Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

Test 1409

2010-09-14T01:17:00.000+02:00

Investment Forum Programme (version 8)

Tuesday 14 September 2010

10.00	Registration open
12.30-13.45	Buffet lunch
(13.00)	Welcome Chair: Reinhard Goebl, Investment Forum Advisory Board, Austria Lena Gustafsson, AALA President, Sweden Henning Seiding, Welfare Tech Region, Denmark
13.45-14.00	Short Break
14.00-15.30	MARKET AND DYNAMICS Chair: Rafael de Andrés Medina, AAL Association, Spain [Draft summary:] The introductory session discusses commercial aspects of the European AAL market from a variety of viewpoints: a journalist, an economist, and a public procurer perspective. AAL market opportunities for the Venture Capitalist NN, Mandag Morgen, Denmark (TBC) Economic opportunities, demographic shift and welfare entitlements in Europe Ib Oustrup, CEO of the Danish Society of Engineers, Denmark (TBC) Unmet needs George Macginnis, PA Consulting, United Kingdom
15.30-16.00	Coffee break
16.00-17.30	PRIVATE INVESTING Chair: Juan Carlos Castrosin, Pi&Pi, Spain [Draft summary:] Experienced private investors from different sectors will discuss their industry to suggest ways for AAL entrepreneurs and public investors to find private investment partners. Life Sciences and ICT from a VC point of view Dr. Nissim Darvish, Orbimed Advisors, Israel Seed Fund Raising: don't forget Angels! Roberto de Saint-Malo, Adara Venture Partners, Spain Financing companies in the new environment – challenges and opportunities Yuval Binur, Accelerated Technologies Partners, United States
17.30	Break
19.00	Reception at Odense Town Hall Buses depart from OCC at 18.30

Wednesday 15 September 2010

9.00-10.30	ENTREPRENEURS Chair : Urs Guggenbühl, University of St. Gallen [Draft summary:] What are the key ingredients for a commercially successful company in the AAL market? Learn from a business, from a business development initiative, and from a matchmaker A success story in the market place: Doro Jérôme Arnaud, DORO AB, Sweden Analysis: what does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? Katy Lethbridge, SEHTA, United Kingdom Need of fund raising and process Kenneth Larsen, Keystones, Denmark	(Regions workshop – not public, invitation only)
10.30- 11.00	Coffee Break
11.00-12.30	Closing Panel: What is the right mix of public and private investors? Chair: Peter Saraga, AAL Association [Draft summary:] The closing panel discussion will bring together public and private investors to explore what all players can do to promote investment and development of the AAL sector and to determine next steps. Initial statements: Regional needs in AAL investments Mikkel Hemmingsen, Syddanmark Region, Denmark View from Europe Erika Mann, former MEP, Germany Private investor Dr. Nissim Darvish, Orbimed Advisors, Israel Finnish SITRA or Vaekstfonden No reaction View from the European Investment Bank EIB representative TBC? Discussion
12.30-13.00	Lunch break before the opening of the AAL Forum

All sessions take place in OCC, room Fyn. All breaks will be in the Foyer.

2010-08-12T14:46:00.000+02:00

test

2010-08-02T12:02:00.005+02:00

George MacGinnis

PA Consulting Group

Roberto has extensive experience finding, making and managing direct equity investments. Involvement with over 20 companies, including Cambridge Broadband and eDreams, have provided him with knowledge and experience that is highly valuable for early-stage ventures.

Roberto has been making direct equity investments since 1995. He was Executive Director of BHI Corporation and Founder & Managing Partner of tech-VC Latin Rim. During this time he has executed and managed 20 investments, achieving a 25% IRR on completed investment cycles. Roberto’s pre-Adara technology investment experience includes ventures such as Cambridge Broadband (Cambridge, UK), eDreams (Barcelona) and Energia Global (Boston / San José, Costa Rica).

He specialises in delivering out of the ordinary programmes and has significant recent experience in shaping and delivering innovative service improvements

Website Changes

2009-04-11T23:06:00.005+02:00

The site has been down for a while as a result of job changes and alterations to my work processes. There has been increasing levels of unnecessary overlap as a result of tackling a wide variety of issues within the same space. As a result, Ive had a bit of a spring clean recently.

For fans of the political, economic and social issues covered, the news clippings sections are being split into three seperate sites:

The first is Grimsdale's Ire, focusing on social issues and public policy failure between institutions.

The second is Heron's Eye, focusing on political accountability and propaganda.

The third is Mobius' Loop, focusing on innovation and examining waste of budgets and resources.

These sites are geared towards allowing contribution from multiple users, to contribute visit Nortons Peel for more information. If you were not already aware, Nortons Peel also exists as a directory for navigating organisational issues easier.

For fans of music and cultural press issues, the news clippings sections will eventually move to a new news platform, which is yet to be announced.

My original opinion pieces are going to still be added to this site for the time being, although they may eventually migrate to another site at a later stage.

Music News Bulletin - 30/01/09

2009-01-30T12:10:00.001+01:00

Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) appoints Chairman and Vice Chairs
"The Board meeting of the international independent music association WIN at Midem this year marked the completion of AlisonWenham’s two-years of inaugural Presidency, which has seen this grouping extend its membership to labels and independent music trade associations in 25 countries across all continents, while providing collective impetus for the formation of Merlin (www.merlinnetwork.org) to work with the independent sector in commercial exploitation of their copyrights.

The WIN Board unanimously requested Wenham to continue to lead the organisation for the next two years. In line with firmer constitutional proposals relating to structure and funding of WIN, which were also agreed, the organisation reserved the Presidency as a titular position for a possible future appointment and Wenham was voted Chairman. The widening business and geographical focus of WIN was recognised with the appointment of four Vice Chairmen: David Vodicka, Chairman of Australian Independent Records (AIR); Mark Chung, Chairman of German independents trade body VUT; Portia Sabin, representing the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM); and Duncan McKie, President and CEO Canadian Independent Record Production Association (CIRPA)." [RecordOfTheDay]

BPI not impressed with IP Minister’s comments
"Needless to say really, record label trade body the BPI wasn't thrilled by those previously reported comments made by the UK's Intellectual Property Minister David Lammy and printed in The Times. As previously reported, Lammy told the paper that he didn't think the government could introduce laws to force ISPs to cut off persistent file sharers - as some have suggested should happen - because such measures would be wrapped up in legal problems.

But perhaps more worryingly for those who advocate new laws to force net firms to take a more proactive role in policing online piracy, he implied he wasn't completely convinced about the need for legislation to combat filesharing, telling the paper: "We can't have a system where we're talking about arresting teenagers in their bedrooms. People can rent a room in an hotel and leave with a bar of soap - there's a big difference between leaving with a bar of soap and leaving with the television"." [CMUDaily]

WIN reappoint Wenham to top job
"Elsewhere in trade body news, the globally focused body for the indie label sector, the World Independent Network, has confirmed that Alison Wenham, boss of the UK's Association Of Independent Music, will continue to head up the worldwide indie body too. She was re-elected into the top job at a meeting at MIDEM, though her job title will change from President to Chairman because of plans to appoint a titular President to act as a spokesperson for the body." [CMUDaily]

Meeting in the Commons to discuss copyright term
"A meeting organised by the all important Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group and recording royalty body PPL next Monday will discuss all things copyright extension. The meeting will take place in the House Of Commons, though will centre more on the progress of legislation at a European level regarding increasing the European recordings copyright term from the current fifty years to something nearer the 95 year term enjoyed by record labels in the US." [CMUDaily]

More from the Tenenbaum Case - The last big P2P lawsuit squabble
"The Recording Industry Association Of America is appealing the judge's ruling regarding the webcasting of that previously reported P2P court case against Boston University student Joel Tenenbaum. As previously reported, the Havard law professor advising Tenenbaum, Charles Nesson, requested that the court case - what could be one of the last RIAA P2P lawsuits against an individual file sharer given the trade body's recent change of strategy - be webcast on the internet, arguing that the case was of great interest to the net community and it should be made public in a way they are comfortable with. Somewhat surprisingly, Judge Nancy Gertner agreed.

The RIAA don't want the case to be webcast to the world, possibly because, while US copyright law is generally on their side when it comes to illegal file sharing, all sorts of tricky and, for the record industry, tedious technicalities can come up when cases go to court. Such technicalities being aired over the web could look bad for the record industry." [CMUDaily]

Music News Bulletin - 23/01/09

2009-01-23T18:01:00.005+01:00

Sharkey talks though at MIDEM
"More MIDEM, and the boss of cross-industry trade body UK Music, Feargal Sharkey, often the consolatory voice in the room when the music industry feels it is being abused by government or the internet industry, delivered some fighting talk in his speech.

First the UK government. Despite Culture Secretary Andy Burnham putting pressure on the ISPs to take a more proactive role in combating online piracy, and more recently saying that the government were no longer completely against the idea of extending the sound recording copyright, Sharkey said British ministers should do more to help the music business.

Welcoming the French approach to online piracy (putting obligations on the ISPs to act - and to cut off file sharers - into law), and noting that the UK industry often relied on European legislation to protect label and artists' interests, he said: "Whether it's ensuring that a private copying exception is met with some sort of compensation mechanism, or term extension for sound recordings or simply protection of a creator's moral rights, why is it that UK creators are constantly having to seek support from Brussels and not on our own doorstep?." [CMUDaily]

Industry may start pushing for legislation on net-piracy policing as ISP negotiations falter
Whether it's led by UK Music or the BPI or another trade body, someone may need to step up their lobbying activity regarding making internet service providers take more responsibility for tackling online piracy.

As much previously reported, record label trade body the BPI and six ISPs last year signed a memorandum of understanding which saw the net firms commit send out warning letters to suspected file sharers as a way of preparing the ground for more detailed discussions on how the record companies and net firms could work together to combat piracy and collaborate on new digital music services that could be bundled into ISP's monthly subscriptions." [CMUDaily]

Illegal downloads don’t equate to lost sales, says U.S. judge
"A sort of interesting ruling in the US courts now which may have an impact on how content owners calculate their losses in online piracy cases.
The ruling comes from a criminal copyright action against Daniel Dove, who ran the Elite Torrents message board in 2004 and 2005, providing access to illegal sources of both music and movies. He's already been jailed for 18 months for his involvement in the infringing torrent group, and was ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.

However, two parties, the Recording Industry Association Of America and movie makers Lionsgate Entertainment, have also made claims for 'restitution'; basically they want to be compensated for the losses they claim they suffered as a result of Dove's torrent service (legally speaking, restitution is subtly different to compensation, but that's in essence what they want)." [CMUDaily]

Rough Trade distribution has MBO
"More indie distribution news for you, and Netherlands-based Rough Trade Distribution, linked back in the day to the London based record shop and label but long since a separate entity, has been bought out by its management." [CMUDaily]

Survey Finds ISPs Number One Choice Of Music Provider
"An international survey of more than 1300 music fans has found that the music industry is offering them the wrong kind of new music services. In the research conducted by The Leading Question and Music Ally in the UK, US and France, music fans overwhelmingly backed Internet Service Providers as their favoured music supplier when asked to choose amongst a variety of possible providers.

46% of the survey chose ISPs as their number one music service provider, compared to 10% preferring cable/satellite TV providers, 5% opting for mobile operators while a meagre 3% considered handset manufacturers best placed to deliver music to them. ISPs were also rated top choice provider for ‘unlimited’ music services, this despite mobile operators and handset manufacturers currently offering more of these services." [MusicAlly]

Music News Bulletin - 16/01/09

2009-01-17T00:02:00.002+01:00

Talent retains value in publishing: Companies look to grow alternative revenue streams as mechanical income falls
Financial worries may have continued to impact the music industry over the past 12 months but, while record labels have dealt with their diminishing returns through reduced A&R budgets, the big publishers have remained aggressive when it comes to securing new artists. The year’s most sought-after deals – names such as White Lies, Glasvegas and Iglu & Hartly - managed to enter the higher regions of the six-figure price tag, while some of the big songwriter deals eclipsed even this.

As revenue from mechanical royalties continues to fall, however, the publishing sector is beginning to evaluate the validity of those artists worth their signature in new ways. Areas that in the past may have merely supplemented income from record sales can today create key revenue streams for artists and publishers and an artist’s potential in this area can make or break a deal." [MusicWeek]

Sony could post losses of a billion
"I lost a ten pound note the other week and found the whole experience quite stressful, so imagine what it must feel like to lose $1.1 billion. Well, that's the losses Sony Corp might post for the current financial year, ending 31 Mar, according to sources cited by Billboard.

Although some analysts reckon the mainstream entertainment industry will probably be hit less than most by the recession (despite the current turmoil in music retail) as consumers turn to relatively cheap music, film, games and telly to cheer themselves up (instead of more expensive luxury goods or premium pursuits) the economic downturn is already having a big negative impact on those who make and sell consumer electronics, as consumers put off buying that new TV or camcorder amid fears of mounting job insecurity. For an entertainment conglom like Sony, whose electronics business is key, this is not good news." [CMUDaily]

Global digital music sales grow as music industry develops new business models
"The music industry has transformed its business models, offering consumers an increasing range of new services with leading technology partners. Yet generating value in an environment where 95 per cent of music downloads are illegal and unpaid for is still the biggest challenge for music companies and their commercial partners.

The digital music business internationally saw a sixth year of expansion in 2008, growing by an estimated 25 per cent to US$3.7 billion in trade value. Digital platforms now account for around 20 per cent of recorded music sales, up from 15 per cent in 2007. Recorded music is at the forefront of the online and mobile revolution, generating more revenue in percentage terms through digital platforms than the newspaper (4%), magazine (1%) and film industries (4%) combined." [RecordOfTheDay]

Music News Bulletin - 16/01/09

2009-01-16T23:47:00.008+01:00

Legal free music service We7 has signed a deal with leading independent music label group, Beggars.
"The deal will allow We7 users access to around 20,000 tracks from Beggars’ catalogue. The tracks will be available on demand, for free, ad-funded streaming and users will also be able to buy them from the We7 online store in high-quality MP3 format.

We7 has music from all four major labels as well as hundreds of independents through deals with distributors including PIAS, The Orchard, Finetunes, InGrooves, Iris and Believe, with individual labels and now Beggars Group.

"Discussions with Beggars, and Simon Wheeler in particular, on digital music in the early days of We7, were both illuminating and significant to the development of our business,” says We7 CEO Steve Purdham. “As such, it is a great honour, to be able to sign a deal with such an influential label group, and to be able to offer our users access to their incredible music catalogue."" [MusicWeek]

One Little Indian/FatCat sign deal with PIAS
"One Little Indian and FatCat records are pleased to announce finalising a new deal with PIAS, who will be taking on UK-wide distribution for all new releases and back catalogue.

Renowned indie institution One Little Indian is currently home to Icelandic leftfield superstar Björk, collaborative ‘The Fireman’ project from Beatles legend Paul McCartney and cult producer Youth. Also of note is acclaimed singer-songwriter Jesse Malin, who has recorded with QOTSA front man Josh Homme and Bruce Springsteen amongst others.-
Since its inception in 1985 One Little Indian has always prided itself on working with artists it feels deserve a wider audience; musicians who make music for the simple pleasure of doing so – passionate about their craft and refreshingly free of pretence." [RecordOfTheDay]

New State ties up distribution deal
"Label group New State Entertainment has become the latest former Pinnacle client to sign a new distribution deal, putting pen to paper with EMI. The deal will cover the company’s physical distribution in the UK. New State will continue to handle its own label digital distribution and New State Digital aggregation business. New State co-director Tim Binns explains, “When Pinnacle went into administration it was a real shock and we had to move fast to tie up a deal for our 2009 and beyond release schedule." [MusicWeek]

Stock crisis for indie labels in warehouse war: “Unlawful” legal threat by Pinnacle creditor denies labels half their stock
"Independent label bosses pulling their hair out in frustration at the slowness of repatriating their stock from Pinnacle have been hit with another shock, after a warehouse landlord threatened to withhold millions of pounds worth of product because he is a major creditor of Pinnacle.

The move is a terrible blow for some companies, who are reporting that as much as half their stock is still held in Pinnacle’s four warehouses, more than a month after the distributor collapsed. Just before Pinnacle went under it held around 8m units of stock, with the majority thought to be at its Teardrop Centre in Swanley, Kent. However, it is now understood the landlord of that complex is owed £50,000 by the distributor and has attempted to put a lien on the stock until payment is made." [MusicWeek]

Anger at more Pinnacle delays and landlord stock claims

"With numerous indie labels increasingly frustrated that they have CDs they could and should be selling locked in the warehouses of defunct distributor Pinnacle, there is anger at the news the landlords of one of those warehouses are trying to claim ownership of some of their stock in lieu of fifty grand of rent they are owed by the collapsed firm.

Many labels are still having to wait to get CDs back, even though they technically own the stock. There are both legal and logistical reasons for the delays - one big problem is that staff who knew their way around the warehouses are long gone so even when labels have permission to get their CDs it's hard for the skeleton staff who remain at Pinnacle bases to find them." [CMUDaily]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 16/01/09

2009-01-16T23:37:00.004+01:00

MA judge OKs streaming of music-swapping hearing
"A federal judge on Wednesday authorized the first online streaming of oral arguments in a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts in a copyright infringement lawsuit that pits a Boston University graduate student against the music recording industry.

U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner restricted the live streaming to a Jan. 22 hearing, saying she will decide later whether to make other proceedings in the case, set for March 30 trial, available online.
The lawsuit is one of a series filed by the Recording Industry Association of America since 2003 against about 35,000 people who allegedly swapped songs online. Most of those sued are college students, and many have defaulted or settled for amounts between $3,000 and $10,000, often without legal counsel." [Google]

DtecNet, the anti-piracy outfit replacing MediaSentry as the RIAA’s chief evidence collector, also operates in several other countries. The Danish company is working for the BPI in Britain in support of its drive to force a “3 strikes” regime, and helping in Australian investigations against alleged pirates. We take a closer look.
"Earlier this month it was confirmed that the RIAA was dumping its anti-piracy partner, MediaSentry. After five years of legal action and mass lawsuits it decided its relationship with the notorious tracking company should come to an end. Some commentators believed that this signaled the end of the RIAA’s legal action against file-sharers, but that is definitely not the case.

The RIAA will now be working with DtecNet, a Danish anti-piracy tracking company which employs largely the same techniques as MediaSentry, but the aims will be slightly different in the majority of cases. The new tactic for the IFPI-headed music industry is to target ISPs instead, lobbying governments to implement the dreaded “3 strikes” or “graduated response” scheme reported so often in recent months." [TorrentFreak]

Universal digital chief on iTunes, DRM, and Android
"Rio Caraeff didn't come up in the music business scouring nightclubs and honkey tonks for talented new acts. Caraeff, executive vice president of Universal Music Group's eLabs, has a background in mobile technology and software. Nonetheless, he just might be the prototype for the label exec of the future.

Unlike more traditional industry suits, Caraeff doesn't believe litigation is the answer to piracy. He doesn't believe in copy-protection software. He doesn't believe that the music industry needs to find a strong competitor to Apple to flourish. What he does believe in nurturing new revenue streams and pruning 10-click online music shopping to one. He believes in the power of mobile devices to sell music (he says Google's cell phone, Android, is proving to be a powerful music-buying tool)." [CNet]

Longer copyrights for songs would deal a blow to our cultural heritage
"If Charlie McCreevy, the European commissioner for the internal market, has his way, the copyright on music will be extended from 50 to 95 years, making the Beatles' ‘Yesterday' and their other early hits ‘free' not in around six years' time but 50 or more years from now.

McCreevy's proposed directive, on which the European Parliament's legal affairs committee will vote in February, pleases the recording industry, which has long lobbied for it, but it has provoked fierce criticism from economists and lawyers. Their criticism is not surprising, for the industry's arguments are flimsy. The Commission has nonetheless been persuaded, aided probably by the idea of a ‘musicians' fund', which would receive 20% of the revenue from selling old recordings.
But most economists argue that a ten-year term should be enough to ‘incentivise' the creative muse. And, for those interested in Europe's culture, the downside of long protection would be that a large part of our heritage would be consigned to a commercial vacuum, with numerous works orphaned because their authors cannot readily be located.

The European Commission acknowledges the problem in the directive's ‘use it or lose it' clause. But this is so poorly drafted it would have little practical effect." [EuropeanVoice]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 16/01/09

2009-01-16T23:31:00.005+01:00

Christine Albanel se rend à Cannes pour inaugurer le 43e Marché international de la Musique et de l’Edition Musicale (MIDEM)
"...qui se tient du 17 au 21 janvier. Elle y prononcera un discours, suivi d'une conférence de presse. Elle rencontrera aussi des parlementaires et des professionnels du secteur musical à propos du projet de loi « Création et Internet ».

Le plus grand marché musical au monde. Chaque année, depuis 1967, le MIDEM réunit à Cannes les professionnels du monde entier, qui travaillent dans tous les secteurs de la filière musicale – disque, édition, spectacle vivant, vidéo clip, internet, téléphonie mobile...

Pour son édition 2008, le MIDEM a rassemblé 9 093 participants représentant 4 545 entreprises provenant de 88 pays. Ils ont été 2 233 à tenir un stand. La surface d’exposition était de plus de 9 000 m2.. 482 journalistes appartenant à 398 médias étaient présents pour couvrir l'évènement. L'Origine des participants en 2008: Europe: 67%. Amérique: 22%. Asie: 6%. Océanie: 2%. Moyen-Orient: 2%. Afrique: 1%.
Le 43e Marché international de la Musique et de l’Edition Musicale (MIDEM), qui se tient du 17 au 21 janvier à Cannes. Il est inauguré par Christine Albanel." [Culture]

La coalition d'Angela Merkel s'accorde sur un plan de relance historique
"Les partis de la coalition gouvernementale allemande, CDU et SPD, ont officiellement adopté, lundi soir 12 janvier, un plan de relance historique de 50 milliards d'euros sur deux ans, prévoyant notamment des baisses d'impôts. Il vise à donner un coup de fouet à l'économie de la première puissance exportatrice mondiale menacée d'une grave récession, alors que se profilent les élections législatives du 27 septembre.

Ce plan de relance économique, le plus important dans l'histoire de l'Allemagne d'après-guerre, comprendra des baisses d'impôt d'un montant de quelque 18 milliards d'euros pour les particuliers et pour les entreprises, ont indiqué Peter Struck, chef du groupe parlementaire SPD et Volker Kauder, chef du groupe CDU, à l'issue d'une réunion commune à la chancellerie. Ce plan prévoit également "un grand pacte pour l'investissement" de 17 à 18 milliards d'euros dans lequel seront impliqués l'Etat fédéral, les Etats régionaux et les communes, a souligné M. Struck à l'issue de la réunion de près de six heures dirigée par la chancelière Angela Merkel." [LeMonde]

Sarkozy annonce la gratuité des musées pour les moins de 25 ans
"Lors de ses voeux devant les responsables du monde de la culture, le Président a aussi promis 100 millions d’euros pour la rénovation du patrimoine. Le président Nicolas Sarkozy a annoncé aujourd’hui un accès gratuit aux musées et aux monuments de l’Etat pour les moins de 25 ans ainsi que les professeurs. Cette mesure entrera en vigueur le 4 avril, a précisé le chef de l’Etat, lors de ses voeux devant les responsables du monde de la culture.

Cette mesure de gratuité «ne tue pas les musées, au contraire, car les jeunes qui ont l’habitude d’aller au musée» iront également quand ils seront adultes, a jugé Sarkozy. Le ministère de la Culture avait mené au premier semestre 2008 une expérimentation de gratuité totale (pour les collections permanentes) dans quatorze établissements nationaux, musées ou monuments, avec pour objectif d’élargir leur fréquentation à de nouveaux publics." [Liberation]

EU Council Monitor - 16/01/09

2009-01-16T23:22:00.003+01:00

Wednesday's session: Czech Presidency
"The economy and energy security are two priorities of the incoming Czech Presidency of the Union according to Czech PM Mirek Topolánek who addressed the House Wednesday. Later MEPs debated the crisis in Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine gas stand-off.

Czech PM outlines 6-month programme
Mirek Topolánek began his six-month term of office by thanking the former French Presidency for its work: "it is not easy to take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU after France. I see only one way to rise to the occasion, with honour."" [Europa]

Ministers of Finance to Hold the First Meeting of the Ecofin Council in 2009
"On 20 January 2009 Brussels will hold its first meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) under the auspices of the Czech Presidency.

On the eve of the meeting a regular gathering of ministers of the Eurogroup will take place. Czech Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek will open the meeting and present the Ecofin Council programme during the Czech Presidency. This part of the meeting is open to the public and a recording (and live broadcast) will be available at the Council website." [EU2009]

Czechs want VAT compromise by March
"EU finance ministers will on Tuesday (20 January) discuss how a compromise could be achieved by March on a proposal to reduce value-added tax (VAT) rates on labour intensive services. The Czech presidency of the EU will present a timeline to ministers for discussion following an agreement by EU leaders in December that they should “settle this issue by March 2009”.

Miroslav Kalousek, the Czech finance minister, said that an agreement could be reached on the issue, which has been discussed by member states for three years. “I believe we will be able to reach a compromise. I imagine it will be applied to a narrow range of goods and services,” Kalousek said in Prague on Thursday (8 January).
“We will try and put forward a compromise and not undermine each other with unfair competition.”" [EuropeanVoice]

Czechs seek agreement on alternative institutional plans
"The Czech presidency of the EU wants member states to reach agreement by the end of June on alternative plans for institutions, including the European Commission, that would be affected by the adoption or rejection of the Lisbon treaty by the Irish people.

Alexandr Vondra, the Czech deputy prime minister, told journalists in Prague last week that the Czech presidency would try to finalise alternative plans. “We have to be ready for both scenarios, that the Lisbon treaty is in force by the end of the year, or we have to act and co-operate in the EU under the Nice treaty,” he said. Vondra said that a special meeting of ministers responsible for EU affairs held in Prague on 8 January had discussed the future size of the Commission and the arrangements for nominating the next president of the Commission, both issues affected by the fate of the Lisbon treaty." [EuropeanVoice]

EU Council Monitor - 16/01/09

2009-01-16T23:17:00.002+01:00

European Year of Creativity and Innovation launched
"As the economic crisis continues to get worse, creativity and innovation are key to strengthening Europe's competitiveness and must remain on the EU agenda beyond the current European Year, leading EU politicians stressed at the its launch event in Prague this week.

Investing in the future
Special ambassadors to the European Year, who attended the launch, welcomed the commissioner's call to make additional funding available to improve the bloc's competitiveness, suggesting that it should be spent on issues such as human capital creation, productivity growth and environmental protection." [Europa]

Artistic launch of the European Year 2009 in Brussels by AEC and ELIA
"The European Association of Conservatoires (AEC) and European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA) organise their artistic launch of the European Year for Creativity & Innovation 2009 on Tuesday 20 January in Brussels. ELIA and AEC are the largest representative European organisations for higher arts education." [Europa]

EU Commission - Education Training Culture and Youth: 16/01/09

2009-01-16T22:50:00.002+01:00

European Border Breaker Awards honour European debut artists in TV-show at EuroSonic NoorderslagFestival, Groningen (NL)
"The 2009 European Border Breaker Awards (EBBA's) were presented in a spectacular TV-show on the opening night of the EuroSonic Noorderslag Festival in Groningen (the Netherlands), in the presence of European Commissioner Ján Figel', numerous VIP’s and 1200 visitors. The awards show, which featured live performances by five of the ten award winning acts and by special guests Gabriel Rios and the Jools Holland Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, will be broadcast throughout Europe.

In making these awards, the European Commission, in cooperation with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), rewards debut artists' and groups' who have successfully crossed national borders. At the same time the prizes highlight and promote the richness and diversity of European music, its creativity and its contribution to innovation." [Europa]

US Public Affairs - 16/01/09

2009-01-16T22:03:00.001+01:00

10myths

"These writings originally appeared in a five-part series on the Copyright Alliance blog, blog.copyrightalliance.org, and cover topics ranging from the impact of copyright on innovation to whether content companies are embracing new business models. Proponents of these arguments will naturally find fault with my criticisms. Some will ignore my evidence that appear indisputable and instead seize on a phrase I may not have clearly articulated and present a counter-argument based on that misinterpretation. But some will make counter-arguments that are well-thought out and may be in some cases hard to rebut. I believe firmly that on the whole my themes here are sound but there could always be examples that I would have to consider at minimum exceptions to my theses. I don’t pretend to have all the answers.” [CopyrightAlliance]

The RIAA Ends Music Download War

"Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) fired MediaSentry, the Recording company it used to help it gather evidence for mass lawsuits it filed against people it claimed were illegally uploading copyrighted music. It would seem that the RIAA is finally coming to its senses and realizing that the way forward is not to use scare tactics or sue, but perhaps to accept the new technologies and maybe even embrace them." [IPWatchdog]

In The Loop: 14/01/09

2009-01-15T00:34:00.005+01:00

Blue sky thinking to revitalise affordable homes market
"Ministers are looking at detailed plans for a multibillion-pound infrastructure fund to kickstart the stricken housing market. Against the worst conditions for housebuilding for more than 30 years, senior Whitehall officials are drawing up a groundbreaking scheme that would see the public sector inject equity into social housing developments in an attempt to "lever in" insurance and pension funds investment.

The idea is to create a huge cash pool that would see up to £6 of private capital invested by institutions for every pound of government money to dramatically increase the number of affordable homes built in Britain." [Guardian]

Mandelson unveils £20bn plan to free up credit for businesses
"The business secretary, Lord Mandelson, today unveiled a £20bn package of measures to support British businesses as the recession gathers pace, by bolstering the availability of credit from the banking sector.

The government is also bringing in Mervyn Davies, one of Britain's leading bankers, to replace Digby Jones as trade minister. Lord Jones left the government in the last reshuffle." [Guardian]

Quarter of local authorities freeze recruitment due to credit crunch
"Nearly a quarter of local authorities in England have frozen recruitment and more than one in eight have axed jobs in response to a decline in income caused by the credit crunch, the Local Government Association (LGA) said today.

A survey of 154 council chief executives found that 34 have already frozen recruitment as a result of the economic slowdown (22%) and 20 have shed jobs (13%.)" [Guardian]

Thames estuary airport would have 'disastrous' environmental impact, London mayor Boris Johnson told
"Boris Johnson was today warned of "disastrous" environmental consequences if his plans for a new airport on the Thames estuary went ahead.

The Conservative London mayor, who is opposed to a proposed third runway at Heathrow, is pushing the case for a third London airport on the Thames estuary." [Guardian]

Click here to read more information on Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

Heron's Eye: 14/01/09

2009-01-15T00:28:00.004+01:00

Minister criticised for 'green shoots'
"A government minister was attacked by opposition party members today after she said she could see the "green shoots" of an economic recovery.

The comments by business minister Shriti Vadera come as news that nearly 14,000 jobs have been cut or put at risk this week. Barclays, Jaguar Land Rover and Pfizer are the latest companies to announce hundreds of job losses." [Guardian]

Northern Rock investors tell court they were cheated
"Former shareholders in Northern Rock yesterday accused the government of cheating them of compensation when the bank was nationalised last year.

In the high court, lawyers representing the two largest shareholders argued that the government had unfairly rigged an independent valuation of the bank to ensure investors would end up with next to nothing." [Guardian]

Simon Hoggart's Sketch: Short-selling sermons as God takes on Mammon
"In the House of Lords it isn't always Labour against Tory. Yesterday it was God v Mammon. There was no vote, but I'd say that the mood of the house was largely with God. The archbishop of York, John Sentamu, had asked a question about the short-selling of shares. He has form. In a speech last autumn he described the people who had been short-selling against HBOS, and nearly ruined it, as "bank robbers".

Up against him, representing Mammon, was the new Treasury minister Lord Myners. It was a tough gig. The gap-toothed 59-year-old archbishop has become something of a national treasure, chopping up his dog collar on TV and wearing brilliantly coloured vestments while playing exotic musical instruments. Being rude to him would be like hitting Alan Bennett or calling Joanna Lumley a stupid old bag. It would not make you friends." [Guardian]

Simon Jenkins: A runway for jobs? It's time aviation's bluff was called
"The boss of BAA, Colin Matthews, said this week that a third runway at Heathrow would "only go ahead if strict environmental limits are met". What does he mean, if? They are not met and he knows it. Nothing on earth is going to stop him wanting his runway.

Meanwhile Whitehall is witnessing a truly bone-crunching fight between the immovable object of public interest and the irresistible force of Big Carbon. I am sceptical of most policies put forward in the cause of global warming but for aviation to plead its green credentials is like big tobacco claiming that smoking is good for your health." [Guardian]

Click here to read more information on Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

Heron's Eye: 14/01/09

2009-01-15T00:17:00.004+01:00

Danny Morrison on how the intelligence services fought a dirty war against the IRA
"It was a bitterly cold January night in 1990 in Belfast and I was on my way to meet a man who had just confessed to being a police informer. Things were relatively quiet. There had been some raiding in the north of the city but there were no army surveillance helicopters in the air and I had encountered no checkpoints on the way to the rendezvous.

At the time, I had a high profile as national director of publicity for Sinn Fein, as the former editor of the party's weekly newspaper, a spokesperson for Bobby Sands during the hunger strike, and a former member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. In 1981, I had made the so-called "Armalite and ballot box" speech, which summed up what subsequently came to be the dual strategy of the republican movement and Sinn Fein's involvement in electoral politics. I was a familiar figure to most British journalists." [Guardian]

Jack Straw plan for private inquests back on agenda
"Jack Straw, the justice secretary, will today revive his plan to hold inquests that involve aspects of national security in private without a jury when the coroners and justice bill is published.

The controversial measure, which could be invoked in cases like those of British servicemen killed by American forces in Iraq and the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes on the London tube, was shelved last month when it faced severe criticism during the passage of the Counter-Terrorism Act." [Guardian]

Helen Bamber: From Belsen to Zimbabwe
"I have worked in human rights for 60 years. I was a member of one of the first rehabilitation teams to enter the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945 and have since continued to help survivors of extreme brutality and human rights violations. At the Helen Bamber Foundation I see on a daily basis victims of torture, human trafficking for sexual exploitation, genocide and ethnic cleansing.

I find myself compelled to speak out publicly in response to comments by the immigration minister, Phil Woolas. Calling for a review of the Geneva conventions - which he described as outdated - Woolas argued that "a significant number of people who claim asylum are doing so for broadly economic reasons". " [Guardian]

Why the EU artwork is not what it seems
"As hoaxes go, this one is bound to be memorable. David Cerny, a Czech artist, admitted today that he managed to hoodwink the great and good of Brussels, and his own government, with a major artwork to mark the Czech Republic's six-month presidency of the EU.

When the giant eight tonne mosaic – supposedly the work of 27 artists from each of the EU member states – was unveiled at the headquarters of the Council of Ministers this week there was laughter as Slovenia was associated with masturbation and five Lithuanian soldiers were depicted urinating on Russia." [Guardian]

Click here to read more information on Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

Grimsdale's Ire: 14/01/09

2009-01-14T23:41:00.003+01:00

MSPs give initial backing to SNP budget plans
"The Scottish National party's latest budget plans today cleared their first hurdle at Holyrood with minimal resistance after Labour MSPs unexpectedly supported the outline bill.

The Liberal Democrats were the only party to oppose the Scottish government's £33bn spending plans when MSPs voted on stage one of the three-step budget process, which accepts the principle of the budget." [Guardian]

Social mobility drive focuses on schools
"Nearly 175,000 bright children on free school meals will be given a chance at the age of 11 to visit a university as part of a drive to lift the aspirations of working-class people and increase stalled social mobility in Britain.

Young people in the top 20% of ability based on test results, and who are eligible for free school meals, are about half as likely to go to university as those who are not eligible for free meals. They will now be offered two chances to visit universities." [Guardian]

Third runway rebels hear from the Labour whips
"Government whips have embarked on a "ring round" to put pressure on rebel Labour MPs not to join forces with the Tories in a Commons vote opposing a third runway at Heathrow airport. As the cabinet discussed the expansion of Heathrow at its weekly meeting yesterday, the rebel MPs said they were prepared to ignore a government three-line whip and vote with the Conservatives.

David Cameron is expected to devote one of the Tories' opposition day debates in the Commons to government plans to allow a third runway to be built at the west London airport. Votes are held after such debates, giving the Tories a chance to embarrass the government by enticing Labour rebels to their side. The vote would have no force in law." [Guardian]

Click here to read more information on Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

In The Loop: 12/01/09

2009-01-13T00:05:00.003+01:00

Companies to get £2,500 for each long-term jobless recruit
"The government is to give firms that recruit people unemployed for more than six months "golden hellos" of up to £2,500, in a move that provides £500m to keep employers hiring.

The unexpected initiative, which will be announced at the government's jobs summit this morning, is the latest effort to tackle rising unemployment, which is predicted to hit 3 million by the end of the year. Last week, the skills secretary, John Denham, announced measures to increase apprenticeships by 35,000 and a system of internships to ensure students unable to find employment still find training." [Guardian]

Plans to increase Britain's gas storage capacity left in tatters by credit crunch
"Plans to build vital facilities to help Britain secure its energy supplies at a time of increasing fears about reliance on Russian gas are in doubt as a result of the credit crunch, energy groups warn.

Stag Energy says the credit crunch is making it harder to raise the £600m for the Gateway project to build a storage facility beneath the Irish Sea. It received planning permission for the project in November." [Guardian]

Click here to read more information on Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

Heron's Eye: 12/01/08

2009-01-12T23:35:00.005+01:00

Ex-minister joins private equity firm that received £15m from Whitehall agency
"Lady Amos, who was international development secretary and leader of the Lords in Tony Blair's government, has taken up a directorship with an African private equity firm, three months after it received over £15m from a Whitehall agency wholly owned by her former department.

The timing of Amos's appointment was described as "a coincidence" by the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), which approved the cash – amounting to nearly 30% of the funds raised by Travant Capital Partners, based in Nigeria." [Guardian]

Labour's new blog courts best leftwing thinkers on the web
"LabourList.org was controversial even before it was born, with established Labour bloggers complaining at being left out, and Tory bloggers warning that it would be so heavily censored as to be little more than party propoganda." [Guardian]

Peter Mandelson ushers in a virtual New Labour revolution
"The unveiling of Peter Mandelson's avatar in Second Life is part of Labour's push to beat the Conservatives in the political use of new technology, but it also has a symbolic significance. Unlike the rest of Second Life, where people drop a decade or two from their looks or masquerade as animals, Peter Mandelson will actually look like Peter Mandelson. What you see is what you get....

"How independent the blog will be remains to be seen – it has already recruited Brown's former spinster Charlie Whelan – but there is no doubt that there is a gap to be filled in generating unconventional ideas for Labour at a time when almost every policy area is in a state of flux – particularly what on earth can be done to stop the economy from imploding." [Guardian]

Gordon Brown hits back at Tory debt accusations
"Gordon Brown today accused the Conservatives of neglecting the interests of children as he and David Cameron clashed over which party has the best economic policies for Britain.

The Tory leader unveiled a new poster campaign accusing Brown of saddling every new-born baby with a debt of £17,000 because of the mounting level of public sector borrowing." [Guardian]

New babies born with £17,000 debt, claims David Cameron
"Rapidly rising government debt means every baby born in Britain starts life owing £17,000, David Cameron claimed as he launched a new publicity campaign today.

The Tory leader made the claim as his party unveiled a new poster designed to highlight what it calls Labour's "debt crisis".

The poster, which will be displayed at 260 billboard sites across the country, features a photograph of a baby and the slogan: "Dad's nose, mum's eyes, Gordon Brown's debt – Labour debt crisis: every child in Britain is born owing £17,000. They deserve better." [Guardian]

Letter: Filleted statistics
Your leader (8 January) and Marcel Berlins's plea to politicians (Let's stop fighting over the figures in 2009, 5 January) highlight the extent to which criminal justice has become a party political football. In such a fevered climate it can often seem as though statistics have been filleted to expose evidence that a political opponent has gone "soft on crime" rather than to understand what might be effective and in what circumstances. Sadly, the end product of much good work by researchers is to feed the fear of crime and pleas for ever tougher punishments. How else can we explain the lack of attention given to the excellent research into restorative justice, which shows that victims of crime who have such meetings with offenders are far more likely to be satisfied with the process than those who experience the traditional court process? Less than 1% of victims of adult offenders have access to restorative justice." [Guardian]

Gaza crisis is having 'profoundly unhealthy' effect on UK Muslims, minister warns
"The Israeli onslaught in Gaza is having a "profoundly acute and unhealthy" effect on British Muslim communities and "patience is running out", a government minister has said.

The justice minister, Shahid Malik, told the Guardian there was "immense anger" in British Muslim communities over developments in the Middle East. He said: "There is a real feeling of helplessness, hopelessness and powerlessness among Britain's Muslims in the context of Gaza and the sense of grievance and injustice is both profoundly acute and obviously profoundly unhealthy."" [Guardian]

Click here to read more information on Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

Grimsdale's Ire: 12/01/09

2009-01-12T22:16:00.004+01:00

Boris Johnson to challenge government in court if it backs Heathrow third runway
"Boris Johnson confirmed today that he is preparing to challenge the government in court if it "fails to see sense" and gives BAA the green light to apply for a third runway at Heathrow.

The mayor of London urged the government to reject the plans, as both sides ramped up pressure ahead of the government decision, which is expected soon." [Guardian]

Cameron refuses to rule out Clarke return to shadow cabinet despite noises off from eurosceptic right
"David Cameron has received a stark warning from the Conservative right against bringing the ex-chancellor Ken Clarke back to the frontbenches, with a former minister saying the return of the outspoken Europhile in a year of European elections would "split the party".

The Tory leader is tipped to reorder his frontbench team in the next few days, but over the weekend the former Tory chairman Norman Tebbit said his one-time colleague was too "lazy" for frontbench life, while Stuart Wheeler, the party's biggest donor and a staunch eurosceptic, said he would consider withdrawing funding if Clarke was given a job." [Guardian]

Government 'repeating mistakes' by fighting miners in court
"The government is spending millions of pounds in legal fees fighting the claims of sick miners in a move that lawyers say will recreate the mistakes of the past.

Miners suffering from knee problems and chronic lung disease from inhaling dust on the surface of pits were not included in a previous compensation scheme and are being forced to fight for compensation in the courts." [Guardian]

Haroon Siddique: Prince Harry's racist comments still have the power to divide
"Despite Prince Harry's past misdemeanours and the undistinguished record of his grandfather when it comes to race relations, I was still shocked when I heard that he had used the word "Paki". But what surprised me even more were the attempts to play down the nastiness of the term or to pass it off as a term of endearment.

Listening to a Five Live radio phone-in this morning there were a number of people calling in who suggested that it was a mere abbreviation, of the same ilk as "Brit" or "Aussie" and therefore equally inoffensive. But to make such an argument is to ignore the history of use of the word "Paki" in this country. Growing up in west London in the 1980s it was difficult to escape the insult. I was called a Paki numerous times throughout primary and secondary school, as were Asian classmates – regardless of whether they were actually of Pakistani heritage. Sometimes it was spat out by strangers on the street; at other times it was used by supposed friends registering their anger because I had, for instance, misplaced a pass playing football. Often I would respond with my fists, so hurt and impotent did I feel at the time." [Guardian]

Police squads 'deter ethnic minorities'
"Black and Asian police officers still believe specialist squads are "closed shops", dominated by white middle-aged men and a "canteen culture" of working hard, playing hard and drinking hard, according to a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, 10 years on from the Macpherson inquiry.

In a major review of the attitudes of police in England and Wales towards race since the Stephen Lawrence case, the commission reports that ethnic minority officers were put off by perceived "old-fashioned working practices" and felt that robbery, anti-terrorist and firearms units were open only to recruits whose "face fits"." [Guardian]

Redundancy: Don't suffer in silence, says Jon Robins
"It is reckoned that every day this year as many as 1,600 people could lose their jobs. That's 600,000 jobs gone in the next 12 months, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Despite the numbers it is almost impossible not to take redundancy personally. It strikes at our core.

As a society we are increasingly - and some would say unhealthily - work-obsessed. Many of us define ourselves through what we do for a living, so job loss attacks our self image, as well as undermining our personal security and ability to provide for loved ones. Don't underestimate the emotional impact of redundancy; those on the receiving end need to rely on their partners, family and friends for support. Loved ones, in turn, need to be there to provide that support." [Guardian]

Click here to read more information on Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

Music News Bulletin - 09/01/09

2009-01-10T00:57:00.002+01:00

Bill Nguyen on digital music January 7th, 2009
"If you can get your hand on the latest copy of Billboard (10th January it says on the cover) make sure you read the Opinion piece on page 4. In addition to giving a good pitch, Lala.com’s Bill Nguyen wrote a short and well formulated article on listening to music online and business behind it. My favourite quote:

“The web is home to more new music each year than was released in many previous decades. Critics say the music is mostly junk - but the same could have been said for the Web before Google made the knowledge there accessible.”

I couldn’t agree more." [HeutePopMorgen]

Could this be the future of online collaboration? Tuesday January 06
"Minimum Noise is a new site offering users the opportunity to make money by contributing parts to other musicians' work, or pay to have others supply the missing parts to their unfinished projects. It's an intriguing idea, and the lure of cold hard cash is always a tempting one. So is this the way we'll make music together in the future, or a creative dead end?" [ComputerMusic]

Music News Bulletin - 09/01/09

2009-01-10T00:50:00.004+01:00

Apple Changes Tune on Music Pricing
"Apple Inc. unveiled significant pricing and copyright changes to its iTunes Store, moves by the dominant online music seller that could spur similar action across the industry.The changes, announced at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco Tuesday, include a new three-tiered pricing plan for songs, instead of the 99-cents fixed price Apple has used almost exclusively. Apple also said it will drop copy protection from all of the songs in its digital store." [WSI]

Apple to end music restrictions
"Apple Inc has agreed to start selling digital songs from its iTunes store without copy protection software. At present, most music downloaded from Apple's iTunes store can only be played through an iTunes interface or iPod. The agreement with Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner Music will end digital rights management (DRM) software currently attached to iTunes music." [BBC]

iTunes Price Cut: Apple Announces Tiered System, DRM-Free Tunes January 6, 2009
"Apple Inc. is cutting the price of some songs in its market-leading iTunes online store to as little as 69 cents and plans to make every track available without copy protection.

In Apple's final appearance at the Macworld trade show, Apple's top marketing executive, Philip Schiller, said Tuesday that iTunes song prices will come in three tiers: 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29. Record companies will choose the prices, which marks a significant change, since Apple previously made all songs sell for 99 cents." [CBS]

iTunes Price Cut: Apple Announces Tiered System, DRM-Free Tunes January 6, 2009
"Apple Inc. is cutting the price of some songs in its market-leading iTunes online store to as little as 69 cents and plans to make every track available without copy protection.

In Apple's final appearance at the Macworld trade show, Apple's top marketing executive, Philip Schiller, said Tuesday that iTunes song prices will come in three tiers: 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29. Record companies will choose the prices, which marks a significant change, since Apple previously made all songs sell for 99 cents." [HuffingtonPost]

Apple iTunes goes all DRM free, with three price tiers
"Apple announced today that effective immediately 8 million songs on iTunes would be DRM free, and that by the end of the quarter all 10 million songs on the popular music site would be DRM free. DRM stands for Digital Rights Management, otherwise known as copy protection. DRM-free music can be shared between all your devices without complicated registration and proprietary software.

In addition, iTunes songs will no longer cost a flat $0.99. There will be three tiers: $0.69, $0.99, and $1.29 starting on April 1st. You can expect to see older releases at the lower price point, and newer releases at the higher one. The removal of DRM and the flexibility on prices is a compromise worked out between Apple and the music industry." [ZDNet]

Apple cuts copy protection and prices on iTunes
"Apple Inc. is cutting the price of some songs in its market-leading iTunes online store to as little as 69 cents and plans to make every track available without copy protection.

In Apple's final appearance at the Macworld trade show, Apple's top marketing executive, Philip Schiller, said Tuesday that iTunes song prices will come in three tiers: 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29. Record companies will choose the prices, which marks a significant change, since Apple previously made all songs sell for 99 cents.

Apple gave the record labels that flexibility on pricing as it got them to agree to sell all songs free of "digital rights management," or DRM, technology that limits people's ability to copy songs or move them to multiple computers. Apple had been offering a limited selection of songs without DRM, but by the end of this quarter, the company said, all 10 million songs in its library will be available that way." [AOL]

ITunes Price Change Leads Apple's Moves At Its Last Macworld; No Cameo From Steve Jobs; CEO's absence weighs on show; analysts rate slew of announcements as ho-hum
“In the two-and-a-half-year standoff between Apple and music publishers over song prices on iTunes, it appears that both sides blinked. In a major concession to the big recording labels, the iPod maker will sell song downloads for 69 cents and $1.29, in addition to the 99-cent price Apple had maintained since starting the iTunes service in 2003. Apple had come under mounting pressure from record companies for tiered pricing.” [ContentAgenda]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 09/01/09

2009-01-10T00:46:00.003+01:00

Keeping the coins in a jar by the door; Musicians, including a player on 'Eleanor Rigby,' are trying to extend European royalty payments. January 5, 2009
“Patrick Halling is fighting to keep the few cents he earns every time the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" airs on the radio.

The Beatles song was released in 1966 and under European Union law will enter the public domain in 2016, meaning Halling's violin-led string background on the song will lose its copyright protection and the royalties will end.” [ContentAgenda]

Change? Obama Brings RIAA Attorney Into Administration
“Barack Obama is furiously assembling his administration, part of an urgent, pre-inaugural preparation. Obama has been praised for quick team-building, though critics have accused the change-candidate of drawing heavily from former Clinton staffers. That includes the most recent group of Justice Department picks, a group that includes former RIAA counsel Tom Perrelli.

Perrelli, co-chair of the entertainment and new media division at Jenner & Block, is being named to an associate attorney general post at Justice. The Perrelli background was highlighted Wednesday by Declan McCullagh of C|Net, who contrasted the Perrelli pick to the ideologies of Obama supporters like Lawrence Lessig and Google chief executive Eric Schmidt. Perrelli was involved in a range of RIAA suits, including those aimed at prying subscriber information from ISPs like Verizon and Charter Communications.” [DigitalMusicNews]

Music News Bulletin - 09/01/09

2009-01-09T18:37:00.002+01:00

Remaining Three Majors Drop DRM at iTunes, and Why It Matters
"Apple has come to an agreement with Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music that will give iTunes their songs in MP3 format. The majors get a three-tiered pricing structure (not dynamic pricing, and only slightly variable pricing) that finally gives them the ability to price according to demand. There is also word that iPhone users will be able to download from iTunes through their cellular carrier.

The news has been covered widely, and there has been some interesting opinion out there. One blogger thinks there is no reason to ever shop at anywhere but iTunes (I wholeheartedly disagree, compatibility with the iPod is only one reason to shop there). Another believes allowing iPhone users to download via cellular carriers could lead to explosive mobile music sales (if that happens they will probably just replace normal downloads and result in a wash). No, the important effects of this news are further under the surface." [Coolfer]

Changes Coming to the iTunes Store
"Apple today announced several changes to the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com/uk). Beginning today, all four major music labels — Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI, along with thousands of independent labels, are now offering their music in iTunes Plus, Apple’s DRM-free format with higher-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings. iTunes customers can also choose to download their favourite songs from the world’s largest music catalogue directly onto their iPhone™ 3G over their 3G network just as they do with Wi-Fi today, for the same price as downloading to their computer. And beginning in April, based on what the music labels charge Apple, songs on iTunes will be available at one of three price points: 59 pence, 79 pence and 99 pence, with most albums still priced at £7.99." [RecordOfTheDay]

Apple vendra sur iTunes sans dispositif anticopie
"Le groupe informatique a annoncé qu’il allait supprimer d’ici à la fin mars les dispositifs anticopie de la musique qu’il vend sur sa plateforme. Les maisons de disque ont longuement milité pour que les internautes ne puissent pas acheter de chansons ou d’albums sans ces dispositifs qui lient le fichier à un seul utilisateur.

Apple vendra sur iTunes sans dispositif anticopie
L’annonce a été faite lors du salon Macworld Expo à San Francisco (Californie, ouest des Etats-Unis) à l’occasion de la présentation par le vice-président du marketing d’Apple, Phil Schiller, du nouveau modèle de l’ordinateur MacBook Pro et d’améliorations aux logiciels qui équipent la gamme Macintosh." [LeSoir]

Music News Bulletin - 09/01/09

2009-01-09T18:29:00.003+01:00

Consolidated launch independent digital storage device
"Digital services company Consolidated Independent has announced a new service designed to streamline the workload for independent record companies who distribute their digital catalogue around the world through various partnerships with different distributors, aggregators and download stores. It would also mean that if one of those distributors went under - as distributors have a habit of doing these days - a label could immediately channel their digital content through an alternative distributor." [CMUDaily]

Consolidated Independent launches new digital service to help future-proof the independent music sector
"Consolidated Independent (CI), the leading independent provider of digital supply chain services for music companies, today announces details of a new service aimed at the independent music sector worldwide in response to turbulence in the physical music market, and the growing importance of maintaining a master digital archive.

CI’s Digital Archive Service offers labels and distributors a way to store their digital assets and metadata so that it always remains under their independent control and ownership, whilst at the same time enabling them to work with multiple digital partners worldwide. Once a client has provided its catalogue and data to CI, it is stored on their behalf and can be delivered on to any third party or back to the client at any time. Hence, for example, if a label needs to switch quickly from one distributor to another, this can be managed quickly, efficiently and seamlessly." [RecordOfTheDay]

Finally, Here Comes Bulk Music
"With the news of SanDisk's slotRadio, an extension of the slotMusic memory card and player, comes a new way of selling music: in bulk. SanDisk has teamed up with Billboard to release 1,000-song memory cards that will carry a $39.99 sticker price. Even the slotRadio player, a small music player with a FM tuner, comes pre-loaded with 1,000 songs (and has a $99.99). Tracks will come from Billboard's charts and will be of a variety of genres.

Even though $39.99 is a tall price, it offers a great bargain on a per-track basis. Each song costs only four cents. The involvement of Billboard gives the consumer an identifiable brand name and, one would assume, a well curated selection of popular songs." [Coolfer]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 09/01/09

2009-01-09T18:21:00.003+01:00

Debates on creativity
"Throughout EYIC2009 six debates on key topics around Creativity and Innovation will be held in cooperation with the European Policy Centre (EPC), special partner of the Year. The debates are designed to provide a platform for reflection and exchange of ideas which can contribute to policy discussion on Creativity and Innovation.

In each debate, high level speakers will introduce their views and experience in Creativity and Innovation. The debates will take place in Brussels and will cover the following issues:
* Cultural diversity as basis for Creativity and Innovation
Debate organised to explore Europe’s potential for C&I through multiculturalism.
* Creativity and Innovation in the public sector
Debate focused on innovation in the public sector through integration of technologies and innovation of processes, in particular in the fields of health, education and social services.
* Education for creativity and innovation
Debate on the importance of education for developing creative, innovative and entrepreneurial societies.
* Creativity and Innovation and the knowledge society
Debate on how the free movement of knowledge can both inspire creativity and innovation in Europe and contribute to an important modernisation of Europe in light of economic and social challenges.
* Creativity and Innovation and sustainable development
Debate on eco-innovation with particular attention to climate change, security of energy supply and the issue of innovation and job-creation.
* Creative arts and Industries
Debate about the role of creative arts in industrial design and development." [Create]

Creativity versus crisis: European Year of Creativity and Innovation
"Encouraging people to be as creative and innovative as possible in education, employment and cultural activities are three main aims of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation launched Wednesday. The aim is to innovate in areas such as the economy but also social and individual well-being.

Other objectives for this year include creativity and innovation in transport policy, the environment, research and the information society. There will be promotion campaigns, events and initiatives at European, national, regional and local levels. Supporters are hoping it will help the so called "Lisbon Agenda" launched in 2001 which aims to make the EU "the most competitive knowledge-based economy" in the world by 2010." [Europa]

HARDtalk interview broadcast
Stephen Sackur speaks to the CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, John Kennedy. These are tough times for the traditional record companies.
Sales of CDs are falling, the battle against online piracy shows no signs of abating and established artists are working more independently.

John Kennedy is the CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
Is the new digital era good for artists, fans and the music industry, or is it a disaster in the making? He represents the international recording industry worldwide and is fighting for its survival. [BBC]

Cable operators first ISPs to respond
"After a decade of RIAA-bashing by very vocal advocates who essentially believe that music should be shared freely over the Internet – or, at least, that music copyright holders should not enforce rights in court – it comes as no real surprise that U.S. Internet services providers that agreed recently to help stem peer-to-peer piracy want their names and the terms held in confidence. Lips of the parties -- and possible parties -- to the ‘graduated response’ deals involving illegal file sharers, brokered by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, are tighter than usual.

While it would seem logical that telecoms such as Verizon and AT&T, which benefit from their legitimate music offerings, would be leading the way in the initiative, such is not the case.

A Music Confidential investigation indicates that cable operators were the first of the “several leading ISPs” to seal the deals. The cable operators’ trade group, the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. (NCTA), was right in the midst of it all. And Cuomo doesn’t intend to limit his appeal to those ISPs within New York." [MusicConfidential]

Pay backs for ringbacks
"After several years of uncertainty in Germany over who controls the right to license compositions for ringtones, the highest court in the country issued a ruling just before Christmas. The result is raising even more questions as ringtone providers, publishers and German collecting society GEMA try to figure out who is entitled to the millions of Euros at stake. Aside from the legal and monetary implications, the case serves as an alert to rights holders reminding them of the importance of reading society membership agreements closely, especially as they relate to ‘new ‘ technologies.

Germany is the only country where courts have recognized that a ringtone is an ‘adaptation’ of a recorded composition under copyright law. This triggers the right of writers and publishers to collect fees from users for engaging in three activities: the reproduction (aka the mechanical reproduction), the performance and the adaptation. GEMA had been licensing the mechanical and performance rights for ringtones, while many publishers were licensing separately – and directly to providers – the adaptation right. As a result, ringtone providers were obtaining a license from GEMA and licenses from many individual publishers – and paying both."[MusicConfidential]

EU Council Monitor - 09/01/09

2009-01-09T18:16:00.002+01:00

Boosting Creativity and Innovation in Europe: Official launch of the European Year 2009 in Prague
"The Czech Presidency of the EU and European Commission launched the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009 on Wednesday, 7 January with the slogan “Imagine. Create. Innovate”. The Year was inaugurated during a ceremony in Prague by the Commission President José Manuel Barroso and the Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek. At the accompanying launch conference, the Ambassadors for the Year presented a report on creativity and innovation in the EU, whose message is that investment in education and in the skills and creative capacity of Europe should be the top priority of EU institutions and governments.

The conference to mark the launch of the Year was held in Prague on Wednesday afternoon, and was attended by a host of personalities including high representatives of EU member states, of the European Commission, members of the Czech government and several Ambassadors of the Year. The Conference ran in parallel to the meeting between the Commission and the Czech Government and was followed by the evening inauguration ceremony in the National Theatre in Prague." [Create2009]

Leading European intellectuals urge the EU to invest in Europe´s creative capacity
"A brainstorming session between nine Ambassadors of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009 (EYCI) was held this morning in Prague, under the auspices of the Czech Presidency of the European Union. The roundtable conclusions will feed reflection, debate and policy-making all throughout the Year and beyond.

The Ambassadors present welcomed the decision of the EU to declare 2009 the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, particularly in the context of the current crisis, which creates opportunities for reform and change. Moreover, they expressed their commitment to contribute to the success of the Year and to foster long-term debate on these topics, crucial for Europe´s future position in the Word." [Create2009]

EU Parliament Monitor - 09/01/09

2009-01-09T18:14:00.002+01:00

MEPs to back 'passport' for investment funds
"Revision makes cross-border investment easier; directive offers significant savings for funds.
The European Parliament is expected to approve a report next week (13 January) that will recommend making it easier for investment funds to operate outside the state they are registered in. Under a controversial management ‘passport' provision, which MEPs are set to insert into a directive proposed by the European Commission, investment funds will be able to locate their operations outside their state of origin more quickly. The revised directive on UCITS (undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities) will mean significant cost-savings for funds. It will also make cross-border mergers of investment funds easier." [EuropeanVoice]

The Week Ahead 12-18 January 2009: Plenary Session – Strasbourg (overview)
[Europa]

EU Commission - 09/01/09

2009-01-09T18:03:00.004+01:00

Cinema: EU film support goes global
"Today, the European Commission adopted a new MEDIA MUNDUS programme, a broad international cooperation programme for the audiovisual industry to strengthen cultural and commercial relations between Europe's film industry and film-makers of third countries. The EU will provide €15 million of funding from 2011-2013 for projects submitted by audiovisual professionals from the EU and third countries. Cooperation with the European film industry is in strong demand around the globe as shown by the initial success of the MEDIA International Preparatory Action under which the EU provided € 2 million of funding for 18 projects involving international partners (IP/08/1273). The new MEDIA MUNDUS programme will run from 2011-2013 and will capitalise on this growing interest and the opportunities offered by global cooperation of the audiovisual industry. It will increase consumer choice by bringing more culturally diverse products to European and international markets and will create new business opportunities for audiovisual professionals from Europe and around the globe." [Europa]

In The Loop: 06/01/09

2009-01-06T21:12:00.004+01:00

Met police officer numbers will not be cut, insists Boris Johnson's deputy
"Kit Malthouse says the number of officers will not go down despite the Met being told to make £472m of savings. Boris Johnson's deputy mayor today insisted that policing numbers in London would remain stable despite the Conservative mayor's decision to tell Scotland Yard to find £472m of savings over three years.

Kit Malthouse, the deputy mayor on policing who also sits as vice-chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said there would be "the same number" of police officers in Scotland Yard overall, despite a rise and subsequent dip across the next three years.

The Metropolitan police force has 32,000 officers working across the Greater London area. Malthouse told the budget and performance committee of the London assembly earlier today that this number would be made "better" as a result of efficiencies made across the force." [Guardian]

Severn barrage: Row breaks out over UK's biggest renewables project
"A plan to build shallow lagoons fitted with turbines rather than a strip barrier across the Severn would generate equal amounts of electricity at a far lower cost, say campaigners

Government consultants have been accused of miscalculating the costs of a project to generate vast amounts of green electricity in the Severn estuary, promoting a 10 mile-long tidal barrier strongly backed by ministers in preference to a scheme that engineers and environmentalists say is far less damaging." [Guardian]

UK braced for bleak news as global car sales fall
"The crisis in the global car industry was underlined today with a further round of plunging sales figures from key markets around the world.

In Japan, sales of new vehicles slumped by 22% last month to their lowest ever December total, while French sales were down almost 16% as the impact of the credit crunch continues to bite.

Across the Atlantic, Ford disclosed that it sold 32% fewer cars in December than it did a year earlier. While purchases by individual customers were down by 27%, the number of vehicles sold to fleet buyers such as rental agencies and hospitality businesses plummeted by 42%. Its rival Chrysler reported even worse December sales, plunging by 53%, while General Motors saw a 31% decline. Foreign manufacturers also fared badly in the US market with Toyota sales down 37% in December, Honda down 35% and Nissan down 31%. The car website Edmunds.com predicted sales for the full year will total just over 13m, down 18% from 2007 and the lowest level since 1992." [Guardian]

Click here to read more information on Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

Technorati Profile

Heron's Eye: 06/01/09

2009-01-06T21:06:00.004+01:00

Home Office flouted guidelines in 10 ways over knife crime statistics
"Any figures that fail to comply with code in future will be refused stamp of approval, says statistics body

The early release of knife crime statistics by the Home Office last month flouted new official guidelines in 10 different ways, the UK statistics authority said today.

The UKSA published its code of practice today alongside a final judgment by the UKSA on the Home Office's misuse last month of knife crime statistics suggesting the offence was under control. The UKSA said that any figures that failed to comply with the code in future would be refused a stamp of approval." [Guardian]

Boris 2009: transport
"Noticed those fares rises yet? They have in Enfield, and I doubt they're alone. It's no surprise that from the moment he announced them Mayor Johnson has worked super-hard to limit the political damage, initially by blaming them on Ken Livingstone - who's latest broadside on the issue is here - and now, it would appear, by trying not to mention them. His effort in today's Standard skates straight past the subject (as did the paper in general: there's two pages on commuters' rail fares going up, but barely a mention of those affecting bus and Tube-users).

His spin, supported by a shamelessly one-eyed newspaper, might work for Johnson, at least in the short term. We'd get a better idea if someone would commission an opinion poll: after eight months of Mayor Boris - one sixth of his term already - you'd have thought someone might have thought it worthwhile by now." [Guardian]

It will take more than goodwill and greenwash to save the biosphere: Shell may boast about tackling climate change, but companies tend always to sacrifice good intentions for hard cash
"For a while it seemed that Shell had stopped pretending. The advertisements that filled the newspapers in 2006, featuring technicians with perfect teeth and open-necked shirts explaining how they were saving the world, vanished. After being slated by environmentalists for greenwash, after two adverse rulings by the Advertising Standards Authority, Shell appeared to have accepted the inescapable truth that it was an oil company with a minor sideline in alternative energy, and that there was no point in trying to persuade people otherwise.

The interview I conducted with its chief executive, Jeroen van der Veer, broadcast on the Guardian's website today, contains what appears to be an interesting admission. I asked him whether Shell had stopped producing ads extolling its investments in renewable energy. Van der Veer does not express himself clearly at this point, but he seems to admit that his company's previous advertising was not honest." [Guardian]

Click here to read more information on Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

Grimsdale's Ire: 06/01/09

2009-01-06T20:56:00.005+01:00

David Cameron calls for league tables to improve UK prisons: Cameron criticises size of Titan prisons and attacks lack of focus on rehabilitation
"David Cameron said today that he would introduce league tables for prisons to cut reoffending rates with an increased emphasis on rehabilitation and follow-up care after release. The Tory leader also indicated that he was against the government's "Titan prisons", which he thought were a "bad idea".

"The idea that big is beautiful with prisons is wrong," he told 20 handpicked members of the public in Manchester, in a session led by Channel M television presenter Andy Crane. "I have spent some time in prison – purely in a professional capacity – at Wandsworth prison and was profoundly depressed by the size and impersonality," Cameron said. "I asked the governor what percentage offend when they leave prison and he couldn't tell me..."The system is not designed that way; it is just designed to put them in prison and hold them there, locked in cells for up to 23 hours a day, and then let them out. Every other public service is paid for by result."" [Guardian]

Gambling levy to be forced on gaming firms: "Sports minister outlines plans for levy to fund treatment of problem gamblers
"Gambling companies may have to pay a compulsory £5m-a-year levy because of their "very disappointing" failure to fully fund treatment for gambling addicts, the government said today. Publishing a consultation paper, sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe said the money would be used to fund helplines and treatment centres for gambling addicts, as well as to pay for research.

Sutcliffe said the government was resorting to a compulsory levy because gaming firms were failing to fund this sort of treatment on a voluntary basis. The industry has three months to draft an acceptable voluntary scheme or the government will quickly impose its alternative." [Guardian]

Iceland may take UK to European court over freezing of bank assets: Reykjavik hopes court of human rights will award damages after Gordon Brown froze Icelandic banks' assets
"The Icelandic government is examining "all possibilities" of dragging the British government before the European court of human rights over its decision to use anti-terror laws against the bank Landsbanki, it emerged today.

The move, revealed in a statement by the office of Iceland's prime minister, Geir Haarde, follows legal advice that a claim for damages in the UK courts would be unlikely to succeed.Reykjavik is looking at the European court as an "alternative option" to seek redress over Gordon Brown's decision to use the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 to seize assets." [Guardian]

Click here to read more information on Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

Music News Bulletin - 05/01/09

2009-01-05T16:23:00.003+01:00

Digital Boosts 2008 Sales To New Mark
"Overall music sales hit a new record in 2008, with over 1.5 billion units sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The Nielsen Company's annual year-end music industry report, released today, reveals that combined sales of albums, singles, music videos and digital tracks increased 10.5% over 2007, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The report covers purchases made during the 52 weeks between Dec. 31, 2007 to Dec. 28, 2008.

Digital tracks posted a 27% gain on their own to over a billion units sold in 2008, a new record. Digital albums grew 32% to 65.8 million units, also a new high. The 2008 numbers dragged when physical product was accounted. Combined sales of albums on CD, tape, vinyl and digital download were down 14% over the year prior, from 500.5 million units to 428.4 million. When track-equivalent albums are figured in, with ten digital tracks counting as an album, the decrease comes to 8.5%.

On a brighter note, total music purchases across all product categories went over 65 million units in the last week of 2008, making it the biggest music sales week in Nielsen SoundScan history." [Billboard]

Scramble over Woolies’ stock
"Companies including EMI and Microsoft are preparing legal action against the administrators of Woolworths to claw back millions of pounds of stock. Although the shelves in its stores are emptying fast, Woolies’ distribution arm, Entertainment UK (EUK), still has CDs, DVDs and computer games worth tens of millions of pounds in its warehouses.

Under “retention of title” rules, suppliers can claim back their own stock if it has not been paid for but, more broadly, they can can claim stock that has been paid for in lieu of debts.
That gives them the chance to resell the merchandise and prevent the administrator, Deloitte, offloading it cheaply." [RecordoftheDay]

Music sales up 10% in 2008, thanks to downloads (and vinyl)
"The music industry finished 2008 with positive sales growth numbers overall, but the grim CD death march continues apace. Overall unit purchases of music in the US increased by 10.5 percent year-over-year since 2007, according to new data released by Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen BDS, and Nielsen RingScan, but the growth is coming completely from downloads—and from vinyl.

More than 1.5 billion songs were sold during 2008, accounting for the 10.5 percent growth since the previous year. One billion digital tracks were sold online, which indicated 27 percent growth since 2007. But the trend toward digital singles continues to hurt full CD album sales—428 million albums (including LPs, CDs, and online albums) were sold in 2008, down 14 percent from the year before." [ArsTechnica]

L’Internet ne compense pas la chute des CD
"L’industrie du disque a subi une nouvelle année difficile en 2008, le développement des techniques de téléchargement légal ne parvenant pas à compenser la chute des ventes de CD, selon l’agence spécialisée Nielsen.

Aux Etats-Unis les ventes totales d’albums sur CD, sur internet, et en vinyle ont accusé un recul de 14 %, à 428,4 millions d’unités, contre 500,5 millions en 2007. En prenant en compte la vente de chansons à l’unité sur internet, le recul atteint encore 8,5 % (535,4 millions contre 584,9 millions d’unités), selon Nielsen.

Les ventes de CD représentant encore plus de 80 % du chiffre d’affaires du secteur, la désaffection des consommateurs pour les disquaires est un véritable défi pour les éditeurs, qui doivent à la fois lutter contre le piratage et trouver une façon satisfaisante de monétiser les téléchargements." [LeSoir]

Facebook Removes Project Playlist
"Facebook today has also removed access to the Project Playlist service from the popular social networking site, citing a request from the RIAA. A Facebook statement says the company hopes to resolve the situation so that the Project Playlist service eventually can resume service on the site, but that it will block access until the proper label deals can be established.

Just days after getting banned from MySpace, Project Playlist has struck a licensing deal with Sony BMG. The deal gives Project Playlist users direct access to the Sony BMG catalog of both music tracks and videos. Financial details were not disclosed.
The major-label licensing deal is a big step forward for the playlist-sharing service, which is being sued by the other three major labels - Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and EMI Music - as well as the RIAA for copyright infringement. Project Playlist allows users to upload music to create playlists that other users can then stream, but until the Sony BMG deal has done so without paying labels a licensing fee." [Billboard]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 05/01/09

2009-01-05T16:15:00.003+01:00

Les producteurs belges contre les sites illégaux
"Les producteurs belges de musique, de films et de jeux vidéo, représentés par la Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), demandent mardi, dans un communiqué, que les sites illégaux de téléchargement soient bloqués « le plus rapidement possible » par les fournisseurs belges d'accès à internet.

Selon la BEA, les auteurs, les artistes mais aussi les consommateurs sont victimes de ces sites. Dans son édition de janvier 2009, Test-Achats passe au crible un certain nombre de sites musicaux qui proposent le téléchargement payant." [LeSoir]

Spanish Web Users Angry At Anti-P2P Campaign
"Spain's Association of Internet Users (AI) has demanded that the culture ministry cancel a national campaign against P2P file-sharing and illegal downloads called "If you are legal, you're legal." The adjective 'legal' in Spanish can also mean 'okay' or 'good' when applied to a person.
According to an AI statement, the campaign "recklessly offers information that lacks all legal basis, with the exclusive aim of re-educating public opinion."

The campaign launched in late November on TV, radio and in the press. It shows people downloading, with comments from some who defend legal or paid downloads, and criticises those who download illegally, without paying. The campaign also specifically criticises P2P file-sharing." [Billboard]

EU Council Monitor - 05/01/09

2009-01-05T16:12:00.002+01:00

Launch Conference of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation
Venue: Senate of the Czech Republic, Prague
The aim of the European Year 2009 is to promote creativity and innovation as the key competence of all individuals. The European Year will be launched by an expert conference that will be opened with speeches by European Commissioners Ján Figeľ and Janez Potočnik, as well as Czech Ministers Ondřej Liška and Václav Jedlička. The tradition of declaring the European Year dates back to 1983, and the EU often chooses the themes together with the Council of Europe." [EU2009]

CZECH PRESIDENCY OF THE EU
New website now online [EU2009]

Czech Republic gets ready to assume EU presidency: Launch events planned in Prague and Brussels
"The Czech Republic will take over the presidency of the EU from France on 1 January, beginning a six month term in office. Although the Czechs will take charge when the EU institutions largely closed for the new year break, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and his team will face immediate challenges, not least the escalating crisis in Gaza.

The start of the Czech presidency will be marked by celebrations in Prague, where the city's giant metronome will be lit in EU colours at midnight on 31 December by Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra. There will be speeches on Czech television on 1 January by Topolánek, former president of the Czech republic Václav Havel, and leader of the opposition Jiří Paroubek. A video message will be broadcast from European Commission President José Manuel Barroso. There will also be a televised debate about the presidency, with anti-Lisbon Treaty campaigner Declan Ganley (whose Libertas Party has the support of Czech president Václav Klaus) among those expected to participate. The main launch event in Brussels - a gala ball - will take place on 30 January." [EuropeanVoice]

EU Parliament Monitor - 05/01/09

2009-01-05T16:06:00.002+01:00

Sony BMG Merger Still Under Scrutiny
"The European Parliament continues to seek further scrutiny of the Sony BMG merger, although the major has since demerged and will officially be renamed Sony Music Entertainment in 2009.
EC Commissioner for competition Neelie Kroes has six weeks to provide a written explanation regarding competition in the music market.

Independent labels trade body Impala is also continuing its campaign against the merger and its appeal will be heard in Europe next year. Impala objected to the buy-out of Bertelsmann's stake by Sony BMG, which was approved by the European Commission in September. However, Impala will not launch a new appeal over the buy-out, preferring to focus on the original merger ruling in response to the indies' concerns about market concentration. Sony BMG declined to comment." [Billboard]

Round-up of December Strasbourg sitting
"In a hectic year-end session, MEPs demanded an end to national opt-outs to the 48-hour working week and backed measures to cut Europe's CO2 emissions by 2020. Also during the final sitting of the year, the parliament awarded the 20th Sakharov Prize for human rights to Chinese dissident Hu Jia in absentia.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy defended France's record during its 6-month presidency of the European Union (see article about Tuesday’s meeting – not very detailed) . MEPs mainly gave Mr Sarkozy a positive response for his handling of new EU climate change legislation and the crisis in Georgia." [Europa]

EU Commission - 05/01/09

2009-01-05T15:59:00.002+01:00

Success for the Commission’s Register for Interest Representatives
"The Commission’s Register for Interest Representatives, launched on 23 June 2008, is progressing well. European citizens now have direct access to information on the existence, diversity and multitude of represented interests; less than six months after the Register was begun, more than 700 organisations are now registered[1], with more being added every day.

There has been a steady and constant flow of some thirty additions per week to the Register. More than 400 organisations representing business and professional organisations are registered, along with more than 150 NGOs. Specialised consultancy firms and law firms lobbying the European institutions are still not signing up." [Europa]

Telecoms: Commission clears amended nationwide Spanish broadband regulations; maintains concerns on lack of high-speed remedies
"The European Commission has, with reservations, given its green light to the Spanish draft regulation on wholesale broadband access, notified by the Spanish regulator, the Comisión del mercado de las telecomunicaciones ("CMT") on 4 December 2008. The Commission believes that the revised version of the draft measures addresses some of the issues on which the Commission had expressed serious doubts (IP/08/1704). However, the Commission still believes that regulation of wholesale broadband access should not be limited to speeds of up to 30 Mb/s. On the basis of the Commission's presently limited powers of oversight, it can only invite the CMT to change its regulatory approach in this regard.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said: "I welcome CMT's efforts to address the Commission's serious doubts. We need to ensure that alternative operators can compete effectively with Telefónica while setting the right incentives for investments in new generation networks. This would result in more innovation and better prices for consumers."" [Europa]

Judicial Review of Merger Control Decisions After the Impala Saga: Time for Policy Choices?
"Shortly following the adoption of the first EC merger regulation, a question arose among legal scholars and practitioners: will the EC courts make a sufficiently swift and thorough review of the Commission's merger decisions?1 Or, in other words, will judicial review be both effective and expedient enough to be compatible with the constraints of commercial life? The Court of First Instance (the CFI) and the Court of Justice (the ECJ, together with the CFI, the EC Courts) did not shy away from addressing these legitimate concerns. The timeliness of judicial review was significantly enhanced in 2000 when the Rules of Procedure of the CFI and the ECJ were amended to establish an expedited procedure allowing the EC Courts to give priority to certain types of cases.2 Merger control is by far the field of law that has benefited the most from the new procedure.3 As to the thoroughness of the CFI's review, it invites much less criticism now that the CFI has demonstrated its readiness to control Commission decisions extensively and annul them if need be, as illustrated inter alia by its three famous judgments of 2002 annulling prohibition decisions.4 In 2005, the importance of a thorough substantive review was confirmed by the ECJ itself in its no less famous Tetra Laval judgment (Tetra Laval II).5 All these cases were decisive milestones in the coming of age of the judicial review of merger control decisions in the EU." [GlobalCompetitionReview]

Music News Bulletin - 31/12/08

2008-12-31T21:31:00.000+01:00

2008 U.S. Music Purchases Exceed 1.5 Billion; Growth in Overall Music Purchases Exceeds 10% - Yahoo! Finance

"Nielsen SoundScan, the entertainment industry's data information system that tracks point-of-purchase sales of recorded music product, Nielsen BDS, the music industry’s leading music performance monitoring service, and Nielsen RingScan, which tracks mobile ringtone purchases, have announced their 2008 U.S. year-end sales and performance monitoring data for the 52-week period December 31, 2007 through December 28, 2008." [Yahoo]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 31/12/08

2008-12-31T01:36:00.000+01:00

Orphan works - a Sterling solution? 4 December 2008
"Over the years, few members of the IP fraternity can have won as many friends as Professor Adrian Sterling, a distinguished international copyright lawyer and a dedicated teacher of his craft. Adrian's legendary kindness, the IPKat notes, extends beyond his students and colleagues and reaches as far as orphans and their copyright works ... [at this point Merpel interjects: "silly Kat! It's orphan works, not works of orphans! We're talking about works that are metaphorically orphaned because their 'parentage', in terms of authorship or ownership, cannot be traced"]. "As I was saying", continues the IPKat, "Adrian has been working on a scheme for resolving the orphan work problem, which traps many otherwise exploitable works in a sort of commercial limbo". This scheme has been adopted by the British Copyright Council in its Response on the Green Paper on Copyright in the Knowledge Economy, and the paper will be circulated tomorrow at the 8th IBC Annual Conference on International Copyright Law.

As a special treat, readers of this weblog, whether orphans or sufficiently parented, can get a preview all of their own, which can be read here. If you'd like to have a look at it and tell Adrian and/or the IPKat what you think of it, please feel free to do so. Comments to the IPKat can be posted below. Emails to Adrian can be directed here." [IPKitten]

Web Radio Royalty Battle Takes New Turn December 31, 2008 Wednesday
“The battle over radio royalty rates will likely continue into 2009, with the latest issue tackling how and when cable, satellite, and Internet stations should report their playlists to copyright holders in order to determine payment.The Copyright Royalty Board, a government body that sets royalty rates, released a notice on Tuesday that suggests altering the reporting requirements for stations." [ContentAgenda]

New York state may begin taxing music downloads Dec 17th 2008
"New York, the state that brought us taxes on items bought over the internet is at it again. This time governor David Paterson is considering a 4% tax on music and other digital media downloads." [DownloadSquad]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 31/12/08

2008-12-31T01:25:00.001+01:00

RIAA graduated response plan: Q&A with Cary Sherman December 21, 2008
"On Friday, major news broke: the RIAA would (largely) abandon its widespread lawsuit campaign against individuals in favor of a "graduated response" partnership with ISPs. The outlines are clear enough—the RIAA will identify infringers, pass that information on to ISPs, who will notify (and eventually sanction) users without turning personal information over to the music industry.

But details, in some cases hugely important details, remained unclear. Chief among these was the lack of any talk about an oversight or appeals process for users who want to contest the RIAA's claims in some way. We checked in with EFF attorney Fred von Lohmann, one of the leading non-industry voices on these issues; he suggested five potential "gotchas" that need to be scrutinized as the plan goes forward." [ArsTechnica]

No more lawsuits: ISPs to work with RIAA, cut off P2P users December 19, 2008
"In a stunning turn of events, the US music industry has ceased its long-time litigation strategy of suing individual P2P file-swappers. Instead, with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo acting as a broker, the RIAA has signed voluntary "graduated response" agreements with major Internet service providers. Those currently on the receiving end of an RIAA lawsuit, though, will have to see it through to the (very) bitter end.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription) broke the story, and Ars has confirmed all details given in the piece." [ArsTechnica]

ISP to RIAA: Pay up or do your own dirty work December 22nd, 2008
"I love stories of the little guy going head-to-head with the big guys, especially when the big guy looks like a fool in the end.

CNET’s Greg Sandoval tells the story of a small Internet Service Provider in Louisiana whose owner has refused to play ball with the Recording Industry Association of America - at least on the RIAA’s terms. Last week, the RIAA announced that it was going to shift strategies to fight piracy. Instead of filing mass lawsuits, the RIAA said it is partnering with ISPs to identify, serve notice and potentially disconnect file-sharers." [ZDNet]

RIAA drops mass lawsuits, recruits ISPs to crack the whip December 19th, 2008
"The headlines across the blogosphere make it sound like the Recording Industry Association of America has thrown in the towel and decided to stop going after music pirates on the Internet. That’s not exactly the case.

Instead, the RIAA is teaming up with Internet Service Providers to identify and, potentially, blacklist offenders from obtaining an Internet connection in the future. That keeps the RIAA from having to subpoena the ISPs for user information and instead puts the ISP into the hot seat to crack the whip on the customer. OK, maybe blacklisting would be an extreme, last resort after repeated warnings - but I could see it headed that way." [ZDNet]

Update on Capitol Records v. Thomas: Motion to Certify an Appeal Denied; Petition for an Extraordinary Writ May Follow 12.31.2008
"Earlier this fall, the Court adjudicating Capitol Records, Inc. v. Thomas, vacated a $222,000 jury verdict because the Court found it had erred by instructing the jury that U.S. law provides a "making-available right." I have discussed the profound and numerous flaws in that ruling here (http://pff.org/issues-pubs/pops/2008/pop15.16thomasmaright.pdf). I discussed the downright disturbing flaws in Section K of that ruling, (which contains the Court's associated advisory opinion on copyright reform), here (http://pff.org/issues-pubs/pops/2008/pop15.18thomasreform.pdf).

After the ruling, the Thomas Plaintiffs did just what they should have: They filed a motion to certify the Court's making-available-right ruling for an interlocutory appeal. Thomas is an ideal case for an interlocutory appeal: the recent self-reversal in Thomas would require the parties to re-try the entire case because the Court used internally inconsistent reasoning to adopt a minority position on a pure question of law that admittedly causes the United States to violate nine international agreements. Stronger grounds for an interlocutory appeal are scarcely conceivable." [IPCentral]

US Public Affairs - 30/12/08

2008-12-30T21:56:00.001+01:00

Lessig: It's Time to Demolish the FCC

"Economic growth requires innovation. Trouble is, Washington is practically designed to resist it. Built into the DNA of the most important agencies created to protect innovation, is an almost irresistible urge to protect the most powerful instead.

The FCC is a perfect example. Born in the 1930s, at a time when the utmost importance was put on stability, the agency has become the focal point for almost every important innovation in technology. It is the presumptive protector of the Internet, and the continued regulator of radio, TV and satellite communications. In the next decades, it could well become the default regulator for every new communications technology, including, and especially, fantastic new ways to use wireless technologies, which today carry television, radio, internet, and cellular phone signals through the air, and which may soon provide high-speed internet access on-the-go, something that Google cofounder Larry Page calls "wifi on steroids."" [NewsWeek]

Comments on the Commission's Green Paper on Copyright in the Knowledge Economy

"This paper is a reaction to the Commission's Green Paper on Copyright in the Knowledge Economy. It discusses issues concerning the three step test model licenses, digitization and orphan works, disability discrimination and access to digital content, dissemination for teaching and research, dissemination through libraries and user created content." [SSRN]

Triennial DMCA Review at US Copyright Office"The US Copyright Office is again hearing arguments for exceptions for, as the December 29 Federal Register notice puts it, “certain classes of works from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. The purpose of this rulemaking proceeding is to determine whether there are particular classes of works as to which users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses due to the prohibition on circumvention.”" [CopyrightAlliance]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 30/12/08

2008-12-30T01:41:00.002+01:00

Choruss: legal file sharing on campus 11th December 2008
"The plan to provide US students with compulsory flat-fee music finally has a name, it emerged this week. Choruss LLC will provide participating universities with a replacement for their current subscription services such as Rhapsody, and has the backing of the the EFF and the tacit support of the RIAA. That alone indicates the magnitude of the initiative. When have those two lobbying groups ever agreed on music policy?

This, the worst kept secret in the music business, leaked out in April, when Jim Griffin confirmed he had been engaged by Warner Music to seek deals that would help end the litigation strategy against students, and replace it with a steady pool of income for the rights holders. (Griffin has spent a decade campaigning to "monetize the anarchy" of digital music - see our 2004 interview)." [TheRegister]

Has Boston University Left Its Safe Harbor and Become Liable for Students' Piracy? 12. 2.2008
"Defenders of the most egregious, blatant forms of online copyright piracy often suffer from what could be called Wile-E.-Coyote syndrome: They can become so fixated on throttling the roadrunner of copyright protection that they fail to notice that they have just run off a cliff and begun plunging downward.

For example, a federal judge has reportedly held that Boston University (BU) is such an incompetent internet-access provider that it cannot disclose the identities of allegedly infringing users of its network. In London-Sire Records, Inc. v. Does 1-4, Judge Gertner's recent order granted BU's "Motion to Quash" because "[BU] has adequately demonstrated that it is not able to identify the alleged infringers with a reasonable degree of technical certainty."

Continue reading Has Boston University Left Its Safe Harbor and Become Liable for Students' Piracy? . . ."

New Op-Ed December 30, 2008
"Rick Carnes and I co-wrote an op-ed on ISP music licensing (as exemplified by the Choruss operation) for Content Agenda that might be of interest.

http://www.contentagenda.com/article/CA6625534.html?industryid=45173t

Coolfer published a couple comments on the op-ed. Let it be known that I dig Glenn and Coolfer and I'm just clarifying a couple things he mentioned (also just speaking for myself here and not for my co-author).

One of the points we made is that an unlimited download service at below market rates undermines the investment that legitimate services have spent and committed. (I refuse to use "all you can eat" to describe these services as that phrase grates on me as comparing music to, let's say, a potato, which I won't do.) The point (which I made in more detail in a recent article for the ABA) is that users are already paying for the very Internet connection they use to buy their music from legitimate services. If you tell them that they only need to pay $5 a month more for all the music they want from what were once illegal "services"--well, I think you see where that goes. The idea seems to be that students could get rid of their Rhapsody accounts, which appears to make EFF very happy." [MusicTechPolicy]

Don't Make Kids Online Crooks December 29, 2008 Monday
"Seventy-five years ago, Prohibition ended. Just 13 years after launching an extraordinary experiment in social reform, the nation recognized that the battle against "intoxicating liquors" had failed. Organized crime had exploded. Civil rights had been weakened. And an enormous number of ordinary Americans had become "criminals" as they found ways to evade, and profit from the evasion of, this hopeless law.

We're about a decade into our own hopeless war of prohibition, this one against "peer-to-peer piracy." The copyright industry has used every legal means within its reach (and some that may not be so legal) to stop Internet "pirates" from "sharing" copyrighted content without permission. These "copyright wars"--what the late Jack Valenti, former head of the Motion Picture Association of America, called his own "terrorist war" in which apparently the "terrorists" are our kids--have consumed an ever growing amount of legal resources. The Recording Industry Association of America alone has sued tens of thousands of individuals. These suits allege millions of dollars in damages. And schools across the nation have adopted strict policies to block activity that the Supreme Court in 2005 declared presumptively illegal." [ContentAgenda]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 30/12/08

2008-12-30T01:14:00.003+01:00

Music copyright extension - strings attached: Sort yourselves out, warn Burnham and McCreevy 12th December 2008
Culture Minister Andy Burnham gave clear backing to extending the copyright term for sound recordings yesterday - but called on the music business to make sure it benefits musicians, not industry fatcats.

"We want the industry to come back with good, workable ideas as to how a proposal on copyright extension might be framed that directly and predominantly benefits performers – both session and featured musicians," Burnham said." [TheRegister]

UK ignores logic, backs 20-year music copyright extension December 12, 2008
"After a UK government-led commission said that the current 50-year term for musical copyrights was fine, and the government last year publicly agreed that there was no need to extend the term, culture minister Andy Burnham yesterday made the logical follow-up announcement that yes, the government would now push for a 20-year extension on copyright. Turns out, it's the moral thing to do.

Actually, by framing the issue as a "moral case," Burnham gets to sidestep the entire issue of logic. Critics have already begun to charge that he is ignoring actual evidence and the well-regarded conclusions of the Gowers Report, not to mention previous government policy. But when the issue becomes a moral one and the livelihood of aging performers is at stake, it's suddenly easier to avoid cost/benefit analysis. Doing the right thing isn't always logical or economical." [ArsTechnica]

Are Performers A Special Case? 23rd December
"While almost every serious commentator in the field of contemporary copyright law takes the view that no case has been established for the extension of copyright term in respect of sound recordings, the case for the extension of the protection term enjoyed by performers themselves has at least one doughty advocate.

IPKat reader and copyright specialist Professor Amanda J Harcourt writes:

"While Andrew Gowers' article (Copyright Extension is Out of Tune with Reality) makes a number of useful and pithy points, it does not fairly, in my view, state the case for the performer.

While the record companies in the 1990s indubitably "missed the boat" when attempting to debate and adjust their commercial practices to accommodate the developments of the internet - and now are suffering the consequences - there are moral arguments surrounding this new development. The songwriter and performer occupy the only moral high ground in the economic environment that is the music industry. This economic model of copyright has been taken to extreme by record companies. Guy Hands's early pronouncements about executive and administrative waste soon after his purchase of EMI were on point, but an understanding of the way artists are contracted by record companies demonstrates that those at the bottom of the royalty food chain - in this case the artist - have reasons for moral outrage." [IP Kitten]

Thomas on Copyright Reform:An Injudicious Threat to Consumers and Artists
"Recently, the Court in Capitol Records, Inc. v. Thomas vacated a $222,000 verdict awarded by a jury of the peers of Defendant Jammie Thomas.1 The Court held that it committed a “manifest error of law” by instructing the jury that U.S. law gives copyright owners the “making-available right” required by nine international agreements supposedly implemented by U.S. law. But Thomas did not confine itself to an analysis of whether U.S. law provides a making-available right.

After adjudicating the motion to vacate the jury verdict, the Court appended a gratuitous final section—Section K—that used Thomas as a platform to attack the wisdom of both the jury and Congress. Section K, by casting off judicial conventions, by opining on jury questions, and by mischaracterizing the conduct of a party to a pending case—tried to present the Defendant as a poster child for an ill-conceived advisory opinion on copyright reform. In Section K, looting thus became a nonprofit avocation and deterring deceit became “oppressive.” Worse yet, these characterizations supported “reforms” that would only encourage piracy, endanger consumers, and further undermine the vitality of copyrights." [PFF]

Triennial DMCA Review at US Copyright Office December 30th, 2008
"Has it been three years already? The US Copyright Office is again hearing arguments for exceptions for, as the December 29 Federal Register notice puts it, “certain classes of works from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. The purpose of this rulemaking proceeding is to determine whether there are particular classes of works as to which users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses due to the prohibition on circumvention.”

In other words, when is OK to ignore the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and hack DRM? (You’ll find information on how to participate in this democratic process at the end of this post.)" [CopyrightAlliance]

EU Commission: Competition - 30/12/08

2008-12-30T01:02:00.002+01:00

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT QUESTIONS SONYBMG APPROVALS
"The elected European Parliament has challenged the European Commission about it's speedy decision earlier this year to allow Sony Music to buy Bertelsmann out of the two companies' joint venture record company, SonyBMG, which put the second biggest music firm in the world into the ownership of one organisation, Sony Corp.

They also question the Commission's wider policy regarding allowing such big companies to be created in the music and cultural industries without safeguards to protect smaller independent firms - in essence questioning the approval of the SonyBMG merger in the first place." [CMUDaily]

Sony BMG Merger Still Under Scrutiny December 23, 2008
"The European Parliament continues to seek further scrutiny of the Sony BMG merger, although the major has since demerged and will officially be renamed Sony Music Entertainment in 2009. EC Commissioner for competition Neelie Kroes has six weeks to provide a written explanation regarding competition in the music market." [Billboard]

The standard of proof in EC merger control: the implications of the Sony BMG saga
"One of the most important developments in EC competition policy during 2006 was the Court of First Instance’s (CFI) Impala v. Commission judgment annulling the European Commission’s approval of the merger between the music units of Sony and Bertelsmann. It harshly criticized the Commission’s Decision because it found that the evidence relied on was not capable of substantiating the conclusion. This was the first time that a merger decision was annulled for not meeting the requisite legal standard for authorizing the merger. Consequently, the CFI raised fundamental questions about the standard of proof incumbent on the Commission in its merger review procedures. On July 10, 2008, the European Court of Justice overturned Impala, yet it did not resolve the fundamental question underlying the judicial review of the Sony BMG Decision; does the Commission have the necessary resources and expertise to meet the Community Court’s standard of proof? This paper addresses the wider implications of the Sony BMG saga for the Commission’s future handling of complex merger investigations. It argues that the Commission may have set itself an impossible precedent in the second approval of the merger. While the Commission has made a substantial attempt to meet the high standard of proof imposed by the Community Courts, it is doubtful that it will be able to jump the fence again in a similar fashion under normal procedural circumstances." [IES]

Pan-European Indie Label Group Attacks EC’s Decision to Allow Sony Corporation Buyout of Sony BMG (Because In Other Parts of the World, People Actually Freak Out When This Shit Happens)
"Thanks to the European Commission’s decision to let Sony Corporation gobble up Sony BMG, we’re one step closer to a multi-headed monster that will be known as Sony Music Entertainment Inc. The EC’s 2007 decision to allow the merger means that Sony Corporation of America is now free to acquire the 50% share held by Bertelsmann AG of Germany in Sony BMG. Yikes." [TinyMixTapes]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 24/12/08

2008-12-24T01:31:00.000+01:00

Internet Piracy: No, Virginia, There Really Is No "Competing" Against Yourself for "Free"
"CNET and others report about a charming new steal-don't-buy browser extension that reminds Amazon.com shoppers that much of Amazon's legal content can be downloaded illegally "4 Free" from The Pirate Bay. If correct, such reports expose the truly self-destructive venality of Internet piracy. They also expose the vacuity of an argument favored by defenders of piracy--the claim that content creators (and law-abiding distributors) can or should "compete against free." Usually, persons spouting this claim cite the case of "bottled water" as a real-life example. For two reasons, this example refutes their vapid claim.

First, this claim understates the achievement of commercial creators of bottled water and content. They compete not only against "free"--but against competitors whose goods seem free because their production costs and risks are subsidized by non-market sources like taxation. Creators of works like movies, music, and books, like creators of bottled water, have long competed successfully against "free" tax-subsidized alternatives (like tap water). In other words, private companies produced bottled water because they concluded that if they incurred the costs and took the risks needed to create high-quality water, taxpayers who have already paid for the "free" water produced by the County Water Board would pay again to purchase higher quality water from a private source." [IPCentral]

The hitman, the Pirate Bay and the freetard prof 10th December 2008
“Since Duchamp's urinal, a great deal of modern art has been a "prank" against the art establishment. Maybe that's why now, state-funded "pranks" like the Pirates plug-in - designed to preach to the converted - feel so stale. Or it could be Cramer's own deeply conservative (and misanthropic) outlook. By design, the course ensures his students fulfill a narrow set of ideological obligations - all of which are de rigeur in modern media theory.

And that, we must conclude, is exactly what the modern state requires from its "radicals". Rather than being outside the tent pissing in, they're quite content to be on the inside, launching Firefox browser plug-ins outwards. Repressive regimes once persecuted dissidents - now they merely need give them cushy jobs on Media Theory courses to render them useless. They'll do the rest.” [TheRegister]

Hollywood wants in on ISP "graduated responses," too : December 24, 2008 - "Graduated response" isn't just for music
"Ars has learned that the Motion Picture Association of America has been having similar discussions with US ISPs for some time and has already been involved in trial projects. The results of this limited testing have been encouraging to the movie business, as they show that most people do in fact stop sharing files illegally after receiving a simple warning from their Internet provider.

The recording industry made waves last week by announcing a set of voluntary agreements with American ISPs to pass warnings (and eventually sanctions) to users accused of sharing files illegally over P2P networks. The scheme is similar in concept to the recent deals in the UK and France, but such graduated response mechanisms are actually under consideration all over the world." [ArsTechnica]

"Can I resell my MP3s?": the post-sale life of digital goods: Second time's a charm December 17, 2008
"The Castaway" is not a very good book. Published in 1908, Hallie Ermine Rives' novel opens with these deeply unpromising sentences:

"A cool breeze slipped ahead of the dawn. It blew dim the calm Greek stars, stirred the intricate branches of olive trees inlaid in the rose-pearl facade of sky, bowed the tall, coral-lipped oleanders lining the rivulets, and crisped the soft wash of the gulf-tide. It lifted the strong bronze curls on the brow of a sleeping man who lay on the sea-beach covered with a goatskin." [ArsTechnica]

UK talks mashups, DRM, CD ripping as it opens copyright overhaul December 17, 2008
"The UK's Intellectual Property Office has some odd ideas. In thinking about the "future agenda on copyright" in Britain, the agency recognizes the disconnect the law and common actions like CD ripping, feels the pain of mashup artists who have no real way to clear rights, knows that DRM can currently override statutory copyright exemptions, and wants to hear especially from creators and users. David Lammy, the minister in charge of higher education and intellectual property, even puts quote marks around "online music 'piracy'."

The occasion for all this attention do digital copyright issues is UK IPO's new "© the future: Keeping ahead of the game" consultation. The government has a wide-ranging scheme called Digital Britain that various ministries have been at work on for several months, and the chance to think about copyright's future is part of the UK plan to make Britain a hub for the digital and creative industries. Government statistics already show that the creative industries generated 8.2 percent of GDP in 2007 and are growing twice as fast as the overall economy." [ArsTechnica]

Music News Bulletin - 23/12/08

2008-12-23T01:49:00.001+01:00

Amazon MP3 fuels indie gloom: Not exactly retail therapy 5th December 2008
"Do you remember when the internet was supposed to "empower" new businesses, sweep away cartels and monopolies, and give a voice to the little guy? Well, unless you view increasing concentrations of power as a good thing, this week has been a bad one for the music economy.

Amazon finally launched its MP3 download service in the UK on the Wednesday, stealing the headlines with cheap deals. Yet popular acts who chose to opt out of the major label system received a kick in the teeth, with the front page carved up between the majors. Best-selling acts such as The Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand (both signed to PIAS group label Domino) are nowhere to be found." [TheRegister]

Amazon launches music downloads: The online bookseller has branched out into digital music sales
"Online retail website Amazon has launched a UK music download service. Amazon MP3 will sell tracks from 59p and albums from £3. The new music store will offer more than 3 million songs that will work on any digital music player, including Apple's iPod. The move puts Amazon in direct competition with Apple for a stake in the growing market of online music sales, which in Britain alone was worth an estimated £163m in 2007." [BBC]

Rumor: Music labels want to create Hulu for music videos Dec 23rd 2008
"There's been a lot of buzz over the last few days about how all of Warner Music Group's music videos have gone missing from YouTube. Now Alley Insider reports that Warner, BMG, EMI, and Universal are talking about building their own site for music videos.

The idea would be to create a single destination where be able to find music videos from popular artists. There's some reason to think the site could work. After all, Hulu has become one of the top destination for online video by providing full length, ad-supported streaming episodes of TV shows and movies with the cooperation of several major networks and studios." [DownloadSquad]

EU Parliament Monitor - 19/12/08

2008-12-19T13:19:00.000+01:00

European Parliament questions Sony BMG merger
"The indie sector has been given renewed hope that the Sony BMG merger story hasn’t ended following the European Parliament’s decision to ask the EC competition commissioner to justify her decision to approve the merger of the two majors in 2004.

The European Parliament has fired off three questions to Neelie Kroes challenging the Commission about competition in the music market. The questions are:

- Why did the Commission not carry out an in-depth investigation when it adopted its last approval decision?
- What is the Commission's strategy for making sure that SMEs have market access in concentrated sectors like music?
- Will the Commission adopt new rules or guidelines on how competition policy should be adapted to cultural markets such as music?

The commissioner has six weeks to provide a written explanation, although it is unclear what action Parliament can take if it doesn’t like her answers. Meanwhile, European indie organisation IMPALA is still appealing the original EC decisions allowing Sony and BMG to merge, which led to an appeal in the Court of First Instance. An IMPALA spokesman says that the move by Parliament is quite rare and it means Kroes has to justify her decision.
SonyBMG were not commenting." [MusicWeek]

European Parliament questions Sony BMG approvals
"The elected European Parliament has challenged the European Commission about it's speedy decision earlier this year to allow Sony Music to buy Bertelsmann out of the two companies' joint venture record company, SonyBMG, which put the second biggest music firm in the world into the ownership of one organisation, Sony Corp.

They also question the Commission's wider policy regarding allowing such big companies to be created in the music and cultural industries without safeguards to protect smaller independent firms - in essence questioning the approval of the SonyBMG merger in the first place.

As much previously reported, the merger of Sony Corp and Bertlesmann's respective record companies to create SonyBMG in 2004 was not without controversy. Pan-European indie label trade body IMPALA said the creation of a company as big as SonyBMG was anti-competitive and should not be approved by the Commission (who have the power to block such deals). When the Commission then OKed the merger, without conditions, IMPALA went to the European Courts who ruled in the trade body's favour, agreeing that the Commission had failed to sufficiently investigate the merger before giving it the green light and ordering them to reinvestigate the proposals. That they did, subsequently approving the merger for a second time. IMPALA are currently appealing that Commission decision too." [CMUDaily]

European Parliament challenges the Commission again about competition in the music market and the SonyBMG merger, as independents’ appeal continues without new action over Sony buy out
"The European Parliament has challenged the European Commission for the third time over SonyBMG. The EC Commissioner for Competition, Neelie Kroes has six weeks to provide a written explanation regarding:

1. Why the Commission did not carry out an in-depth investigation when it adopted its last approval decision?
2. What the Commission's strategy is for making sure that SMEs have market access in concentrated sectors like music?
3. Whether the Commission will adopt new rules or guidelines on how competition policy should be adapted to the specificities of cultural markets such as music?

In the meantime IMPALA will continue its initial appeal regarding SonyBMG. In September the European Commission approved the buy out by Sony of Bertelsmann's shares in the joint venture SonyBMG and IMPALA objected because no remedies were put in place and there was no detailed investigation. As IMPALA is still in litigation over the creation of SonyBMG in the first place, however, it will not launch a new appeal over the buy out. IMPALA's concerns mainly relate to the market power of SonyBMG (and the other majors) rather than who owns it. IMPALA's appeal in the European courts will be heard again by the judges next year. IMPALA also appealed the EC's second approval decision and this case is on hold while the appeal against the first approval is being dealt with." [RecordOftheDay]

Christa Prets MEP on media literacy in a digital world: MEP Christa Prets wants more "digital education"
"We all need to better understand the media we are touched by daily, especially the young, says Austrian Socialist Christa Prets. MEPs backed her report on "media literacy in a digital world" on Tuesday. In an exclusive interview Ms Prets explained to us what media literacy actually is, how we can improve it and how it can be used to teach the young." [Europa]

EU Council Monitor - 19/12/08

2008-12-19T13:11:00.000+01:00

Czech ambassador outlines EU presidency priorities
"The Czech Republic’s top official in Brussels says that tackling ‘obstacles’ which ‘prevent Europe from fulfilling its economic potential’ will be one of the priorities of her country’s EU presidency
Speaking in Brussels on Tuesday, Milena Vicenova also hopes that at the end of the six-month presidency “no-one will think that we Czechs are eurosceptic.”

The 52-year-old also pledged to “concentrate all our energy” on resolving the current impasse on the stalled Lisbon treaty. Vicenova, one of the few female ambassadors in Brussels, was outlining her country’s priorities when it takes over the EU presidency from France on 1 January.
“I know quite a few people will be asking whether the Czechs really are eurosceptic,” she said.
“There is no doubt that our presidency comes at no easy time for Europe and the rest of the world. It will be a real challenge.”

She said the presidency will focus on ‘3 E’s’ – the economy, energy and external relations.
On the economic front, she told a packed audience that the French presidency deserved praise for its “prompt, effective and efficient” response to the global financial crisis." [TheParliament]

Conclusion of the Council (11 and 12/12)
The complete conclusions. It includes:
“As regards action by the European Union, the European Council supports in particular: an increase in intervention by the European Investment Bank of EUR 30 billion in 2009/2010, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises” [Europa]

Paris ACTA meetings wrap up; we're safe until March 2009
"Negotiations on the controversial and largely secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) race ever onward, but the process isn't moving quite as fast as proponents had hoped. No deal will now happen before the end of the year, nor before a new US administration takes the reins in late January.

Another round of ACTA negotiations wrapped up yesterday in Paris, this one hosted by the EU and chaired by the French Trade Minister. Most governments involved in the process appear bent on saying almost nothing about it due the "delicate nature" of the negotiating process, but Japan's Foreign Ministry has released the barest of details from this week's meeting (and in English, no less).

The meeting description is bureaucratically bland ("Participants reaffirmed their goal to combat global infringements of IPR, particularly in the context of counterfeiting and piracy, by increasing international cooperation, strengthening the framework of practices that contribute to effective enforcement, and strengthening relevant IPR enforcement measures themselves." Fascinating!), but does note that countries involved shared information on "fighting IPR infringements on the Internet." It remains unclear what may come of such discussions, but it certainly sounds as though ACTA will in fact extend beyond creating a better enforcement mechanism for stopping crates of Simpsons rip-off T-shirts." [ArsTechnica]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 19/12/08

2008-12-19T13:05:00.000+01:00

RIAA to end its “Sue The World” policy
“In a week dominated by the Leonard Cohen classic, can I just say "hallelujah". A year that began with the news all four majors had ended their kamikaze love affair with digital rights management, is ending with the news that the Recording Industry Association Of America is axing its other self-defeating, unhelpful, surely-record-company-execs-cant-be-this-dumb policy of suing individual music fans over their use of P2P file sharing technology to acquire or share unlicensed music.

From the word go the RIAA has been at the forefront of the litigious approach to tackling the piracy threat of the internet, which was good news for lawyers, but bad news for pretty much everyone else, not least the record companies who had to foot the bill for the legal campaign that was destined to fail from the word go, and which destroyed the already sagging reputation of the record industry at a time when it needed public and consumer support, partly because the labels were clearly going to have to develop direct customer relationships moving forward, and partly because it needed enough goodwill to fight for a re-evaluation of copyright systems.
The original strategy was to sue any company making P2P networking possible. But it soon became clear that suing Napster, Grokster, Kazaa et al was not effective because, even when the US courts eventually started to find in the labels' favour, the kids had always transferred their loyalties to newer P2P systems by the time older ones had been sued out of business.” [CMUDaily]

Culture announced an imminent "unpopular" measure against piracy
“Molina says that EU ministers have in their agenda actions against practices "illegitimate"

Today, Cesar Antonio Molina, the Spanish Culture Minister, announced that "not too late" there will be legislation, "which is likely to be unpopular" to regulate Internet piracy, a practice that has branded as "illegitimate" during the ‘Breakfast Briefing Europe Press’ and that, in his view, affects the whole culture.

Asked about the possibility of blinding access to Internet pirates repeat, Molina has stated that they are "exploring ways" and that "not too late there will be a regulation" this whole issue. Probably it’ll be a regulation that will be very unpopular, but what is unpopular, dilapidated and a disaster is that thousands of jobs that gives the culture will disappear by this illegal action. That can’t be allowed, he said.

Also, Molinas says that from the Ministry of Culture is struggling and acting very well" against piracy since "many fronts" and that at European ministers meetings is a "reiterative theme”, with the development of new laws and new forms of organization, to prevent piracy, "a termite that is destroying entire network of industry, to acquire such extreme shades."” [UFI]

Copyright cop wedding crashers fined by Spanish court
“The next time you have a wedding, make sure your videographer isn't a secret spy for the RIAA or similar copyright group. This real-life scenario happened to a couple in Spain thanks to the efforts of the Spanish General Society of Authors and Editors (SGAE), a rights group for musicians and artists. But although the group managed to bust the reception venue for copyright violations, SGAE itself has been fined for violating the privacy of the newlyweds.

The incident originally took place back in 2005, when SGAE snuck a private detective into the wedding reception acting as a cameraman. The group had suspected the venue—La Doma restaurant near Seville, Spain—for using music without paying royalties. Predictably, this series of events have horrified privacy advocates who argue that the couple's privacy was breached. As noted by The Sunday Times, however, the issue has come to light recently because SGAE has increased its efforts to catch venues that are avoiding royalty payments, and another, similar case is about to go to court.” [ArsTechnica]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 19/12/08

2008-12-19T13:02:00.000+01:00

Burnham puts moral case for term extension
“Culture secretary Andy Burnham has said there has “always been” a moral case at the heart of copyright law.

Defending the Government’s decision last week to extend copyright term from 50 to 70 years, Burnham writes “If someone produces exceptional work in their 20s that is still being listened to 50 years later, it is right that their earnings from it are not suddenly cut off when they are in their 70s. The argument here is that the person who creates a work should be able to enjoy the value of that for the duration of his or her natural life.”

Responding to an article in the Financial Times by Gowers Review author Andrew Gowers, Burnham also said it is a false argument to compare musicians with other professions such as sportspeople. “No one is going to profit from someone winning the 100 metres decades on from that victory, but, in a digital world…music continues to generate revenues far into the future.”

The culture secretary puts the case that a vegan rock star should not have to put up with seeing their music used to promote burgers and asks why should performers have to watch others profiting from their talent and creativity? “So there is a very clear moral case to extend copyright,” he writes.” [MusicWeek]

Andy Burnham: A practical and moral case for extending copyright
“The length of time that sound recordings remain in copyright is a controversial subject and for the past couple of years a debate has raged on whether to extend it from the present 50 years.

Andrew Gowers - who led the Gowers review of intellectual property - suggested it should remain at 50 years but that we should review it in the light of European considerations. Charlie McCreevy, European Union commissioner, subsequently came up with a different view: that it be extended to 95 years.

In the light of that, and in view of Mr McCreevy's argument about there being a moral case for extending it, the government has been looking at the issue again. John Denham and I, as the ministers responsible, felt that 95 years would be disproportionately long. But we do feel that there is a case for extending the term to a period of something like 70 years.” [FT]

Reaction: Any extension to copyright must look forward only
Letter from Mr Andrew Gowers, Head of External Relations, London Business School.

“Sir, Andy Burnham writes (“A practical and moral case for extending copyright”, December 16) that the government is looking for a “workable compromise” on copyright that will balance the interests of musicians, the music business, and purchasers and users of music. Understanding the enormous political pressure he and ministerial colleagues have been under on this issue, may I make a constructive suggestion?

If the government must consider extending copyright protection as Mr Burnham proposes, I suggest it does so on a forward-looking basis only. That way, ministers can address musicians’ concerns and marginally enhance incentives for creation, without creating an unwarranted windfall for music companies for past productions or breaching existing implicit contracts with the public.

This approach would also have the virtue of consistency, since the government did accept without question the recommendation of my review that “the term and scope of protection for IP rights should not be altered retrospectively”.” [FT]

Reaction: Look at it from engineer’s perspective
Letter from Mr Anthony Stansfield.

“Sir, Andy Burnham (December 16) argues for an extension of copyright to provide musicians with a continuing source of income long into their retirement, perhaps arising from work that they did in their 20s. Let me provide an alternative perspective.
I am an engineer. My creative work is protected by the patent system rather than by copyright. This provides protection for 20 years – not 50, or 70, and certainly not 95 years. It is possible that my work, or that of any other engineer, could still be in use after the expiry of this period, but it is very unlikely that royalties from inventions made even in my 40s will be directly contributing to my retirement income.
Mr Burnham asks: “Why should performers have to watch others profiting from their talent and creativity?” I would suggest that the answer for them is the same as it is for me – the intellectual property system provides a limited period for us to profit directly from our creative work, after which it becomes publicly available for others to build on, and develop in ways that we haven’t thought of.
We may be able to “enjoy the [monetary] value” for only a limited period, but can enjoy the ongoing impact of our work indefinitely.” [FT]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 19/12/08

2008-12-19T12:37:00.000+01:00

10 debut artists to receive 2009 European Border Breaker Awards (EBBAs) in Groningen, the Netherlands
“The winners of the 2009 European Union 'Border Breakers Awards' (EBBAs) have been chosen. Their awards will be presented in a show to be presented by British TV personality Jools Holland in Groningen on 15 January 2009. The show will be attended by Jan Figel', the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth and will be covered on television. In giving these awards the European Commission, in cooperation with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) wishes to reward debut artists' and groups' success in crossing national borders. At the same time the prizes highlight and promote the richness and diversity of European music, its creativity and its contribution to innovation.

This years' winners of an European Border Breakers Award are:
* Adele (UK) - “19”
* Alphabeat (DK) – “Alphabeat”
* AaRON (FR) – “Artificial Animals Riding on Neverland”
* Cinema Bizarre (DE) – “Final Attraction”
* The Dø (FR) – “A Mouthfull”
* Kraak & Smaak (NL)– “Boogie Angst”
* Ida Corr (DK) – “One”
* Lykke Li (SE) – “Youth Novels”
* The Script (IRL) – “The Script”
* The Ting Tings (UK) – “We Started Nothing”” [Europa]

Audiovisual Media Services without Frontiers: Frequently Asked Questions
“One year ago, on 19 December the Audiovisual Media Services Directive came into force (IP/07/1809). It provides a modern set of rules for Europe's audiovisual industry that covers all audiovisual media services – traditional as well as online and on-demand audiovisual content. It also makes EU rules on TV advertising less detailed and more flexible and focused on future trends to make it easier for service providers to finance their programmes and for users to recognise commercial messages.” [Europa]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 15/12/08

2008-12-15T23:21:00.002+01:00

UK consumers, Big Content battle over three-strikes rules December 01, 2008
"Although France's "graduated response" proceedings have attracted the most attention, the UK is in the midst of a consultation of its own on how to involve both content owners and ISPs in some sort of response to P2P file-sharing. The government is pushing a co-regulatory approach that would task industry groups with hashing out the details of such a plan, while the government would make sure that any agreement is fair, competitive, and preserves privacy. With all the responses now in, the UK music industry is clearly pleased that it won't have to pursue 6.5 million copyright infringers on its own. Digital rights groups are... less excited.

The entire consultation is helmed by BERR, the UK agency that handles Business, Enterprise, & Regulatory Reform, and it stems from the famous (in certain circles, anyway) Gowers Review of intellectual property that we covered extensively back in 2006. That report, which took a top-to-bottom look at UK copyright and IP policy, was stuffed with plenty of consumer-friendly ideas, such as no new copyright term extensions. But it also contained good news for rightsholders, such as a suggestion that the government step in if ISPs and rightsholders couldn't agree on how to handle the issue of P2P file-sharing." [ArsTechnica]

Voluntary campus-wide music licenses could stop the lawsuits December 08, 2008
"It takes a special knee-jerk churliness to jackboot the music industry in the proverbial groin every time it comes up with a new idea. Sure, some of these ideas (Hi, DRM-laden CDs!) make one want to spend an afternoon banging head against desk in existential despair over the low collective intelligence of the people in this world who make decisions. But the industry isn't staffed only with fair-use hating zombies and DRM lovers; the occasional human roams the hallways, sometimes hatching new schemes that aren't wholly stupid, ridiculous, or evil. When that happens, it's worth holding one's rhetorical fire until the idea is fully developed, offering encouragement and constructive criticism.

Of course, Internet groin kicks are easier. And think of the traffic! But they're not always helpful, not when you'd like the industry to get up and walk arm-in-arm into the sunset with users rather than lie in the street and issue subpoenas from the gutter." [ArsTechnica]

Masnick on the Music Tax Dec. 15, 2008
"I’m more sympathetic to EFF-style voluntary collective licensing than Mike Masnick is, but I have to say that the case he makes here is pretty compelling. I think this is really the key point:

What you’re doing is setting up a big, centrally planned and operated bureau of music, that officially determines the business model of the recording industry, figures out who gets paid, collects the money and pays some money out. The same record industry that has fought so hard against any innovation remains in charge and will have tremendous sway in setting the “rules.” The plan leaves no room for creativity. It leaves no room for innovation. It’s basically picking the only business model and encoding it in stone. [TechLiberation]

Taxing music at the ISP level: Good idea or bad? Dec 5^th
"Warner Music Group has a proposition for U.S. universities, according to Techdirt: buy a blanket license to music downloads through file-sharing services, or be sued.Techdirt thinks that this is a bad idea, and I disagree. Techdirt's criticisms are clear." [CNet]

Lessig’s call for a “simple blanket license” in Remix 01/12/08
"Lessig Remix coverI’m finishing up Stanford Law School professor Lawrence Lessig’s latest book, Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy and wanted to make a brief comment about his call for a “simple blanket license” to solve online music piracy.

Overall, I thought Prof. Lessig made a good case regarding the benefits of “remix culture” and why copyright law should leave breathing room for the various derivative works of amateur creators. On the other hand, Lessig still too often blurs remix culture with “ripoff culture” (i.e., those who aren’t out to create anything new but instead just take something without paying a penny for it).

To solve that latter problem, Lessig again endorses a proposal that William Fisher, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and others have made for collective licensing of all online music, but he fails to drill down into the devilish details. He says, for example, that “by authorizing a simple blanket licensing procedure, whereby users could, for a low fee, buy the right to freely file-share” we could “decriminalize file sharing.” " [TechLiberation]

Techdirt's Mike Masnick On Why a Music Tax Is a Mistake December 11, 2008
"Techdirt founder Mike Masnick has followed the twists and turns of the digital music debate for more than a decade, offering some of the most prescient and lucid information and arguments on the topic anywhere. Today he tackles growing calls for a voluntary music-licensing scheme, pushed most recently by Warner Music Group to universities, that would basically allow file sharing by having ISPs impose a surcharge on all users to be paid out to copyright holders. (A version of this has been done before with blank media like tape cassettes in some markets, including Canada, but this would be a massive expansion of the idea.)

Mike's take is not the final word on the matter, but it should be required reading for anyone interested in understanding where music is today and where it is headed. It is reproduced with permission below in its entirety. As he ably argues, the future of music is often confused with the future of the music business — but they are not the same thing at all. In fact, the interests of the music business, defined primarily as the major recording labels, is arguably one of the biggest impediments to moving music itself forward." [Wired]

EU Events Monitor - 15/12/08

2008-12-15T12:20:00.000+01:00

International Music Summit 2009
“The International Music Summit (IMS) is set to return to Ibiza on May 27-29th 2009 after swiftly establishing itself as one of the most talked about music conferences of the year. Last year’s hugely successful inaugural summit brought together 300 of the most influential players at the cutting edge of the electronic music industry, marking the successful arrival of the key business and networking event in the dance music calendar.” [RecordOfTheDay]

MIDEM’S Publishing Summit
“MIDEM, with the International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP), and media partners MUSIC CONFIDENTIAL and the Music Publishers Assn.’s IMPACT, are presenting the first International Publishing Summit on Tuesday, Jan. 20, at MIDEM in Cannes.” [MusicConfidential]

Music News Bulletin - 15/12/08

2008-12-15T12:14:00.000+01:00

Chrysalis Halts Takeover Talks
“British music company Chrysalis Plc has terminated all talks related to a possible offer for the company, but says it continues to evaluate other opportunities. Shares of the company were down 12% or 7.75 pence (11.6 cents) at 57.25 pence (85.6 cents) this afternoon.

On Sept. 17, Chrysalis said it had received very tentative approaches from a number of parties "suggesting a variety of collaborative transactions, including a possible offer for the company". The company now confirmed it was no longer deemed to be in an "offer period."” [BillBoard]

Warner expand Northern Europe Indie Distribution
“And now news of expansion in the distribution sector - because it does happen on occasion. Warner Music's independent label distribution division, the Alternative Distribution Alliance, has launched a new Nordic operation providing digital and physical distribution services for indie labels in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

The new division will be run by Jesper Thorsson, formerly of Swedish indie the Bonnier Amigo Music Group, who told reporters: "ADA Nordic has been created specifically to offer the best service and support to the region's diverse, dynamic community of indie labels. We will provide our partners and their outstanding artists with a host of new opportunities via our powerful distribution footprint, strong sales philosophy and commitment to assist in long-term artist development".” [CMUDaily]

[PIAS] UK DVD extends service
“[PIAS] UK DVD will refine its service from January 2009 to enable its labels to benefit from an improved product management, marketing and sales offering.[PIAS] UK DVD will continue to represent all labels currently on its roster, but will also offer an enhanced label management and marketing service. In addition, Lace Digital Media Sales (LDMS), the DVD sales specialists, will be employed as the sales agency for [PIAS] UK DVD distributed releases.” [RecordOfTheDay]

Music sales defy the crunch
“The doom and gloom surrounding the economy was given short shrift by record buyers last week, with sales topping the equivalent 2007 levels for the second week in a row and Take That’s new album, The Circus making a huge debut. Overcoming the fact that - like many of last week’s new releases - it isn’t available in Woolworths, The Circus by Take That nevertheless scorches to sensational first week sales of 432,490 to earn the Mancunian quartet its fifth number one, while simultaneously eclipsing the band’s own previous best first-week sales and setting a new 2008 benchmark.

Selling for as little as £5.88 on CD (Asda) and £3 as a download (Amazon) – both the lowest prices ever for a number one album in those formats - The Circus was released two years to the week after Take That’s comeback album Beautiful World, which opened at number one on sales of 168,954. Beautiful World subsequently sold 443,070 copies on its fourth week in the chart to secure the second highest one week sale by any act in the 21st century, behind the 464,471 copies that Coldplay’s X&Y sold on its first week in 2003.” [MusicWeek]

Rumor: Apple's iTunes going DRM-free starting Tuesday
“Apple is believed to be on the verge of an end-of-year push that would start by finally offering unprotected iTunes Store music from all major labels and would switch a special post-holiday campaign giving away music and videos to Europeans.

A report from last week brought to AppleInsider's attention by French technology site ElectronLibre asserts that it's now "clear" Apple will spark new interest in its music store by removing DRM from tracks published by Sony, Universal and Warner on December 9th.” [AppleInsider]

Music News Bulletin - 15/12/08

2008-12-15T11:52:00.000+01:00

Distributor EUK Winds Down, 700 Jobs Cut
"Entertainment wholesale distributor EUK has failed to attract a buyer and the business will now be wound down by the administrators. EUK, which was part of Woolworths Group, will continue to operate with a reduced workforce of 375 employees. Seven hundred employees were made redundant today (Dec. 12) and efforts to sell the business as a going concern will be scaled down.

EUK was placed in administration - roughly equivalent to Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. - on Nov. 27 along with Woolworths' retail business. The 800-plus stores launched a closing down sale yesterday (Dec. 12). EUK's customers include entertainment retailer Zavvi and mass merchants Sainsbury and Asda as well as Woolworths. However, stores were forced to seek alternative supplies when EUK failed to provide key titles by Take That and Britney Spears on Dec. 1." [BillBoard]

EUK to be wound down
"Administrators are to wind down EUK after Deloitte failed to find a buyer for the distributor. A skeleton staff of 375 employees will stay on at EUK to help with the process of winding down but the move means the immediate loss of 700 jobs.

Staff were told this morning that Deloitte had failed to find a buyer for EUK, after an interested party pulled out earlier in the week. Dan Butters, joint administrator and reorganisation services partner at Deloitte, says, “Regrettably, despite our continued efforts, we have been unable to identify a suitable buyer for the business. Whilst we will continue to consider offers for the sale of the business as a going concern, we will now focus on realising value from the company’s assets." [MusicWeek]

ERA calls for calm
"The Entertainment Retailers Association has called on labels to support music retail in the wake of the crisis at Woolworths/EUK and the ongoing problems of Zavvi.

Administrator Deloitte said last Friday that it was winding down EUK, after failing to find a buyer, while Woolworths’ stores embarked last week on a whirlwind “closing-down” sale. Meanwhile, Zavvi was forced to deny stories that its creditors had called in an emergency restructuring team.

ERA, which represents retailers of music, video, DVD and computer games, is warning that unless suppliers continue to trade on normal credit terms with the retailers caught up in these difficult situations, they could create further difficulties in the market." [MusicWeek]

AIM Lawyers Cancel Pinnacle Contracts
“Independent labels' trade body AIM's lawyers have written to the administrators of Pinnacle terminating dozens of labels' contracts with the distributor.

The independent distributor based in Sidcup, Kent went into administration - roughly equivalent to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. - on Dec. 3. AIM held an emergency meeting at is west London HQ yesterday for labels affected.

A letter has now been sent on behalf of 92 labels to the administrators BDO Stoy Hayward. The letter states that the 92 labels are terminating their agreements with Pinnacle and asks for confirmation that the labels can collect their stock from the premises.” [BillBoard]

Pinnacle Administration
“Administrators were appointed on Wednesday 3rd December in respect of Pinnacle, one of the UK’s oldest and largest independent distributors. An emergency meeting was held at AIM (The Association of Independent Music), and we have appointed Martyn Bailey from Forbes Anderson Free and barrister Philip Flower to take appropriate action.

A letter has been sent today on behalf of 92 labels to the administrators BDO Stoy Hayward terminating their agreements with Pinnacle and asking for confirmation from the administrators that the labels can collect their stock from the premises.” [RecordOfTheDay]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 15/12/08

2008-12-15T11:34:00.000+01:00

EIB gets an extra €30bn for infrastructure projects
"Funds will be directed primarily towards into new member states. The European Investment Bank (EIB) will spend an extra €30 billion on projects over the next two years following an agreement at last week's meeting of EU finance minister to increase the bank's capital.

The bank's reserves were increased from €67bn to €232bn to allow continued funding of current projects and financing of future projects. The immediate effect will be extra money during 2009-10 for the bank's main project areas." [EuropeanVoice]

US Sues Sony Music Over Children's Online Privacy
"Sony Music Entertainment was sued on Wednesday by the U.S. government, which claimed the music company violated federal rules aimed at protecting the online privacy of children. Sony Music improperly accepted registrations on its music Web sites from users who were under 13, without obtaining consent from their parents, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan." [BillBoard]

Canadian Copyright Board Raises Tax
"The Canadian Copyright Board has announced it will raise the tax on blank compact discs to 29¢ (US$0.23), a 38% increase. Previously the tariff on blank recordable CDs was 21¢ (US$0.1679).

The tariff is collected on behalf of the Canadian Private Copying Collective, an organization formed in 1999 and created to collect money that compensates musicians and stakeholders for having their music copied by individuals. The decision leaves the rate for audio cassettes at 24¢
The board says there were two reasons for the increase.

“First, increased mechanical licence royalties, coupled with the elimination of container deductions and free goods allowances in the calculation of the performers' and makers' remuneration, greatly add to our estimation of the total remuneration per prerecorded CD," the board said in a report. "Second, the use of compression technology raises from 15 to 18.4 the average number of tracks copied on a blank CD used to copy music."" [BillBoard]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 15/12/08

2008-12-15T11:22:00.000+01:00

UK plays term numbers game
"A 70-year copyright term is a possibility as UK offers alternative to EC’s 95 years
Europe’s delicately-balanced debate on copyright term is about to be blown out of the water, with the UK Government now poised to tell member states that it is prepared to see an extension to 70 years.

The UK, one of Europe’s biggest music producers, has steadfastly opposed the Charlie McCreevy-sponsored Directive to increase copyright term. While Germany, France and other states have broadly supported the Internal Markets Commissioner’s proposal to extend copyright term from 50 to 95 years, the UK has stuck to the findings of the 2006 Gowers Review, which did not recommend extension.

However, that position – and Gowers’ – was blown apart last Thursday when Culture Secretary Andy Burnham told a conference that he is now working with Department for Innovation Universities and Skills Secretary of state John Denham to “consider the arguments for an extension of copyright term for performers from the current 50 years. An extension to match more closely a performer’s expected lifetime, perhaps something like 70 years”. Senior executives now expect the Government to formally tell the European Council about this monumental U-turn early in the New Year. And that will undoubtedly radically shift the way the debate is progressing." [MusicWeek]

Copyright extension is out of tune with reality
"Politicians often do and say silly things when they come into contact with celebrities.
So it was last Thursday when a star-struck Andy Burnham, Britain's secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport, showed up for a speech and photo-opportunity with the former lead singer of the Undertones, a punk-pop combo of the 1970s. In addition to the usual pleasantries about Britain's creative industries, Mr Burnham set out a novel argument about the law of copyright protecting musicians' work.

There was, he said, "a moral case" for performers - who often do their best recorded work in their 20s and 30s - to benefit from it throughout their lifetime. The government would therefore consider extending copyright for recordings to 70 years from the present 50." [FT]

Copyright law 'could be extended'
"Culture minister Andy Burnham has said the government has changed its mind on allowing performers to make money from their music for 70 years. Performers currently lose the copyright to their recordings after 50 years. "It's only right that someone who created or contributed to something of real value gets to benefit for the full course of their life," he said. Sir Cliff Richard and Roger Daltrey were among those who have campaigned for copyright to be extended." [BBC]

UK ignores logic, backs 20-year music copyright extension
"After a UK government-led commission said that the current 50-year term for musical copyrights was fine, and the government last year publicly agreed that there was no need to extend the term, culture minister Andy Burnham yesterday made the logical follow-up announcement that yes, the government would now push for a 20-year extension on copyright. Turns out, it's the moral thing to do." [ArsTechnica]

EU Parliament Monitor - 15/12/08

2008-12-15T11:18:00.000+01:00

Briefing - 15-18 December 2008 - Strasbourg plenary session
[Europa]

The Week Ahead 15-21 December 2008: Plenary Session in Strasbourg
[Europa]

Lisbon deal could change size of European Parliament
"French proposal would result in a Parliament with 754 MEPs from 2010; deal also outlines means of managing transition to new form of presidency. Part of an emerging deal triggered by efforts to convince the Irish to approve the Treaty of Lisbon by October 2009 is a plan that would leave the European Parliament with fewer MEPs than it currently has but more than currently envisaged in the Lisbon treaty.

EU leaders are today discussing the offer of a set of guarantees that it hopes will help the Irish government convince its electorate to adopt the reform treaty, but the most likely timeline for a referendum – by October 2009 – would mean that the European Parliament elections in June would be held under rules set out in the Treaty of Nice. Those stipulate that the number of MEPs should be cut from the current 785 to 736. If the Lisbon treaty were in force by then, the assembly would have 751 members." [EuropeanVoice]

EU Council Monitor - 15/12/08

2008-12-15T11:09:00.000+01:00

December European Council
"The European Council on 11 and 12 December 2008 approved a European Economic Recovery Plan, equivalent to about 1,5 % of the GDP of the European Union (a figure amounting to around EUR 200 billion). The plan provides a common framework for the efforts made by Member States and by the European Union, with a view to ensuring consistency and maximising effectiveness.

The European Council also reached agreement on the energy/climate change package which should enable this package to be finalised with the European Parliament by the end of the year. This decisive breakthrough will enable the European Union to honour the ambitious commitments entered into in this area in 2007 to maintain its leading role in the search for an ambitious and comprehensive global agreement at Copenhagen next year.

The European Council demonstrated its intent, through concrete decisions, to give new impetus to the European Security and Defence Policy in order to meet the new security challenges.
Lastly, the European Council discussed the factors designed to respond to the concerns expressed during the Irish referendum and established an approach to enable the Treaty of Lisbon to come into force before the end of 2009." [Europa]

France to give account of presidency to Parliament
"Working-time directive and budget will feature on an agenda dominated by a review of France's presidency of the EU and of the EU summit. The European Parliament is meeting for its last plenary session of the year and the four-day session, from 15 to 18 December, will have a distinct end-of-year feel, with the French providing a review of their presidency of the EU.

On 16 December, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will present to MEPs an overall review of the French presidency as well as the specific results of the EU summit of 11-12 December, focusing on the economy, the climate-change package, and the deal struck in a bid to convince the Irish to adopt the Treaty of Lisbon.

Accounts of the French presidency will be presented to the Parliament's Economic Committee on 15 December by Finance Minister Christine Lagarde and, on 16 December, to the Constitutional Affairs Committee by Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. Both ministers will essentially provide a run-down of the developments in their policy fields agreed during the French presidency." [EuropeanVoice]

EU Commission Education and Training Culture and Youth - 15/12/08

2008-12-15T11:03:00.000+01:00

Culture: the first Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Seminar on Cultural Diversity 15-16 December 2008
"The European Commission and the Vietnamese authorities are jointly organising an ASEM Seminar "Preserving and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions: sharing Asian and European experiences", which takes place in Hanoi, Vietnam on 15-16 December 2008. The aim of this event is to gather reflections on how to preserve and promote the diversity of cultural expressions, while sharing the rich Asian and European experiences in this field." [Europa]

Culture Programme Conference "Culture in Motion" 12 December 2008
"The first Conference on the EU's flagship funding programme in the area of culture, the Culture Programme 2007 – 2013, took place on Friday, 12 December. The Conference presented past and on-going project results from the current and previous EU Culture Programmes. The aim of the event was to enable an exchange of experience and good practices between cultural operators and programme beneficiaries." [Europa]

EU Commission Internal Market - 15/12/08

2008-12-15T10:55:00.000+01:00

Speech by Commissioner McCreevy at Creators Conference organised by UK Music
11 December 2008
"Ladies and Gentlemen, It is well known that there is no place I like better than to be among innovators, entrepreneurs and business people. I usually address people involved in the more main stream industries – manufacturers of goods and suppliers of services. And while the entertainment business is far more glamorous than manufacturing widgets, at the end of the day it's all about making a living and being paid for your creativity and innovation. So it is a great pleasure for me to be here this morning to speak to such an illustrious group of artists and creators. And I would like to take this opportunity to explain why I, the Commissioner for the Internal Market – usually associated with big banks and other large financial industries – launched a proposal to obtain 'a better deal for performers'.

First and foremost, I consider copyright and the music industry to be just as important as any other part of my portfolio – not only in terms of the economic and cultural benefits it brings to the European Union, but perhaps even more importantly because of the entertainment and feel good factor music brings to our daily lives." [Europa]

McCreevy tells industry to sort out performer fund
"The success of copyright term extension could hinge on how quickly the industry agrees to divvy up the performer fund proposed by Charlie McCreevy in his Directive. The EC Internal Market commissioner, who proposed extending copyright from 50 to 95 years, in February also proposed a fund should be set aside for session musicians.

In the proposal he said that the performers would get 20% of gross revenue generated in the extended term. However, various sectors of the industry are also keen that featured artists benefit from the fund and there have been talks between the BPI, Musicians’ Union and Music Managers Forum to resolve this issue." [MusicWeek]

Music News Bulletin - 13/12/08

2008-12-13T01:54:00.001+01:00

For the fans, by the fans...are fan driven private concerts the next big movement? December 8, 2008
"There are many entrepreneurs who are working on the next frontier of filtering great music to the world through technology. The industry is currently awaiting the release of the 'silver bullet' technology that can dissect good from great music and the relativity of that music by user group and then geographic preference. While this is bound to be on the horizon there has to be a means that every world class musician can develop a sustainable business making great music by bonding with their true fans.

Why Private Concerts? Private concerts started when music was first on the scene back in the days the Kings and Queens utilized their free time bringing in the top musicians from their town to perform private concerts for them and their friends. The best musicians back in the 1700's would be summoned to the castles to play for a group of elite socialites that the only reason to come to the castle, other then to fufil the request from the King, was to listen to the best music in that given region. After these private concerts, these musicians where considered royalty by the guests (fans) and continued to be considered, and paid, as the top entertainment of those times." [MusicThinkTank]

Live music as accessible as water...next hyper growth market?
"In the multi-billion dollar paid entertainment marketplace, live music currently makes up only 2% of total spending. In today's world of economic challenge, the entertainment pie is not going to get any bigger and it will most likely shrink. For one segment to grow, it has to take dollars away from other segments of the entertainment pie. Movies are the top magnet for entertainment dollars, for every $1 spent on live music, $7.60 is spent on trips to movie theatres. Artists should consider fan-driven-private-concerts to grow their slice of the entertainment pie."
[MusicThinkTank]

The 3 dimensions of the music Long Tail December 13, 2008
"So we're all familiar with The Long Tail, right? The idea that the internet facilitates a massive number of low selling, low impact products/services/entities to exist because of the very low cost of having a presence, which when combined make up a very significant chunk of the market.

In music it's been the shift from hundreds of artists selling millions of records to millions of artists selling hundreds of records. Or downloads. Normally, everything in the long tail is grouped together as the low-sales stuff, whether that's things that once sold a shed-load of copies but now have very little commercial traction (back catalogue material) or artists that are producing current, vital work but selling in smaller numbers." [MusicThinkTank]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 02/12/08

2008-12-10T18:18:00.000+01:00

EC pares down plans for telecoms super-regulator Dec 2008
"The European Commission has agreed to pare back plans for a telecoms super-regulator, following a European Parliament vote in September.

Telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding had wanted a large body that could manage and potentially overrule national regulatory bodies such as the UK's Ofcom. However, she faced strong opposition from the national regulators and, on Friday, the Commission announced a new version of the proposed legislation, providing for a body of just 20 members — half of whom would be seconded from the national regulators themselves." [ZDNet]

Gov't launches £30m fund for small tech businesses 02 Dec 2008
"Business secretary Peter Mandelson on Monday announced a £30m fund for small to medium-sized technology companies.

As part of its Enterprise Capital Funds programme, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Berr) will make the funds available to information technology, electronics and instrumentation companies seeking investment capital. The fund will be managed by TTP Ventures." [ZDNet]

Music News Bulletin - 08/12/08

2008-12-08T23:28:00.000+01:00

Terry McBride Explains How Nettwerk Puts Fans In Control
"Mark Glaser has an absolute must-read interview with music label Nettwerk's CEO Terry McBride. Nettwerk, of course, has been one of a few record labels that really understands how the market has been changing, and has moved aggressively to take advantage of that. The label, which represents some top artists like Coldplay, Barenaked Ladies, K-OS and Avril Lavigne, got a lot of press a couple years back when it agreed to pay for the defense of some folks who were sued by the RIAA for file sharing. But, much more interesting was how it was actively embracing the changing market while other record labels were trying to hold back the tide. I don't agree with everything McBride has to say, but he's a lot closer to understanding where the music market is heading than pretty much everyone else we've seen in the recording industry.

You should really read the entire interview, but a few highlights are things like where he points out that musicians and record labels should be selling the overall brand, not the music." [TechDirt]

This Kraken fights for good December 4, 2008
"If you're up on your pirate lore, or perhaps have your Pirates of the Caribbean plot flow-chart handy, you'll know that sea-faring criminals are no friends of Johnny Depp-devouring monsters. As it goes on the high CGI seas, so follow the stormy waters of the Firefox add-on world. Yesterday's Pirates of the Amazon plug-in, which adds torrent links to songs and movies in the Amazon.com store, is met today by The Kraken, a plug-in that adds Amazon.com links to torrent Web sites.

The Kraken is extremely simple and there's no configuration required. When you visit popular torrent Web sites The Pirate Bay or MiniNova and search, Kraken will insert its own results box at the top of the site's search engine results that links back to Amazon.com. Kraken did not work with ISOHunt, Torrentz, or TorrentReactor when I checked them." [Download]

Three Major Record Labels Join the 'Choruss' December 08, 2008
"U.S. universities are getting a glimpse at a plan that would build a small music-royalty fee into the tuition payments they receive from students. If successful, the model — proposed by digital music strategist Jim Griffin on behalf of Warner Music Group — could be expanded to make ISPs the collector of such micropayments, eliminating some of the most irksome and contentious issues dividing the music industry and its customers.

An industry source told Wired.com that the independent nonprofit organization that would collect funds from universities and ISPs and disburse them to copyright holders will be called Choruss and that three of the four major labels have signed on, with Universal the remaining holdout. A simple whois lookup revealed that Griffin's OneHouse Digital registered the Choruss.com domain in August." [Wired]

'We Didn't Want to See the Future': Q&A With Ex-Sony Lawyer Steve Gordon 12/03/08
"Steve Gordon was in the room the day Sony executives learned about Napster. He also took part in some of the decisions on how to deal with the advent of digital music. Now, he's written a book on how to succeed in the new digital age. Blake Glenn interviews him.

In 1999 at a Sony (NYSE: SNE) Latest News about Sony Music corporate meeting, the room was filled with Sony executives and attorneys from across the globe. At one point, one of the Sony attorneys gave a presentation on two music services. One was the Sony music service and the other was a tiny, fledgling service." [TechWorldNews]

Music News Bulletin - 05/12/08

2008-12-05T17:16:00.000+01:00

AIM Advises Labels On Pinnacle
"U.K. independent labels trade body AIM has called an emergency meeting after independent distribution company Pinnacle Entertainment went into administration. Although calls at the company's HQ in Sidcup, Kent were not answered, accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward confirmed it had been appointed as the administrator today (Dec. 3). The move is roughly equivalent to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Following an initial review of the company, 94 staff have been made redundant.

Pinnacle claimed to distribute releases from more than 400 record labels, as well as DVDs and software. It handled releases by Dramatico, including Katie Melua, as well as Bella Union and One Little Indian. "The Katie Melua Collection" is one of the biggest current releases affected." [Billboard]

Pinnacle Collapse A 'Nightmare' For Indies
"U.K. independent labels' representatives have consulted a lawyer through trade body AIM after independent distribution company Pinnacle went into administration on Dec. 3, roughly equivalent to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Around 60 labels were represented at the meeting today (Dec. 4) at AIM's HQ in Chiswick, west London, along with authors' collecting society MCPS, iTunes and Pinnacle's digital management partner Consolidated Independent.

The mood was described as "very serious" by one attendee, although Cooking Vinyl founder and managing director Martin Goldschmidt tells Billboard.biz, "It's a horrible time but the meeting was very productive."
At least 300 physical release labels are affected and even more digital labels; U.S. acts affected include Sub Pop's Fleet Foxes, licensed to Bella Union in the U.K.

Label bosses consulted with barrister Philip Flower, a specialist in corporate insolvency. It has emerged that many labels are unhappy with the terms offered by the administrators BDO Stoy Hayward regarding the return of stock." [Billboard]

Pinnacle goes into administration
"Distributor Pinnacle has gone into administration, with the loss of 94 jobs. The company, which distributes labels such as Dramatico and One Little Indian, reportedly told staff the news this morning. Senior executives are believed to be in meetings this afternoon in an attempt to resolve the situation.

Staff are not answering phones at the company’s Sidcup headquarters and there is no indication on its website www.pinnacle-entertainment.co.uk. However, adminstrators Matthew Tait and David Gilbert at BDO Stoy Hayward confirmed the news this afternoon." [MusicWeek]

Amazon MP3 launches in the UK
"Amazon has soft launched its long-awaited MP3 store in the UK, offering MP3 downloads from all four of the majors and several independent labels at bargain prices. Amazon launched its MP3 store in the US late in 2007 and promised at Midem 2008 that it would roll this out globally by the end of the year.

The launch has been long rumoured, with early reports suggesting that it would launch in September. The site, which operates off the main Amazon.co.uk site, is competing on price, with albums such as Take That’s The Circus available for just £3. Hits such as Girls Alouds’ Promises are available at 59p. Tracks on the site are encoded using variable bit rates for maximum audio quality and smaller file sizes, aiming at an average of 256kbps." [MusicWeek]

Online seen claiming 41 pct share of U.S. music market
"Digital music sales account for 18 percent of the U.S. music market and that figure will grow to 41 percent in five years, Forrester Research said in a report released on Monday. The report titled "U.S. Music Forecast, 2008 to 2013" also forecast that 55 percent of U.S. online consumers will pay to download digital music in 2013.

JupiterResearch, a division of Massachusetts-based independent company Forrester Research, said in the report that growth in digital music sales will not compensate for declining CD sales, with the overall U.S. music market shrinking over the next five years from its current level of $10.2 billion to $9.8 billion.

The report also noted crossover between CD and digital music purchases. In a survey, researchers found that 64 percent of subscribers to digital music services and 57 percent of consumers who download music have bought a CD in a store in the past year.

The Forrester Research report comes as digital music sales have emerged as the main growth sector for the U.S. music industry. While online piracy has long accounted for the bulk of digital music downloads, the Forrester Research report noted that paying for music downloads is increasingly popular. The researchers also credited companies such as Amazon.com Inc with helping propel digital music sales by allowing consumers to buy digital music that can be transferred between different devices without restrictions." [Reuters]

Worst Industry Statement of 2008
"Seymour Stein, VP at Warner Music Group and founder of Sire Records, as quoted by the Globe and Mail: We blew it. The first major music labels were all phonograph manufacturers, but by the time the Beatles came along, most companies were no longer involved in the hardware. Had we remained in control of the hardware, we wouldn't be hurting as much as we are now. And the iPod would be ours.

This is a joke, right? I get his attempt at logic, but the argument is not only quite a stretch, it is a sad combination of wishful thinking and Monday morning quarterbacking. More realistic would be something like, "We should have got into management, ticketing, e-commerce and merchandise when we had the chance." Either way, such exercises are moot. No point talking about what could have been. Just worry about what is possible." [Coolfer]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 05/12/08

2008-12-05T16:55:00.000+01:00

Industry welcomes Danish Pirate Bay Ruling
"A gaggle of trade body spokesmen, and that is the correct collective noun, in case you wondered, lined up to welcome a ruling in the Danish courts this week which upheld a previous ruling that Denmark-based internet service provider Sonofon is obliged to block access to The Pirate Bay website, because the site is responsible for mass copyright infringement.

The Pirate Bay, of course, is the most blatant of the BitTorrent trackers who provide access to all kinds of illegal sources of digital content. The Swedish based enterprise has continued to operate despite a number of court rulings against them. The people behind the website are facing prosecution in Sweden and could be in court as soon as February.
But the Danish case centered on ISP Sonofon who have been told they have to block access to The Pirate Bay, but who aren't so keen on doing so. They appealed an earlier ruling that ordered the blocking, but Denmark's appeal court upheld the original order on Wednesday." [CMUDaily]

New Firefox extension turns Amazon.com into illegal free-for-all
"A new Firefox extension called Pirates of the Amazon lets users download movies, games, TV shows, and MP3s free of charge by cross referencing Amazon's product pages with torrent files from the Pirate Bay.
If the content can be found on the Pirate Bay's search index it shows up as a "Download 4 Free" link on the top of the Amazon product page. This links directly to the hosted .torrent tracker file, letting the user avoid having to make a purchase from Amazon in place of acquiring it illegally via BitTorrent." [RecordOfTheDay]

Une vidéo sur les dessous du projet de loi Création et Internet
"La chaîne Public Sénat a consacré un des numéros de son émission les Dessous de la Loi, à la gestion de la loi Création et Internet. Un reportage intéressant en ce qu’il permet de replacer le texte dans son contexte et découvrir certains de ses dessous.

Au fil de l’émission, la parole est donnée aux principaux protagonistes de Christine Abanel, à Jérémie Zimmerman de la Quadrature du net, en passant par la SACEM, Pascal Nègre ou Mano Solo ou les inévitables Clément et Alexandre de la Chanson du Dimanche. Les divisions du PS, les positions de la Commission des affaires économiques, très sensibilisée aux conséquences de la coupure sur les réseaux sont également remis en lumière." [PCInpact]

A successful EU organisation
"The Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market has approved more than 500,000 applications for EU-wide trademarks since it was created in 1996.

The Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) is not the best known of EU organisations but it is arguably one of the most successful. The office, which grants Community-wide trademarks, has just approved its 500,000th application. It finances itself entirely from the fees it charges for trademark registration and is expecting to generate a surplus of €65 million this year. It has already built up reserves of €350m, which have made it possible to cut the registration fee to less than €1,000, down from €1,700 since 2005 and €2,075 from 1996 when the office became operational." [EuropeanVoice]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 05/12/08

2008-12-05T16:29:00.000+01:00

Stepping up the fight against piracy
"The EU struggles to come up with an effective set-up for intellectual property rights. The EU constantly stresses the importance of promoting a knowledge-based economy. But one of the crucial components of a knowledge-based economy, as the European Commission and national governments have repeatedly acknowledged, is an effective set-up for protecting intellectual property rights. Without protection for intellectual property, runs the argument, inventors and innovators will take their talents elsewhere and businesses will not develop the new products, services and technologies needed if the EU is to be an area of innovation.

Holders of intellectual property rights need to be sure that the revenue from their brands and inventions is maximised and counterfeiting and piracy is adequately tackled both inside the Union and in the rest of the world." [EuropeanVoice]

Can the EU protect intellectual property? (I) by Karin Riis-Jørgensen MEP
"Europe needs modern solutions to tackle the problems that counterfeiters of digital and physical goods pose to intellectual property rights. There is no doubt that protection of intellectual property is and will be one of the major challenges for Europe in the future. In a global world we need to protect our property rights and trademarks. The growth of the counterfeiting industry is partly a consequence of globalisation, since more than half of the counterfeit goods that come to Europe are from China. But globalisation is also the reason why we need to protect our trademarks. For many companies, production is no longer profitable in Europe, but development is. And that is what we are good at in Europe and what we need to protect. If new designs and goods are copied as soon as they enter the market, development will no longer be profitable in Europe." [EuropeanVoice]

Can the EU protect intellectual property? (II) by Arlene McCarthy MEP
"Counterfeiting and piracy pose serious threats to business and governments, but also put European consumers at great risk. Global counterfeiting and piracy continues to rise. It accounts for some 7% of world trade and in 2007 European customs officers registered more than 43,000 cases of fake goods seized at the EU's external border, compared to 37,000 in 2006. An increase of almost 17%.

Legitimate business is damaged by the loss of sales haemorrhaging to counterfeit and pirated goods and services. Europe is a centre of excellence for promoting innovation and creative products. The creative media and business information sector alone is worth more than €350 billion, but counterfeiting and piracy rob entre-preneurs of vital resources for research and development investment in new innovative products and services, and undermine Europe's attempt to increase its competitiveness and create jobs." [EuropeanVoice]

Canadian Copyright Board Opens Hearing On Music Tariffs
"The Canadian Copyright Board kicked off a large-scale hearing today in Ottawa over arguments about multiple tariffs that cover everything from performing rights in songs to mechanical reproduction rights.
"It's sure to be a landmark hearing, if only because it's the first time that the board has combined all radio-related tariffs into a single proceeding," says David Basskin, president of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA).

The hearing will take more than a week and will hear debates over several tariffs, including those brought forward by the Society of Authors, Composers, and Music Publishers of Canada for performing rights in songs, an application by CMRRA and Société professionnelle des auteurs et des compositeurs du Québec dealing with reproduction rights, the Neighbouring Rights Collective of Canada and La Société de gestion collective de l'Union des artistes involving performing rights as well as the AVLA Audio-Video Licensing Agency and Quebec Collective Society for the Rights of Makers of Sound and Video Recordings." [Billboard]

Exclusive: Indies vs. Spain
In a desperate move to save jobs and preserve a hard-built cultural and commercial industry, a group of music companies and retailers are nearing a decision to file a legal action against the government of Spain, Music Confidential has learned. Executives believe the government is shirking its responsibility to protect the companies' intellectual property and commercial rights from Internet piracy.

Not only would this be the first lawsuit of its kind, but the twist is that it is not being led by multinational corporations. This move is driven by small- and medium-sized independent Spanish enterprises. Sources say that at least one other independent music group will also be monitoring their progress with an eye toward filing similar actions against the governments of other European Union member states. The governments of Germany and Italy may be next in line. [MusicConfidential]

Merlin honoured by Spanish government
"Indie global rights agency Merlin has been honoured at the International Forum on Digital Content (FICOD) in Madrid. Merlin board member Mark Kitcatt was presented with the award for Improving Competition For Independent Music Companies by Spanish Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Sr. D. Miguel Sebastian.
The award recognises the work that Merlin is doing to enhance the ability of independents to access the online space and to develop the digital market.

Merlin CEO Charles Caldas says, “We are delighted to have received this award and that the tremendous efficiency and global reach that Merlin provides those wishing to license the world’s most exciting and commercially valuable independent repertoire has been recognised.”" [MusicWeek]

Burnham to keep pressure on ISPs
Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has again signalled that the Government is in no mood for messing and will legislate should ISPs not make progress on piracy. Speaking at last night’s Squaring The Circle MusicTank, which was the final of four networking sessions examining alternatives to illegal file sharing, Burnham told industry executives that he is “determined to bring the issue to a conclusion”. He added that pressure will be kept on the ISPs to ensure progress with the ongoing Memorandum of Understanding does not slip.

Burnham told the networking group, which also featured contributions from Dan Klein, Detica media accounts director, Simon Persoff, Orange UK director, legal and regulatory and Richard Mollet, the BPI’s public affairs director, that the success of the MoU will be seen over a two to three year timescale and that the parties need to “find solutions which reward creators. It is in the public interest for there to be a workable system of copyright.”
He added that the creative industries and the internet are now mainstream, so the debate is changing and the need for government to have a role is becoming clearer – “the internet is not a place where governments can’t go”." [MusicWeek]

UK consumers, Big Content battle over three-strikes rules
"Although France's "graduated response" proceedings have attracted the most attention, the UK is in the midst of a consultation of its own on how to involve both content owners and ISPs in some sort of response to P2P file-sharing. The government is pushing a co-regulatory approach that would task industry groups with hashing out the details of such a plan, while the government would make sure that any agreement is fair, competitive, and preserves privacy. With all the responses now in, the UK music industry is clearly pleased that it won't have to pursue 6.5 million copyright infringers on its own. Digital rights groups are... less excited.

The entire consultation is helmed by BERR , the UK agency that handles Business, Enterprise, & Regulatory Reform, and it stems from the famous (in certain circles, anyway) Gowers Review of intellectual property that we covered extensively back in 2006 . That report, which took a top-to-bottom look at UK copyright and IP policy, was stuffed with plenty of consumer-friendly ideas, such as no new copyright term extensions. But it also contained good news for rightsholders, such as a suggestion that the government step in if ISPs and rightsholders couldn't agree on how to handle the issue of P2P file-sharing." [ArsTechnica]

ISPs sign voluntary code on speed
""BT, Virgin Media, Talk Talk and Tiscali are among a group of Internet Service Providers which have signed up to Ofcom’s new voluntary code of practice governing broadband speeds.
Ofcom had found a rising number of ISPs were selling their services by claiming faster and faster broadband speeds to download music, games and films. But, few customers were seeing the tangible benefits.
The regulator, therefore, asked ISPs to provide better and more realistic information and sign up to the code of practice on how they present broadband speeds.
The eight principles of the code cover areas such as training and information at point of sale to ensure that customers are aware that they might not get the maximum speed advertised because of technical or other factors. The code also ensures every ISP must have trustworthy systems to find the cause of a speed problem and take steps to fix any issue that is down to them." [MusicWeek]

EU Parliament Monitor - 05/12/08

2008-12-05T16:20:00.000+01:00

Future price cap proposals for mobile phone roaming services debated
Price caps for sending text messages abroad and other data roaming services such as video downloads or mobile TV were debated at a hearing of Parliament's Industry Committee on Tuesday. MEPs also discussed with mobile operators, regulators and consumer organisations whether there was a need to set voice-call roaming price caps for 2010-13.
"Retail and wholesale price caps for roaming calls are unfortunately still necessary", said Parliament's rapporteur Adina-Ioana Vālean (ALDE, RO) because "many charges remain disproportionately high". Regulation should, however, "continue to be an exceptional measure" as "a healthy roaming market will not be able to prosper under a long-term regulation", she said. [EuroParl]

Highlights of Brussels plenary session 3-4 December
[EuroParl]

EU Council Monitor - 05/12/08

2008-12-05T11:47:00.000+01:00

Putting small businesses first
"The vast majority of businesses in the European Union are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with no more than 250 employees. They are the ones providing most new jobs. Finding themselves increasingly affected by the present financial crisis and economic downturn, they are soon to qualify for a package of special measures.

Having made SMEs' needs a permanent priority for the European Union, the Competitiveness Council on 1 December 2008 adopted some conclusions including specific steps to improve financing arrangements, simplify the environment and facilitate market access for SMEs.
The conclusions (in French) are available here." [Europa]

Competitiveness Council - Conclusions
The complete set of conclusions can be found on the link [Europa]

Small Business Act will "have a significant positive effect on the environment for SMEs"
"SMEs are crucial to Europe's economy, providing over 100 million jobs. In view of the current financial market crisis, the European Council must confirm that it will formally approve the Small Business Act and make its provisions binding, say MEPs in a resolution put forward by the EPP-ED and Socialist groups. The resolution was adopted with 614 votes in favour, 11 against and 9 abstentions.

Formerly approving the SBA will "ensure the necessary high visibility", while making its provisions binding will "have a significant positive effect on the environment for SMEs". [EuroParl]

First “European sessions on innovation”
"On 9 December 2008 in Paris, the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union is to hold the first “European sessions on innovation”, with the participation of the President of the French Republic and President of the European Council, Nicolas Sarkozy, as a prelude to The European Year of Innovation in 2009." [UE2008]

EU Commission Monitor - 05/12/08

2008-12-05T11:19:00.000+01:00

Europe online: new media for a new age
Speech by Margot Wallström - Vice-President of the European Commission at Seminar on Online and Multimedia Communication in Madrid, 2nd December 2008 [Europa]

Trademark success
"One success story in the EU's intellectual property regime, the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, based in Alicante, Spain, is highlighted in this special report. The office has just registered its 500,000th trademark and has recently lowered its fees, helped by a healthy financial balance sheet.

But if there is one glaring disappointment in the EU's set-up for intellectual property rights, it is the failure to agree a single Community patent. The Commission's work programme for 2009 says that “the lack of a cost-effective, single patent remains an obvious shortcoming of the single market”. Business groups have long called for a unified patent approvals procedure that would substantially lower costs for inventors and innovators, but still some national governments resist the idea. Nevertheless, the case for a simplified approvals and litigation regime remains compelling." [EuropeanVoice]

A successful EU organisation
"The Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market has approved more than 500,000 applications for EU-wide trademarks since it was created in 1996.

The Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) is not the best known of EU organisations but it is arguably one of the most successful. The office, which grants Community-wide trademarks, has just approved its 500,000th application. It finances itself entirely from the fees it charges for trademark registration and is expecting to generate a surplus of €65 million this year. It has already built up reserves of €350m, which have made it possible to cut the registration fee to less than €1,000, down from €1,700 since 2005 and €2,075 from 1996 when the office became operational." [EuropeanVoice]

Music News Bulletin - 03/12/08

2008-12-03T18:21:00.000+01:00

Digital Growth Won’t Stop Overall Music Sales From Shrinking, According To Forecast 02 Dec 2008
"US digital music sales will grow by 17 percent per year on average over the next five years, to make up 41 percent of sales by 2013, Forrester’s latest Jupiterresearch forecast says. But that won’t stop overall sales shrinking by 0.8 percent per year on average from $10.2 billion to $9.8 billion. Citing sticking points in the digital world and an acceleration in CDs’ decline, Forrester revised its forecast from a 7.1 percent annual drop to 8.7 percent following poor 2007 CD sales." [PaidContent]

Surveying the landscape of a changed industry 03/12/08
"While two B.C. festivals celebrate film and music, players behind the scenes thrash out how their businesses can survive

Seymour Stein is a legend. The 65-year-old New Yorker is attending Transmission as a keynote speaker. Now a vice-president at Warner Bros., he founded Sire Records in 1966. The many bands he has signed over the years include the Ramones, Talking Heads, the Pretenders and the Smiths. In the 1980s, stuck in hospital with an infection, he still managed to sign Madonna - feeling less than presentable, the story goes, he called his barber to come in and spruce him up, before she visited him and agreed to the deal.

Stein says the rot set in the music industry 60 years ago. "We blew it," he says on the phone from his office in New York. "The first major music labels were all phonograph manufacturers, but by the time the Beatles came along, most companies were no longer involved in the hardware." [GlobeAndMail]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 02/12/08

2008-12-02T18:11:00.000+01:00

Songbeat: Making music piracy easier than ever? 02/12/08
"While illegal P2P file-sharing is still seen as the biggest threat to the music industry, other forms of online piracy are coming up on the inside. Take a look at the new version of an application called Songbeat, for example." [MusicAlly]

SongBeat: The New Music Piracy Tool That Will End Up Closing Soon Enough! December 2nd, 2008
"In the current climate P2P and Bittorrent file sharing isnt seen as illegal in all countries, but overall it has to be the biggest threat on the music industry because of its nature.

Songbeat has launched a new version of their service which seems to be taking piracy to a new level." [RouteNote]

Songbeat Makes Searching For Music Online Really Simple December 1, 2008
"There’s a new version of Songbeat, a simple but powerful desktop application for discovering music online, and I like it. When it was first released earlier this year, the client only enabled you to search for music online using Seeqpod, but the updated version lets you search more engines at once and also lets you easily play, export and download songs." [TechCrunch]