December 2006
6 posts
Rip, Mix, Sell?
We can all agree how pernicious the DMCA is when it’s used by the MPAA to put out of business Load ‘N Go—a small company that sold iPods preloaded with movies along with the DVDs of those movies. Piracy was not an issue here because consumers had to buy the DVD of every movie loaded onto their iPod. The reason MPAA acted, of course, is because Hollywood wants us to pay twice for...
Martin pushes 90-day shot clock
The FCC website being what it is (or maybe politics being what they are), an agenda is not yet available for the December 20th meeting of the FCC. All eyes are on this meeting because commissioners (including recently de-recused Commissioner Rpbert McDowell) will vote on the AT&T-Bell South merger. However, it now looks like Chairman Martin is also going to take the opportunity to push through...
UK: May we interest you in some spectrum?
While in this country we’re debating whether the government should hand over to a single entrepreneur 30 of the 36 MHz of prime radio spectrum slated for auction after the digital TV transition, in the UK they’re doing things a little different. According to GigaOm:
British carriers might have spent over 20 billion pounds on 3G wireless auctions several years ago, but they will...
EMI to sell (some) music in MP3
According to today’s WSJ, Blue Note records (a subsidiary of EMI) will begin selling music in MP3 format via Yahoo. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come, but for now the plan is just for a couple of songs, including a single from Norah Jones’ new album. What’s amazing is that this hasn’t been done already. I’ve always been skeptical that no one at the record...
Nike+iPod = surveillance?
I’m a happy user of the Nike+iPod Sport Kit. It’s an add-on for iPods that tracks your running: how far, how long, pace, calories burned, etc. It also lets you track your progress toward a goal or challenge other Nike+iPod users to races. It works by paring a radio receiver attached to your iPod and a radio transmitter placed in your shoe.
However, as those of us who follow such...
On franchising, who needs Congress?
It looks as if now that national cable franchise reform is dead in Congress, the FCC is moving forward with its proceeding on the issue. According to USA Today, “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has proposed rules to make it easier for phone companies and others to jump into the video business.” According to the newspaper’s sources, the new rule would...
