News written by Jari Ketola (August, 2003)

The recording industry lawyers have discovered that they can prove whether or not an MP3 file was selfmade or downloaded from the Internet. The claims were made in a case against a New York woman, who has been accused of sharing 1000 files through a peer-to-peer network.

The woman claims to have made the MP3 files herself, but RIAA lawyers beg to differ. They have discovered that the headers (or more likely ID3 tags, which are actually located at the end of the file) on the MP3 files on her computer included "the username of another computer user". Also the hashes of some of the files matched songs found on p2p networks earlier.

It's the latter that has even some significance. A hash is a "digital fingerprint" of a file created using a pre-defined algorithm (eg. MD5 or SHA1). The hash uniquely identifies a single file, ie. it's extremely unlikely that any two files would result in the same hash.

MP3 files of the same song, even when created from the same source, differ from each other somewhat, due to differences in encoder routines. Then again just editing the ID3 tags on the MP3 files changes the hash as well.

Read more...

Australian Federal Court has decided to allow Sony Playstation owners to "chip" their consoles. The decision makes it possible for Australians to modify the consoles so that they will play games from different regions, as well as copied games.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) supported the individual sued by Sony Computer Entertainment in the case, and applauded the decision.

"Australian consumers can now enjoy games legitimately bought overseas, as well as authorised back-up copies, by legally having their consoles chipped," said ACCC chairman Professor Alan Fels.

The Australian Copyright Act prevents copyprotection circumvention devices, such as mod chips, if the copyright protection measures have no commercial significance. However in Sony's case the court saw that the protection was implemented to allow Playstation games to be priced differently in various regions.

Sony was disappointed by the ruling, and is concidering to appeal.

Source:
ElectronicsNews

Several legal music services, copyright organizations and legal scholars have filed "friend of the court" briefs asking to overturn an earlier court ruling that said companies behind P2P software aren't responsible for possible copyright infringement of their users.

"The district court's misapplication of law, if permitted to stand, will create loopholes in the law...that will frustrate efforts to limit online piracy and serve to encourage and embolden potential infringers of creative works," read the brief.

In April, federal Judge Stephen Wilson ruled that P2P software makers can be compared to VCR manufacturers -- both have illegal applications, but the companies behind them cannot be held responsible for the misuse.

Source:
CNET News.com

Hong Kong based Lik Sang International today announced it has settled the lawsuit with Sony out of court. Sony sued Lik Sang for distributing copy protection circumvention devices, also known as mod chips. Lik Sang has now agreed to cease trade in PlayStation modchips, and to refrain from publish any information regarding Sony's copy protection systems. Additionally Lik Sang will pay compensation to Sony.

Lik Sang is still in court with Nintendo and Microsoft in similar cases. According to The Register "the decision to settle with Sony was taken due to new developments in international law surrounding mod chips and similar devices, as well as for simple financial reasons."

Lik-Sang.com is currently operated by a new owner, and is not affected by the cases in question.

Source:
The Register

The leader of MP3 piracy group Apocalypse Production Crew (APC), Mark Shumaker, 21, has pleaded guilty to violating copyright laws. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and US$250,000 fine.

This is the first time an online-focudes piracy group is being charged in federal criminal prosecution. The final sentence is to be decided November 7th in Easrtern District of Virginia.

The plea was, obviously, welcomed by Recording Industry Association of America who has long urged the Justice Department to focus on online music piracy, just like they focus on software piracy.

Copyright holders and anti-piracy groups claim MP3 groups, who release bootleg copies of yet un-released music, do so to for money, when in fact many groups just compete to be the first one to release a particular album. It doesn't, of course, make it any less illegal.

Source:
The Star TechCentral

A new version of the super-light-weight, yet versatile video and audio player, Media Player Classic has been released.

The new version has built-in MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 decoders with DVD-support, which means that you can play DVD-movies without a commercial DVD-player software. For multi-channel audio you will need the AC3Filter package, which is also freeware.

For a 800 kilobyte software, Media Player Classic does amazing things! You can now forget Windows Media Player for good.

Download Media Player Classic
Download AC3Filter

DVD tweaking tool DVD Region-Free has been updated to version 3. The new version has been rewritten to gain more speed and stability, and it includes new features especially aimed for backing up DVDs from different region.

DVD Region-Free detects when a DVD player software checks for the region information on the drive and disc, intercepts them and lets you view movies from different regions without patching your DVD software or DVD-ROM drive. Now the software also detects DVDFab, DVD2One, Pinnacle InstantCopy, DVD Shrink and Nero Recode to copy DVD from any region directly.

In addition to the very nice new feature, the update includes lots of bugfixes, and other small changes.

Download the unlimited free trial version

RealNetworks has signed a deal with Best Buy which allows it to sell subscriptions to its online music service Rhapsody at Best Buy stores and web site.

Rhapsody is now available at more than 15 online distributors, and after the Best Buy deal in over 560 retail stores in the North America.

Real also announced that it has managed to sign the Rolling Stones' music to be sold digitally via Rhapsody. Until now the Stones have refused to sign an online deal with any distributor.

Real's Rhapsody is trying hard to compete with Apple's iTunes, which has turned out to be a huge success. While iTunes sells tracks at $0.99 each, the song downloads cost only $0.79 a track at Rhapsody.

Source:
InfoWorld

The famous DVD copier programs receive yet another update.

DVD X Copy XPRESS v3.0.2:

Fixes drive speed error cause at beginning of burning session.

DVD X Copy GOLD v3.0.2:

Now contains the latest version of DVD X Copy XPRESS.

DVD X Copy XPRESS is a DVD copier program that uses a lossy compression method to shrink the video stream, so a that a movie fits to a single 4.7GB DVD-R. The GOLD package contains the XPRESS and the original DVD X Copy, which is a lossless DVD copier that can split the movie for buring it to two DVD-R blanks if the movie exceeds 4.7GB capacity.

Get the goods from 321Studios

Microsoft has opened a pay-per-song service in Windows Media Player 9 environment. The service, labeled MSN Music Club is currently available in U.K.

Songs in the service are priced at $1.21 per track or $12.75 per album. Subscribers, however, can download tracks for $0.99 at cheapest.

"This is a very significant boost to the European on-line market," says Mark Mulligan, a Jupiter Research senior analyst. Mulligan sees consistant prices and comprehensive catalogue the two most important features of the service.

One of the big attractions of iTunes has been the fact that the service permits users to burn tracks on CD or store them on a portable device. It's unclear whether or not Microsoft's service allows this.

The European Commission is already investigating if Microsoft's bundling the Media Player with Windows is against the European antitrust laws. At least for now Microsoft has a free advertisement spot on virtually every Windows desktop in Europe.

Provided the use of the tracks isn't too limited, MSN Music Club might turn out to be very successful indeed.

Source:
PCWorld.com

The makers of DVD X Copy product line have released new tools for CD/DVD data recovery. DVD X Rescue and CD X Rescue are solely for recovering damaged data discs back to use.

The 321 Studios are also very smart in polishing their public image. They are now offering this new software free for schools, hospitals, religious and other non-profit organizations. A very smart move from a company that is struggling with legal issues.

They are also introducing a great bundle deal, as DVD X Copy GOLD buyers can now purchase a DVD+R recorder for just $99!

Check the new products and offers from 321 Studios website

321 Studios, the leader in DVD back-up software, announced today the launch of a nationwide initiative named Project X Rescue. Under this initiative, 321 will donate DVD X Rescue or CD X Rescue, a revolutionary technology which enables the recovery and restoration of data from unreadable, scratched, corrupt or defective media, to libraries, schools, universities, hospitals, religious and other non-profit organizations.

The DVD X Rescue and CD X Rescue products were developed in response to consumers’ frustration with imperfect media sources, specifically the fragility of CDs and DVDs. Consumers publicly logged complaints about a CD or DVD that skips, a photo disc with treasured photos that could no longer be accessed, their garage band’s live recordings that skip and other personal and business technology dilemmas. 321 Studios developed these new products to enable consumers and businesses alike to create a brand new and problem-free copy of a DVD or CD from a damaged original. Read more...

Massachusetts Institute of Technology's and Boston College's challenges have proved to be successful -- at least for now. A Massachusetts court has decided that the universities involved do not have to provide RIAA with the identities of the alledged song swapers immediately.

There's not much to cheer about the ruling, though. It's based on a legal technicality -- RIAA has filed all the subpoenas in D.C. federal court, when it should have filed them in the appropriate local courts instead.

RIAA says it will file subpoenas wherever courts require them to.

Source:
News.com

Microsoft's home entertainment system Windows XP Media Center Edition is coming to Europe. Thirty OEM manufacturers will be building PCs based on the operating system.

Media Center is, like the name suggests, intended to be used in the living room as the central hub for digital entertainment. It's features include personal video recorder, DVD player, and Internet connectivity. It remains to be seen how keen consumers are to purchase devices based on quite expensive PC technology. The prices will quite likely be much higher than those of regular home entertainment devices, such as DVD-players or game consoles. Building an entertainment center around the Xbox concept might prove to be more successful.

More information available at Media Center homepage.

Source:
The Register

PC manufacturer Gateway has released a 1.5-ounce (43g) portable USB storage and music device. The 128MB Gateway Digital Audio Player DMP-200 will be available this week at $129.99, with the 256MB DMP-300, priced at $169.99, being released August 14th.

The product connects directly to a standard USB 1.1 port with a built-in connector, and is powered by a single AAA-size battery. Physically the device is roughly the same size as USB pen-drives, and when connected to a PC, works just like one. No special drivers are required for Windows XP (and probably not for Windows 2000 and ME either), and the unit is visible as a removable drive under the operating system. Both MP3 and WMA formats are supported, and ID3 tags are viewed on a three-line LCD display.

Source:
PCWorld.com

BBC News Online has released an article investigating the reasons behind declining CD sales world-wide. Not too surprisingly they reach the same conclusion most of us have reached years ago -- the reasons are not in peer-to-peer or any other online piracy.

The top three reasons are CD piracy, declining number of releases, and new consumer markets. While RIAA claims that the CD sales are declining due to P2P swapping, they forget to mention that while CD sales dropped by 7% in 2002, the pirated CD sales rose 14%.

In 1999 38,900 individual titles were released in the US. The number of releases fell by 30% by 2001 when only 27,000 titles were released. With fewer titles on the market the number of units sold is bound to decrease as well. The number of titles released dropped mostly due to the fact that there are fewer old vinyl records being re-released on CD -- most of them have already been released and purchased by consumers looking to replace their vinyls with compact discs.

The last, but definitely not the least of reasons are the new entertainment markets. Consumers are investing a bigger portion of their "entertainment budget" to DVDs, mobile phones and other forms of entertainment.

Read more...