Update: RIAA fires MediaSentry
Yesterday we reported unconfirmed reports that the RIAA had fired their “investigative arm”, MediaSentry.
Today the WSJ has confirmed that notion and says the trade group will replace MediaSentry with DtecNet Software ApS, a group it used before hiring MS.
MediaSentry was in charge of collecting evidence to be used against alleged pirates during a lawsuit brought on by the RIAA. Since 2002, over 35,000 lawsuits were brought against P2P users.
MediaSentry has been at the center of controversy for months now and has even been accused of investigating without a license, performing illegal searches and taps, and even destroying evidence.
‘Popeye’ goes copyright free in Europe
On January 1st the iconic cartoon character Popeye the Sailor Man became public domain in the EU, following the EU law that restricts copyrights of authors for only 70 years after their death.
Elzie Segar, the creator of the beloved character died in late 1938.
The ‘Popeye industry’ generates $2.5 billion USD in annual sales and merchandise comes in the form of books, toys, computer games, canned spinach and even a fast-food chain. Being public domain means that anyone can sell Popeye drawings merchandise, with no worries of needing authorization for being responsible for royalties.
It is important to note that the character is only public domain in the EU, and is still protected in the US until 2024, 95 years after the creator’s death. The Popeye trademark however, is a separate entity and is owned by the Hearst Corporation which should should protect the brand very aggressively.
Adds Mark Owen, an intellectual property specialist at the law firm Harbottle & Lewis: “The Segar drawings are out of copyright, so anyone could put those on T-shirts, posters and cards and create a thriving business. If you sold a Popeye toy or Popeye spinach can, you could be infringing the trademark.”
Mr Owen also notes: “Popeye is one of the first of the famous 20th-century cartoon characters to fall out of copyright. Betty Boop and ultimately Mickey Mouse will follow.”
Giganews has competition
According to Slyck, the newsgroup server Astraweb has increased its retention to 270 days, hopping over Giganews on its way to being the newsgroup provider with the longest retention.
“Astraweb is pleased to announce that we have just completed an infrastructure upgrade to increase our retention and improve our network. Our retention is currently growing towards 270 days from 160 days.”
When the provider will actually hit 270 is still in question though, and whether Giganews will respond is kind is a more important question. On Christmas, Giganews confided they were in the midst of a massive upgrade themselves and that new retention times would be “well beyond 240 days.”
Giganews currently costs $30 USD a month while Astraweb only cost $15.
MediaSentry dropped by RIAA?
Following last week’s decision that it would stop lawsuits, and instead pressure ISPs, the RIAA appears to be on the verge of cutting ties with MediaSentry, their unethical “investigative arm.”
There is no cause for celebration here however, as the rumor has it that they will be replacing the “watchdog” company with a similar one, such as BayTSP.
Although unconfirmed by MediaSentry or the record industry, the decision to drop MediaSentry should help the trade group retain any integrity it has left. MediaSentry has been at the center of controversy for months now and has even been accused of investigating without a license, performing illegal searches and taps, and even destroying evidence.
PlayStation 2 still the most played console
According to year-end figures provided by Nielsen, it appears that the Sony PlayStation 2 remains the most played video game console, by far. In fact, in terms of “overall usage minutes”, the PS2 accounted for just under 32 percent of the total.
Following in the list was the Microsoft Xbox 360 at 17.2 percent and the Nintendo Wii at 13.4 percent. The PlayStation 3 improved to 7.3 percent but somewhat surprisingly, lost to the original Xbox, which managed 9.7 percent of the total.
The PS2’s lead diminished significantly from 2007’s 42 percent of the total, but understandably so considering Sony has moved all their efforts to the next-gen PS3.
Year-on-year, the PS3 jumped from 2.5 percent to 7.3 percent of the total, the Wii jumped from 5.5 percent to 13.4 percent of the total, and the 360 jumped from 12 percent to 17 percent, all at the expense of the aging set of the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube.
Disney drops third ‘Narnia’ movie
Disney has announced that they have dropped the third Chronicles of Narnia film after deciding that co-producing and distributing the film, entitled “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” would prove too costly given the economic downturn.
The decision will leave the production company Walden Media on its own looking for a new partner to release the third film.
The new movie would have had a budget of over $200 million USD but its box office return was uncertain given the current climate and the diminished returns of the second movie in the franchise. The first film, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” grossed $745 million USD worldwide but its sequel, “Prince Caspian” only made $418 million worldwide.
For the time being, it is being reported that 20th Century Fox is a possibility to back the new movie, however they will require a tighter budget.
For a good opinion piece on why Disney is making a terrible mistake, read here: A ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ voyage Disney should take
CD sales fell 20 percent in 2008
According to Nielsen SoundScan year-end figures, CD sales fell 20 percent for the year 2008, while digital sales grew 27 percent.
Physical CDs still remain the most profitable media for recorded music, and account for 85 percent of overall album sales.
Over 1 billion digital tracks were sold in 2008, while 362.6 million physical CDs were sold for the year.
Even more disheartening for the record industry is the fact that for the period of September 30th-December 31st, CD sales declined the most. That period is usually the most important time of the year for sales, due to the holidays.
Internet Explorer loses more browser market share
According to new figures from Net Applications, Internet Explorer lost more browser market share in the month of December as minority browsers continue to slowly grow in popularity.
Firefox jumped to 21.34 percent, Apple’s Safari pressed on to 7.93 percent, and Google’s Chrome browser shifted moved to 1.04 percent share, marking the first time the browser has hit the 1 percent milestone.
Internet Explorer dropped to 68.15 percent share and remains the clear market leader thanks to coming pre-installed in every Windows computer. The browser has lost a massive amount of market share however since it hit its peak in 2003 at 94.43 percent. Even at the beginning of 2008 IE was cited as having just over 77 percent of market share.
Microsoft Zune bug ‘fixed’
Beginning on December 31st, 30GB Microsoft Zunes around the world began freezing up and complaints flooded in from worried users who were concerned their media device was broken.
The software giant looked into the problem and concluded that the problem stemmed from 2008 being a leap year. The Zune’s internal clock had failed to switch over to the new year, and the software bug caused the devices to lock up.
The problem was ‘fixed’ however yesterday when Microsoft advised all Zune users to let the battery of their device drain out and then turn it on after 7 am on Thursday.
“Wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black,” the company said, “Then power up the devices, but only after 7 a.m. Eastern time on New Year’s Day Thursday. No other action is required.”
Users may have to re-sync their devices completely today however, to restore any DRM files that come with
copyright-protected songs.
Sentences passed down on ‘world’s biggest’ software pirates
11 pirates, considered the “world’s biggest” software pirates, have been sentenced to jail time today by the Futian People’s Court in Shenzhen, China.
The group were ‘ringleaders’ in a counterfeiting syndicate that specialized in ‘high-quality’ fake Microsoft software. It is estimated that the pirates manufactured over $2 billion USD worth of counterfeits.
The sentences, the longest ever for intellectual property crimes in China, ranged from 1 year to 6.5.
The counterfeits were found in 36 separate countries on five continents and were produced in at least 11 languages.
The Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB) was responsible for tracking down the pirates and the bureau claims “tens of thousands” of buyers verified the software was fake using Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage.
