RIAA Opposes 'Fair Use' Bill
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Congressional move to easing digital copying would "legalize hacking," say music labels.
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The litigious Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is involved in another legal dispute with a P-to-P (peer-to-peer) technology maker, but this time, the RIAA is on defense.
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Music fans are miffed about a court decision that says musicians must get permission to sample tunes even if the remix bears no resemblance to the original. An activist group is sponsoring a remix project based upon the clip in question. By Katie Dean.
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The Senate passes a copyright bill that is not as bad as digital rights activists had feared. The bill drops language that would have banned tech that would have allowed people to skip commercials. By Katie Dean.
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Congress may consider a bill that could send thousands of Internet music and movie downloaders to jail, but the legislation faces opposition from groups that say it would unfairly punish consumers. -washingtonpost.com
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With courtroom victories against P2P networks and individual users behind it, the Recording Industry Association of America is launching a new legal effort to take down binary newsgroup providers, which have long claimed immunity from copyright claims.
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The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is following the Recording Industry Association of Americaâs (RIAA) footsteps by filing lawsuits against BitTorrent clients.
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So-called FairUse program breaks copy protection on Windows Media Player.
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(InfoWorld) - Web music stores have taken off with such gusto that now everyone wants to get in on the online media action, and the next battle ground is the digital movies and TV shows aimed at your living room. What users need to beware of amid the headlong rush to build digital music, movie and TV libraries is the terms of the digital rights management (DRM) attached to the files they're buying, which control the use of the files in various ways, including by restricting usage to a certain number of devices. DRM technology was developed to protect the music industry from illegal downloads, but it can also lock users into choosing one device, or family of devices. The fight may appear to have just started, but with portable media players such as the iPod so dominant, and their new appeal as view screens for downloaded movies and TV shows, its a decision users will have to make quickly. The time will soon come when it will be too expensive for a user to switch from, say Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod/iTunes/iTV platform to a rival platform because the DRM would ensure they have to buy a whole new music and movie collection. A future where users are stuck in one company's back pocket could be avoided if DRM licenses are broadly shared. But DRM appears to be on the verge of becoming a weapon to lock users in. "We see no consolidation of formats in the foreseeable future. It is Fairplay and Windows Media DRM for now and that may not change although the jury is still out on video as we are early on in the game for video. For audio the game is over," said Van Baker, vice president of media industry research for Gartner Inc. Fairplay is Apple Computer Inc.'s DRM technology. Songs purchased at the iTunes Store, for example, are meant to be used on only two devices, such as a computer and an iPod, and Fairplay helps enforce such rules. Microsoft Corp. has its own Windows Media DRM, which isn't compatible with Fairplay, so users, for example, cannot use Windows Media files on their iPods. And while Microsoft has been far more open to licensing its DRM than Apple, even creating a PlaysForSure logo to let users know which devices and files are compatible with Windows Media files, it may change its tune regarding such licenses. The company's new Zune media player is not compatible with PlaysForSure. That fact alone highlights how important Microsoft must view the Zune and Zune Marketplace, because in one fell swoop, it became a competitor to online music store partners and to PC and mobile phone makers that sell rival digital music devices. RealNetworks Inc. and Sandisk Corp. also joined the fray recently, highlighting the tight-fisted approach companies are taking. Users buying a Sandisk Sansa e200 series portable music player get RealNetwork's Rhapsody media service bundled inside, and a chance to pay a monthly subscription for music downloads. But if users cancel the subscription, the next time they connect to the Internet, Rhapsody will delete the songs from the music player and their PCs. Individual songs purchased on Rhapsody won't be deleted in such an instance, but since the songs will be tagged with RealNetworks' Helix DRM, users will have to make sure any new music playing software or hardware they buy supports Helix. The question of technology companies controlling the content users buy so enraged the French government that in June, it passed a law requiring companies to provide enough information about their DRM technology to enable competitors to create interoperable systems. There is also an industry group that could play knight in shining armor. The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), which boasts hundreds of tech companies, including heavyweights such as Intel Corp., Sony Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Lenovo Group Ltd., is working to select and promote an industry standard DRM to ensure digital files can be used on a wide range of devices companies make. Others are also hard at work on the issue, including groups intent on creating open-source DRM technologies, as well as hackers already figuring out ways to beat DRM. In the thick of what will likely end up a promotion and marketing fight, users will have to keep their heads about them and make up their minds. It could be wise to sit out this round of DRM controversy and wait to see which standard wins out, or to stick to traditional media and create digital files by ripping songs from CDs, for example. But it's definitely a time to pay attention. Nobody wants to build a library of favorite movies and songs, only to find that by switching to another computer or software makes it unusable. Â
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LOS ANGELES -- The music industry is continuing its campaign against people who illegally download music through file-sharing sites.
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Stung by the backlash against increased royalties charged to Internet broadcasters, the music industry this week offered to give small online broadcasters a break. But the plan has been dismissed by the broadcasters, who favor legislation in Congress that would reduce Internet music royalties.
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Internet service providers and other technology firms are proposing to soften a bill in Congress that they claim will make them targets of frivolous entertainment industry copyright lawsuits.    The group, which includes Verizon Communications Inc., SBC Communications Inc...
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Papering over the cracks Microsoft is working on closing a loophole that creates a means to strip usage restriction from music files wrapped in its DRM technology. A program called FairUse4WM, recently posted on the internet, allows users to bypass Microsoft's Digital Rights Management (DRM) system.â¦
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SUING MACHINE, the RIAA is on the legal defensive after a P2P software company has accused it of nicking its technology. Altnet is suing the RIAA and several of its partners of pirating its patent covering
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Users of Internet "peer to peer" networks, already dodging lawsuits from the recording industry, could face up to three years in prison under a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday.
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The music business has been aggressive in fighting peer-to-peer file sharing over the Internet, but most musicians do not think illegal file sharing hurts them, according to a recent survey.
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(InfoWorld) - Just because three major online music retailers bind their music stores to specific portable players doesn't make it acceptable, a Norwegian consumer group leading the charge against Apple's DRM (digital rights management) policy says. "ITunes Music Store and others are unfair to consumers no matter how many download services follow the proprietary approach," wrote Torgeir Waterhouse, a senior advisor at The Norwegian Consumer Council, in response to a letter written by Apple CEO Steve Jobs andÂ posted on the Apple Web siteÂ on Tuesday. Jobs examined why DRM exists and discusses alternatives to the current set-up in his open response to calls for Apple to allow users to buy songs from the iTunes store and play them on any device. Norway's consumer representative hasÂ threatened legal action against AppleÂ for violating Norwegian law by limiting iTunes customers to playing their music only on iPods. Consumer groups in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France, and Germany haveÂ joined Norway's complaintÂ against Apple. Jobs points out that Microsoft and Sony also sell music that can only be played on their players, supporting a model that serves customers well with choice and a continuing stream of innovative products. He also suggests that groups like Waterhouse's "redirect their energies" toward convincing the music labels to sell music without DRM, technology that aims to restrict how buyers can copy or use the music. The four biggest record labels forced Apple to employ a proprietary DRM system as a condition of the agreement that allows Apple to sell their music, he said. Ideally, he said, the labels wouldn't require DRM. "This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat," Jobs wrote. While Waterhouse agrees that the record companies carry some fault for the situation, the iTunes music store and others like it are ultimately responsible. "They're still the company that's selling music to the consumers and are responsible for offering a fair deal according to Norwegian law," he said. Still, with his letter, Jobs' appears to have stirred up some additional pressure on the record labels to change their DRM policies. EMusic.com Inc., which claims to be the second largest music download site, only sells DRM-free music from thousands of independent labels. But the site would like be able to sell music from the four biggest labels. "We are hopeful the remaining four will one day join [the independent labels] by licensing their complete catalogs and reap the benefits of consumer demand," David Pakman, president and CEO of eMusic, wrote in a response to Jobs' letter. Even though Jobs didn't hint that a solution might be impending, Waterhouse appeared to see a glimmer of hope. "If this means that Apple is willing to the kick the lock in technology from the [iTunes/iPod] combination this is really good news -- news that should be put into action as soon as possible to bring us all one important step closer to a well functioning digital society," he wrote.