

PCW: Do you support mandating copyright protection mechanisms in PCs, CD players, or anything else that can play, record, or manipulate data?

Sherman: We actually were not supporters of the Hollings bill that called for just such measures. We thought it was an important means of emphasizing the problem of digital piracy. But technical mandates are not the best way to fix the piracy problem. These issues are best addressed voluntarily in the marketplace.

PCW: You mean makers of computer software and devices should voluntarily put restrictions on equipment?

Sherman: Look at the DVD model, where multiple industries worked together to come up with some form of protection that was sufficient to encourage the motion picture studios to release their content on this new format, and consumer electronics and IT companies have been able to support [the medium] because they thought that these were reasonable protections.

PCW: Do you sense that your lawsuits have changed any file-swapper's attitudes?

Sherman: I believe we have. We certainly have received a large number of letters from people commenting how they hadn't thought about peer-to-peer as piracy before. They understand why we're doing what we're doing.

PCW: Senator Sam Brownback [R-Kansas] is concerned that the RIAA is overstepping its bounds, such as when you issued subpoenas for downloaders' names. He and other critics argue that you are invading people's privacy. What do you say?

Sherman: We expect to have those kinds of issues raised. We're fighting with ISPs about this issue right now. I'm not surprised that a senator or two would take the side of the ISPs.

But I think that you really have to look at the big picture. Is Senator Brownback, or any other senator, going to say we shouldn't be able to protect our interests against thieves that are decimating our industry? The answer to that is no.

PCW: In the age of digital distribution, some argue that the RIAA is obsolete. Why should the RIAA, which is composed primarily of five music companies, control 80 percent of the music?

Sherman: We have no problem with a music industry that is more diversified, that gives new opportunities for new labels and new artists. This is not about maintaining control; it's about being fair in regards to the ability of people to get paid for their work.





Related Topics: Online Entertainment, Legal Issues

http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=4973


    First Impressions of Napster 2.0
  By Eugenia Loli-Queru - Posted on 2003-10-30 07:25:48
Two weeks ago we featured an early pick on iTunes for Windows, but today iTunes' main competitor Napster 2.0 was released for a free download. We had a play with it and here is what we think about it and how it compares to iTunes.


 The installation went over without a hitch. It installed both the Roxio burner software as well as the application itself. When you start Napster, you are asked to create a free account. Without it, Napster won't connect to anything. I don't know how secure it is to give your email address and name, but I did so for the sake of this article, and immediately afterwards, I was able to browse the home page of the app. Napster 2.0.6.1 is using IE and Macromedia Flash to render its pages.
Napster's UI has three categories: Home, Browse and Library. Clicking on any of these buttons will reveal a set of subcategory buttons. For example, for Home, it will reveal, "Music", Radio, Magazine and "Message Boards". Under Music, you can browse the homepages of each kind of music (e.g. classical, alternative, pop etc), while the front page has a link in the footer about "Videos". Clicking on this link (for example) will take you to a page where you have options to choose from as many as 40-50 full-length video clips. I found myself wishing that there were more.

 Clicking on "Radio" will do absolutely nothing until you pay Napster and become a subscription member. The Magazine has a few interesting articles, but it is mainly a marketing tool and will probably not be considered very relevant to the media player/purchaser. To some, this feature become handy for company/product announcements. Clicking on the "message boards" tab again asks the visitor to become a *full* Napster member.

The "Browse" family of buttons are a "live" representation of Napster's status. There, you can browse artists and albums, you can search for the latest added songs, see what people are streaming most at any given time and also check out the charts and the Napster member collections. The software allows you to browse according to the music genre, which makes it easy to locate the kind of music you want. It is important to note here that I really liked the ability to view Charts, as it can search "live" both Napster's most downlodable, most streamed, top artists and top albums. There is also an option to do the same for.. Billboard's charts! When in Billboard mode, you can search by year and find the song you like, then see the numbers of weeks in the US charts, its position etc. This was among my most favorite features, as it turned Napster into a music "encyclopedia" of sorts. When in "Members' collection", you can view again by a whole list of Napster users by genre then browse their collections and their favorites. I am not as sure about the usefulness of this feature per se, but it might come handy if you're actually part of the Napster community and know some of these people as online buddies.

 The third main button, the "Library", includes a list of your personal favorites. These include artists, albums, Playlists, your purchased tracks. You also get a download status, your History of the tracks you played, your buddy's nicknames, as well as a messaging service. (looks like email between you and your Napster buddies). Additionally, you get a way to copy your songs to the Napster portable device, the DRM-enabled "Samsung Napster Player."

On the right side of the window, you get a mini player (this is where your 30-second songs are previewed.) Quality seemed pretty good utilizing 96 kbit WMA. Every time you click on a song to preview it, the image changes into the picture of the album or single. Below the image, you get a list of all the songs you ever previewed with Napster 2. You can save it as a playlist, shuffle it, or clear it and start all over again. On the same sub-window, you can also select Radio stations (if you are subscribed). Clicking on any song in that list will start playing it, while you can also drag-n-drop them to your Library's tree-view.

 Napster 2 has two views: the full view and the mini-player one. The mini-player view is a disaster in my opinion. It takes the whole screen horizontally, as you can see from the shot below. On my 1600x1200 screen, it is just not a "mini" mode, but a long ugly strip. And when I am out of the mini mode, I have to resize back my windows manually (I always have OE at 800x1170 and IE at 800x1170, side by side, that's my default setup on Windows daily).

Burning with the embedded Roxio engine is actually very easy, you just drag-n-drop entries from any of your views (from the Library, or the Browse pages) and then you hit "Burn". Searching for artists also seems to work well, it finds more songs than iTunes does (e.g. Napster has at least one Madonna song), but it has a bad categorization. For example, I don't consider "I will always love you" from W. Houston to be Dance, but I did find it under that category when searching. However, overall, the experience is similar to iTunes in terms of searching for artists, listening to tracks, as well as finding the most popular of a specific artist. Prices are comparable to iTunes as well: $0.99 for a song, $9.99 for a whole album.

Napster was very stable for me, the only problem I noticed was that I wasn't able to connect to the server for some specific song previews (Vangelis, EarthWind&Fire etc). It would tell me that the server is busy and that I should try again later. I never had such a problem with iTunes.

 Napster is more of a "community"-driven music store, while iTunes is more of a personal music player with the addition of a Store. iTunes' primary function is to play all music, while Napster's is to sell. That's the biggest difference I found between the two apps. For example, when I installed iTunes, it found my local Music folder and it automatically added it to its Library. The software also allowed me to play several radio stations and have visual effects. Napster on the other hand is tied to the store, you can only listen to what you purchased from it or its previews, and you have to pay for radio support. It feels a lot like "use Napster to buy a song, and then play it with Winamp". Napster is a fine shop, it has a few enhancements over iTunes (mostly on charts abilities, community support -- plus it seemed to have a much faster UI than iTunes'), but it would never be my default music player. Plus, it has very weird memory consumption patterns. When Napster is minimized or in the background doing nothing, it only takes 3-8 MB of RAM (and that's nice), but when you use it a bit and play a few songs, the RAM usage skyrockets to between 33 and 48 MB. That's too much in my opinion, I have never seen iTunes using more than 32 MB on the same PC.

Napster works well and seems to be a complete product. However, the competition with the popular iTunes might prove troublesome to Napster LLC.

http://www.techtv.com/news/culture/story/0,24195,3558933,00.html


 
New Napster Busts Out of Beta
      

Napster 2.0 lives as new music service tailored for the masses.
 
By Steve Enders, Tech Live Web producer
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Napster is back!


Stop us if you've heard this one before.


OK, Napster 2.0 was back on Oct. 9, but only as a beta test version for a select and lucky few to play with. But as of Wednesday, Oct. 29, Napster 2.0 really is back for the masses.


Tonight, get the latest from Napster's star-studded Los Angeles launch party. Also, see the exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour "Tech Live" took of the Napster factory. One thing's for certain: Napster's all grown up, and the service is a far cry from the Shawn Fanning-created free-for-all that sparked a music revolution, industry outrage, and legal attacks back in 1999.


Grown-up cat fight


Napster is the fourth major music download service to launch specifically for PC users since the recording industry began its crackdown on online music swapping. Musicmatch, BuyMusic.com, and Apple's iTunes Music Store have all launched offerings for music-starved Windows lovers. It's a huge market considering Windows' overwhelming market share on personal computers. Each of the four services offers its own distinct features -- both good and not so good -- for music fans. Still, all four are arguably better than getting a subpoena from the RIAA.


"We think we've got the model, we think we've got the brand," said Chris Gorog, CEO and chairman of Roxio. "We think we have the best experience out there, so we feel very confident in competing with anyone."


Gorog told TechTV that Hollywood-based Napster brought in "hard-core illegal file sharers" to test the new service. Turns out, they liked what they saw.


"These kids go absolutely nuts because they are so sick of dealing with KaZaA or Morpheus and pop-up ads and spyware," he said.


Napster may very well be in a unique position to gain traction quickly in this crowded field. When Roxio, Napster's new parent company, announced the availability of the beta version of Napster 2.0, some analysts said they expected the service to do well.


"If you look at the brand, the Napster brand dwarfs all others. So I think this is a situation where the dark horse is going to actually win," said Gene Munster, senior research analyst with US Bancorp Piper Jaffray.


The combination of Napster's legal download offerings, subscription-based model adopted from Roxio's former pressplay service, and familiar features from the Napster of old could position Napster above the likes of Apple's iTunes. Both iTunes and Napster include an MP3 jukebox, the ability to buy songs online, CD burning, and various other features.


The iTunes Music Store almost instantly earned recognition from industry watchers after its launch in mid-October because of its flexibility with downloaded tracks and user-friendly interface. Apple also has in its pocket the iPod, the best-selling MP3 player on the planet. (Needless to say, the iPod works seamlessly with iTunes.) Apple said that in its first three days of operation, Windows users downloaded more than a million songs from the iTunes Music Store.


Answering competition


Napster is hoping to tip the scales in its favor. Roxio has partnered with Samsung on the Samsung Napster player, which is advertised as the player to use with Napster 2.0. (TechTV Labs is currently reviewing the gadget.) The player will be sold exclusively through Best Buy stores. A special version of Napster 2.0 will also be available to consumers using the new Microsoft XP Media Center 2004, the new operating system designed to run home entertainment systems.


Napster has also announced the availability of Napster Cards, pre-paid cards that will sell for $14.85 at more than 14,000 retail locations across America, from drugstores to department stores. The cards work like pre-paid phone cards and will give card holders the ability to buy 15 music downloads from the service.


When Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled iTunes Music Store for Windows last week, he also unveiled new iTunes gift certificates users can give to friends, and music "allowance" credits that parents can use to authorize downloads for their music-hungry kids.


Napster 2.0 at a glance


TechTV Labs has reviewed the beta version of Napster 2.0 and found the service to be easy to use. It's a solid music service overall. Tracks download in the WMA file format and can be used on just about any WMA-supported portable player. Here's a quick look at what else Napster 2.0 holds in store.



People using Napster 2.0 on a Windows PC can download any one of about 500,000 songs for 99 cents per track. Whole albums will generally cost $9.99.

For an additional $9.95 per month users can take advantage of Napster community features, including unlimited streaming and downloading, listening to streaming radio, and discussing music on message boards.

Users can integrate tracks downloaded from Napster with existing MP3 collections.

Users can send downloaded music to friends, and they can browse other Napster members' MP3 collections.

Users won't be able to use Napster to rip CDs, but they can use it to burn CDs with downloaded tracks.

Finally, look for Napster's launch to raise the possibility of a format war. Apple uses AAC encoding to compress its digital music, while others, including Napster, use WMA. If you really want an iPod, you're going to have to use iTunes -- a choice that's obviously not an issue for 1.3 million iPod owners. But if you're a PC user who really likes your WMA files from ripped CDs, you should know that they're useless on an iPod.


More legitimate music download services are rumored to be in the works from Dell and even Amazon.com. The music wars aren't nearly over yet.


The music industry will certainly be keeping a watchful eye on music sales to see if the availability of legal, for-pay music services can make a dent in illegal activity.


"Tech Live" reporter Lindsey Arent contributed to this story.
Interested in the Samsung Napster player?
Buy this product at Amazon.com

 

Originally aired October 28, 2003

What do you mean by P2P?
The technology?
The copying of music?
The copying of movies?

Where does it need to be lead?

It appears the site is still running but simply redirecting. I doubt that the bill for bandwidth forced him to not pay. My point is only that people are focusing on the wrong thing. The P2P movement needs someone to lead it, regardless of who's running for governor and who's not.

And fyi, it appears that this guy received papers but never ran for governor.

Edited by author 10-08-2003 04:30 PM
He was running for governor... but pulled out. He use to have a web site...

There was even a guy doing a story about him:
http://www.quicktopic.com/23/H/GNgaZXcpUuPz/m12

The dude isn't running for governor. . . .

What are you guys talking about. . .

Edited by author 10-03-2003 11:18 AM
Travis 4 Gov, web page now links to http://launch.yahoo.com/.

You don't believe me try it yourself: http://www.kalanick4gov.com

Also here is a link to the google cache of the site, which is also simply a page of launch.yahoo.com:
http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:cTJyH...nick&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

http://www.boston.com/business/globe/artic...try_withdraws_suit/


Recording industry withdraws suit





Mistaken identity raises questions on legal strategy

By Chris Gaither, Globe Staff, 9/24/2003

The recording industry has withdrawn a lawsuit against a Newbury woman because it falsely accused her of illegally sharing music -- possibly the first case of mistaken identity in the battle against Internet file-traders.

Privacy advocates said the suit against Sarah Seabury Ward, a sculptor who said she has never downloaded or digitally shared a song, revealed flaws in the Recording Industry Association of America's legal strategy. Ward was caught up in a flood of 261 lawsuits filed two weeks ago that targeted people who, through software programs like Kazaa, make copyrighted songs available for others to download over the Internet.

"When the RIAA announced they were going on this litigation crusade, we knew there was going to be someone like Sarah Ward," said Cindy Cohn, legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet privacy group in San Francisco that has advised Ward and others sued by the music industry. "And we think were will be more."

The lawsuit claimed that Ward had illegally shared more than 2,000 songs through Kazaa and threatened to hold her liable for up to $150,000 for each song. The plaintiffs were Sony Music, BMG, Virgin, Interscope, Atlantic, Warner Brothers, and Arista.

Among the songs she was accused of sharing: "I'm a Thug," by the rapper Trick Daddy.

But Ward, 66, is a "computer neophyte" who never installed file-sharing software, let alone downloaded hard-core rap about baggy jeans and gold teeth, according to letters sent to the recording industry's agents by her lawyer, Jeffrey Beeler.

Other defendants have blamed their children for using file-sharing software, but Ward has no children living with her, Beeler said.

Moreover, Ward uses a Macintosh computer at home. Kazaa runs only on Windows-based personal computers.

Beeler complained to the RIAA, demanding an apology and "dismissal with prejudice" of the lawsuit, which would prohibit future lawsuits against her. Foley Hoag, the Boston firm representing the record labels, on Friday dropped the case, but without prejudice.

"Please note, however, that we will continue our review of the issues you raised and we reserve the right to refile the complaint against Mrs. Ward if and when circumstances warrant," Colin J. Zick, the Foley Hoag lawyer, wrote to Beeler.

The trade group released Zick's letter late yesterday and said it would have no other comment.

It is unclear where the apparent mistake originated.

According to the lawsuit, recording industry investigators tracked the file-sharing activities of a Kazaa user with the moniker Heath7 and found the unique numeric identifier, known as an Internet Protocol (IP) address, that was assigned to the user by the Internet service provider at the time.

The recording industry then issued a subpoena to Comcast, the user's Internet service provider, demanding the name, address, and e-mail address of the person behind the IP address.

Evan Cox, a partner with Covington & Burling in San Francisco who is not involved with the case, said the error most likely happened in one of two ways: Either Comcast matched the wrong customer with the IP address, or the recording industry requested information about the wrong IP address, which is usually more than nine digits.

"If any of those [IP address] numbers are wrong or transposed, you're going to get the wrong person," Cohn said.

Whatever the source of the apparent error, it illustrates how difficult it can be to definitively match a person to an online screen name.

A Comcast spokeswoman, Sarah Eder, would not comment, citing customer privacy concerns. Comcast always notifies its customers after a subpoena compels the company to release information about them, she said.

Mistakes are likely, given the number of cases the recording industry has filed, Cox said. The industry's reputation could hang on how many mistakes surface.

"If there turns out to be a lot of them, it will cast some doubt on [the industry's] evidence-gathering," he said. "They'll have to either strengthen their efforts or back off."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has counseled about 30 of the 261 people sued, Cohn said, adding that some have settled for fear of spending too much money fighting powerful corporations.

Jonathan Zittrain, an associate professor of Internet law at Harvard Law School, said the dismissal shows that the record companies may find it tough to prevail if their lawsuits go to court. Their legal strategy assumes that most defendants will settle rather than fight, and the lawsuits are so damaging to their public image that they cannot afford protracted legal battles with alleged file-swappers, he added.

"This is a very high-stakes strategy for the record companies," he said. "It's either going to work in the short term, or they're going to have to pull the plug on it."

Chris Gaither can be reached at gaither@globe.com. Hiawatha Bray of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.