Spitzer

MySpace Files Lawsuit Against Spammers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 22, 2007 - 11:02am.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s online social network MySpace announced on Monday that it has filed suit against a number of spammers for posting millions of spam "bulletins" to MySpace users' accounts.

Justice Dept. Launches Digital Music Pricing Probe, Following Spitzer's Lead

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 3, 2006 - 7:16am.

Washington - Likely spurred by a similar probe launched by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the U.S. Justice Department announced that it has opened an investigation into possible collusion between the major record labels on digital music pricing. "The Antitrust Division is looking at the possibility of anti-competitive practices in the music download industry," Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona told Reuters. The investigations from Spitzer and the Justice Dept. both relate to the possible fixing of wholesale prices for digital music, industry sources told Reuters. Currently, the industry standard price for a digital song is 99 cents on services like iTunes and Napster, although label executives have said publicly they would like to initiate variable pricing for song downloads. Billboard reported that sources said Spitzer was investigating alleged "most favored nation" status that labels have with digital music services, such that no label can receive a deal worse than its competitors, effectively fixing prices. Record labels declined comment to both Billboard and Reuters, but sources close to the labels told Billboard that Justice Dept. subpoenas are expected to be forthcoming.

tags: Spitzer | Musics | Justice Dept | Digital Music Pricing Probe |

Spitzer Sends Labels New Subpoenas in Digital Music Pricing Probe

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 14, 2006 - 10:37am.

New York - Record labels have received a new round of subpoenas from New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who is investigating the pricing of digital music downloads, CNET News.com reported on Tuesday. Warner Music Group disclosed in an SEC filing today that it received a second subpoena, while "music industry sources" told News.com that labels complained to Spitzer that earlier subpoenas they received were too broad. In addition to record labels, Spitzer has also sent subpoenas to a number of digital music retailers. Some label executives have recently said that they favor changing the current 99-cent pricing for digital songs, so that new releases could be sold at higher prices while library titles would sell for less.

Report: Spitzer's Digital Music Probe Centered on Labels' Price Guarantees

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 12, 2006 - 3:50am.

Los Angeles - New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's ongoing probe into digital music price-fixing is centering on the "most-favored nation" status that record labels have demanded when licensing their songs to online services, ensuring they get the same rates as their rivals, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday. "Some of the major labels have proposed and re-proposed and insisted on the inclusion in their licenses of most-favored nations clauses which would grant that label the benefits and pricing negotiated by a competing label," Jonathan Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Assn., which represents Apple, Yahoo and others, told the Times. "Collusion has never been known to lower prices." While executives at some music companies told the Times that such clauses have not been activated, executives at online music retailers said they have been enacted several times -- to ensure a label gets the highest-price download, or even mandate that a retailer exert equal marketing efforts to promote a label's artists.

Spitzer's Probe of Digital Music Price-Fixing to Include Online Services

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 4, 2006 - 7:45am.

San Francisco - The digital music price-fixing probe recently launched by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer will also targeting digital music services, in addition to the already confirmed subpoenas sent to major record labels, CNET News.com reported. "Everybody expects to be contacted, and some already have been," Jonathan Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Association, which represents Yahoo, Apple, AOL and others, told News.com. Yahoo, Napster and Apple declined comment for the story. Spitzer is reportedly looking into the wholesale prices that labels charge music services per song, which are around 75 cents per track; the industry standard pricing at online stores is 99 cents per track. Some labels have expressed the desire to have more a more variable pricing structure for digital music, charging more for top hits and less for less popular catalog tracks. The New York Attorney General has also in the past gone after the music industry for radio payola, while the FTC settled CD price-fixing charges with the labels. "This may simply be a shot across the bow," attorney Michael Graham told News.com. "Spitzer may be saying, 'Guys, we've caught you twice before, and we know you would never try it a third time, but we're going to make sure.'"

tags: Internet | Spitzer | Digital Music | Probe |

NY Atty General Spitzer to Probe Digital Music Price-Fixing

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 3, 2006 - 8:20am.

Albany, N.Y. - New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has subpoenaed several of the major record labels, in connection with a preliminary inquiry into digital music price-fixing, according to published reports. Labels that have confirmed receipt of subpoenas include Warner Music Group, Sony BMG and Universal Music Group. A spokesman for Spitzer told the Associated Press that it would take several months to decide whether the Attorney General's office would launch a full investigation. Spitzer has also investigated the record labels' relationships with radio stations, which resulted in multi-million dollar settlements over charges that labels paid stations to play certain songs in an updated version of the "payola" scandal of the 1950s.

tags: Spitzer | Digital Music | NY | Atty General |