Audio

EFF Sues Universal Over YouTube Takedown

It has come to this… Universal Music was somewhat overzealous in filing a DMCA complaint with YouTube regarding the toddler who danced on camera to a ~20 year old Prince song. So the EFF responded with a lawsuit seeking damages (cash?) and relief:

“Universal’s takedown notice doesn’t even pass the laugh test,” said EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry. “Copyright holders should be held accountable when they undermine non-infringing, fair uses like this video.”

Offending 29 second video after the break… and let me warn you that while it may or may not infringe, it’s most definitely guilty of mundaneness.

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Illegal Downloading Up or Down?

A survey from across the pond suggests that illegal music downloading has skyrocketed, at least in part because of the “democratizing” force of social networks. On the other hand, a survey earlier this year in the U.S. by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and Harris Interactive found just the opposite. According to the BSA, illegal … Read more

Don’t Buy These

Ugh. So much for impulse purchases. I wandered over to the AT&T store on Friday to pick up a stereo Bluetooth headset to use on occasion with my Blackjack, work Treo 700w now with A2DP, Macbook Pro, and Muziq. While the Southwing SA505 headphones are inexpensive ($60), have decent buttons, and seem relatively comfortable… the … Read more

Out With The Old, In With The New: Muziq Replaces UpStage

I was pretty psyched a few months back when Sprint told me they were shipping a Samsung UpStage to evaluate… However, the reality of the device hasn’t been impressive at all. I’m a big fan of Samsung products, and over the years I’ve probably owned more Samsung phones than any other (back in the day … Read more

Three Days Till the End of Internet Radio?

With three days to go before the Copyright Royalty Board’s new royalty scheme goes into effect and essentially kills off Internet radio, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has denied a motion to postpone the deadline. Maybe this is a good thing because it will force Congressional action, but it also leaves … Read more

Radio Silence

It’s come to this: a day of radio silence. Pandora, AccuRadio, and my own local WXPN among many others are going silent today to protest fee increases from the Copyright Royalty Board that will effectively put them out of business if something is not done before July 15th. We’ve covered this story multiple times in … Read more