10 Years of DeCSS and Xvid
Many recent articles on file-trading and the P2P community have noted that the Napster phenomenon occurred ten years ago, marking a decade of joy for down-loaders and despair for the big content companies. Less noticed is that 2009 is also the tenth anniversary of another bit of crucial P2P technology, the DeCSS decrypting tool. Publicly [...]
Has the Transcoding Problem Worsened Thanks to YouTube?
If you’re a hardcore rock fan, the name “Deadmau5″ might not really ring a bell – unless you know someone who is familiar with the “rave” scene. One of the bigger names in House music had some interesting things to say about how much quality is lost on YouTube even though it’s labelled as [...]
Legal Questions Raised Over MP3 Resale Website
Is it really legal to sell your DRM-free music files?
Here’s the scenario: you have a hard drive full of MP3s you don’t really listen to anymore. The standard response would be to just delete the files. What about the value locked up in those particular digital bits? What about the idea of [...]
EFF Demands Investigation for Suspicionless Digital Searches at Border
Does border security have a right to search your iPod, laptop or USB sticks? This has increasingly become a central question and some, like the EFF, are arguing that such searches are unconstitutional.
One of the ideas behind ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) is the idea that you can have your iPod, laptop, or any other [...]
Amazon’s new music download store will offer only DRM-free music
Every song and album in Amazon’s digital music store will be available exclusively in the DRM-free MP3 format.
Once again EMI leads the way in making its music library available to companies that actually have a decent plan to help it compete against piracy.
No doubt realizing that it must figure out a way [...]
A few labels now offering a Vinyl and MP3 hybrid
Unlike other music labels, First World Records and Saddle Creek are trying to actually offer their customers value when making a purchase of physical music media.
DJs need a combination of new and old media when it comes to churning out new beats and tunes to thump dancehall floors with, and some have taken up [...]
Grooveshark inks deal with V2 Music Group
P2P music service will offer content from an extensive music library that includes: Dave Matthews Band, Cold War Kids, Bloc Party, Aimee Mann, Grandaddy, Chromeo, and Stereophonics.
I’ve frequently discussed the new Grooveshark P2P music sharing network where users and copyright holders alike will be compensated for offering content for download. Grooveshark will pay the [...]
Santa Cruz company may have solution to music pirating (stream ripping)
With the advent of the digital age, it’s become much easier to steal music. Across the country, anyone who owns a computer can log on to a peer-to-peer network and obtain songs and whole albums for free.
As large as the problem of peer-to-peer stealing of songs is, it’s not the easiest, nor the most common [...]
Peter Gabriel launches We7, ad-supported music download site
“Advertising attached to the music will ensure that artists receive royalties for making their songs available, whilst consumers will receive and share DRM-free music legitimately”.
Peter Gabriel, tech entrepreneur Steve Purdham and finance guru John Taysom have teamed up to create a new technology and music venture site called We7 that will offer ad-supported, [...]
Qtrax adds Sony BMG content to ad-supported P2P
Users will be able to access songs from the Sony BMG Music Entertainment catalog of music recordings for a predefined number of times for free.
Qtrax, the upcoming first legal ad-supported P2P network due to launch this September, has announced today that it has added content from Sony BMG Music Entertainment to its offerings of [...]
