WINDING DOWN
An idiosyncratic look at, and comment on, the week's net and technology news
by Alan Lenton
Well after several weeks of thin commons in this newsletter, we have a bumper issue. As they would say in McWinding Down, 'supersize me baby!'
There was plenty of digital media news, so I've packed it all together as a round up and included a couple of classic Jack Valenti quotes for your amusement.
Microsoft, I decided, was hogging too much of the limelight, so I've relegated them to the Scanner section this week. By the way, did you know that the term limelight comes from the original stage spotlights, which achieved what was then an enormously brilliant beam of white light by heating a cylinder of calcium oxide - aka lime - to incandescence? Not many people know that :)
Other stories include printing ink, stroppy banks, patents, kickbacks, and Dell backing down. So let's get down to the nitty gritty...
Roundup: The Digital Media Business
So farewell then, Jack Valenti (1922-2007), former head of the Motion Picture Ass. of America (MPAA) and co-inventor, with the Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA) of the 'sue the customer' business method. This radical departure from the old fashioned concept of selling the customer what he, she, or it, wanted had dire consequences for the sale of digital downloaded music.
Attempts to repair the damage are now being made by Valenti's MPAA successor, Dan Glickman, who talked up legal DVD copying and interoperable Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) at a recent conference. However, the MPAA is merely the film studio's trade cabal. Whether any of the people who actually produce the films will co-operate is still an open question.
Even if they do cooperate, it may be too late. A recent study in Europe shows that today's young people get their first mobile phone at the age of eight (yes, really). This year young people between the age of five and 24 will spend a staggering $150 billion on their mobile phones. And where will that money come from? Reduced sales on CDs, chocolate and cigarettes, according to the studies. And who would care to predict that movies won't be another casualty?
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, or rather the courtroom, the head honcho of DrinkorDie, one of the world's oldest and biggest software 'piracy' groups, was finally brought into court in the US after being extradited from Australia following a three year legal battle. He pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal copyright infringement, and one charge of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. Sentencing is late in June, with maximum penalties of 10 years in prison and half a million dollars worth of fines. Sounds to me like an expensive hobby!
While all this was going on, the RIAA successfully fought off an attempt by the snappily named ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) to dip into RIAA member's revenue streams.
The case, heard in a Federal District court in New York ruled that downloads of digital music weren't public performances, as claimed by ASCAP, and therefore ASCAP couldn't collect royalties on downloads. It could, though, collect on streaming music, which was a performance. So one up to the RIAA, who will no doubt be laughing all the way to the bank at the thought that they remain the sole arbiters of digital download royalties.
At the same time further south, in Washington, a bill called the 'Internet Radio Equality Act' has been introduced into Congress by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wa) and Rep Don Manzullo (R-Il). It aims to stop the punitive royalty of .08 cent per song per listener levied on Internet radio by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB). The amount is far in excess of the royalties levied on other media, and to add insult to injury, is backdated to 2006. The bill would fix the rate for Internet radio at the same as that for satellite radio. One can only hope that it will get through...
Away from the legal aspect, the rumour mill was full of rumbles to the effect that Amazon, who have just announced doubled profits in the first quarter of 2007, will be launching a DRM-free MP3 music download service with material from media giant EMI. If this is true, and the signs are that it could well be, this will represent a real breakthrough, and stands to challenge Apple's dominance of the industry.
Still on media, but on a slightly different aspect - advertising - the Interactive Advertising Board (IAB) has written to the two major companies providing Internet audience measuring services asking them to submit to third party auditing of their measurement methods.
The companies involved, comScore and Nielson NetRatings, regularly come up with different figures. Very convenient, because it enable each to claim the one true figure. The IAB which is a trade association representing advertisers in the US is, understandably, not happy.
This not just a minor spat. The global advertising market is currently running at US$20 billion a year, and Internet advertising is growing at 40% a year. If the issue is not resolved and 2+2 continue to make either 3 or 5 depending who you are reading, then advertising will start to revert to move traditional media where you can at least produce relatively reliable figures. comScore has already agreed to an audit. Over to you Nielson.
And finally I'll leave this round up with two classic quotes from the late Jack Valenti.
In 1982 he told a Congressional panel, 'I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.'
In 2002 as part of a media blitz against ReplayTV's model 4000 personal video recorder, which allowed consumers to watch recorded programs without the ads, he said, '[Skipping ads with a PVR or VCR] is theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial . . . you're actually stealing the programming.'
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/15/fags_chocs_cds_no_more/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/26/amazon_digital_music/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/26/music_downloads_not_performances/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/27/internet_radio_equality_act_introduced/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/27/mpaa_drm/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/27/auditing_the_internet_auditors/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/25/copyright_plea/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/6598175.stm
Shorts:
And now for some good news... I think...
HP is to sell low-cost ink. Currently, branded inks from the printer makers are drop for drop more expensive than a '59 vintage champagne (and it doesn't take as good). HP plans to sell a range of versions for different applications - expensive stuff for high quality photo printing, through to low grade cheaper stuff for printing out draft documents. I can see problems - changing cartridges is going to be a grade A pain, and just how much cheaper is cheaper, anyway? The jury is out on this one, guys!
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/04/24/hp_to_sell_lowcost_ink/
I've mentioned before the hacking at TJX Companies that exposed more than 45 million credit and debit cards. The latest twist is portentous. Associations representing nearly 300 northeastern banks in the US have announced that they plan to sue TJX to recover tens of millions in damages. This is interesting, as far as I'm aware this is a first, and it may go a long way towards making corporations take real care of your personal and credit card information. Definitely a positive step forward!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/26/tjx_suit/
Regular readers know my antipathy towards the patent shambles, both in the US and Europe. Now a group of US lawmakers have introduced legislation to overhaul the patent system. I haven't had time to study it closely yet, but just looking at who supports it and who opposes it makes me wary of the whole thing.
For: Microsoft, Cisco, the Software & Information Industry Association, and the Business Software Alliance.
Against: the Pharmaceutical Industry
Anything the pharmaceutical industry opposes in the way of patent reform should be a slam dunk for my support, but looking at the bill's supporters makes me wonder...
http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=1731C64:215D3E184FC552DC09C174DCA60D56DDEFF29049075316B4
I note that the big IT consulting companies are heavily implicated in the alleged multi-million dollar kickbacks. The kickbacks on US government contracts were revealed when court documents were unsealed last week. Since the Department of Justice has joined whistle blowers in lawsuits against the likes of Accenture, HP, Sun, IBM, Oracle, EMC, CA, and SAP America, we should be in for some interesting revelations in the not too distant future.
http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=1731C62:215D3E184FC552DC09C174DCA60D56DDEFF29049075316B4
Good news for my US readers thinking about buying a new computer. After being subject to vast amounts of whining from the disaffected masses of home users, Dell has reversed its policy of not offering XP to home consumers who buy its computers. It's now possible to buy some of Dell's range with XP installed instead of opting to pay Microsoft for the privilege of beta testing Vista. Microsoft is maintaining a stiff upper lip in the face of this adversity, claiming that only a small minority of customers actually want XP instead of Vista.
Really?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/20/dell_offers_xp_again/
Homework:
Did you know that NASA employed oil painters to record important moments in its history because oil paintings have been proven to last centuries, whereas film stock starts crumbling after about 50 years?
Ever wondered how long your digital material which you've carefully backed up (You did back it up, didn't you?) is going to last? The answer might well surprise you.
Recent studies indicate that digital information frequently has a life of only a few decades, because of changes of physical and software format (low cost hard drives, for one, are only designed to last five years). CDs and DVDs for instance are recording on a polymer which is not a solid at all, it's a supercooled liquid (a glass) which can, and does, flow, albeit very, very, slowly. This doesn't bode well for the state of your CD collection, even if you can still get CD drives, when you're 64!
So take a look at this brief study of the problem and find out how some of the world's major archives are coping.
http://newsletters.zdnetuk.cneteu.net/t/197132/921984/280088/0/
http://www.physorg.com/news96550910.html
Scanner: Other stories
Anti-Apple lawsuit cites 20-year-old patent
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/04/25/apple_sued_over_common_ui_element/
Houston, We Have A Problem - Windows Vista Isn't Ready For Launch at NASA
http://update.techweb.com/cgi-bin4/DM/y/e62w0HiOOq0G4T0FDtn0ED
Optical link hacking unsheathed
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/25/optical_hacking/
Former Apple execs may be charged this week
http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=1731C60:215D3E184FC552DC09C174DCA60D56DDEFF29049075316B4
Do Microsoft's EULAs have any real legal basis?
http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2007/04/25/microsoft_eula/
Samsung announces smaller, faster memory packages
http://www.physorg.com/news96560176.html
Intuit to refund TurboTax-niks for taxing times on Tax Day
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/21/intuit_turbotax_refund/
Next generation, high performance, processor unveiled
http://www.physorg.com/news96639628.html
Microsoft to EC: define 'unreasonable'
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/23/microsoft_responds_to_ec_complaint/
Acknowledgements
Thanks to readers Barbara, Fi and DJ for drawing my attention to material used in this issue. Please send suggestions for material to alan@ibgames.com.
Alan Lenton
alan@ibgames.com
29 April 2007
Alan Lenton is an on-line games designer, programmer and sociologist. His web site is at http://www.ibgames.net/alan.
Past issues of Winding Down can be found at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/winding/index.html
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