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Canadian Record Industry Appeals Pro-File-Sharing Court Ruling

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 15, 2004 - 5:08am.
Toronto -- The Canadian Record Industry Association (CRIA) has filed to appeal a recent Canadian federal court ruling that denied its motion to have five Internet service providers turn over the identities of suspected music file-swappers. The landmark ruling also declared it legal in Canada to upload and download music on file-sharing services for personal use. The ruling came in stark contrast to current U.S. law, which has enabled the recording industry here to successfully prosecute thousands of individual file-swappers. "In our view, Canadian copyright law does not allow people to make copies of hundreds or thousands of musical recordings for global copying, transmission and distribution to millions of strangers on the Internet," said CRIA general counsel Richard Pfohl. "This appeal is important for virtually all Canadian intellectual property owners," added CRIA president Brian Robertson. "Any owner of intellectual property that can be digitally transmitted has a stake in this appeal process." In its appeal, CRIA said the judge "made serious and reviewable errors of law, made overriding and palpable errors in his assessment of the factual record before him, and, in the end, purported to exercise his discretion on improper and irrelevant bases, and in a manner of excess of his jurisdiction."
tags: Canadian Record Industry | Laws | Pro-File |

MPAA: 2 Arrested Under New Calif. Ban on Camcorders in Movie Theaters

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 15, 2004 - 5:06am.
Los Angeles -- The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on Thursday announced the first arrests to be made under a new California law that makes it a misdemeanor to bring a camcorder into a movie theater. Min Jae Joun was arrested on April 10 at a showing of "The Passion of the Christ" at The Grove theaters in Los Angeles, after his camcorder's red "Record" light was seen by theater personnel; his arraignment is set for May 5. Ruben Centeno Moreno was arrested on April 12 when a projectionist noticed his camcorder in operation during a screening of "The Alamo" at a theater in Chatsworth, Calif. If convicted, both will face penalties of up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $2,500.
tags: MPAA | Theaters | Movie | New Calif | Camcorders |

NY Times: RealNetworks Seeks Music Pact with Apple Against Microsoft

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 15, 2004 - 5:04am.
New York -- The New York Times reported on Thursday that media delivery technology firm RealNetworks made an appeal to Apple Computer to join forces against Microsoft in the digital music business. RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser reportedly sent an email to Apple chairman Steve Jobs on April 9, offering a "tactical alliance" that would necessarily compel Apple to open its closely guarded music technology and service to RealNetworks. The email further "strongly hinted" that if Apple did not partner with RealNetworks, the company would seek a possible alliance with archrival Microsoft -- even as RealNetworks has a pending $1 billion antitrust suit against the company over media player software. The proposed alliance with Apple would make songs from RealNetworks' music services playable on Apple's iPod, with the player then becoming the primary device used with RealNetworks' music services. "Why is Steve afraid of opening up the iPod?" Glaser asked in an interview with The Times. "Steve is showing a high level of fear that I don't understand."
tags: Apple | Microsoft | RealNetworks | NY Times | Deal | Music Pact |

Amazon Unveils Search Engine Site A9.com

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 15, 2004 - 5:02am.
Palo Alto, Calif. -- Online retail giant Amazon.com has launched a test of a new search engine service, aiming to compete with search leaders like Google and Yahoo. A9.com is an independent unit of Amazon that has for months been quietly working on the service, which uses Google-powered technology and lets users store search results and control how they are displayed on the page, as well as view content within Amazon-listed book titles related to their search queries. A9.com also allows users to search simply by attaching their search terms to the end of the URL they type into a browser's address bar (i.e. "http://www.a9.com/query").
tags: Search | Engine | Amazon Unveils |

Musicmatch Jukebox Software to Ship on Intel Desktop PC Chips

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 15, 2004 - 5:00am.
San Diego -- Musicmatch, a provider of music jukebox software and digital music subscription services, announced on Thursday that it has signed an agreement with chipmaker Intel to have its software ship on Intel's desktop motherboards. The agreement adds to Musicmatch's existing deals to bundle its software with Dell, Gateway and HP PCs, and over 60 portable audio devices. The company currently claims 50 million users for its jukebox software. "Being the world's premier motherboard distributor, Intel is ubiquitous in the computer marketplace," said Musicmatch president and COO Peter Csathy. "This agreement aligns us with a true technology leader and increases the visibility of our software and services with millions of consumers worldwide."
tags: PC | Chips | Intel | Musicmatch Jukebox |

AT&T Wireless Launches Cell Phone-Based Song ID Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 15, 2004 - 4:58am.
Redmond, Wash. -- AT&T Wireless on Thursday launched what it says is the first U.S. service that allows users to hold their cell phone up to any speaker playing music, and have that song automatically identified. The service, which is currently free but will eventually cost $0.99 per use, asks users to dial #43 and then hold the phone to a speaker playing music for around 15 seconds; a text message displaying artist and song information is then immediately sent to the phone. AT&T Wireless said the service is powered with technology from U.K.-based Shazam Entertainment and San Francisco-based Musicphone.
tags: Wireless | AT&T | Cell Phone | Songs |

Five Entertainment Industry Retail Trade Groups form Joint Coalition

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 15, 2004 - 4:56am.
Washington -- Five industry trade groups that represent companies providing music, movies and video games to consumers have joined forces to form the Coalition of Entertainment Retail Trade Associations (CERTA), with the goal of lobbying policymakers with a stronger united voice. The group's members -- the Digital Media Association (DiMA), Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA), National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), and Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) -- together represent more than 3,000 entertainment retailers and exhibitors who operate more than 50,000 movie theaters, home video and music stores, video game stores, online music sites and other retail entertainment establishments. "Our organizations' members are the bridges between producers and consumers, so our policy interests are often aligned on issues of consumer education, consumer behavior, and marketplace innovation," said DiMA executive director Jonathan Potter. CERTA said its initial focus will be on the problem of piracy, as well as product content ratings and labeling.
tags: Retail | Entertainment | Coalition |

Public Radio Stations Get $5 Million in Grants for Digital Transition

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 15, 2004 - 4:54am.
Washington -- The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced on Thursday that it will award $5 million in grants to transition 76 public radio stations to digital broadcasting. The grants will enable the stations -- which include 25 serving rural and minority audiences -- to purchase the equipment needed to transmit a digital signal. The grants are part of the nearly $150 million in funding that Congress has provided to CPB over the last four years to assist both public radio and public television stations to convert from analog transmission to digital. "Public broadcasters are by nature pioneers," said CPB president and CEO Robert T. Coonrod. "They are eager to explore the new frontiers of service this technology will make possible to millions of listeners."
tags: VC | Radio Stations | Deal | Digital Transition |

World Wide Web Creator Berners-Lee Wins $1.2 Million Prize

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 15, 2004 - 4:51am.
Espoo, Finland -- The Finnish Technology Award Foundation (FTAF) on Thursday awarded its inaugural Millennium Technology Prize to MIT scientist Tim Berners-Lee. The FTAF committee said Berners-Lee was given the award "for an innovation that directly promotes people's quality of life, is based on humane values and encourages sustainable economic development". The British inventor received a 1-million-euro ($1.2 million) prize with the award. While working at the Particle Physics Institute in Geneva, Switzerland, Berners-Lee devised a system to organize, link and browse Web pages and ultimately launched the World Wide Web in 1991. The modest 48-year-old inventor, who was knighted last year by Queen Elizabeth, is currently the head of the World Wide Web Consortium, a non-profit group dedicated to improving the Web's functionality. Berners-Lee beat out nearly 80 people from 22 countries to win the first-ever Millennium Prize.
tags: Deal | World Wide Web | Berners-Lee |