From the press release: "Loudeye Technologies today announced the acquisition of online radio application technology and select infrastructure assets of OnAir Streaming Networks Inc., headquartered in Irvine, CA. This asset acquisition expands the Loudeye hosted streaming application offerings beyond music samples to include online radio...

"Jupiter Research reports online radio sites are more popular with music consumers than download and artist-specific sites, and second only to retail sites. Jupiter also reports that 18% of the music purchased online is influenced by the use of online radio applications."

Read this entire item here.

Loudeye, over the past year, has announced agreements to digitally "encode" and store music for Warner, Universal, and BMG (three of the "big five" record companies) for the purposes of licensing to third parties and/or online retail.

This is apparently the end of the short and troubled existence of OnAir. RAIN reported early last month (here) that the company would be sold to an undisclosed firm following the layoff of more than half its staff in December. The company announced that it had changed its business model at that time, becoming a streaming media software, applications, and services company. OnAir had been a B2B Internet radio provider since August, when the company announced that they were abandoning the "consumer destination" Internet radio model, and their former name WWW.com.

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BY PAUL MALONEY
Let's make at least one thing clear: I don't feel that by pulling songs down from Napster I'm exercising my constitutional right to free speech. I can't with a straight face make the argument that it's within my rights of "fair use" to download the sixteen tracks from an artist's new album, and then burn them onto a disc for free.

I don't think the code for DeCSS (which enables piracy of DVDs) carries the same First Amendment urgency as political dialogue. I know that when I take music for free (or copy software, or video tape the ball game and charge my neighbors to watch it, etc.), I am violating the rights of the copyright holders and the law.

But consumers do have rights too, and the more I read about what big companies (and the technology firms they employ to help them protect their rights) feel they should be allowed to do to preserve their business interests, the less I sympathize with these "victimized businesses."

The "fair use" rights of honest consumers are treated like "insects" on the highway down which these corporations are speeding. They don't even think twice about squashing them. Here are just two quick examples...

The organization behind establishing a digital security standard for the record industry is the SDMI (Secure Digital Music Initiative). A recent Webnoize (01-26-01, "SDMI Cuts Compression Detection from Plan") piece attests that the SDMI's recent decision to abandon their "watermarking" method of preventing privacy would unfairly put the "burden of proof" for security purposes on the consumer.

The new SDMI system would control piracy by requiring consumers to prove -- through some sort of digital verification -- that they actually own CDs that they legally compress into files for personal use. It will only work with CDs that contain watermarks. "Ideal security systems are utterly invisible to honest users," says Lewis. "It puts a constant burden of proof on the user. People will circumvent security not just to get something for nothing, but simply to save themselves the hassle of being honest."

What Lewis is saying is that if I am continually considered "guilty until proven innocent" by the "judge and jury" of the copyright holders, to whom I have to justify my personal, legal behavior -- why should I bother?

I'm not interested in stealing music (or movies, or other digital content), but I do have a right to fairly use what I own. And if the industry is throwing hurdles in my "legal" way, I have no problem choosing the path of less resistance. If it's easier for me to make a legal copy of my music in an "illegal" way, than go through "fingerprinting and frisking" just to be "legal..." no contest.

An article in "New Scientist" (here) reveals that Motorola's European research lab has devised a technology to disable electronic components when they are physically taken out of authorized "operating zone." The products would contain a chip that uses GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) technology to prevent the appliance from operating in areas where the manufacturer doesn't want it to. The idea behind the technology is to prevent trade on the "grey market" -- in other words, it would prevent consumers from taking advantage of low overseas prices and bringing cell phones, VCRs, and stereos back home.

But what if I want to take my portable stereo with me on vacation? Is my right to use an appliance which I lawfully own an "acceptable casualty" in the fight to protect the rights of big business?

Take this a step further and consider what would happen if this technology were used, let's say, to prevent car buyers from crossing state borders to avoid state sales tax. The minute I try leaving Indiana to return to my home in Illinois, my car stalls? If I want to go on vacation, or loan my car to a friend, would I need to request a "dispensation" from the manufacturer and prove I'm using the product lawfully?

Perhaps it comes down to the industry needing to realize that new technology brings with it new ways (and the right!) to use it legally as well as illegally. One such legal use should be the right to listen online to the music you've purchased. Technology now makes it possible for consumers to leave the CDs they've purchased at home, for example, and listen whenever they're near a computer connected to the Internet, like at work. No need to buy cassettes or other recordable media, just stream it -- because the technology is there, and it's "fair use."

Not so, says the RIAA. They charge millions of dollars to MP3.com (which provides this service to consumers -- a digital "locker" which holds users' music online and can be accessed over the 'Net) for the right to use music which MP3's users already legally own. In answer to this, the Music Owners' Listening Rights Act was filed last September and is before Congress now ("Webnoize" 01-26-01 "DMCA's Effectiveness a Hot Topic in Upcoming Congressional Session" by Jay Kumar). Passage of this bill would eliminate MP3.com's obligation to pay these fees.

And the industry is even getting some support in Congress. "Variety" reports here ("thank you" to Bob Bellin of MP3Player.com for the tip) that Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La.), speaking at the Digital Download conference earlier this month, said "there's no question that the entertainment industry needs copyright protection when it comes to the Internet and digital TV, even if that means taking away some viewer rights regarding recording for home viewing, a concept known as fair use." He supports a plan that would enable the industry to dictate how many times a digital broadcast could be copied -- possibly interfering with consumers' Congressionally-protected rights.

Are there people abusing the system, streaming and copying music they don't own, making illegal profits on the grey market, and otherwise violating the rights of businesses? Undoubtedly. But in the interest of protecting the business and eliminating abuses, it's NOT all right to squash consumers' legal rights.

In this country we have the Electoral College, the "two Senators per state" method of representation in Congress, and the First Amendment. All are in place to prevent the voices of the minority from being drowned out by the din of the more powerful. So it's time businesses stop thinking that the legal rights of their customers are expendable in their fight to protect themselves.

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From the press release: "ESPN.com has launched ESPNRadio.com, the online home of the nation’s largest sports radio network, ESPN Radio...

"ESPNRadio.com features on-demand live audio of every show, which will each have a dedicated page, along with regular ESPN Radio SportsCenter updates. In addition, the new site offers interaction with anchors, analysts and reporters from the ESPN television networks, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. Users can also receive top story updates, audio interviews and highlights, guest lists, affiliate locations, polls, contests, message boards and more."

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From the press release: "The Coollink Broadcast Network (CLBN), a leading provider of targeted ad insertion technology and Internet broadcast solutions, has signed an agreement to provide its services to Beethoven.com, the Internet-only content provider known as 'The World's Classical Radio Station.' Recently achieving the highest aggregate tuning hours of all webcasters (565,700 hours for Dec.2000) in Arbitron's Webcast Ratings (here) and chosen by Forbes.com's editors as a 'Best of the Web' Top Pick, Beethoven.com delivers to CLBN the largest single-station audience on the Internet.

April 2, 2001	Digital Media Outlook: New York, NY
May 3-4, 2001	Streaming Media Asia 2001: Hong Kong

Some good news on the financing front... Octiv, a B2B company that provides software to improve digital audio quality has picked up $6 million in their second round of funding. The investment comes from a leading European venture capitalist, 3i, and two other VCs, FG II Ventures and Novus Ventures.

Octiv President and CEO Keith McMillen indicated that the new money would go into developing products for new digital audio platforms: satellite, MP3 players, set-top boxes, and IP phones. Current Octiv customers include iBEAM, Net Technologies and Coollink Broadcast Network.

The press release is here.