SanDisk faces MP3 licence dispute
102278
SanDisk MP3 players are seized from a German electronics show amid a growing legal battle over licensing.
658288
A recent financial filing from Sandisk in Ireland illustrates the sometimes controversial nature of the corporate tax regime in the country.
231633
(InfoWorld) - RealNetworks is hoping to make a stronger push into the portable digital music market with the introduction of Sandisk's Sansa music players that come bundled with RealNetworks Rhapsody music service. The new offering, announced on Monday and to be available only in the U.S., means that Real and Sandisk join Apple Computer and Microsoft as providers of music services that are closely tied to specific devices. Just last week Microsoft revealed details of Zune, which will link a new portable player to a Microsoft digital music store. As part of the deal, the Sansa e200 series of portable music players will come preloaded with software supporting the Rhapsody service. Subscribers to the service pay a monthly fee to listen to any song in the Rhapsody database. They can download songs to their PCs and transfer them to the digital music player. If users cancel their subscription, the next time they connect to the Internet they'll synch with Rhapsody, which will delete the songs from the music player and their PCs. Anyone can buy individual tracks from Rhapsody and those songs won't be deleted for customers who cancel their subscriptions. Rhapsody To Go customers can already transfer music onto portable players but this will be the first time that a device will come preloaded with Real software to ease the song transfer. The service on the Sansa device will also include some new capabilities, including automatic downloads of songs based on user preferences. Real is using its own Helix digital rights management rather than Microsoft's PlaysForSure offering, although the devices will support the Microsoft technology. "This shows how the marketplace is slowly adjusting to Microsoft becoming a competitor," said Mark Mulligan, an analyst with Jupiter Research. Many portable music manufacturers and digital music stores have used Microsoft's digital rights management software and the Windows Media platform but their relationships with Microsoft may be tested since the introduction of Zune. "There's going to be significant amounts of shifting of alliances because what Microsoft has done with Zune is become an aggressive competitor with lots of people who were their clients who use Windows Media," he said. The announcement from Real also indicates that although the industry has become increasingly critical of Apple's policy of tying iTunes customers exclusively to its own iPod music players, competitors are emulating the tactic. Still, just because Microsoft and Real have now introduced similar concepts doesn't mean that such close bundles will become the only choice in the future, Mulligan said. That's clear because the Real and Sandisk relationship isn't exclusive, meaning that Sansa users won't be limited to only using Rhapsody while Real said it plans to form similar relationships with other music player makers. Also, if the music stores strike too many relationships with music players makers, the value of the close tie-in drops. "You can only do that so many times before it becomes meaningless," Mulligan said. Real said the Sansa offering will become available later this year. The companies did not reveal pricing for end users.ADVERTISEMENTMAKE SOA REAL WITH IBM WEBSPHERE PODCASTStreamline processes and maximize efficiency within a proven service oriented architecture. Take back control of your business processes with IBM WebSphere.
519989
If the Digital Watermarking Alliance has its way, record labels will let their songs be sold as MP3s with embedded watermarks to track the songs in the open seas of the internet. In Listening Post.
660185
While MP3&#39;s have taken quite a bashing lately, it&#39;s good to know you can still download free and legal MP3&#39;s, albeit for independent artists.
248647
Microsoft&#39;s WMA, Apple&#39;s ACC, Sony&#39;s Altrac and others -- compete in a variety of digital music devices, support for MP3 is becoming a required ingredient for any successful portable player.
44097
The MP3 design modification is a major move for Sony, which has been criticized for a product that only allows its own format to be played.
82427
But look to lawsuit stick rather than iTunes carrot for the cause
624868
The British Phonographic Industry threatens tough action. &quot;We will get IP addresses and names,&quot; a spokesperson said. &quot;P2P users have a misconception that they are anonymous, but they are not.
650412
Amazon: "Many of our customers have already discovered that one cheap way to get DRM-free MP3s is to buy them on CD and rip them themselves." Here's a screen shot. It's common-sense advice, but still somewhat remarkable that they're addressing the issue of DRM right there on the home page. It could be that I'm seeing it and you're not (possibly because I just bought a Linux hand-held computer from Nokia). It's hard to tell.  Here's their guide to ripping CDs.
273426
Competing with the best in anything is a tall order, especially when that competitor is something of a cultural icon.  That's the spot that flash memory concern SanDisk (SNDK) finds itself in with its Sansa line of digital music players.
273391
News that Microsoft must pay $1.5bn for infringing MP3 patents may have widespread effects, experts say.
188366
Memory card and MP3 music player  producer SanDisk  said on Thursday a legal battle with  MP3 patent holders is ongoing and shrugged off a statement from  a patent pool firm claiming a judicial victory.
689237
Anti-iTunes, Zune manoeuvre SanDisk will today announce a digital music player that not only supports RealNetworks' Rhapsody song subscription service, but is branded to match the RealNetworks' offering, it has been claimed.â¦
272170
Sean "P. Diddy" Coombs helps Rhapsody and Sandisk launch Rhapsody 4.0 and a new MP3 player. Now you can clone your iTunes collection. In Listening Post. <img src=" http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/music/xml.gif
323885
The Sansa Clip and Sansa View, two of SanDisk's top selling products, received storage bumps today.
113790
Real said Monday that its Rhapsody service would switch over to its own in-house DRM software, ending a partnership with Microsoft for its PlaysForSure Windows Media technology. The SanDisk Sansa e200 line will be the first with the DRM embedded.