Studios, Networks to Appeal Aussie Ruling on ISPs, Copyright

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Sydney – A group of Hollywood movie studios and TV networks has appealed an
Australian court’s ruling that found ISP iiNet was not responsible for
copyright infringements committed by its subscribers.

The Australian Federation
Against Copyright Theft (AFACT), a consortium of 34 studios and networks, lost
its case against iiNet and was ordered to pay the ISP’s $5.08 million bill for
legal fees.

In addition to appealing the case, AFACT will also argue in court
to avoid paying attorneys’ fees.

"The court found large scale copyright
infringements, that iiNet knew they were occurring, that iiNet had the
contractual and technical capacity to stop them and iiNet did nothing about
them," said AFACT head Neil Gane.

"In line with previous case law,
this would have amounted to authorization of copyright infringement. If this
decision stands, the ISPs have all the protection without any of the
responsibility."

"It is more than disappointing and frustrating that
the studios have chosen this unproductive path," said iiNet CEO Michael Malone.

"This legal case has not stopped one illegal download and further legal
appeals will not stop piracy… A more effective approach would be for the
studios to make their content more readily and cheaply available online."

 

Related Links:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118015743.html

http://snipurl.com/uijor
(TorrentFreak)

Justice Dept. Won't Challenge Proposed Online News Service

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington
– The Justice Department said that it won’t challenge a proposal on antitrust
grounds by Silicon Valley-based MyWire to form a new online subscription news
aggregation service.

The service, to be known as the Global News Service, would
link news articles, video and audio clips from different publishers that relate
to the same topic.

Site publishers would be able to add a "related
item" box to their pages, containing linked abstracts of content from
other participating sites.

Users would pay a subscription fee to access all
fee-based content within the network. There would be no charge to view free
content.

MyWire submitted its proposal to the department to gauge whether it
complied with antitrust laws.

The department said that the service "has
the potential to benefit consumers by allowing them to access a broad network
of related content without having to conduct their own online searches."

 

Related Links:
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/February/10-at-190.html

http://www.mywire.com

FCC May Ask Broadcasters for Unused Wireless Spectrum

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington – Searching for a way to free up valuable
wireless airwaves, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is considering
asking broadcast television stations to voluntarily relinquish some of their
unused spectrum, Reuters reported.

In return, the stations would receive a
share of the spectrum auction proceeds.

The goal is to make available another
500 megahertz of spectrum over 10 years.

Full details will be released when the
FCC’s National Broadband Plan — aimed at vastly increasing affordable access
to high-speed Internet across the U.S. — is unveiled next month.

Speaking at a broadband event, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the
spectrum allocated for TV stations "is not being used efficiently —
indeed, much is not being used at all."

 

Related Links:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2419234520100224

http://blog.broadband.gov

Apple iTunes Store Sells 10 Billionth Song Download

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Cupertino,
Calif. – Apple (NASD: AAPL) announced on Thursday
that its iTunes Store sold its ten-billionth song download, the purchaser of
which will receive a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card.

Louie Sulcer, of Woodstock,
Georgia won the promotion when he bought a download of Johnny Cash’s
"Guess Things Happen That Way."

"We’re grateful to all of our
customers for helping us reach this amazing milestone," said Eddy Cue,
Apple’s vice president of Internet Services.

"We’re proud that iTunes has
become the number one music retailer in the world, and selling 10 billion songs
is truly staggering."

Apple’s iTunes Store now boasts a catalog of over 12
million songs, over 55,000 TV episodes and over 8,500 movies, including over
2,500 in high-definition video.

 

Related Links:
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/02/25itunes.html

DMFE

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Report: 21% Fewer Americans Buying Music

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – The number of U.S. music purchasers declined by
24 million between 2007 and 2009, a drop of 21% during a period when consumers
were purchasing far fewer CDs but beginning to experiment more with digital
music, according to data presented by market research firm NPD Group at Digital
Media Wire’s Digital Music Forum East conference in New York this week. The
market lost 33 million CD buyers between 2007-2009; the number of Americans
purchasing digital song downloads also dropped, from 35.2 million in 2008 to
34.6 million in 2009.

NPD analyst Russ Crupnick attributed the digital falloff to
consumers experimenting with downloads and then losing interest.

Meanwhile, the
amount consumers are spending on digital song downloads rose from an average of
$33 per year to $50 per year.

NPD also found that free Internet radio services
like Pandora lead to a 41% increase in paid downloads, while free, on-demand
services like Spotify actually led to a 13% drop in paid downloads.

"For
some people, more listening just means more listening and tends to lead to less
purchasing," Crupnick remarked.

NPD also found a precipitous drop in the
number of songs being shared on peer-to-peer networks, which was attributed to growing
competition from legal services; fear of spyware; and music shared via other
means, like swapping hard drives.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uiiku
(Billboard)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-10459568-261.html

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-10459168-261.html

http://www.npd.com

http://www.digitalmusicforum.com/east

Sellaband

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Bankrupt Sellaband Bought by German Investors; CEO Exits

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Munich, Germany – Sellaband, the fan-financed recordings
site that recently filed for bankruptcy protections in Holland,
announced late Wednesday that investors in Germany have agreed to acquire the
company, Wired.com reported. Sellaband CEO Johan Vosmeier said he would be
stepping down, while Munich-based entrepreneur Michael Bogatzki has taken over
as head of the company.

Bogatzki told Wired.com he "will continue to
advance this fantastic platform while acting in the spirit of the SellaBand
community and its founders."

"I have spoken at length with the people
who have bought sellaband.com and am totally convinced that they are just as
committed as we always were to build a solid future for SellaBand,"
outgoing CEO Vosmeier wrote on the company’s website.

"There is no doubt
in my mind that ‘crowdfunding’, as they call it, is a blessing for artists in
the 21st century and that this concept has the potential to cure what’s been
ailing the traditional music industry for so long."

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uii7k
(Wired.com)

http://snipurl.com/uii8b
(DMW previous coverage)

http://www.sellaband.com

Social Network hi5 Acquires Social Games Firm Big Six

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Online social network hi5 announced on Thursday that it has acquired social
gaming firm Big Six.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Austin-based
Big Six was founded by gaming veterans Kevin Gilner, Monty Kerr and Chad Hansing,
who will relocate to San Francisco
along with other Big Six employees.

Hi5 said the deal will enhance its commerce
for virtual goods and games, and that it will implement Big Six’s payment
processing, fraud detection and conversion optimization technologies, as well
as its social gaming platform.

 

Related Links:
http://www.hi5networks.com/press/releases/0224100.html

http://www.hi5.com

Quincy Smith Unveils New Investment Firm Code Advisors

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Quincy Smith, the former head of CBS Interactive, on Wednesday announced the
launch of an investment and advisory firm, Code Advisors, which will consult
digital media firms. "Twenty years ago, there was far less innovation and
far less media, but there were four investment banks focused in the new media
space. But today there really aren’t any," Smith told NewTeeVee. Initial
Code Advisors clients include CBS (NYSE: CBS), Comcast and Spotify.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ui6dm
(NewTeeVee)

http://codeadvisors.com

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