Malicious Intent

It's not us that they need to convince.

HAPPY BIIIIIIRRRRRTTTTHHHHHDAAAAAYYYYY! Enjoy it.

Beatles-Apple Trial to Be Held in London LONDON - A High Court judge ruled Wednesday that a trademark battle between Apple Computer Inc. and The Beatles' record company Apple Corps Ltd. should be heard in London. Read more

Global Music Sales Slide, Some Recovery Signs-IFPI LONDON (Reuters) - Global music sales fell 7.6 percent in 2003 to $32 billion, the steepest decline since the advent of the compact disc, the trade body representing the world's largest music companies said on Wednesday. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) blamed the slump in retail music sales -- now in its fourth consecutive year -- on rampant piracy, poor economic conditions and competition from video games and DVDs. However, a strong second-half recovery in the United States, Britain and Australia, boosted by top-selling acts such as Justin Timberlake, Beyonce and rapper 50 Cent, has raised hopes that the worst is behind the beleaguered industry. Read more

Hey CPU.

It's impossible to keep up these days. I probably download more MBs of clients than I do from the clients themselves!

Sounds like someone is asking for a one way ticket to Iraq.

BBC slammed for rap claiming royals killed Diana LONDON (AFP) - The BBC faces criticism for airing a controversial rap song that compares Queen Elizabeth II to Saddam Hussein and accuses the royal family of murdering Princess Diana. "Great Britain", written and performed by Scor-Zay-Zee -- a hip-hop performer who has recently converted to Islam -- is a strongly worded diatribe against the British way of life. "The BBC should not be playing this song," John Beyer, the director of Mediawatch UK, told The Sunday Telegraph. "There is no justification for giving airspace to something as offensive as this," he added. The rapper claims that Britain's young people are being "brain-washed and put in a daze" by an out-of-control consumer culture. Over the course of the four-minute song the lyrics also manage to take potshots at Britain's support for Israel and its special relationship with the United States, which is labelled "The Devil." "Sit back and watch some TV Great Britain, Watch the adverts and buy shit, Great Britain, Everything on finance for you Great Britain, A slave to the system every day Great Britain, While the rich take over your brain Great Britain," one verse goes. The track saves it most damning criticism for the royal family which it accuses of carrying out thefts and killings. "Slavery made the riches of Great Britain, the queen wears stolen diamonds, her husband's a Freemason, they killed Lady Di," it says. "The queen lives in an house like Saddam Hussein. They're both rich so I guess they are one and the same," it adds.

And now we have the usual wait as each of the other clients upgrade..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Federal Heritage Minister Helene Scherrer yesterday promised to plug the hole in Canadian law allowing people to legally download songs off the Internet without paying. Scherrer's announcement won loud applause from an audience of Canadian music industry types at yesterday's Juno Awards opening ceremony at City Hall, which also featured a staged "surprise" appearance from Prime Minister Paul Martin. "As minister of Canadian Heritage, I will, as quickly as possible, make changes to our copyright law," said Scherrer yesterday. The minister offered no details, but she was responding to the challenge posed by a recent federal court ruling that suggested uploading music files into shared folders on peer-to-peer Net networks is quite legal. The ruling reaffirmed a recent decision by the Copyright Board of Canada. Justice Konrad von Finckenstein ruled that the Canadian Recording Industry Association didn't prove file-sharing constituted copyright violation - and artists and producers have no legal right to sue those who swap files without paying. The court decision inspired panic in the Canadian music industry; industry spokesmen were predicting the collapse of copyright control would cause severe financial hardship for people making their living from music. Last night's announcement was greeted with relief by the Juno crowd. "It means so much to everybody in this room," said Holger Peterson, president of Stony Plain Records. "This is a very important statement. "Copyrights have a value, and artists and songwriters would like to get paid for the use of their music. For the minister to confirm tonight that she's on our side, that's encouraging." But not everyone in the room was convinced. Canadian Idol winner Ryan Malcolm expressed skepticism, and suggested the Canadian music biz find a way to live with file-sharers. "Whether people download or not, as long as they're listening to music," he said. "I think it's a challenge for the industry, to try and find a new way to survive." http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/.../03/407037.html

That is great news RainbowD! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Is it not possible to have "US" in the topic? It keeps switching to "Us".

I thought tickets have names on this year.

Darkness pull out of US shows Lowestoft rockers The Darkness have pulled out of two shows on their sell-out American tour. Lead singer Justin Hawkins is suffering from a throat problem and the band have cancelled shows in Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Justin is currently under doctor's care and the band – Justin, brother Dan, drummer Ed Graham and bass guitarist Frankie Poullain – are hoping to resume the tour shortly. "I am deeply saddened that we won't be able to play for our fans in Cleveland tonight," Justin said on the band's website. "But we promise to make it up to them just as soon as possible. "Cleveland is one of the greatest rock and roll cities in the world, and we are all eagerly looking forward to playing our first gig there. "Unfortunately, it is literally impossible for me to sing at the moment, but we will be back. Thank you for your support and understanding." Last year the band had to pull shows in the UK due to similar problems.

It says that it is an old joke, but I hadn't heard it before. There were two guys exploring in the jungle. Suddenly they spied an enormous lion moving slowly towards them. They looked at each other and then they ran like hell. After a while one of the two stopped in his tracks and beckoned to the other to do the same. He reached into his backpack, took out a pair of smart trainers saying, "I'm going to run faster". "I don't think you can run faster than a lion," said the other. The first one completed his task and as he sped off shouted, "I don't need to outrun the lion - I just need to outrun you". -Peter Jamieson, Executive Chairman of the BPI

Never mind. When he next gets to school, he will have all his friends to give him the support that he will need....

I don't watch them much. I was a fan a few years back when they did a kids saturday morning TV show. I like them, but not the shows they currently host. Saturaday night take-away is about adverts. Contestants have to name what adverts were on during what shows. It's alright, but i wouldn't make the effort to watch it. They arn't comedians really, but they can be funny. They used to do a live sketch spoofing Friends, but that was more funny for the stuff they were getting away with saying on kids TV than the actual jokes. A british romantic comedy. Now there's a new idea.... lol - I'll still probably watch it.

Coldplay star in assault probe Police are investigating claims that Coldplay frontman Chris Martin assaulted a photographer. A spokesman for the band said an incident occurred on Wednesday when a photographer tried to take pictures of the singer and his pregnant wife Gwyneth Paltrow as they left a London restaurant. "Naturally enough, for a man whose wife is heavily pregnant with their first child, Chris's sole concern was to ensure that Gwyneth got into a cab safely and was not harassed in any way," the spokesman said. The spokesman said the photographer tripped as he ran after the taxi. A Scotland Yard spokesman said officers were investigating allegations of a common assault on London's Beauchamp Place on Wednesday. The spokesman said: "An altercation occurred between two men. The alleged victim suffered minor cuts and scratches. "We understand he didn't require hospital treatment but has seen a doctor. "We will take a formal statement from the alleged victim in due course. No one has been interviewed yet."

Screw the evidence, it should be legal in canada because of the tax on CDrs and other recordables.

For those interested, here are the notes from Matt Philips: [on higher prices in the UK] I'm sure Coke knows that consumers will spot the difference! The point here is that pricing will invariably be different everywhere in the world - the US benefit from a) greater economies of scale b)smaller sales tax (6% as opposed to 25% some places in Europe) and c)lower costs. Plus - you can stream or rent the track for less if you like. [on the inclusion of DRM in legal downloads] There are different levels of DRM restricting use - which I appreciate may be irritating for consumers at first. Really as a label you have to strike a balance between protecting from theft and offering a good service. Warp Records' excellent bleep.com service uses no DRM; but the point is that they have made that decision. We hope that their consumers respect their copyrights and will not share the files on p2p. But you can understand labels' reluctance to omit DRM when millions of files are being shared illegally. Of course people listening to music together is a great part of the experience - but we have to be sensible here, the music industry is losing money hand over fist and needs to create a business model that works online. It's unfair to suggest to the industry that they should make everything available to use for free and rely on goodwill for people pay for it. Plus - the music industry doesn't want to control MP3s or the internet, it just wants to stop mass theft on the part of the minority that abuse the p2p networks. [on file sharers enjoying a DRM free world, when they are the ones not paying] DRM isn't put there to annoy people, but to prevent the unlimited distribution of the track. Personally I don't feel like a criminal when I buy a pair of jeans and find a security tag on them. I simply accept that there are some people that would be tempted to steal those jeans if the tag wasn't there - really DRM is there to prevent that unlicensed use. [on file sharers still having excuses] Firstly - the lack of legal alternatives is no excuse for stealing... that's the main point. [on suing file sharers][off topic, this article is about legal downloads] But let's put this into context, first - what is the BPI trying to achieve? Well, long term, we want a music industry that is able to generate enough income to continue re-investing in artists. That will simply not be possible if we allow mass filesharing to continue. Our research clearly shows the damage filesharing is doing. Take a look at it at www.bpi.co.uk; we need to take steps to prevent the problem from getting worse. First up, we know that about 74% of the files are placed there by a 16% minority. If we can discourage those people from uploading and develop legit services we have a chance of getting where we want to be. This is why we have made the threat of legal action to the worst offenders – to reduce that availability and to raise awareness of the illegality of file sharing. We know there is a hardcore of people that comprise some of that 16%. They are not music fans, and you can't expect us to have any sympathy for them. While we could sue tomorrow, we feel it's appropriate to warn them first that what they are doing is illegal. Sadly, that legal action threat has to be there. Lots of filesharers know what they're doing, but as illustrated in the case of the 12-year-old girl who the RIAA sued last year - some don't. Some of that 15% minority may be people that only download a few tracks a week, and rip their CDs to a shared folder. While they may only consider themselves to be the digital equivilant of a "home taper", they are sharing hundreds of files when they go online . If that's you, you may be doing just as much damage as the "hardcore" element – this is why we want to raise awareness. Ignorance is no excuse. We don't want to sue music fans; please, just disable the file-sharing facility! We're not all about threatening people. We are doing all we can to develop the legitimate sector. Our own research shows how many downloaders - about 8m - there are in the UK. Though 9/10 are downloading illegally, we don't believe they all want to steal - even if they are drawn by the lure of free. I'd like them to understand that it's been VERY hard to develop legit services that both appeal to net users and ensure everyone gets paid. [on the future] From our point of view it's a massive potential market for us, especially as a further 7.6 million want to start downloading soon. We're lucky in that we've been able to convince investors to come into the market (Wippit, OD2 etc). More services are coming soon (iTunes, Napster 2.0, Rhapsody ) . We know that the true potential of the internet lies in offering consumers unlimited choice. We can't offer that yet, but what we do have is a great start.

[soon to appear at slyck] The British Phonographic Industry claim that the “UK is at the forefront of new legal download services.” Courteous of promotional cans of Coca-Cola, some know of Mycokemusic. So what else is available for the legitimate downloader? What do legitimate downloaders get for their hard earned cash? A list of BPI supported sites can be acquired from their website: > HMV | www.hmv.co.uk > MSN | www.msn.co.uk > Freeserve | www.freeserve.co.uk/music > Mycokemusic | www.mycokemusic.com > Wippit | www.wippit.com > Virgin | www.virgin.com/downloads > Playlouder | www.playlouder.com > Bleep | www.bleep.com > StreetsOnline | www.streetsonline.co.uk/digital Pro-music.org also provides links to legal sites. After recently proclaiming its 1 millionth user and bragging 100,000 downloads since January, Mycokemusic is the leading legitimate download site in the UK. Mycokemusic has a quick and clean sign up process. With no additional software necessary, users can browse and start downloading without delay. The first thing to strike me was the prices. It is astonishing to see the website proudly announce that tracks only cost 99 pence, when it is widely known the other side of the Atlantic pays 99 cents. Perhaps Coke thought users would not notice the different currencies? The BPI is quick to defend Coke for the price differences, contending that the playing field is not completely level. “The US benefit from a) Greater economies of scale B) Smaller sales tax (6% as opposed to 25% in some places in Europe) and c) Lower costs,” argues Matt Phillips from the BPI. These are the same reasons used for excessive CD prices. In a truly competitive market, the profit margins of the industry would absorb much of the extra costs, rather than passing them on to the consumer. Future research will surely discover the truth. Those wanting to help the BPI fight for lower and fairer taxes on recordings in the UK should visit the <a href=http://www.bpi.co.uk taget="_blank">BPI website.</a> Not to be deterred by the price, whatever the reason, I continued on. After all, perhaps Mycokemusic offers a superior service. Browsing around the available tracks is easy, and the simple and intuitive layout invites users to look around freely. Free music clips are available with a simple click, and with Windows Media Player integrated with Internet Explorer, play lists of clips can be made. Songs can either be streamed to the user’s computer for 1 penny, or downloaded for an unlimited number of plays for 99 pence. I opted for the full download. After choosing a track, the first drawback of the service arises. Fresh recruits from file sharing, who are accustomed to a wide choice of bit rates and file sizes, will be disappointed. Mycokemusic, as with the larger brands in the US, work on a “like it or lump it” basis. Audiophiles will certainly choose the latter option. The transfer was swift, and with a sense of righteousness the file landed safely in my downloads folder. It was time to play the file. The next stage involves the user gritting his or her teeth as the dreaded letters “DRM” appear on screen. This is, of course, the service’s downfall. Even the BPI admits DRM may be “irritating for consumers at first“. The Data Rights Management (DRM) is there for no other reason than to restrict the use of the music that has just been paid for. After all, DRM does not hinder music from appearing on p2p networks. In fact, music can frequently be obtained using p2p before availability in the shops. This is a point the industry struggles to grasp. In response to these comments, Matt Phillips replied, “as a label you have to strike a balance between protecting from theft and offering a good service…you can understand labels' reluctance to omit DRM when millions of files are being shared illegally.” Other than Warp Record’s Bleep.com, who are unsupported by the major record labels, the problem of DRM will be found at all the services listed by the BPI. Those downloading music illegally are enjoying flexibility and choice, whilst DRM makes the customer feel like a criminal. “Personally I don't feel like a criminal when I buy a pair of jeans and find a security tag on them,” reacts Matt Phillips. True, but security tags are removed, rather than attached, when the purchase is made. The solution to the industry offending customers does not lie in making those using p2p feel more like villains. Instead, the benefits of MP3 files should be given to those using legitimate services. Consecutive Governments have been proving that you cannot force people onto buses by making cars worse. Buses can not be made as flexible as cars, but legal downloads can be made as flexible as those from a p2p network. This article does not ask the industry to make everything available for free. Instead, it asks for a fair deal for paying customers. The industry will continue to defend DRM. Throughout the comments on DRM from Matt Phillips is the theme that DRM is not to annoy customers, but to do something about mass piracy. He backs this up with a dangerous claim that “the music industry is losing money hand over fist.” The BPI pronounced that there are no longer any excuses for music lovers using p2p. This statement is contended. Not until prices are competitive and legitimate services have the same level of choice and flexibility will file sharers run out of practical excuses. The industry does not hesitate to highlight that it still leaves file sharers without moral excuses for stealing. Plenty of file sharers would dispute this, maintaining that the industry is getting what it deserves, or that they don’t buy less music because of p2p. Whatever the arguments, music lovers who are not happy with legitimate services are being left in the cold. It is apparent the industry would rather this than to take the simple steps to improve the services. Continue to add music. Add a choice of bit-rates. Reduce the price. Remove DRM. It is predicted that another 7.4 million people in the UK want to start downloading soon. They have a choice of using p2p or legal services. The new customers that chose legal downloading will find a growing range of creative services, but with the current restrictions imposed, they will not be getting a fair deal.

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's top music digital music service OD2 said Thursday it sold one million music downloads in the first quarter of 2004, showing signs that the nascent market is beginning to take off. Click here for the full story

I must admit, I suspected it was april fools - but on top of the space station?

No. It was simple. Unlike the other reporters, I had the sense to read past the title of the press release. The many sources I read (yahoo, economist, BBC, gurdian unlimited et al.) all seemed keen to jump on the p2p news bandwagon. BBC was by far the best, but even they didn't make it clear how few people were actually losing work.