Before Apple’s much-hyped media event on the 1st, it was reported that CEO Steve Jobs was actively trying to get iTunes Store track samples extended to 60, or even 90 seconds, from the current 30.
The event came and passed, and nothing about the time lengths of the samples was discussed by Jobs or the country.
Cnet says today that licensing issues are holding up the process, but that Jobs is still in active discussions to get the samples extended to 90 seconds.
Says Hanna Pantle, a spokeswoman for BMI, one of the organizations that collects royalties for publishers and songwriters: “We are in active negotiations with Apple.”
Furthermore, Apple has already received the go ahead to extend the samples, from the record labels. Their existing contract with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) also allows for 90 seconds, so it appears to be just a couple of holdouts keeping the update from occurring.
Result for: labels
A provision which would require a judicial order before the government could have someone’s internet account shut off has been removed from the Telecoms Package being negotiated between European Parliament and the European Council.
The amendment, approved overwhelmingly earlier this year by MEPs, said “No restriction may be imposed on the fundamental rights and freedoms of end users, without a prior ruling by the judicial authorities … save when public security is threatened.”
It would have called into question the legality of laws promoted by the recording industry as the solution to illegal file sharing. Record labels favor laws which allow them to punish alleged copyright infringement without being required to prove their charges in court first.
So far France has followed the industry’s blueprint very closely. Their 3 strikes law, which has been approved by both legislators, and in a revised version by the country’s top court, does now require judicial approval of internet disconnection.
But that doesn’t mean a content owner would be required to prove the person whose account is being shut down actually did anything wrong.
Some officials in the UK are also in favor of 3 strikes style legislation. Lawmakers who oppose such a plan have spoken out about the idea, saying record label losses are the result of poor business decisions and the public shouldn’t be punished.
ISPs are opposed for more practical reasons. They complain that hackers and WiFi networks with easily broken encryption make reliably identifying illegal file sharers impossible.
Result for: labels
Kazaa, one of the most notorious P2P software of yesteryear is set to make a comeback in 2009, this time as a legal subscription music service.
Sources speaking to Cnet say the rebirth could happen as soon as August and will turn the once infamous unauthorized downloading hub into a new subscription service with catalogs from the Big 4 labels.
Unlimited downloads will cost $20 USD a month and the store is expected to open with over a million tracks available.
Napster, the original file sharing site to feel the wrath of the record label, reopened as a legal music store in 2003.
