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Metallica really wants you to dislike them

Do you remember Metallica? If you do, you probably remember it for hating on Napster, holding out on iTunes for too long, and generally disliking anything related to the digital revolution.

In recent months, the band has come around and allowed its music to be downloaded on iTunes and generally stayed under the radar while it recorded a new album. Of course, whether or not more than 10,000 rabid fans actually care about this new album is up for debate, but Metallica has remained relatively tight-lipped about its progress.

Until recently.

According to ArsTechnica, Metallica -- in a show of good faith -- invited some music bloggers into the studio to let them listen to six tracks off the band's new album. After listening, the critics wrote up reviews based on what they heard and did not violate any non-disclosure agreements (there weren't any), nor were any specific directions given to them regarding what they could and could not write about.

After the reviews were posted, the bloggers received word from the band's management instructing them to remove the reviews from the site or face legal action.

One blog, The Quietus, told reporters that "The Quietus kept our article up the longest and, as no non-disclosure agreement had been signed," the site's editor wrote, "[we were] not prepared to remove it merely due to the demands of Metallica's management. We only removed the article earlier today to protect the professional interests of the writer concerned."… Read more

Jury hands feds first guilty verdict for Web music piracy

For the first time ever, the federal government has successfully won a jury verdict against someone accused of illegally downloading music, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

A jury in Alexandria, Va, found Barry Gitarts, 25, allegedly a member of Internet music piracy group, Apocalypse Production Crew (APC), was found guilty of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement.

Gitarts faces up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and must make full restitution, according to a statement released by the DOJ.

The Recording Industry Assoc. of America (RIAA), which said it helped … Read more

Exploring the music industry's other alternatives

This morning, I read a fascinating blog post at the Lefsetz Letter that explored reasons why artists should start giving their free music to those people who attend their concerts.

"As it is, you're announcing your tour almost a year before it happens, getting all that revenue up front, before anybody else does," he writes to the artists. "If you give away the music with the ticket, the audience has a long time to become familiar with it! Hell, the dropping of the album and the on sale date happen simultaneously!"

Throughout the entire post, he outlines exactly why artists should offer free music -- maybe as little as four or five tracks -- and why he believes that it's not only good for all parties involved, but a worthwhile idea if they want to make it big in the business.

But all this talk about what artists should do to promote themselves has me thinking: what sort of alternatives are available to us right now that will let us get free music, while still helping the artists? Unfortunately, there are very few.… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 726: Dueling banjos at dawn (VIDEO)

Here is the video for today's episode of Buzz Out Loud. Check it out!

Buzz Out Loud 726: Dueling banjos at dawn

Somehow today's show ended with Jason Howell challenging Paul Shaffer to a duel at Shalin's suggestion. We don't know. It's Friday. In other news, Cox and Comcast are the biggest BitTorrent blockers in the world, we spoil the entire plotline of Battlestar Galactica (sorry!), and we get deep inside the jDome. Plus: VIDEO! Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 726

Note: We are making a change to our podcast feed system on Monday, May 19. However, you do not need to subscribe to a new feed. One important thing to know: If you have your … Read more

RIAA defendant Jammie Thomas may get new trial

Jammie Thomas, the Minnesota woman who was slapped with a $222,000 penalty for allegedly sharing music on the Kazaa network, asked for a new trial way back in October 2007.

The surprising thing is that she may get one.

U.S. District Judge Michael Davis wrote Thursday that he was "contemplating granting a new trial." That's because, Davis said, he may have wrongly instructed the jury that merely making a copyrighted song available in a shared folder amounts to infringement. Oral arguments on this question are set for July 1.

Asking for a new trial is … Read more

RIAA reveals how it tracks college file sharing

A painstaking examination of how the RIAA goes about its business hunting down file sharers on college campuses is available online.

The Chronicle of Higher Education visited the offices of the Recording Industry Association of America and got a demonstration.

The RIAA employee, who declined to give his or her name for fear of receiving hate mail, said the organization has hired online copyright enforcer MediaSentry to do most of the heavy lifting. MediaSentry writes scripts to automatically hunt for the names of copyright songs and locate the IP addresses of computers sharing files, and forwards the information to the … Read more

How the RIAA looks for pirates

If you've followed the RIAA's antipiracy efforts, perhaps you've wondered how they find suspected pirates. Yesterday, the The Chronicle for Higher Education published an article in which an RIAA spokesperson--anonymous for fear of hate mail--outlined the organization's surprisingly low-tech methods.

The RIAA hires an organization called MediaSentry, which has developed an automated program that scans LimeWire for song titles that match titles of copyrighted material in an RIAA database, collects the IP addresses of the computers where these songs have been made available, then reports this information back to the RIAA. The article doesn't reveal … Read more

Legal liability for YouTube viewers

Updated on 5/19/08 with comment from RealPlayer (see below)

Users of YouTube and other video-sharing sites could face $750 per clip penalties if they have watched a video that was uploaded without the copyright holder's permission.

Copyright infringement in the United States strict liability offense. What this means, is that users are liable when they illegally copy works, even if they're not aware that this is wrong, or that the work is protected by copyright.

As an example, let us consider the popular video sharing website YouTube.

Every week, 6 days after the show airs, HBO … Read more

What does the file sharing strikeout mean to us?

In the ongoing war between file sharing and opposing organizations, we're constantly reminded by just how ridiculous some of the battles really are. Case in point: the "three strikes and you're out" regulation that has been flying around lawmaking bodies in Europe and now, possibly Canada.

According to the experts, lawmakers are desperately trying to find ways to stop file sharing and with the help of organizations that can't stand the thought of songs or movies being downloaded "illegally", they're doing everything they can to go after the wrong people. Simply put, the "Three strikes and you're out" policy stipulates that if an Internet user is caught file sharing three times, ISPs will be forced to terminate that subscriber.

"The policy - occasionally referred to as "graduated response" - received support last fall from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who pressured the private sector to negotiate an agreement to implement the three strikes system," Michael Geist wrote in an article describing the rule. "The policy soon attracted global attention as the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia all announced that they were contemplating a similar approach."

As this policy spreads across the world, what can we expect from it? My guess: nothing.… Read more