A March 19th story from the 7am
News Shock-Horror-Probe website claims that Sony has admitted
to using special
software to monitor the online activities of Napster users in
order to buttress lawsuits against individuals
for copyright violations.
At the time, we decided not to run this story for a few
reasons. The veracity of the piece was put in doubt by the "tabloid-esque"
nature of the source (how much can you trust a news source called
the "Shock-Horror-Probe?"), and the fact that we could
find no other independent support for the story.
On Wednesday March 28th, RadioHorizon.com picked up the
story (here).
Salon.com and England's The Register have since reported on the
situation.
From 7AMNews.com: "According to information
obtained by 7amNews.com,
a piece of software called 'Media Tracker' was commissioned by
the IFPI (International
Federation of the Phonographic Industry) and used to track the
flow of files across Napster. Furthermore, this same software,
it has
been said, can tap into almost any similar file sharing network."
Read this article here.
From Salon.com: "P2P industry veterans believe the
surveillance campaign is more of a scare tactic than an effective
tool; and despite the recording industry's attempts to watch you,
they are sure it won't make a difference to P2P in the long run.
"As Eben Moglen, professor of law and legal history
at Columbia University, puts it, 'Is the RIAA and its friends
doing some kind of technology surveillance? Yes. Is it going to
work? No. It's really dumb. It's another serious mistake by an
industry going out of business in the stupidest way, bumping its
head on the
steps on the way down, because the record industry was always
a bunch of thugs and that's what they still are...'
"Is such snooping an invasion of privacy? Technically,
no. Anything you put in the public directory of your P2P software
is fair game -- that's why the surveillance software can find
it. And if you get in trouble for having those Limp Bizkit tunes
in your public directory, well, that's your own problem too. You
are allowing the general public to pirate copyrighted tunes off
your hard drive -- no matter if your own MP3 copies are perfectly
legal.
"But that doesn't mean that surveillance is justified;
can the recording industry really find no other solution to piracy
except to play Big Brother and snoop on its fans? And will the
tools really work, anyway?"
Read this article here.
From TheRegister.com: "The IFPI's initiative ties
in remarkably well with off-the-cuff threats made by a Sony 
executive
last summer. At the Americas Conference on Information Systems,
Sony Pictures Entertainment senior VP Steve Heckler said the industry
would block copyright infringement. 'The [music] industry will
take whatever steps it needs to protect itself and protect its
revenue streams,' Heckler said. 'It will not lose that revenue
stream, no matter what.'
"Fair enough, you might think. That is after all the
reason behind the RIAA's legal action against Napster, though
it's nice to have an industry executive admit that the case is
about control of 'revenue streams'...
"But Heckler's comments, as reported by the U-Wire
Web site, US news service aimed at college students, get better:
'Sony is going to take aggressive steps to stop this. We will
develop technology that transcends the individual user. We will
firewall Napster at source - we will block it at your cable company,
we will block it at your phone company, we will block it at your
[ISP]. We will firewall it at your PC.'"
Read the Register articles here
and here.
From the press release: "Radio
Free Virgin announced the launch of a new feature on its
player which enables listeners to record their favorite songs
or programming blocks from any Radio Free Virgin
station. The Record feature allows listeners to playback songs
whether they are online or off...
"Users record Radio Free Virgin's streaming music
directly to their hard drive. Each high-quality recording can
be named and added to the individual user's channel guide for
playback later, whether the user is on or offline at the time.
The feature not only plays back music, but also integrates the
original Radio Free Virgin online experience, displaying corresponding
track information, cover art, and a buy button that links to that
specific album at the Radio Free Virgin store. Saved audio files
will only play back through a Radio Free Virgin player, preventing
illegal file swapping and duplication."
Read the press release here.
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From CNet News.com: "Sony has delayed the launch for
its
eVilla
Internet appliance, originally due this month, until May.
"The $500 device for browsing the Web and playing digital
music was ready in time
for its scheduled April launch, Sony told CNET News.com, but the
company decided it wanted to add more features...
"Although Sony said it remains committed to the Internet
appliance market, a number of other companies have pulled back recently.
3Com will stop selling its Audrey Web-surfing appliance and its
Kerbango Internet radio (reported in
RAIN here).
Gateway is rethinking its Net gadget strategy...
"Sony also hopes to position eVilla as more of an Internet
entertainment center, rather than just a different way to view Web
pages. eVilla owners will be able to store digital content on the
Memory Stick, although songs downloaded from the Internet to the
eVilla can only be played on that machine. While this may clamp
down on music piracy, it also will prevent people from playing the
downloaded music in other devices, such as the Memory Stick Walkman."
Read the entire article
here.
From CNet News.com: "In a widely anticipated move,
RealNetworks on Monday formed a pact with media 
moguls
AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann and EMI Group to bring about a new
music subscription service online, dubbed MusicNet."
"Under the agreement, AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann
and EMI will each own a minority stake in MusicNet, and the companies’
record labels will each separately license their music to the
new venture. MusicNet, which will operate as an independent company,
will offer a wide collection of downloadable and streaming music
backed by RealNetworks’ core streaming-media technology."
"Financial terms of the agreement and the investments
were not disclosed."
Word of this deal originally broke on Friday (read RAIN's
coverage here).
Read the article here.
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