RIAA under scrutiny in counter lawsuit

It turns out that the RIAA may have picked on the wrong customer. A single mother was mistakenly sued by the RIAA for pirating music. She decided to counter the lawsuit with everything but the kitchen sink. From the article [WIRED.com], she is going to hold the RIAA accountable for all sorts of heavy infractions ("RICO violations, fraud, invasion of privacy, abuse of process, electronic trespass, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, negligent misrepresentation, the tort of 'outrage,' and deceptive business practices").

Of particular concern:
- How much the RIAA's lawyers make
- Why the average file sharing settlement fee is $4-5K
- How it decides which file sharers to sue, and which ones not to sue
- Where the settlement money goes (i.e. whether any of it makes it to the artists)

It's no secret that the RIAA is making tons of cash that is not reaching the artists. I don't have any strong feelings about that. It's just that I hate these parasitic, soulless, life stealing, misanthropic, pompous .... where was I?

Consider this: the Nine Inch Nails earned $750,000 [boingboing] in just two days in the Creative Commons download experiment they recently did. That's as much as they would have earned from an entire album cycle. That is a measure of the size of the cheat. I just can't see why the entire music industry hasn't thrown the RIAA out to the curb already. Perhaps this is the beginning.

Cow Bell Deals: Toshiba Gigabeat For $59.99

If you’re in the market for a cheap MP3 player, then head on over to Office Depot for the 2GB Toshiba Gigabeat MEU202. This tiny little guy has a 1.1-inch OLED display, and 20 hours of battery life. It can play MP3, WMA, and WAV files, and has a built in FM tuner all for $59.99.

Not bad for the price!

Toshiba Gigabeat® MEU202-BK 2.0GB MP3 Player With FM Tuner [Office Depot via Crunchgear]

Edgar Bronfman: Music Industry Partly To Blame For War With Consumers

Finally, someone within the music industry has taken some ownership of why the music industry is struggling. Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr admitted that the music industry is partly to blame for the problems that it is experiencing, and that they are "at war" with their own customers. Check the quote:

"We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won."

It's amazing that someone within the industry DOES get it. Instead of embracing a new way of music interaction and distribution, they've chosen to grip tightly onto their old ways of doing business. Stating that they're loosing money only because of piracy is not looking at the whole picture. The truth is is that artist (if you can call them that) are not as good as they've been in the past. With iTunes and other outlets like it, people are not forced to buy an entire album if only one good song exists on it. Unlike in the past, artist and the music houses can't have one good track and 10 tracks of filler, and expect the album to do well.

That is a good thing!!!

This forces the both artist and the music homes to WORK on putting out a good product, and not expecting one song to carry the album. If the music industry channeled the same effort that they use going after college students, single moms, and grandmothers, imagine how good the quality of music would be out today.

Jay-Z Pulls Album Off iTunes

Not sure if I would classify this one as brave or stupid, but rapper Jay-Z took a bold move with his new album 'American Gangster'. The the album was listed on iTunes, but was pulled by the artist on Tuesday, and although the title is listed, you are unable to purchase it. Check the quote:

"As movies are not sold scene by scene, this collection will not be sold as individual singles.”

Now I wonder if he could have set the album up to only be sold as one complete unit on iTunes, but this move is questionable at best. Jay-Z is one of the biggest stars to pull an album from iTunes (outside of the Beetles, which hasn't made it to iTunes), so I'm curious to where this is going.

Brave or stupid?
You decide.

[G4TV]

iRiver Clix (8GB): Hits The Market

iRiver very quietly released their new MP3 player, the 'iRiver Clix' for sale on their website. The 8GB Clix is the second-gen version of their original 2GB and 4GB Clix, but with a different look and a hard shell. At $239, it might be a little to expensive considering the ipod nano is at $199 for the same storage space.

But if you're not a Apple fan, and don't want to fall in with the masses, this might be what you're looking for.

[iRiver via Crave]

Microsoft Watermarking DRM-Free Music Soon

Now this sounds like a logical idea when it comes to a DRM alternative. Microsoft has developed a 'digital watermark' for audio files that would identify the content craters and the original purchaser. Although this wouldn't stop the "sharing" of music, it would prove who originally owned the track.

"That means illegally traded songs could be tracked back to the original purchaser, allowing authorities to identify illegal sharers and serving as a deterrent."

This solution would allow users to take music that they purchased and transfer it to other devices that they own. This is a much better idea than DRM, and should be looked at as a better way of doing business.

Microsoft patents watermark technology that may lock down DRM-free music [InfoWorld via Crunchgear]