[Ecommerce] : Sony frees music for file-sharers
Michelle Childs
michelle.childs@cptech.org
Tue Aug 23 16:13:02 2005
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Sony frees music for file-sharers
From: "Michelle Childs" <michelle.childs@cptech.org>
Date: Tue, August 23, 2005 3:29 pm
To: ecommerce@list.essential.org
Cc: ip@tacd.org
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4176120.stm
Sony frees music for file-sharers
The first net service provider aimed at people who want to share music
legally has struck a significant deal with global music giant Sony BMG.
Playlouder MSP, launching at the end of September, will let its customers
share Sony licensed music with others on its network.
In return, Playlouder will pool some of its broadband subscriptions to
share with music rights owners.
The deal is seen as a groundbreaking move to use file-sharing legally.
"Ensuring record companies are adequately and reliably recompensed for the
use of their copyrights on the internet is the number one issue for our
business," said BPI - the UK recording industry body - chairman Peter
Jamieson.
"The BPI welcomes the innovative thinking which has gone into the creation
of Playlouder MSP and we give it our full support."
Acts under the Sony BMG umbrella include Beyonce, David Bowie, Macy Gray,
Oasis, Travis, Will Young, Outkast, Alicia Keys and Dido.
Broadly welcomed
The deal signals the first time that music fans can use existing popular
peer-to-peer (P2P) applications such as Kazaa, eDonkey and Limewire, to
share music in an unrestricted and sanctioned way.
It has been widely welcomed by figures in the music industry, which has
tried to battle illegal file-sharing for several years.
It retains the sense of community and spontaneity which makes P2P and
super distribution so attractive to consumers
Clive Rich, Sony BMG
Napster boss: Life after piracy
In August, the BPI continued its campaign against illegal file-swapping
with legal action against five "large-scale" music uploaders in the UK.
Although legal threats exist, it has had mixed success. P2P sharing is
still proving a popular and efficient way to distribute files that people
want, quickly.
Sony BMG's Clive Rich recognised that the Playlouder service had tried to
keep some of the features that have continued to attract file-sharers
since the early illegitimate days of Napster.
"It retains the sense of community and spontaneity which makes P2P and
super distribution so attractive to consumers, whilst ensuring that this
activity takes place within a framework in which the music can be tracked
and rights owners get paid" he said.
In a recent survey of more than 800 online music fans for Playlouder, more
than half said they would prefer to download music using legitimate P2P
networks over other legal download services, such as iTunes and Napster.
Playlouder said it would use digital fingerprinting techniques to track
the sharing of music in any format over its own network.
It added that if all broadband net service providers followed this model,
the music industry would have a revenue source of more than =A3300m a year
in the UK, and $13.5bn globally.
The music-based net service provider will offer its basic 1Mbps broadband
package at =A326.99 a month, and says its network has been specifically
designed for downloading files, such as digital music.
What is called "deep packets search" technology is used in Playlouder's
network to spot file-sharing traffic so it can be re-routed to
Playlouder's "walled garden", allowing only other Playlouder subscribers
access to it.
The technology behind Playlouder's service is provided by Audible Magic.
--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
Consumer Project on Technology in London
24, Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX,UK.
Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252.
Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607
http://www.cptech.org
Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC
PO Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036, USA
Tel.: 1.202.387.8030, fax: 1.202.234.5176
Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva
1 Route des Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 6727
--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
Consumer Project on Technology in London
24, Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX,UK.
Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252.
Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607
http://www.cptech.org
Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC
PO Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036, USA
Tel.: 1.202.387.8030, fax: 1.202.234.5176
Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva
1 Route des Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 6727