The theory is that if the Internet can’t be controlled, then copyright is dead. The thing is, the Internet is a machine for copying things cheaply, quickly, and with as little control as possible, while copyright is the right to control who gets to make copies, so these two abstractions seem destined for a fatal [...]

Google is reportedly in talks with Apple about the possibility of supplying video clips for Apple’s forthcoming iTV device. The iTV device, due to be released early next year at a price of around $299, allows users to watch video files stored on their PC on their televisions. The kit consists of a video streaming [...]

In the face of problems with illegal file-sharing among students on campus, Boston College has partnered with the Ruckus network, a pioneer in legal file-sharing, to bring free and legal music downloads to BC students. With major legal issues accompanying the use of services such as MyTunes, KaZaa, and others (a BC student was sued [...]

YouTube, the hot-hot-hot video sharing site, may finally start making some money off of its phenomenal web traffic. Warner Music has agreed to distribute its songs and music videos via YouTube under an ad revenue sharing deal. Here’s the interesting but somewhat-vague part of the pact: Warner will license not only the videos and music [...]

Some not entirely surprising results from the latest piece of digital music research by Jupiter: people with iPods don’t fill them up entirely from the iTunes Music Store: The Jupiter Research report reveals that, on average, only 20 of the tracks on a iPod will be from the iTunes shop. Far more important to iPod [...]

There are so many questions and fine lines looming over the file-sharing world. One question, for example, concerns downloading television shows. Technically you do not pay for television shows, you pay for a service that provides you access to hundreds of television shows, so is it illegal for me to download an entire season of [...]

When most of us think about peer-to-peer (P2P) applications, we instinctively think of instant messaging applications, simple file sharing programs, and games. For the most part, we have been conditioned to default to the client/server model when considering distributed application designs and hardly give P2P models even passing thought, especially for business applications. The primary [...]

Kuro to stop their file swapping service to avoid lawsuits Taiwan based online file swapping service provider Kuro has said in a statement that they are closing down its service to avoid being sued by the recording industry. The company is also going to pay undisclosed damages to avoid these lawsuits. This decision comes around [...]

DVDs will soon be tracked with embedded radio transmitter chips to prevent copying and piracy, according to the company which makes movie discs for Warner, Disney, Fox and other major studios. The technology, which can also be used for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs, will allow movie studios to remotely track individual discs as they travel [...]

The Barenaked Ladies are urging their fans to get involved in their music, asking them to remix tunes, create T-shirts and participate in a music video. The Toronto group just reverted to its independent roots, having reached the end of its contract with Warner Music. Members say they are ready to experiment with new ways [...]

A Chinese music site is suing Yahoo Inc.’s China unit for allegedly violating its copyright, Chinese media reported Friday. Zhejiang province-based Entertainment Base, which claims to be China’s largest Web site for original music, sued Yahoo China in the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court over the copyright of 13 songs, and seeking $314,703 in damages, [...]

Everyone’s trying to cash in on ‘social networking’ with entertainment entrepreneurs figuring they can score huge, advertising-based profits by ‘allowing’ people to interact online, and to share their artistic and other creations with each other. But it’s less of DIY (do it youself) and more of DIFT (do it for them). The p2p community has [...]

Piracy—it’s not just for the high seas anymore. In fact, according to the MPAA, 44 percent of their piracy losses in the US come from college students. This claim can only be made with a straight face, of course, if you believe that college students would otherwise be purchasing retail copies of every film that [...]

The FX channel plans to start inserting new ‘Tivo-Proof” ads in the UK as part of a plan to combat consumers use of digital recorders or DVRs. Beginning September 22nd, FX will test the ads by inserting them in various TV shows. The ads promote its new drama “Brotherhood” and show a single image for [...]

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday a Zune-branded phone is part of its future plans to expand in the digital music market, now dominated by Apple Computer Inc.’s iPod. “A Zune phone is definitely part of the future of this brand,” Chris Stephenson, general manager of global marketing for Zune, told reporters [...]

Taiwan online music file-sharing network Kuro has agreed to shut down its file swapping service and pay undisclosed damages to settle a recording industry lawsuit, the industry group behind the conflict said. The settlement comes a year after a separate case produced a landmark criminal conviction against executives at Kuro’s operators, Fashionow, the International Federation [...]

Apple’s announcement of the newly revamped iTunes 7 during yesterday’s “Showtime” event came with many new updates and features to both the software and the iTunes Store. One of those updates was an update to the FairPlay DRM encryption that Apple uses in the songs sold through iTunes 7, as it rendered DRM stripping software [...]

From “the Equinox.” The Recording Industry Association of America has cited 45 Keene State College students for illegally downloading music using the college’s Internet network. Letters concerning the illegal downloads, the content of the downloads and which peer-to-peer networks were used in the process, were sent to the Information Technology Group at KSC. “The RIAA [...]

As expected, Microsoft is busting out the Zune today, and we’ve got the rundown. Not a lot of surprises in the specs department, but they’ve confirmed the basics we’ve known for a while, like WiFi, 30GB of HDD, built-in FM, a 3-inch screen and the basic music, pictures and video playback. They also finally let [...]

Irish civil rights group Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) has started a High Court action against the Irish Government challenging new European and Irish laws requiring mass surveillance. DRI Chairman TJ McIntyre said: “These laws require telephone companies and internet service providers to spy on all customers, logging their movements, their telephone calls, their emails, and [...]