File-Sharing Winners and Losers of 2005

December 25, 2005 at 12:55 pm | Posted in Mac, Music, PC, Technology | Leave a comment

Interesting read of this years winners and losers in the P2P area. No prizes for guessing who the big losers were…

File-Sharing Winners and Losers of 2005:
An anonymous reader writes “A lot happened in the P2P world in 2005 according to Slyck news. From the article: ‘BitTorrent soared to new heights while Steve Jobs enjoyed record breaking iPod sales. Yet not everyone shared this success. The RIAA continued its fight against P2P networking with little effect, as Sony-BMG disgraced itself and the DRM concept.'”

USCO Reviewing DMCA Anti-Circumvention Clause

October 28, 2005 at 1:18 pm | Posted in Mac, Movies, Music, PC, Technology | Leave a comment

As reported at Slashdot it appears that a review of DRM laws and the DMCA are being undertaken and will be for the next month. I think it would be good if all Americans who believe that they should own what they pay for and have the right to do with it want they want write to the USCO and get this ridiculous changed. I doubt they would listen to anyone from outside the USA but you never know.

Do what you think is right but if you do write in make sure you do what the Slashdot article mentions and write a coherent letter outlining why you think the law needs to be changed.

USCO Reviewing DMCA Anti-Circumvention Clause:

ahknight writes “The United States Copyright office begins its required review of the effects of the anti-circumvention portions of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act on November 2nd. This review period lasts until December 1, 2005. They will be accepting your well-thought-out opinions on the web and by mail. If you’re reasonably ticked that you can’t legally get around encrypted files to get at the media you’ve bought, start writing a coherent stance for the USCO today.”

Australian iTunes Store is Live

October 25, 2005 at 4:26 am | Posted in Mac, Music, PC, Podcasts | Leave a comment

Today’s official announcement by Apple finally made the reality of an Aussie iTunes Store after many months of frustration for Australian iPod owners.

The main details are that the standard iTunes DRM will be incorporated with all songs. Songs will cost $1.69 and albums will be $16.99 (with some slight variations), Pixar shorts/music videos will cost $3.39, Coles Myer will be stocking $20, $50 and $100 iTunes Music cards and Sony/BMG artists and TV are not yet available.

It also appears Apple resellers are not able to sell the iTunes Music cards till at least February 2006 which is a decision made between Apple and Coles but I am sure a lot of Apple resellers are disappointed with that.  There is already a bit of tension between these two recently and this may add to that tension.

Browsing the AppleTalk Australia forums it appears that some albums aren’t able to be bought but individual songs are for the same album.  This seems odd and possibly a bug but unsure at the moment.

I will probably sign up for an account when I get home but am unsure if I will download any music from the store as yet.  I mostly listen to podcasts nowadays but to have an account will be handy nonetheless. 

I will report my own experiences with the store later and let you all know what I think.

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