Nov 12 - One-third of Top Grossing iPhone Apps Free; GOP-led House May Take Different Slant on Music Issues
Industry Spotlight
Google to sponsor airline Wi-Fi for holidays
November 8, 2010 – Washington Post
Amazon.com courts newspaper publishers for Kindle
November 9, 2010 - CNN
Best Buy enters online world with redesign
November 11, 2010 – Pittsburgh Post Gazette
5 Must-See Moments at the 2010 MTV European Music Awards
November 08, 2010 - Billboard
One Third of Top-Grossing iPhone Apps Are Free
November 10, 2010 - Fortune
Slacker radio now available for Microsoft Windows Phone 7
November 9, 2010 - CNET (blog)
Politics & Policy
I. Performance Rights Act (H.R. 848/S. 379)
GOP-led House may take different slant on music issues
Authored by Anita Wadhwani on November 6, 2010 - The Tennessean
Key policy proposals addressing online piracy, performance rights royalties and the government's role in regulating the Internet were left unresolved when Congress adjourned for the election.
And when a new Republican-controlled House gets to work in January, it probably will bring a wholly different set of priorities, said Elizabeth Frazee, a lobbyist with the bipartisan D.C.-based firm TwinLogic Strategies, who will be in Nashville next week to brief music industry executives on the political landscape. Her appearance is part of a joint legal conference sponsored by the Country Music Association and National Association of Recording Merchandisers.
II. Copyright 101: Statutory Damages
Jury Dings File Sharer $1.5 Million for 24 Songs
Authored by David Kravets on November 4, 2010 – Wired News (blog)
Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the first file sharer to take a Recording Industry Association of America lawsuit to a jury trial, was dinged late Wednesday $62,500 for each of 24 songs she pilfered on Kazaa — $1.5 million in all.
The result is the third verdict by a Minnesota jury in a case that has morphed into a real-life version of Groundhog Day. And Wednesday’s outcome is not likely to be the last word, either.
The Brainerd, Minnesota, woman has repeatedly vowed to appeal what her lawyers said were “excessive damages.” Making matters more confusing, the judge presiding over all three trials ruled after the previous trial that $54,000 was the maximum amount of damages for such conduct.
III. Network Neutrality
E.U. won't adopt net neutrality law
Authored by Cecilia Kang on November 11, 2010 – Washington Post
Europe’s top Internet policy maker said Thursday the region will not introduce net neutrality rules to prevent Internet network companies from blocking or prioritizing certain content because of healthy competition.
Neelie Kroes, the commissioner for the E.U.’s digital agenda, said in a speech in Brussels that European nations would instead rely on guidelines that would stop anticompetitive behavior by telecom and cable firms and protect consumers. International governments have been weighing net neutrality proposals as more people around globe use the Web as their main mode of communication.
“If we encounter significant and persistent problems, I will not be afraid to change the law in the future to achieve competition and choice consumers deserve,” Kroes said in the speech.
IV. Online Privacy
Stage Set for Showdown on Online Privacy
Authored by Edward Wyatt and Tanzina Vega on November 9, 2010 – The New York Times
After “do not call” lists became popular, more than 90 percent of people who signed up reported fewer annoying telemarketing calls. Now, privacy advocates are pushing for a similar “do not track” feature that would let Internet users tell Web sites to stop surreptitiously tracking their online habits and collecting clues about age, salary, health, location and leisure activities.
That proposal and other ideas to protect online privacy are setting up a confrontation among Internet companies, federal regulators, the Obama administration and Congress over how strict any new rules should be.
In the next few weeks, both the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department are planning to release independent, and possibly conflicting, reports about online privacy.