Posts from — September 2005

The New Music Download Battle

September 28, 2005 at 7:10 pm - by Dale Dietrich

After finally discovering that money (lots of it) can be made from music downloads, the RIAA and some of its members are rethinking the entire concept, and the iTunes deal in particular. At least a few RIAA members think that Apple is double-dipping, because it makes most of its money selling the iPod and, well, that’s not fair! So the music companies are rethinking—uh, complaining about—the whole downloading model.
Source: John C. Dvorak

Categories: Agreements, New Business Models

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P2P Companies to Exit Business as RIAA Cease and Desist Letters Flow

September 22, 2005 at 7:09 pm - by Dale Dietrich

Several makers of popular P2P file sharing software have received cease-and-desist letters from the RIAA, and some of them are in the process of shutting down or selling themselves at bargain-basement prices to other companies.

Sources: DRM Watch | CNet | Billboard

Categories: BigMedia v P2P Providers, Cases, Cease & Desist

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Spot On: The (new) Dawn of Digital Distribution

September 22, 2005 at 7:07 pm - by Dale Dietrich

Every multimedia conglomerate and its sister company wants in on the digital distribution market, but is it finally ready for prime time?
Source: GameSpot | Earlier Related Story: GameSpot (Nov. 9, 2004)

Categories: New Tech

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Antitrust Suit Against Apple Over iPod, iTunes to Proceed

September 9, 2005 at 7:06 pm - by Dale Dietrich

Apple Computer Inc. must face several federal and state antitrust claims arising from the operation of its iTunes online music store and the sale of its iPod digital music players, a federal judge in California has ruled. Judge Ware rejected Apple’s argument that the tying allegations must fail because people can buy the iPod and iTunes files separately.

Sources: FindLaw.com

Note: See further details on this case in stories linked to this page on January 6, 2005.

Categories: Antitrust, DRM as Market Lock

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Australian High Court Rules Against Kazaa

September 5, 2005 at 7:03 pm - by Dale Dietrich

Text of Decision (UMA v. Sharman)
The Federal Court of Australia decided on Monday that the Kazaa file-sharing network has authorized copyright infringement and must modify its technology to curtail infringing activities within two months. Providing authorization to infringe is a violation of Section 101 of the Australian Copyright Act and is somewhat similar to principles of secondary infringement in other copyright laws, such as vicarious infringement in US law.