PROBLEMS WITH MP3?
MP3 data compression allows consumers to access recorded music online through
common Internet services and Internet access providers. But, as a result,
there were certain companies whose business are affected by this advantage
of MP3. Certain Lawsuits were filed as a result. One of those who received
a lawsuit is MP3.COM. Here are the latest news. We have conveniently made
a reference to MP3.COM of
these letters, as they are legally theirs.
MP3 and its successors could completely rewrite the way the music industry does business. At least one entrepreneur is betting millions on digital distribution as the future of the music biz, by developing the Web site MP3.com. What the recording companies see at the moment, though, is a license to pirate music, and they don't like it.
After the RIAA's attempt to squelch the Diamond Rio failed, it founded the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) to develop an industry standard to secure digitized music--effectively tagging it so that after downloading, it is used in predetermined ways.The goals of this and other similar initiatives sound reasonable enough: to protect artists' ability to exploit their work while enabling consumers "to conveniently access music in all forms," as the SDMI puts it. What isn't clear is the form the SDMI standard might take or the consequences for small-time artists outside the large companies, which make up the SDMI forum's membership. What is clear is that SDMI isn't likely to succeed in controlling the distribution of music.
Any system that can be invented to tag music can be hacked to remove the tags. Indeed, that's already happened. On January 26, Wired News's Joe Nickell reported that the Diamond Rio had been hacked so that it could not just download music but also upload it to a computer with software readily available on the Net.
Another Net trend will also be insidious in turning the music industry upside down: home radio stations, which are likely to become more common as people get flat-rate, permanent, high-bandwidth Internet connections over, say, ISDN or asynchronous digital subscriber lines. The ImagineRadio Web site, for example, lets you custom-design your radio station. You pick the rough type of music and fine-tune the selection that the site plays by removing songs and artists you don't like. It's not clear how such a site fits into the current scheme, whereby music industry publishing organizations ASCAP and BMI distribute fees to artists and songwriters based on calculations made from a selection of station playlists.
..............................................
..............................................................
