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RIAA, please stay away from celeb iPod auction

Good: You're in an up-and-coming band. Bad: Hurricane Katrina comes along and destroys all your gear. Good: A charity, Music Rising, is set up to try to raise money. They're doing this by auctioning off iPods that music celebs like Gwen Stefani, Faith Hill, and The Britney have loaded with their favorite playlists. Sounds like a win for everyone involved, but it might be too good to be true.

Don't get me wrong, as a former musician and survivor of my own environmental catastrophes (no, not my messy bachelor pad), I understand the need for relief. I … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 908: Kids, you're both pretty

To avoid a trademark problem should we call it gnetbook, pnetbook or knetbook? Cooley thinks all the ideas are pretty. Google wants to mind your power for you, but if they treat that data like they do your posts on blogger you may find your dryer deleted without notice.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 908

Sony INT-W250 WebTV High-Speed Linkup http://www.theonion.com/

You have until the end of the day to download Windows 7 http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10160285-56.html

Google PowerMeter http://www.google.org/powermeter/howitworks.html

Google deleting blog posts without warning http://www.laweekly.com/2009-02-05/music/google-39-s-new-killer-app-why-are-music-bloggers-39-posts-disappearing-and-who-is-deleting-them/all… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 899: Beware the suckware

An app for Google Android is allegedly wiping SD cards clean, which has some folks shouting malware! Stephen Shankland points out it's probably not malware, just suckware. We also cheer on the House of Representatives for not delaying the digital-TV transition. And Gmail goes offline, which is good news for those with flaky internet connection.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 899

Gmail offline http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-in-labs-offline-gmail.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10151096-2.html

House votes no on DTV bill http://www.ktvu.com/digital-tv/18583035/detail.html?treets=fran&tml=fran_natlbreak&ts=T&tmi=fran_natlbreak_1_12090101282009#-… Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: RIAA recruits Comcast, AT&T to monitor file sharing

When the RIAA said in December it would stop pursuing individual illegal file sharers, it wasn't clear exactly why. Now, CNET News' Greg Sandoval says the industry group is just switching tactics. Several sources close to Comcast and AT&T say that they, along with several other Internet service providers, will agree to monitor their networks for illegal file sharing by its customers.

Also on today's podcast: The fourth quarter is a good news/bad news story for SAP; AT&T profits sink; Acer gets into the smartphone biz; and clickfraud skyrockets.

Listen now: Download today's podcast … Read more

Muxtape returns from RIAA-induced hiatus

Muxtape, the upload-your-own mixed-tape service, came back on the scene on Tuesday. Founder Justin Ouelette had originally shuttered it last August in order to keep the RIAA off his back after licensing attempts and paperwork had overwhelmed him.

The new version of the service, which does not allow users to upload music from their hard drives, instead relies on bands to submit their own tracks for listeners to play on Muxtape--and Muxtape only.

There are a dozen bands to start with, all of which have been hand-picked by the service's creators. Bands that are interested in getting their music … Read more

Fully Equipped: How much would you pay for a digital album?

When you hear about the music industry these days, there are often figures claiming that digital music downloads--led by new initiatives from the likes of Amazon, Nokia, MySpace, and, of course, Apple--are up year over year by more than 25 percent, and now account for about 20 percent of overall music sales. But let's get the numbers straight. Despite some bright spots, the vast majority of digital downloads are unauthorized and cost nothing.

In fact, a recent report by IFPI, a body that promotes and "safeguards" digital music, says that in 2008 a whopping 95 percent of … Read more

How much would you pay for a digital album?

When you hear about the music industry these days, there are often figures claiming that digital music downloads--led by new initiatives from the likes of Amazon, Nokia, MySpace, and, of course, Apple--are up year-over-year by more than 25 percent, and now account for about 20 percent of overall music sales. But let's get the numbers straight. Despite some bright spots, the vast majority of digital downloads are unauthorized and cost nothing. In fact, a recent report by IFPI, a body that promotes and "safeguards" digital music, says that in 2008 a whopping 95 percent of all music … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: Mobile networks face logjam on Inauguration Day

More than 2 million people are expected to descend on Washington, D.C., this weekend for Barack Obama's inauguration as president. To prepare for the crush of traffic expected on the network from those in attendance, wireless-service providers have pulled out the stops.

CNET News' Maggie Reardon, who will be in D.C. for the event, joins us today to talk about what steps providers are taking to keep their networks up and running.

Also on today's podcast, Circuit City finally calls it quits, Nintendo continues to crush its competitors in video game console sales, another lawmaker asks … Read more

ISPs can profit from busting file sharers

Jerry Scroggin, the owner of a Louisiana Internet Service Provider, says he's skeptical of a service that proposes to pay ISPs to police their networks for pirated music and movies.

I wrote about Scroggin last month following the music industry's announcement that it would scale back a longtime strategy of suing individuals suspected of music piracy, and instead enlist the help of ISPs to thwart copyright violations.

Scroggin argued that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) should help pay the costs incurred when they ask ISPs to chase down suspected music pirates. Days after the story was … Read more

Do you still buy CDs?

The numbers are grim, all right, but the music industry still sells hundreds of millions of CDs each year. That's a lot of discs, and sales of downloads won't surpass silver discs for a while.

According to some industry sources, as recently as 2006, CDs represented more than 80 percent of the music sold in the United States. A recent report projects that it won't be until 2012 that download sales surpass CD sales. So fess up. A lot of you are still buying discs, and I want to know who you are.

I'm doing more … Read more