YouTube Stars Host Charity Telethon; Performance Rights Act Gains Co-sponsors
Industry Spotlight
MTV’s Music Meter Scans Social Sites for Rising Stars
December 14, 2010 - Bloomberg
Amazon MP3 for BlackBerry released for OTA music downloads
December 14, 2010 – UberGizmo
Slacker Radio Debuts New Station Featuring ‘Far East Movement’ Musical Group
December 2, 2010 – PR Newswire
Microsoft’s Zune HD customization adds photos, Xbox avatars
December 10, 2010 - Electronista
YouTube Stars Will Host Live Stream Telethon For Charity
December 16, 2010 – Mashable
Apple Pushes Color E-Books for iPad with iBooks 1.2
December 16, 2010 - PC Magazine
Politics & Policy
I. Performance Rights Act
PRA Inches Ahead, NAB Is Watching
Published on December 15, 2010 – Radio Ink
The Performance Rights Act, which would impose performance royalties on broadcast radio in the name of "equitable treatment" with other audio media, has also added a number of new co-sponsors, bringing the total to 51. Those newly on board include Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Jim Cooper (D-TN), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), George Miller (D-CA), Jay Inslee (D-WA), Zach Wamp (R-TN), Bart Gordon (D-TN), and Robert Brady (R-PA), who withdraws his sponsorship of the Local Radio Freedom Act.
II. Intellectual Property Enforcement
Piracy Fight Shuts Down Music Blogs
Authored by Ben Sisario on December 13, 2010 - New York Times
Thanksgiving Day had barely begun when Kevin Hofman’s BlackBerry buzzed. It was one of the technical operators of OnSmash.com, Mr. Hofman’s popular hip-hop blog, telling him that the site had gone mysteriously blank just after midnight.
“At first I thought it was hackers,” Mr. Hofman said. But within hours a notice went up on the site saying that its domain name had been seized by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit of the Department of Homeland Security; it was one of dozens of sites shut down, accused of copyright infringement and selling counterfeit goods.
But Mr. Hofman, a brawny Long Islander in his early 30s who formerly worked for a major record label, does not think of himself as a pirate.
Funk legend George Clinton sues the Black Eyed Peas for alleged copyright infringement
Authored by Brad Wete on December 14, 2010 - Entertainment Weekly
Parliament Funkadelic leader George Clinton has filed a copyright lawsuit against each member of the Black Eyed Peas, UMG Recordings, and Cherry Lane Music, accusing them of wrongfully sampling his “(Not Just) Knee Deep” from 1979 album Uncle Jam Wants You on two remixes of the will.i.am-produced “Shut Up”: “Shut the Phunk Up Remix” and “Shut Up Remix” from their 2003 Grammy-nominated Elephunk album. The case was filed Dec. 10 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
III. Online Privacy
Obama administration calls for an online privacy bill of rights
Authored by Jim Puzzanghera on December 16, 2010 - Los Angeles Times
The Obama administration Thursday called for Internet businesses to develop a set of practices to protect consumer data that would be akin to a privacy bill of rights and for a new government office to oversee that effort.
The recommendations come in a long-awaited 88-page report entitled "Commercial Data Privacy and Innovation in the Internet Economy: A Dynamic Policy Framework." Drafted by a special Internet Policy Task Force set up by the Commerce Department, the report comes amid an increased focus by Washington policymakers on protecting consumers' online information.
IV. Media Mergers & Acquisitions
Web video future at heart of Comcast, NBC review
Published on December 13, 2010 - The Associated Press
It won't be long before video from the Internet is always within reach — whether it's on a smart phone, a tablet computer or a high-end television in your living room.
But what if there's nothing worth watching?
Just as the online video market is starting to take shape, federal regulators have a rare opportunity to help protect its future as they scrutinize Comcast Corp.'s proposal to take over NBC Universal.
Regulators are pushing for tough conditions to ensure that Comcast can't stifle online video services by withholding content or pushing up prices for marquee NBC programs at a time viewers are starting to turn to the Internet for recent movies or the latest episodes of "Saturday Night Live," "30 Rock" and other popular TV shows.
Viacom tells government it is worried about Comcast - NBC Universal deal
Authored by Joe Flint on December 13, 2010 - Los Angeles Times
Viacom Inc., the media conglomerate whose holdings include Paramount Pictures and cable networks MTV, Comedy Central and VH1, has raised concerns with the Federal Communications Commission about the merger between Comcast Corp. and NBC Universal.
V. Network Neutrality
John Doerr, Brian Roberts push Obama on net neutrality
Authored by Kim Hart and Tony Romm on December 15, 2010 - POLITICO
The controversial “Open Internet” agreement pending at the Federal Communications Commission got a vote of confidence from two CEOs who visited the White House on Wednesday.
John Doerr, partner at powerhouse venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins in Silicon Valley, brought up the net neutrality proceeding during conversations with President Barack Obama, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
Also in attendance at the White House was Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, who further expressed the need for regulatory certainty, the source said. It is not clear whether other participants in Wednesday's meeting — including Google CEO Eric Schmidt or Cisco CEO John Chambers — sounded off on the issue.