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Report: U.S. CD Sales Rebound 2.3% in 2004; 141 Million Downloads Sold

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 7, 2005 - 11:24am.
New York -- U.S. CD sales were up for the first time in four years in 2004, as sales rose 2.3% to reach 651.1 million, according to data from Nielsen Soundscan. The growth was registered in spite of continued industry claims that Internet and CD-R piracy are devastating CD sales. The figures also showed that a total of 141 million digital music downloads were sold during 2004 at retailers such as Apple's iTunes and Napster. Of these, 91.4 million were sold in the first six months of the year -- a 376% increase over the 19.2 million downloads sold in the second half of 2003.
tags: Reports | Download | U.S. CD Sales | Rebound |

Software Giants Lobby Congress for Changes to Digital Copyright Laws

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 7, 2005 - 11:22am.
Washington -- The Business Software Alliance (BSA), a trade group whose members include Microsoft, IBM, Intel and Adobe, has submitted a white paper to Congress that asks for copyright laws to be rewritten so that their products are protected from piracy on peer-to-peer networks. Specifically, the companies want Internet service providers to share more of the legal burden when their users commit copyright infringement over the Internet. Currently, the only way to obtain the identities of such users is to file a "John Doe" lawsuit against them, which then compels the ISP to reveal the identity of the alleged of an alleged infringer. Opponents to the BSA's proposal say that the privacy of Internet users should be protected. "The best policy is not to have the service provider become Big Brother," Sarah Deutsch, associate general counsel of ISP Verizon, told the Associated Press.
tags: Congress | Software Giants | Digital Copyright Laws |

FCC Chairman: Agency Not Likely to Regulate Satellite Radio Content

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 7, 2005 - 11:20am.
Las Vegas -- The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) remarked on Thursday that the agency is not likely to heed broadcasters' concerns and regulate the nascent satellite radio industry, CNET News.com reported. Broadcasters have petitioned the FCC to regulate satellite radio in the same way its does terrestrial radio -- including levying indecency fines -- but for-pay satellite radio has so far been treated more like premium cable TV, where broadcasters are more free to air programming that would not be considered decent for network TV, or in this case, terrestrial radio. "I think it's a dangerous thing to start talking about extending government oversight of content to other media just to level the playing field," Powell said in comments made at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. "At the end of the day, I think we're going to move in the direction of the Jeffersonian free-speech tradition." Radio shock jock Howard Stern, who on his own has incurred millions in indecency fines at the hands of the FCC, recently signed a $500 million deal to move his show onto the uncensored Sirius Satellite Radio in 2006.
tags: FCC Chairman | Regulate | Satellite Radio Content | Agency |

Report: 2004 U.S. MP3 Player Sales Double to 6.9 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 7, 2005 - 11:18am.
Las Vegas -- Sales of MP3 players more than doubled in 2004, to 6.9 million units, with dollar sales nearly tripling to $1.2 billion, according to data released by the Consumer Electronics Association. The CEA projects that MP3 player sales in 2005 will reach 10 million units and $1.7 billion in dollar sales. The trade group also said that satellite radio has helped to boost autosound revenues 10% for the year. Overall, sales of consumer electronics in the U.S. during 2004 topped $125 billion, an 11% increase over 2003's $113.5 billion sales total. "Consumer electronics sales continue to surpass our expectations and break existing records year after year, because this is an ever-changing industry that delivers innovative products that enhance consumers' lives" said CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro. Other top-sellers among consumer electronics for the year included digital televisions, devices featuring flash memory cards and camera cell phones.
tags: Reports | U.S. MP3 Player | Sales Double |

Report: U.K. Digital Downloads Outpace CD Singles Sales for First Time

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 7, 2005 - 11:16am.
London -- According to new figures from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), digital download sales in the U.K. have outpaced sales of singles for the first time in history. In the last week of December, Brits downloaded about 312,000 songs, compared to the approximately 282,000 singles sold over the counter -- another indication of how the legal download market has boomed in the U.K. since the launch of websites like iTunes and Napster. BPI Chairman Peter Jamieson attributed the trend partly to the holiday season. "While many high-street stores were closed for the bank holidays, online download sites are open 24/7," he said. "To that extent, you could say it was a blip, but it's an important milestone in the growth of download sales and a sign of things to come."
tags: Reports | First Time | U.K. Digital Downloads | Outpace CD Singles Sales |

Electronic Arts Sets Launch Titles for Sony PSP, Support for Blu-ray DVD

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 7, 2005 - 11:14am.
Redwood City, Calif. -- Electronic Arts on Friday announced the slate of six titles it will offer for Sony's PSP handheld gaming system when it launches in the U.S. in March. The Redwood City, Calif.-based developer will offer "MVP Baseball," "FIFA Soccer," "Need for Speed Underground Rivals," "Tiger Woods PGA Tour," "NBA Street: Showdown" and "NFL Street 2: Unleashed." Separately, the company announced that "EA Sports Rugby 2005" is currently under development at Canada-based HB Studios for release in the spring for PlayStation 2, Xbox and the PC. The game will incorporate all major rugby teams and tournaments, including the Tri-Nations and Super 12. Finally, Electronic Arts announced that it has joined the Blu-ray Disc Association, and will release upcoming titles on Sony's high-capacity Blu-ray DVD format, on which Sony plans to build its next-generation PlayStation console. "The delivery of high-definition games is becoming increasingly important to us," said Electronic Arts worldwide studio CTO Scott Cronce. Fellow publisher Vivendi Universal Games also recently announced its support for Blu-ray.
tags: Sony PSP | Electronic Arts | Support | Blu-ray DVD | Launch Titles |

Blogging Tools Developer Six Apart Acquires LiveJournal Parent Co. Danga

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 7, 2005 - 11:12am.
San Francisco -- Six Apart, a San Francisco-based maker of tools for weblogging, said on Thursday that it has acquired Oregon-based Danga Interactive, operators of the popular service LiveJournal, for an undisclosed amount of stock and cash. With the acquisition, Six Apart said that thre acquisition solidifies its status as the industry's largest independent provider of weblogging tools. The companies said that their combined user base exceeds 6.5 million users. LiveJournal, an online community organized around personal journals, has helped fuel the rapid growth of weblogging by offering consumers both free and paid subscriptions to its personal publishing blogging tool, built on open source software. LiveJournal will continue to operate as a separate division.
tags: Six Apart | Acquires | Blogging Tools Developer | LiveJournal Parent Co | Danga |

Report: Tsunami Spikes Internet Traffic to Blogs, News Sites

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 7, 2005 - 11:08am.
New York -- Internet traffic to news and information web sites has increased substantially since the Dec. 26 tsunami that ravaged parts of 11 countries, Nielsen/NetRatings reported on Friday. At-work traffic to blogger.com skyrocketed 73% during the week ending Jan. 2, with most visitors viewing amateur photos of tsunami footage. In addition, traffic to sites including New York Post, CBS News, Forbes.com and several Time Inc. publications jumped 31%, 28%, 26% and 22%, respectively.
tags: Blogs | Reports | News Sites | Tsunami | Internet Traffic |