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Napster Canada Launched

Posted by timothy on from the bare-naked-ladies-avenged dept.

PunchMonkey writes "Just days after the Napster UK launch, Napster Canada is now online. Tracks start at CDN$1.19 and albums at CDN$9.95. Interactive streaming is also available for the first time in Canada for CDN$9.95 a month. Napster is the the third online music service to be launched in Canada (following PureTracks and ArchambaultZik), not including the branded Puretracks sites Sympatico Music Store and PureTracks from Telus." (Be prepared for a trio of rejection notices if you're neither running nor spoofing IE under Windows.)

9 of 206 comments (clear)

  1. Cheap! by darth_MALL · · Score: 5, Informative

    $1.19 Can works out to 0.86 USD. Cheaper than the US non-subscriber version. Still not cheap enuff if you ask me.

  2. Cheaper! by dj245 · · Score: 3, Informative

    It is interesting to note that the Canadians have it cheaper than the US. According to this currency converter, 1.19 CAD is .87 USD and 9.99 CAD is 7.23 USD. Perhaps a lack of litigation is to blame?

    --
    Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
  3. Yet another iTunes plug by tokachu(k) · · Score: 5, Informative

    0.99 USD = $1.37 CDN

    ...so technically Napster Canada is cheaper than iTunes. But this is assuming you only listen to music on your computer. They charge extra to transfer the song, unlike iTunes, where it's the same price whether you burn it to a CD, transfer it to your iPod, or whatever.

    Napster and the others need to deal with the fact that they've been beaten by Apple.

  4. Re:Downloading seems legal; uploading might not be by Chess_the_cat · · Score: 4, Informative

    Uploading was ruled legal in a later decision. The judge equated it to putting a photocopier in a library. Just because you put the material in your shared folder doesn't mean you are actively distributing it.

    --
    Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
  5. Report on changes to the Canadian Copyright Act by emaveneau · · Score: 3, Informative

    Recently (May 12) the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage issued a report on proposed changes to the Copyright Act, whose relevant recommendation is as follows:

    RECOMMENDATION 3

    The Committee recommends that the Copyright Act be amended to provide that Internet service providers (ISPs) can be subject to liability for copyrighted material on their facilities. The Committee notes, however, that ISPs should be exempt from liability if they act as true "intermediaries," without actual or constructive knowledge of the transmitted content, and where they meet certain prescribed conditions. ISPs should be required to comply with a "notice and takedown" scheme that is compliant with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, with additional prescribed procedures to address other infringements.

    If you overlook the last vague line, the proposed changes to Copyright Act seem harmless to those who do not download, but those who do, may become customers of Napster et al.

    The Act would force ISPs to cut off access for uploaders after they have been identified by the CIRA. But the report does not specifically address the disclosure of customers' information (to the CIRA), nor does it address the download v.s. upload meme.

    The vagueness of the report is replicated by media reports which further mention WIPO treaties, P2P and anti-circumvention devices, all of which are not specifically addressed in the report.

    The EFC has not, AFAIK, commented on the report and the Toronto member of Parliament who chaired the committee, hasn't yet responded to my inquiries (will P2P or anti-circumvention be left legal?).

  6. upload/download is legal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Uploading and downloading of mp3's via p2p is legal in canada, see:

    http://www.canadiancontent.net/commtr/itemid172. ht ml

    Why pay for something when it's already free? They aren't going to sell ice to this Inuit.

  7. Allofmp3.com Still Cheaper, Better by Fearan · · Score: 3, Informative

    At about $0.05 ($0.01/mb) per 192Kbps (OGG,MP3,WMA) or less for 128Kbps encodes per song, Allofmp3.com is still better than any of the pay-to-download music services. And also, no OS restrictions or browser restrictions, although the auto-downloader program is only available to Win32 systems. I still love being to download the songs on my Linux box and pay by Paypal. http://www.allofmp3.com Seriously, give it a try. I find it's better than using KaZaA or any other P2P system even though I have to pay a few cents per song.

  8. Open music by Dwonis · · Score: 3, Informative
    (Be prepared for a trio of rejection notices if you're neither running nor spoofing IE under Windows.)

    Yet another reason why Magnatune might be worth looking at again. Magnatune has greatly increased its selection since it started up (e.g. it actually has some music I like now), so if you haven't taken a look in the last few months, you might want to look at it again.

  9. obligatory eMusic plug by Groucho · · Score: 3, Informative

    eMusic gives you tracks for 22 cents each - Lame VBR encoded MP3s - and of course there's no copy protection. And they have great independent labels like Matador, Kill Rock Stars, 5 Rue Christine, Thrill Jockey, Mille Plateaux, Schematic, etc. plus a shitload of jazz and classical. I have the 90 songs a month for 20 bucks deal - you can buy more if your downloads run out before the month is up.

    I refuse to buy into this dollar a song for inferior closed formats with DRM deal. eMusic may not be perfect but it's the closest thing going.

    eMusic