EMI changes tune on DRM-free music

in

Cory Doctorow:
EMI -- having previously floated the idea of releasing its music as DRM-free MP3s -- has dropped the other shoe: it won't consider the move unless it gets some money. Lots and lots of money. So much that no one will say how much.

Which is funny, since removing DRM can only help sell music. After all, no one buys music for the DRM. People who buy DRM songs -- instead of nicking the same music on P2P -- do so because they don't mind the DRM, or because they don't know about the DRM, or because they are willing to hold their nose. Presumably, there are people who are aren't willing to hold their noses (I'm one of them) who'd buy if the DRM was gone.



Online music giants Apple and Microsoft, along with smaller players including RealNetworks and Yahoo! Music, sought to indulge EMI's demands by waving leafy-green dollar bills at the company, but it wasn't what EMI asked for, and the company subsequently put the talks on hold. Warner's renewed interest in EMI is likely another contributing factor to EMI's own cold feet: Warner's leadership is devoted to DRM, making the DRM-free discussions all the more circumspect.

While it has become a truism in tech enthusiast circles that 'no DRM equals more sales,' EMI and other record companies are pleased enough with the status quo that they expect any "risk" to be shouldered by retailers. If a "non-DRM tax" of sorts were applied to music, online retailers would have no choice but to increase the cost of downloadable music.

Link

(via Gizmodo)

(Via Boing Boing.)

OpenCongress — ripping open the doors to Congress with Web 2.0

in

Cory Doctorow:
OpenCongress.org is a new site that Web 2.0's the US government, bringing much-needed transparency and accountability to the closed book that is the US Congress. It is the first project of the new Pariticpatory Politics Foundation (founded by the same young geniuses who gave us the Participatory Culture Foundation and its stunning Democracy Internet TV player). Co-creator David Moore describes it thus:

One of the problems we were aiming to address is that there is a lack of comprehensive, usable web resources for people and groups writing about bills and issues in Congress. The Library of Congress website, Thomas, doesn't do nearly enough to make Congressional information accessible -- meaning that political bloggers didn't have anywhere helpful to link when discussing Congress, that there wasn't a way for their readers to get the "big picture" behind an issue. The lack of public knowledge about what's really happening in Congress breeds apathy about political change in general.

OpenCongress helps close the information gap between political insiders and the public by bringing together official government information from Thomas (by way of GovTrack.us), news articles from Google News, blog posts from Technorati, campaign contribution data from OpenSecrets.org, and more -- to give you the real story behind what's happening in Congress.

Link

(Via Boing Boing.)

Mac program can erase your home directory if you use a pirate serial

in

Cory Doctorow:
David sez, "a Mac program called Display Eater that has been set up by its developer to respond to the use of pirated CD keys by 'erasing something' -- apparently this is, in some instances, the home directory of the infringing Mac. Response over on Versiontracker, amongst other places, has been rather irate -- the PR disaster has already occurred"

Link

(Thanks, David!)

Update: Jason sez, "Display Eater's developer posted a public letter on his website saying that it was all a hoax. Also, this isn't new to the Mac community. A similar incident occurred in 2004."

(Via Boing Boing.)

IE down, Firefox, Safari UP - The Browser Wars Continue…

in

browserinfo.jpgArstechnica has a great article up breaking down the current trends in browser usage. In the US Firefox and Safari are on the rise, while IE has taken a slight dip, but Worldwide, IE is holding it’s own. Even though Opera is not mentioned in these charts, I think they are going to be one to watch with their connections to the mobile market, and devices like the Nintendo Wii.


The Browser Wars are back in full swing, and hopefully this will lead to some cool new innovations as each company tries to grab our attention with their latest releases.

(Via Apple Gazette.)

Don Imus Reports Administration Won’t Allow Him To Tour Entire Walter Reed Facilities

in

This morning on his radio show, Don Imus continued to call attention to the deplorable conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Imus has highlighted the issue every day this week. On yesterday’s show, he revealed, “I haven’t heard from anybody [in the administration] about whether I can come down there and take a little tour.”


This morning, Imus updated his audience, reporting that administration officials called him and said he could take a limited guided tour of the facilities. Imus explained, “They will cherry pick some places for me to go look at, but they don’t want me just going down there looking at the entire facility. I’m not interested in having that.” Watch it:



Screenshot




Imus said that all he has received from the administration is talking points. “The Veterans Administration called me — they keep trying to cherry pick a couple of situations you have that you are doing what you are supposed to do. Don’t think that is going to shut me up, because it’s not. So just save your breath on all that stuff. It’s annoying and it’s insulting and it’s a waste of time,” he said.


Email the Walter Reed Public Affairs office, and tell them to let Don Imus tour the full Walter Reed facilities.


Digg It!


Transcript: (more…)

(Via Think Progress.)