Science and Technology

Rather scathing analysis of Microsoft’s PR for DRM (digital rights management) in the Register: Microsoft is putting a lot of money into Digital Rights Management, and expects to get a lot more money back out so long as it can persuade consumers that DRM is their fluffy friend, and most …

Using free to sell not-free via Altnet – the “first peer-to-peer network created to give consumers easy access to secure content that originates from content owners” – which piggybacks off of Kazaa: Altnet today announced that it has secured the exclusive distribution rights to artist and author Lee Jaffe’s never-been-seen-before …

Dan Bricklin addresses the central question underlying the copyright wars: how does the artist get paid: The USA was found upon the principles of the right of all to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. For the artist, that would be by letting them create their art and be …

TiVO inside: TiVo Inc., whose technology allows television viewers to pause and replay live shows, on Thursday said it will license a bare-bones version of its service primarily to makers of DVD players. In an effort to increase its subscriber base, TiVo will license consumer electronics makers to build devices …

New poll says teens cool with P2P: Only 27% of American teenagers believe that those who download or share digital music files without artist or label permission are breaking the law, according to just-released polling data. Legality aside, just 20% of teens think that such activity is ‘wrong.’ Asked the …

Live concert webcasts exemplify AOL’s big move into broadband: With the thunderous beat of the Foo Fighters shaking the bar stools at the Black Cat club in Washington, the band’s lead singer, Dave Grohl, told hundreds jamming the stage that their reach extended all the way through cyberspace. “Hey, man,” …

Chris Sprigman writes on FindLaw: On April 25, in M-G-M v. Grokster, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by a group of movie studios and record companies against Grokster and Morpheus. ….To see what is likely to occur in the future, it’s helpful first to …

The critical DMCA Exemption Hearings continue today. Here is a transcript from the last hearing on April 11. We are proud to have participated in the public comment period last December: Lawmeme’s Ernest Miller has turned in what I think is an extraordinary and highly logical request for an exemption …

Arista’s press release virtually screams: DA BRAT’S IN LOVE WITH DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION, AS ARISTA ENTERS CUTTING EDGE ARENA !!! “I’M IN LOVE WIT CHU” BECOMES ARISTA’S FIRST SINGLE TO BE RELEASED SIMULTANEOUSLY AS A COMMERCIAL DOWNLOAD ONLINE AND AT tRADITIONAL RETAIL, ON MAY 13th LIMELITE, LUV & NITECLUBZ, Da Brat’s …

The College Four settled with the RIAA for between $12.5-17K each – they could use some help paying it off: At least one of the students is happy to oblige the potential donors. On Tuesday, Jordan added a PayPal link to his website, ChewPlastic, so supporters can help pay the …