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p2pnet news view P2P:- Yesterday, I learned my principal source of funding has come to an end which, unless something turns up soon, means December will be the last month of publication for p2pnet, which went online in 2002.

I spent most of last night thinking about my options, and decided to try keep going with a drastically reduced income, praying for the best, would be unwise.

I’ve been near ...

p2pnet news view P2P | Politics:- Efforts by the Hollywood and Big Music to have their Three Strikes anti-P2P business plan forced into law in Britain before the next elections look doomed to failure, for the moment, at least.

Conservative shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt (right) says he doesn’t believe the Digital Economy Bill will get through Parliament before then, “even with Tory support,...

200 Web sites spread al-Qaida’s message in English Associated Press
Increasing numbers of English-language Web sites are spreading al-Qaida’s message to Muslims in the West. They translate writings and sermons once largely out of reach of English readers and often feature charismatic clerics like Anwar al-Awlaki, who exchanged dozens of e-mails with the Army psychiatrist accused of the Fort Hood s...

p2pnet news view P2P:- Hi all:

It’s almost the season of goodwill and if p2pnet is going to get into difficulties, somehow, it always happens around Christmas.

2009 continues the tradition.

p2pnet isn’t a business, it’s a commitment, corny though that may seem, and it’s my sole source of income. My chequered past means I don’t have a pension or bonds, or anything like that, and the site has been ...

Howdy, everyone:

As I posted yesterday, I have a lot of stuff happening in the background (as well as being hit by this bug that’s going around) so from today until next week, sometime, I’ll mainly be posting headline roundups, although they’ll be interspersed with stories, if and when I can manage it.

But normal service WILL be resumed, and as soon as possible.

If you want to help out in the...

p2pnet news view | P2P | Music:- “It seems like any argument that is made against Bluebeat can soon be used against the labels as well if they really do try to claim copyright on remastered albums.”

That’s the last sentence in a TechDirt post intriguingly entitled ‘Are The Record Labels Using Bluebeat’s Bogus Copyright Defense To Avoid Having To Give Copyrights Back To Artists?’

Then, “A federal ...

p2pnet news view Music | P2P | Politics:- When you see ***** of the World Unite in a headline, it’s usually a joke of some kind.

‘Workers of the World Unite’ was “one of the most famous rallying cries of communism,” says the Wikipedia, and the phrase has been lampooned over and over again.

However, with the first word replaced by ‘Music Lovers’, it’s no joke in 2009 as the entertainment industry,...

AOL: We Need to Fire 2,500 ‘Volunteers’ All Things Digital
AOL, which has already told investors it will spend up to $200 million firing a good chunk of its staff, has now told employees. The company is looking for “up to 2,500 volunteers,’ CEO Tim Armstrong told his staff today. That’s a third of AOL’s payroll. The voluntary layoff program begins Dec. 4, a few days before the company spins off fr...

p2pnet news view P2P | Politics:- The British Labour Government has come up with “the most radical copyright proposal I’ve ever seen,” posts Boingboing.

More radical than disconnecting people of they fail to toe the corporate entertainment cartel party line?

Yup.

Head slap, who told us about this in a Reader’s Write, wonders if it isn’t some kind of joke, quoting a cut from the post, to wit »»»...

p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- Three days before his 20th birthday, Dmitriy Guzner was looking at up to two-and-half years in jail and amost $119,000 in fines after pleading guilty to “unauthorized impairment of a protected computer” —-

—- a Cult of Scientology computer.

“In January 2008, online hackers launched a massive attack on the Church of Scientology’s websites, forcing the church to hir...

p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- Last week I sat around a large table on the top floor of Bush House in London with about twenty other people while we talked about the ways radio is changing and tried to imagine how English-language programming on BBC World Service could take advantage of the online, multimedia world that is emerging around us.

I was invited because I appear on Digital Planet eac...

p2pnet news view | Off Topic:- The full headline is, ‘32% Inflation in UCLA Tuition Causes Near Riots (14 Arrested, 1 Tasered).’

It’s on GooTube and, “It’s just insane, here,” says the voiceover.

“About 30 students stormed UCLA’s Campbell Hall and barricaded the doors with chains and bike locks early this morning to protest a student fee increase that is expected to be endorsed by the University...

p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- “Have you gone out on a limb for a meal? What’d you try? Did you like it? Have you had friends or family who have tried stuff on a dare?”

Kurt Greenbaum (right) asked that on the St Louis Post-Dispatch web page under the headline ‘What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever eaten? And did you like it?’

No surprise, he got all kinds of interesting responses.

But, “The ...

Hi all:

I have a lot of stuff happening in the background (as well as being hit by this bug that’s going around) so from today until next week, sometime, I’ll mainly be posting headline roundups, although they’ll be interspersed with stories, if and when I can manage it.

But normal service WILL be resumed, and as soon as possible.

If you want to help out in the meanwhile, please send submiss...

p2pnet news view P2P | Politics:- “The ACTA juggernaut continues to roll ahead, despite public indignation about an agreement supposedly about counterfeiting that has turned into a regime for global Internet regulation,” writes EFF international affairs director Eddan Katz in Deep Links.

“The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has already announced that the next round of Anti-...

p2pnet news view P2P | Politics:- The outgoing British Labour government wants to leave as its legacy a law to victimise members of the P2P communities, including children, who share with each other online.

“Initially the Government will aim to educate and those identified as downloading unlawfully, will be sent letters,” says the Telegraph. “If this proves insufficient, technical measures will b...

Music: Too Expensive to Be Free, Too Free to Be Expensive Wired
MySpace, rumored to be on the verge of purchasing the free music streaming site imeem, is struggling to keep up with its own payments to music copyright holders, according to a top News Corp executive — a problem that has plagued every other licensed free music service. The digital music doubters could be right with the contention tha...

p2pnet news view Music | Advertising:- There’s Big 4 ‘product’. Then there’s music.

The latter has been around since at least since the ice-age (but almost certainly before that) and is free to enjoy.

How much of Big 4 ‘product’ can actually be called music is questionable, but one thing is solid gold, cast iron, carved-in-rock certain.

It certainly ain’t free. Not only that, if you dare to share...

p2pnet news view P2P | Politics:- “Legal framework for tackling copyright infringement via education and technical measure.”

This innocuous looking sentence is the lead item in the BBC’s summation of UK government plans to gain control of the Internet on behalf of Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music, with trumped up allegations against P2P file sharers as the linchpin, and the Qu...

p2pnet news view P2P | Advertising:- p2pnet complains about Google largely because of company’s constant cynical disregard for the people who use its many and various products, all of which are in one way or another linked to its core advertising business.

Google started out with Do No Evil as its motto. But that soon fell by the wayside and five years ago, p2pnet reported on the censorship of Go...

p2pnet news view P2P:- Entertainment lawyer Fred Wilhelms (right), of whom CounterPunch’s Dave Marsh once said “If the corporate music industry had any ethics, Wilhelms would be its ‘ethicist-in-chief’,” has for two years been pressing SoundExchange board member Dick Huey for questions he (Huey) had promised to answer.

Yesterday, Huey finally delivered. Below are Fred’s responses »»»

I’ll dea...

p2pnet news view Music:- Artists contracted to EMI, or one of its multitudinous subsidiaries, will no doubt be extremely unhappy, today.

They’ll include Lily Allen, the famed chanteuse of doom whose online pronunciations prompted the members of the Featured Artists Coalition to unwisely back-track on their support of file-sharers; Elton John; Elvis Costello; George Michael; Kylie Minogue; Robbie ...

p2pnet news view | P2P | Music:- p2pnet has always maintained music lovers would happily pay for downloads if the price was right.

But a dollar and up, the de facto corporate standard charged by the likes of iTunes, is definitely not right.

Bluebeat, offering music downloads at 25 cents each, was unceremoniously taken down when EMI secured a temporary restraining order effective until November 20....

Carriage fees dominate CRTC hearing CBC
CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein is presiding over hearings on the future of Canadian conventional television broadcasting.CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein is presiding over hearings on the future of Canadian conventional television broadcasting. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)A frustrated CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein criticized the “confrontational” and “antagonistic” atmosphere between TV networks and carriers Monday, as Canada’s broadcast regulator began a new hearing about the future of television, with an emphasis on the highly contentious fee-for-carriage debate. During a day-long hearing in Gatineau, Que., von Finckenstein repeatedly appealed for the two sides to come together to negotiate an industry-approved solution. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission chair appeared visibly annoyed on several occasions with both CTVglobemedia, Canada’s largest conventional private broadcaster, and cable TV giant Rogers Communications. “You need each other and yet we have seen, for the last five months, a public battle never seen before and at the end of the day I can see nothing else than the consumer has to pay more,” von Finckenstein declared during CTV’s morning session, referring to the ubiquitous TV and print advertising campaigns run by the rival sides.

CISAC Backs Action Against YouTube Billboard
The International Council of Creators of Music (CIAM), part of the global authors’ rights body CISAC, has backed legal moves against YouTube/Google in Germany. Legal proceedings are due to take place at the district court of civil law in Hamburg, following a complaint of violations of copyright and master rights in relation to user-generated content on YouTube. German composer Frank Peterson filed the lawsuit in April 2009, claiming that his music videos and other audiovisual repertoire were used illegally on the site. In addition to this claim under German civil law, various authors, artists and independent publishers and labels have brought a charge before the public prosecutor’s office in Hamburg against the directors of Google, accusing them of continuing commercial infringements of authors’ rights, copyright, moral rights and performance and master rights.

Ludwig flags data privacy overhaul Australian IT
The Rudd government is planning to reform the federal Privacy Act to ensure businesses regularly assess the impact of new technology on their handling of personal data, Special Minister of State Joe Ludwig says. “Rapid technological changes have meant a vastly increased capacity to collect, retain and disseminate personal information,” Senator Ludwig told the Privacy Awards dinner in Sydney. “Under the new openness principle, government agencies and businesses will be required to express — in a privacy policy — how they handle personal information at each stage of the cycle, allowing people to make informed and confident decisions about how they engage with these organisations,” he told the audience. “As working documents, the policies will require organisations to regularly consider how new technologies and ways of working affect their handling of personal information.”

Senate to disclose findings in Web ‘mystery charge’ probe CNet News
Tuesday could turn out to be an embarrassing day for a score of online retailers, such as Continental Airlines, FTD, and Classmates.com. Expect Sen. John Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate committee looking into “deceptive practices” by companies operating online loyalty programs, to be highly critical of the retail stores that do business with them. The so-called mystery charges that have appeared on some of their customers’ credit card statements will come under scrutiny at a hearing held by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. At the center of the federal probe are Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue, companies that make “cash-back” and coupon offers to consumers and charge them monthly fees to enroll in their loyalty programs. The reason the government is involved is that for years, scores of online shoppers have asserted they were signed up for the programs without their consent.

Norway puts jail brakes on Swedish ’son of God’ motorist The Local
Swedish man who claimed he was the son of God has been sentenced to prison in Norway for unlawful driving. In a four month span in 2008, the 46-year-old Swede was picked up four times for driving without a licence by Norwegian police in various towns outside of the capital Oslo, the Norwegian newspaper Moss Avis reports reports. On one occasion, the man also attempted to hide his expired registration tabs by fashioning false plates out of cardboard, but Norwegian police saw through the ruse. The Swede defended his actions during questioning by police in the town of Moss, arguing he was Jesus, the son of God, and that he ruled the world.

Chinese censors block Obama’s call to free the Web Associated Press
President Barack Obama prodded China about Internet censorship and free speech, but the message was not widely heard in China where his words were blocked online and shown on only one regional television channel. China has more than 250 million Internet users and employs some of the world’s tightest controls over what they see. The country is often criticized for its so-called “Great Firewall of China” – technology designed to prevent unwanted traffic from entering or leaving a network. During his town hall meeting in Shanghai on Monday, Obama responded at length to a question about the firewall – remarks that were later played down in the Chinese media and scrubbed from some Chinese Web sites.

Google Translate Tool Offers Instant Results PC World
Google on Tuesday unveiled a revamped Translate service, giving a new look and feel to the automatic text and Web page translation tool. Google Translate now offers 51 language options and instant translations. Instant translation is one of the most notable features in the revamped Google Translate service. Once you type in text in the text box, the translation in your desired language will automatically appear underneath, no need to press the “Translate” button. Oddly, though, the “Translate” button is still present.

Twitter to scrap controversial Suggested Users List Mercury News
The Tempest in Twitterville may soon be over. Seeking to soothe the tweeting masses, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said Monday that the micro-blogging darling of the Internet would soon jettison its hand-picked and widely scorned “Suggested Users List.” Intended as a tool for newcomers to quickly find other Twitter users to “follow,” the list of rap stars, politicos and TV stars was seen by many as capricious and an unfair plug for celebrities who already have more celebrity than they know what to do with.

Univision to make shows available on YouTube Associated Press
Univision, the biggest Hispanic broadcaster in the U.S., said Monday its shows will be coming to YouTube in the new year. Videos to be made available include the talk show “El Show de Cristina,” based in Miami, the variety show “Don Francisco Presenta,” and the murder thriller series, “Mujeres Asesinas.” But they won’t include popular telenovelas from its Mexican production partner Grupo Televisa because of a legal dispute preventing either from putting Televisa content on the Internet in the U.S. Univision has the exclusive right to broadcast Televisa-made shows in the U.S. through 2017.

Antitrust concerns linger in Google Books deal CNet News
The revised Google Books settlement agreement may quiet international opponents, but it still gives Google a monopoly on commercializing out-of-print books where the copyrights are unclaimed and fails to protect consumer privacy, opponents said on Monday. “We’re at a cross roads,” Internet Archive Director Brewster Kahle said during a panel late Monday on the Future of Books at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. “Is it going to be a subscription life…where one or two companies own the distribution and presentation (rights) to these books?” In response, Google Books Engineering Director Dan Clancy said: “This is just one of a panoply of choices that people will have in the future.”

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November, 2009

p2pnet news view Music:- They say a fool and his money are soon parted and with that in mind comes the news Rupert Murdoch is apparently on the verge of scarfing up iMeem.

His ailing MySpace is in “late stage negotiations to acquire music streaming service iMeem,” says TechCrunch, also noting, “MySpace is on a bit of an acquisition spree — they acquired iLike, another music service, three months...