March 23, 2009
Volume XXV, Issue 10
Solid State Networks' Winning Game Update Solution
Peer-to-peer (P2P) content delivery software maker Solid State Networks, the leading developer of digital game and patch-delivery solutions, this week announced the first wave of developers that are utilizing Solid Axis CURRENT SDK to manage the delivery of game updates and patches for their latest game titles.
CURRENT is designed to improve the user experience associated with updating games while minimizing the costs of preparing and delivering those updates. Riot Games ("League of Legends: Clash of Fates"), Abandon Interactive Entertainment ("Freaky Creatures"), and Wizards of the Coast ("D&D Insider") have each implemented CURRENT SDK for their games, in addition to utilizing Solid State for CDN and P2P delivery services.
"We are excited that developers are incorporating CURRENT into their games," said Travis Hilterbrand, Lead Developer, Solid State Networks. "The features and flexibility give them exactly what they need to address the digital distribution of game assets eliminating the need to develop their own solution from scratch."
The availability of CURRENT SDK v2.0 was announced in September 2008 at the Game Developer Conference in Austin, TX. CURRENT SDK v2.0 reduces development and support time by providing a highly flexible solution built upon Solid State's proven and reliable download technology that has been used for online delivery of games to millions of players since 2006.
The advanced feature-set includes patch-while-you-play capabilities, data compression, optimizations for speeding download and installation times, and hybrid HTTP/P2P delivery.
CURRENT SDK is designed to support multi-platform games and is available now for the PC and Mac platforms.
Leveraging the Power of 50 Cent
Excerpted from Econsultancy Report by John Gaffney
His fans know him as "Fitty." Call him whatever you want, but the ex-con turned rapper and pitchman has established a brand among 15-to-35 year-old Internet content users. Two of 50 Cent's allied brands are claiming to have scored big numbers by attaching his name to P2P-related content.
The brands are Glaceau's vitaminwater Formula 50 and Right Guard's Pure 50, a deodorant. Both brands worked with Brand Asset Digital (BAD) in 2008 to attach search results to branded content, which could then be shared with other users. The results were reported at Tuesday's P2P MARKET CONFERENCE in New York City.
Both campaigns generated click-through rates over 4% and post-click engagement times of more than two minutes. Better yet, the campaigns were tied to legit content, linked from paid keywords. No unauthorized file-sharing issues, which so often go along with P2P shared content, and no intellectual property (IP) disputes.
For Glaceau, the campaign started through paid and organic search for the keywords "50 Cent," and "vitaminwater." The results showed five different videos of Fitty rapping the praises of Formula 50s grape flavor and its other assets. It also connected to a 50 Cent/Formula 50 microsite. Total impressions, according to BAD: 197 million. Total clicks were 8.7 million for a 4.4 CTR. Engagement time at the microsite averaged 2:45 minutes.
The Right Guard Pure 50 was similar, but targeted at a more urban audience. Keywords were more about entertainment, pop culture, and comedians. The three viral videos and the microsite were more humorous than the music-heavy Glaceau sites. The Pure 50 campaign was also introducing a new product, and therefore attracted lower total numbers. Total impressions: 26 million. Clicks were 1 million for a CTR of 4.1. Average time spent at the microsite was 2:24 minutes.
The campaigns show that creating P2P content can give brands the control they want and still create impact within the targeted customer base. With time spent at the microsite showing high levels of engagement, these campaigns show an efficient blend of search, social media, and branding.
Zattoo to Offer Browser-Based Version
Excerpted from P2P On! Report
Zattoo, an industry-leading peer-to-peer television (P2PTV) service, which mainly focuses on European channels and comes with licensed content and DRM, is preparing the launch of a browser-based version of its P2PTV service, Onlinekosten reports.
Before making available the new version on a wider scale, the company will test it with a small number of users.
Unlike Joost, Zattoo has been very successful using P2P technology due to the fact that its users watch the same channels simultaneously, which helps distribute the video data easier.
Since last July, when it surpassed three million registered users, Zattoo has launched premium services in several countries.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 Congratulations to Victor Harwood, Digital Hollywood, and McGraw-Hill for their category-defining Media Summit New York (MSNY) this week. Impressive press coverage underscored how MSNY is becoming an iconic industry event.
And thank you especially to all who participated in the second-annual P2P MARKET CONFERENCE held in conjunction with MSNY. We are particularly grateful to FTI Consulting, our conference luncheon sponsor, and Abacast, our partner for the DCIA's first-ever live-event webcast.
Feedback from attendees has been very positive in terms of the value and quality of keynotes and panels. For those unable to attend - either in-person or virtually - a number of the presentations have now been posted on the archival website.
Abacast Co-President Jim Kott spoke about the company's hybrid content delivery network (CDN) technologies and services, which are making the business of streaming better in three distinct ways: revenue generation, efficient delivery, and understandable analytics.
Highlights of Jim's presentation included the value propositions of live webcasting; online video trends and market observations; the movement towards hybrid P2P; a case study of Abacast's powering of the Olympics live online for Korea's SBS; industry progress - such as via the P4P Working Group (P4PWG); as well as information about Abacast's solutions and benefits for consumers, publishers/broadcasters, and CDNs; technology details of Abacast's live and on-demand P2P network; and the evolution of CDNs.
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz Partner Rick Kurnit addressed "Fair Use in an All Access World," emphasizing aspects of interest to our industry: copyright, trademark, publicity rights, association, and defamation.
The growing tension between content owners and aggregators on the web has been very important in the commercial evolution of P2P. Critical questions related to this include the nature of the use of a work, whether it was created to be licensed, whether the use is substantial, and whether the use results in lost license income.
Rick further explored these four central questions, gave illustrated examinations of parody and comparative advertising, and then framed the issue from the perspective of content rights holders.
BitTorrent Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and General Counsel Mitchell Edwards spoke about the company's ongoing resurgence and how BitTorrent organizes the world's Internet bandwidth.
Three primary manifestations of this are: 1) Consumer Freeware - BitTorrent's incredibly popular software (representing up to 50% of all Internet traffic); 2) Embedded SDK - BitTorrent's software developers' kit (SDK) taking P2P beyond the PC to other networked devices; and 3) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Platform - how BitTorrent premium services "farm" the value of the client network.
Mitch explained how BitTorrent is evolving into a core technology that organizes user-contributed bandwidth into a viable resource for content publishers.
SafeNet VP of MediaSentry Services John Desmond gave a market overview; answers to the question - why P2P is still growing; MediaSentry's hierarchical product strategy; its syndication of content collection starting in 2008; the impact of such critical issues as pre-release leaks, global release windows, and local language sources - all supported with relevant examples and analyses.
John concluded by highlighting domain ID, custom framework, market need, and the future.
Media/technology/copyright consultant Michael Einhorn offered his unique perspective on "Alliances for Innovations," differentiating explicit knowledge from tacit knowledge, and exposing the relative importance of "sensemaking."
Michael addressed critical elements of strategy, alternative organizational network structures, and the question of when to merge. He cited Cisco Systems' success at navigating the particular challenges of today's marketplace.
Pando Networks CEO Robert Levitan made the case that Pando and other P2P technology providers must help traditional media companies develop a better online business model.
He gave the examples of NBC Universal being the first major US media company to deploy P2P, and CNN now using P2P for live events including the recent Presidential inauguration.
Robert devoted much of his keynote to a demonstration of premium high-quality digital-video content delivery, powered by Pando.
DigiMeld CEO Alex Mashinsky spoke about DigiMeld's background, operations, and technology. In essence, the company enables content owners and broadcasters to reliably and cost-effectively transmit their HD programming, over IP, to cable operators, end-users, and online portals around the globe. Alex illustrated the DigiMeld ecosystem along with its broadcast and web platforms, and within its web platform, flash streaming and grid streaming.
Alex offered up DigiMeld examples of the 2006 World Cup, NASA live public channel broadcasting, and video-on-demand (VOD) with SINA and a Samsung set-top-box (STB).
Octoshape USA CEO Scott Brown introduced the "Octoshape Infinite Edge" solution, and described how the company is uniquely positioned to drive the next phase of profitable, scalable, broadband delivery of video.
Octoshape is the P2P company that powered CNN.com's live Presidential inauguration coverage. Through this example - and many more in Europe - it has proven its technology's scalability, quality, and stability. Octoshape has messaged the industry that "grid delivery can work."
Scott went on to address grid delivery / social networking, implementation, market trends and milestones, and the evolution of digital media distribution.
Octoshape services can be purchased in the same way as Flash and Windows Streaming services: directly from Octoshape or through its preferred CDN partners, Highwinds CDN Group and CDNetworks.
Brand Asset Digital (BAD) Co-Founder Joey P described BAD as a distributed technologies and P2P solutions company, with its leading products P2Pwords and P2Panalytics.
P2Pwords is the first pay-per-click (PPC) for P2P search - essentially combining SEM and SEO. P2Panalytics provides robust business intelligence and insight into the consumption patterns of content consumers across all P2P search.
Joey identified an important 2009 trend, "Major advertisers do not want to be around content; major advertisers want to be the content," and unveiled BAD's first two P2Pwords case studies: vitaminwater and Pure 50.
For vitaminwater, P2Pwords delivered 197 million branded impressions, 8.7 million total clicks - an astonishing 4.4% click-through rate - with the average post-click engagement 2:45 minutes. For Pure 50, P2Pwords delivered 26 million branded impressions, 1 million total clicks - a comparably impressive 4.1% click-through rate - with the average post-click engagement 2:24 minutes. Finally, Joey also announced BAD's P2Pwords reseller program.
Once in a while, conference attendees have the opportunity to glimpse a coming "next big thing" at an early stage.
That may well have been the case with the presentation by Virtual Rendezvous Founder Charles Perkins, who opened by summarizing his credentials from early experiences through research background, contributions, and company relationships.
Charles then debuted Virtual Rendezvous - a set of ideas, an evolving design, a set of prototype implementations, a community of virtual collaborators, and a foundation for standards - a platform.
He went on to outline its principles, universal standards, and platform ubiquity, and then discussed in more detail its key concepts: persona, context, activity, facet, and relationship.
Charles closed with additional definition of the compelling Virtual Rendezvous platform and future needs. DCINFO readers are strongly encouraged to pay attention to this brilliant and promising entry.
IBM Global & Americas Strategy & Change Practice Leader Saul Berman spoke on "Innovation Driving Strategic Choices for P2P."
He explained how technology driven innovation across consumers, business models, and business design all impact P2P, and how P2P can address challenges created by the ongoing content explosion and resultant need for improved efficiency.
Saul documented the explosive growth in consumer interaction and growing consumer engagement, especially among the digitally savvy, which is driving growth of user-generated content (UGC). He also charted how increased sharing and distribution of video content among social networks further drives consumer Internet traffic growth.
Increasing video traffic over the Internet in turn challenges media and entertainment companies to manage their distribution costs. Among lessons to be learned from the music industry are that "value is not disappearing, but shifting closer to the consumer." And from the advertising industry, "a fundamental shift in capability requirements."
Saul concluded by exhorting the P2P industry to identify revenue models across this emerging ecosystem and to tap this unprecedented opportunity.
Motorola Software Architect John Waclawsky gave the closing keynote, "Titan against Titan: What Technology Will Win?" He tracked technological evolution from heavily centralized control paradigms to a more-and-more decentralized world via innovation driven by the Internet, web, and, increasingly, P2P technology.
John contrasted the effectiveness over time of older, restricted system-based competition with newer, open component-based competition, and summarized the innovation migration lessons that can be drawn from this movement. John then expanded upon the implications of this to our industry.
He asked, "How can any technology which relies on extensive core network control and takes an application focus and considers packet information invariant, adapt to overlay techniques found in P2P networks, traffic scattering, network coding, the increasing use of encryption, the emergence of cloud computing, as well as trends related to dynamically composed and instantiated concoctions (formally known as applications) at the edge of the network?"
John ended by noting, "The web is becoming the programming development platform. Now, many view the web as the ultimate programming platform that helps all of humankind." Share wisely, and take care.
Twitter Actually Has Massive Revenue Potential
Excerpted from MediaPost Report
Search and social media guru John Battelle lashes out at analysts from Sanford Bernstein who claim in a New York Times article that monetizing Twitter "would be difficult at best and likely unsuccessful."
Their claim is that subscription fees are out of the question, ad revenues would likely be minimal, and that people who sign up for free services tend to resent companies trying to make money from the business later.
Well, "If it was easy, everyone would do it," Battelle replies, adding that he can pinpoint at least three "major potential revenue streams" for Twitter. They are: "Tweetsense" - an AdWords and AdSense like platform for Twitter that has "major scale potential," branded licensing, where Twitter could promote certain tweets and get licensing fees; and SMS deals with the major carriers to promote mobile tweeting.
"Analysts who write stuff like this are clearly not thinking very hard about the potential of services like Twitter, nor do they understand the appetite for risk the venture capitalists backing such ideas have," Battelle says, adding, "the idea of the tweet as the query, the idea of brands wanting to have a commercial 'response' to searches (and tweets) on Twitter, these are not small ideas.
The idea of real-time search, conversational and social search, real time 'AdWords' - these are not minor new wrinkles. They are here to stay."
Please click here for the rest of this report.
Answering Your BitTorrent-Related Questions
Excerpted from Sync Report by Marc Saltzmann
We've been getting a lot of e-mails lately related to using BitTorrent software to download files from the Internet.
What is BitTorrent?
Initially created by programmer Bram Cohen, and now maintained by BitTorrent, Inc., BitTorrent is a file-sharing protocol that, when used with BitTorrent client software, lets users, or "peers," share very large files over a network. Users can download official BitTorrent software or opt for other front-end programs that use this protocol, such as BitComet, one of the most popular downloads on the Internet, according to Download.com.
How does it work?
At the risk of getting technical, BitTorrent files are downloaded from many other computers hosting a file, so it's not a case of John downloading, say, an audiobook from Jane - a true "peer-to-peer" scenario, if you will - but rather, the requested audiobook may be on thousands of computers with this exact torrent file, therefore increasing the availability and speed of the file when downloaded with the pieces recompiled on the downloader's PC.
What the difference between a "leecher" and a "seeder"?
"Seeders" are people who have already downloaded the file and are allowing others to access it, too. Generally speaking, the more "seeders" available for a given file - such as an independent musician's CD they want to give away for exposure - the faster the download will go.
"Leechers," on the other hand, are those who downloaded the file but don't choose to let others access it. Good torrent etiquette is to leave the file in your torrent directory to allow others to easily download it, too.
How do I get BitTorrent?
Users must first download and install client software, such as BitComet, and then users go to websites to search for .torrent files or try the links which may be provided within the client software itself. An example of a popular torrent search site is The Pirate Bay (TPB), which is currently embroiled in a court trial in Europe for allegedly promoting and facilitating copyright infringement.
Help! I can't download the torrent file.
Those new to this technology often - and mistakenly - click "download" to snag a torrent file while using their favorite web browser, but this doesn't in fact download the file to their hard drives. Instead, you should click "open" when prompted with a window in order to launch your BitTorrent software and immediately begin the download. It's a common error.
How do I disable IE download?
Depending on which BitTorrent software you use, it might open every time you download any file from the Internet. Some people don't like this - they want to download from, say, Internet Explorer directly instead of launch their BitTorrent program, and only use their BitTorrent program for torrent files. By looking in the options menu and un-checking a box that says "Set this program as your default IE downloader," you can disable this feature.
P2P Music Service QTRAX Seeks MidEast Investor
Excerpted from Zawya Report by Karen Remo-Listana
The proponents of QTRAX, the industry-leading advertising-supported P2P music download service based in New York, are currently in discussions with a Middle East investor to help boost the initiative here in the region, Emirates Business has learned.
The download service, which will be officially launched in the United States in April this year, has the support of the music industry - especially the big four music companies: EMI, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group.
The service is 100% advertising-supported and there is no registration fee or download fee.
"We would like to launch the service to this region about 60 days after we launch it in the US, so we need to close the deal within a month," Robin Kent, Co-Founder of Rebel Digital, whose lead Client is QTRAX, said. "I don't know the percentage from here, but our global financing totals $40 million."
"We are also looking for an entity to provide marketing, PR, advertising sales, and Arabise for the site because we need to make it local."
QTRAX is the world's first free-and-legal P2P digital music service. It guarantees to offer new music and licensed downloads of full-length, high-quality versions of popular songs while compensating both artists and record labels through non-intrusive relevant advertising.
Why Spotify May Spell the End of Ownership
Excerpted from Times Online Report by Rob Fitzpatrick
A new P2P music service with millions of songs has the potential to change how we will access our entertainment in future.
Nicky Watson spent an enjoyable afternoon on Friday in her new local music library. The 54-year-old gallery owner from Chagford in Devon found herself picking over tunes from the 1960s and 1970s, the soundtrack of her youth.
"I was listening to all the Turtles songs, which I haven't heard since I was a teenager," she said. "There were also Bruce Springsteen songs, half of which I'd forgotten."
A neighbor joined her and they spent a couple of hours compiling playlists of their favorites, often just picking a name of an old band and seeing what was available.
Of the library, Watson said, "It was so desperately needed. I've told all my friends about it, and now everybody in Chagford is using it."
This is not like any typical library, however. To access it, Watson and her neighbors didn't have to leave their homes in the town on the edge of Dartmoor. Nor did they pay for the service, nor have to use a stereo system. Instead, the music was "streamed" free to their computers from the P2P music service Spotify.
Launched barely a month ago, Spotify is fast catching up with the social networking site Twitter as the most talked-about new site on the Internet, and has been hailed as the "21st-century jukebox."
For true apostles of the digital revolution, Spotify's path leads towards a future in which nobody will want to own music, films, or even computer hard drives, instead accessing whatever they need whenever they want from databases distributed over the Internet. It has been given the name "the Cloud."
All the major technology companies, from Microsoft and Google to Intel and Yahoo, are working on ideas for "cloud computing," where data and applications can be accessed remotely, so they don't need to be held on business servers or home computers.
Please click here for the rest of this report.
The Cloud as Diagrammed by Steve Ballmer
Excerpted from Seattle Post Intelligencer Report by Andrea James
Microsoft's chief executive Steve Ballmer sat down with New York Times reporter Saul Hansell recently for this article.
While there, he drew a diagram on the white board to depict Microsoft's cloud computing strategy. The diagram doesn't reveal much, but the story is worth checking out.
The story takes an easy-to-understand look at Microsoft's cloud computing strategy.
Google Gives Advice on Cloud Computing
Excerpted from PC Magazine Report by Chloe Albanesius
Google has commissioned a report that unsurprisingly touts the benefits of cloud computing, and offers recommendations for policy makers looking at the technology.
Google called on lawmakers to embrace full connectivity, open access, security, and privacy when considering cloud-based computing.
"It's always tempting to suggest that the next new technology will be disruptive, game-changing, or revolutionary. The Internet certainly was," Bob Boorstin, Director of Google's Corporate and Policy Communications, wrote in a blog post about the report.
"It remains to be seen whether cloud computing will deliver the same magnitude of changes and benefits or more, but it unquestionably holds a lot of promise."
For users to take advantage of cloud computing, they first have to have access to the web, according to the report, which was put together by Jeffrey Rayport and Andrew Heyward of the research firm Marketspace.
To increase Internet penetration, the government should consider tax incentives for technology providers, subsidies for low-income users, and regulation of wireless spectrum.
Regulation should also be taken into consideration when it comes to open access, the report said. Congress can take the lead in clarifying openness rules for the marketplace, and the FCC should actively enforce existing laws designed to ensure open access.
Please click here for the rest of this report.
Babelgum Bids to Break into US Mobile Video Market
Excerpted from Internatiional Herald Tribune Report
Italian P2PTV company Babelgum has launched a new video-to-mobile service in the United States, its bid to break into the world's most developed smart-phone market and spread beyond its current web-based model.
Babelgum offers bite-size videos, usually around three minutes long, viewed on smart phones - generally defined as mobiles that combine traditional telephony with Internet capabilities.
The business model seeks to make money through advertising, keeping the video free to viewers.
The company has already claimed one-fifth of smart-phone users in both Britain and Italy, but the potential audience is even greater in the United States, where it will aim its programming at national audiences.
"To go ahead with a mobile strategy, rather than global, you need to be local," said CEO Valerio Zingarelli.
The US service launched with five channels dedicated to music, comedy, film, nature and the environment, and urban culture and trends. It will include original programming for Babelgum.
"We need to be pushing. We need to be provocative to raise attention," Zingarelli said.
Timed with the US launch, Babelgum is also introducing a new iPhone application, upgrading one already being used in Italy and Britain, where the video-to-mobile service launched in December.
Babelgum, which has so far been a web-based video service, is looking to mobile video to expand its audience.
"We think for the mobile we have an opportunity because we are the first," Zingarelli said.
He said the production of 3-G smart phones in the world is 12 million to date - 9 million of those in the United States.
Babelgum's video service launched in Italy in January and Britain a month later under a deal with Vodafone waiving data charges to Babelgum viewers. The service, however, is not restricted to Vodafone customers.
Wuala & LaCie Take P2P Cloud Storage Mainstream
Excerpted from TechCrunch Report by Mike Butcher
Wuala, the Zurich-based P2P-storage startup owned by Caleido AG, has been taken over by LaCie, the French manufacturer of external storage devices, in a deal which makes a lot of sense. One has an application, the other has storage hardware.
They are calling it a merger, but Wuala is clearly a lot smaller than LaCie. The deal marks a high point for Wuala Co-Founder & CEO Dominik Grolimund, but also confirms the usual course of European start-ups in exiting as early as they can, rather than scaling to a point that they become world-beaters. It also looks like they either didn't go for the VC deals that were rumored to be in discussion, or that those talks never came to fruition.
However, all props to Grolimund who has been on a four-year journey from developing what became Wuala at the ETH Zurich to something that could end-up being a reliable and secure cloud storage solution backed by millions of devices.
Philippe Spruch, Founder & CEO of LaCie thinks the Wuala deal will lead LaCie to transform from a hardware manufacturer to a "digital storage provider." He may have something there.
We've previously written about Wuala at length here.
Lionheart International Signs with RightsFlow
Lionheart International, one of the largest record labels in Sweden, and RightsFlow, a provider of licensing and royalty services, announced that Lionheart will utilize RightsFlow's proprietary mechanical licensing system ("FLOW") to license, account, and pay publisher royalties for DPD, interactive streams, and limited downloads of its catalog, including subscription and ad-supported models.
"Partnering with RightsFlow alleviates the complexity of handling publishing rights in the United States for digital downloads and now streaming services," said Robert Olausson of Lionheart International. "With RightsFlow, we have a proven partner who can assist in remedying this area of business."
"RightsFlow is very happy to announce this latest agreement with Lionheart International," said Duncan Hutchison, Chief Content Officer of RightsFlow. "We are excited to help further Lionheart International's goal of having a one-stop solution to handle its US mechanical licensing, accounting, and royalty needs."
Under US Copyright Law, mechanical licenses are required for music to be distributed through online music services. The current US statutory mechanical rate for permanent downloads is 9.1 cents for songs five-minutes or less and 1.75 cents per minute for songs over five-minutes. Limited download and interactive streaming services generally pay a mechanical royalty of 10.5% of revenue, less amounts owed for performance royalties.
RightsFlow's licensing service utilizes the bulk licensing system of The Harry Fox Agency (HFA), a leading US music rights licensing organization, to ensure publishers and songwriters are properly compensated under US law.
Ron Berry Gives Inside Scoop on IOM P2P Music Initiative
Excerpted from Digital Media Wire Report by Jay Baage
In this exclusive Interview from DMW's Digital Music Forum East, Ron Berry, Isle of Man's e-Commerce Advisor, details how the government of this little independent island is trying to be a pioneer in a field where many larger nations are struggling, namely finding a way to compensate musicians in the digital age.
The basic idea is to charge Internet users a flat fee for access to music online through their Internet service provider (ISP), and then pass that money on to the collection societies, record labels, and other rights holders.
Will it work? You be the judge. Safe to say that it's an interesting experiment.
Poll: Is an ISP Flat Fee a Good Way to Monetize Music in the Digital Age?
Irish ISPs Rebuff Record Labels on 3 Strikes P2P Policy
Excerpted from Digital Media Wire Report by Mark Hefflinger
A group of Irish ISPs has stated its opposition to efforts by the major record labels, represented there by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA), to have the ISPs implement a "three-strikes" policy that would terminate the accounts of repeat music file swappers, The Register reported.
"Privacy of user communications is protected in European and Irish legislation. ISPs cannot be expected to ignore these merely because it does not suit another private party," reads the letter from the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland (ISPAI) group to IRMA.
"To do so would breach the privacy of our users as well as have serious implications for the continued location of international e-business in this country and the jobs these generate."
The letter was sent in response to one from IRMA, stating that major Irish ISP Eircom had agreed to implement a "three-strikes" policy as part of a lawsuit settlement with the labels.
Choruss' Covenant: The Promised Land for Record Labels
Excerpted from Intellectual Property Watch Report by Bennett Lincoff
The music industry has struggled for more than a decade to find effective ways to monetize use of its content on the Internet. One initiative, which has been incubating since March 2008, is led on behalf of Warner Music Group by Jim Griffin.
It involves efforts to generate fees from college students in the United States who wish to engage in P2P file sharing. For this purpose, Mr. Griffin formed Choruss, LLC. To date, Choruss' membership includes three of the four major record labels. Universal Music Group has not yet joined.
An outline of Choruss' program was first made public by Mike Masnick in December 2008, in a blog at TechDirt. Mr. Masnick based his report on a PowerPoint created by Mark Luker, a Vice President at Educause. Mr. Luker based his PowerPoint on discussions he had with Mr. Griffin.
Choruss claims it will offer college students the freedom to engage in P2P file sharing using whatever software or service they wish. In return, students will pay a monthly fee to Choruss through their schools. The schools will monitor student file-sharing activities and report music use information to Choruss. Choruss will divide the student fees among the record labels it represents.
On February 26th, Mr. Griffin delivered a keynote speech at Digital Music Forum East. The speech, available here, was billed as an exclusive look under the hood of Choruss.
According to Mr. Griffin, it remains to be determined exactly how Choruss will operate. He said that Choruss will not "apply any one-size-fits-all approach." And that "Choruss will seek to implement different approaches at different college networks." He hopes to launch Choruss at six colleges by the fall semester of 2009.
If Choruss proves successful at the college level, Mr. Griffin will seek to extend it to Internet service providers (ISPs), and, through them, to all US-based Internet users who access the network through broadband connections.
Please click here for the rest of this report.
Google Opposes Terminating Accounts of File Swappers
Excerpted from Digital Media Wire Report by Mark Hefflinger
Google has publicly opposed the idea of cutting off the Internet accounts of repeat copyright infringers - at least in New Zealand - where such a "three-strikes" or "graduated response" proposal is under consideration by the government, the Dominion Post reported.
Google said in a submission to the Telecommunications Carriers Forum (TCF) trade group that the change in New Zealand's Copyright Act that would see ISPs terminate the accounts of those accused multiple times of copyright infringement is disproportionate to the problem.
The company stated the practice would also eliminate the "incredible social and economic benefits" the web offers.
At least one Kiwi ISP, TelstraClear, has made it clear that it does not intend to support the idea of cutting off its subscribers' web access.
It's unclear whether the New Zealand government will step in to force ISPs to comply if a unanimous agreement between them and copyright interests cannot be reached.
Amicus Brief Defending Due Process Defense
Excerpted from Recording Industry Vs. The People Blog Report by Ray Beckerman
In SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, in Boston, the Free Software Foundation has moved for permission to file an amicus curiae brief defending the defendant's due process defense to the RIAA's claim for statutory damages. The same issue was litigated in UMG Recordings v. Lindor, where the defendant argued that even the RIAA's minimum statutory damages theory, seeking $750 per song file, was unconstitutional.
The RIAA challenged the legal sufficiency of that defense, and the Court rejected the RIAA's argument, holding that:
"Plaintiffs can cite to no case foreclosing the applicability of the due process clause to the aggregation of minimum statutory damages proscribed under the Copyright Act. On the other hand, Lindor cites to case law and to law review articles suggesting that, in a proper case, a court may extend its current due process jurisprudence prohibiting grossly excessive punitive jury awards to prohibit the award of statutory damages mandated under the Copyright Act if they are grossly in excess of the actual damages suffered."
Please click here for the motion for leave to file the amicus curiae brief. Please click here for the proposed amicus brief.
The Pirate Bay Predicts Epic Win
Excerpted from IT Examiner Report by Nick Farrell
One of the people behind The Pirate Bay (TPB) is predicting an epic win over the movie and film studios when a verdict is announced on April 17th.
In an interview with TorrentFreak Peter Sunde said that the trial was "really weird," and lots of strange stuff happened behind closed doors. The group is making a documentary of what happened because they feel it is such high drama.
Sunde said that he was very happy about the way the trial went. He expected a win but was "prepared for the worst case scenario, so that we don't get too beaten up if that happens."
He said that the prosecution case was so bad because they did not really understand the technology.
In the end, TPB presented its own training video to explain how BitTorrent worked to make sure that the jury and the judge understood.
The prosecution kept telling them that it was a technology that was used to steal files from the copyright lobby and had no other purpose. What is amusing is that even if the prosecution wins its case, it made the mistake of suing four individuals rather than TPB itself. This means that TPB can continue elsewhere.
Sunde said that the only way that TPB would stop operating is if technology made it obsolete.
Coming Events of Interest
Future of Television West - March 24th-25th in Los Angeles, CA. A cutting-edge community of content creators, technology innovators, advertising representatives, and distributors forge relationships and share ideas about the future of television. The event is interactive.
Les Rencontres - April 15th-16th in Montreal, Canada. The fourteenth annual meeting of the music industry sponsored by ADISQ in Quebec for professionals from the world of recorded music. The event gives industry players the opportunity to discuss defining issues including new media, regulatory framework, and new business models.
LA Games Conference - April 28th-29th in Los Angeles, CA. Focused on business, finance and creative developments in the games industry, including mobile, online and console markets and the increasing intersection of Madison Avenue and Hollywood with the industry.
P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA - May 4th in Santa Monica, CA. The fourth annual P2PMSLA, the DCIA's flagship event, featuring keynotes from industry-leading P2P and social network operators; tracks on policy, technology and marketing; panel discussions covering content distribution and solutions development; valuable workshops; networking opportunities; and more.
Digital Hollywood Spring - May 5th-7th in Santa Monica, CA. With many new sessions and feature events, DHS has become the premiere digital entertainment conference and exposition. DCIA Member companies will exhibit and speak on a number of panels.
Streaming Media East - May 12th-13th in New York, NY. The number-one place to see, learn, and discuss what is taking place with all forms of online video business models and technology. Content owners, viral video creators, online marketers, enterprise corporations, broadcast professionals, ad agencies, and educators.
World Copyright Summit - June 9th-10th in Washington, DC. The international forum that brings together all those directly involved in creative industries to openly debate the future of copyright and the distribution of creative works in the digital era. WCS is organized by CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers.
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