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Interesting news article.... I wonder why they are going after file traders then? It's one big mess. I don't think anybody knows how Canadian laws really work ;)

"Industry standard choices" means WMA, WMV, MPEG-2, MPEG-4.

Apparently not, since Apple is using one of those standards: AAC *IS* MPEG-4 (well, the audio layer). I'll grant you though that they have added their own proprietary DRM on top of it. But, then WMA is proprietary from top to bottom.

I suppose they could be saying "standard" to mean "popular" but it seems Apple's implementation of AAC is starting to fulfill that definition as well and THAT is what Microsoft and Dell (which has backed M$'s format) have a problem with.

Using the proprietary Windows Media formats requires licensing fee's to Microsoft in exactly the same way that using Apples proprietary DRM requires fees to Apple. As this story and others prove, Apple just as willing to license their format as Microsoft. Microsoft is just the pot calling the kettle black. They're not really complaining about a proprietary non-standard format that limits choice becoming the defacto standard. They're complaining because it's not THEIR proprietary, non-standard format that limits choice.

Also, AFAIK just like Quicktime (on which it is based) the MPEG-4 standard is also a container. The standard audio codec AAC is not.

"First off, since they give Kazaa away, where is the money for the ad campaign coming from?"

Ad revenue, of course. Kazaa is a for-profit business. Like a web site, they provide a medium and then sell ad space on it. Kazaa usage is down, and this means ad revenue is down. They are (rightfully so, as any business should be) alarmed about this. One thing which may have them concerned is the relative success of the legitimate download services.

When this ad campaign was reported on news.com three days ago, the news.com article covered a point which the above glossed over: Kazaa has been going to the record companies for a while now, trying to work a deal with them. Kazaa wants to morph itself into a legitimate distribution network by partnering with the big record companies, or (as I believe they fear) they will be squeezed out by the iTMSes and Napsters of the world, lose that critical mass of users and -- this is the important part -- will not be able to get the ad revenue they have in the past. Said record companies have, so far, replied with something that rhymes with "duck shoe," and this ad campaign is an attempt to start a grass roots effort to get the record companies to change their minds.

So, Kazaa and a typical record company have a few things in common:

• Seeing lost revenue
• Concerned about their business model
• Using public-awareness campaigns to get their side of the story across
• Slowly trying to change their business model
• Don't pay artists as well as slashdotters would like (ignore this one if you're a slashdotter who's in the "artists get paid TOO much" camp)

"Secondly, if the MPAA & RIAA are both doing so badly, where are all the broke movie and music superstars?"

It's not the superstars you have to worry about; it's the folks more like you and me, but who happen to work in the entertainment industry. Tower Records is in serious trouble and has reportedly asked Kazaa to buy them out. Record companies are hurting and consolidating -- the Sony-BMG merger could mean thousands of people laid off and dozens of artists dropped. But before anybody dances with glee over the artists being dropped... it won't be the Madonnas and Britneys that will be dropped. More likely it will be the more marginally profitable acts. Some of them may be hard working, just like you and me, and not superstars worthy of contempt because they have too much money. This is just a guess, though.

There is a review of the service at Clearstatic.

Today Apple responds to Adobe's claims. They are basically blaming poor application performance esp. when compared to FC Pro.

Clearstatic

P2P news from a consumer perspective

If I've purchased CDs and make them available on a P2P network for the purpose of accessing them anywhere I please am I a pirate? If I've purchased a CD and then downloaded the files to my work PC from a P2P network am I also a pirate? If I download music in order to preview artists (which I regularly do) am I a pirate? Although this area is much murkier I still don't consider this pirating music since the music I listen to is never played on the radio.

Rep. Carter hopes that prosecuting individuals will cut down on pircay by 50%. If you really want to cut down on piracy give us a reasonably priced product that works better then the P2P networks.

P2P news from a consumers perspective