Music News Bulletin - 30/01/09

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]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 30/12/08

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]

Grimsdale's Ire: 29/10/08

Grants for 'middle-income' students to be cut 29/10/08
“The amount of student support available for children of middle-income parents will be cut next year, the universities secretary confirmed today.

Growth in student numbers will also be cut next year to "no more than 10,000" after the government miscalculated increases in the bill for higher education, as revealed by the Guardian.” [Guardian]

On the right track 29/10/08
“He was born in Jamaica, grew up in a deprived inner-city neighbourhood of Birmingham, and has first-hand experience of racial hatred and rejection. He left school without qualifications, was booted out of the army for being too lippy, and latterly has found out just how hard it is to make a living as a farmer in modern-day Britain.

It is not surprising, then, that Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones comes chock-full of opinions. He fumes about social exclusion; he is angry at how black people have been let down by the middle classes; he is hugely critical of corporate Britain, particularly the ever-more powerful supermarkets; and he has little time for the world of finance and banking.

What may be more surprising and interesting is that Emmanuel-Jones is thriving in the Conservative party. He has been invited for tea with David Cameron - despite labelling him a "toff" - and was given a prominent place for the leader's speech at the Tory conference. Most surprising of all, he has become a darling of the Wiltshire blue-rinse set and is to fight the newly minted seat of Chippenham for the Conservatives at the next general election.” [Guardian]

White working class need help in recession, says Phillips 29/10/08
“Special measures are needed to help the true losers from the economic recession - the poorer, white working class - if an anti-migrant backlash is to be avoided, the head of Britain's equality and human rights commission, Trevor Phillips, warned yesterday.

He said that historically ethnic minority groups and women were worst hit in an economic slowdown.

But it had to be recognised today that in some parts of the country "the colour of disadvantage isn't black or brown. It is white."” [Guardian]

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

Knowledge Share: Maximising Information

Confidence has been growing in the third sector as its contribution to public policy has been increasingly recognised. Voluntary organisations are increasingly being recognised for their work in serving their local communities. Decision makers are increasingly being convinced by the third sector’s advocates of the need for ongoing public reform. However, there is still room for improvement. We have been underutilising the levels of knowledge of the sector. To fully develop the potential of the sector we need to ensure that every key fact and third sector success story is shared with relevant organisations and sections of the community. Currently the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is undertaking a consultation on how academia can improve its analysis of the third sector, as it seeks to make its level of understanding match the public and private sectors. We should now take this opportunity to open the gates of understanding, welcome public analysis and adapt to develop models of co-dependent learning and education.

Recognising The Third Sectors Strengths And Weaknesses
The third sector suffers whenever information is underused because of silo mentalities and short-termist expediencies. Failed opportunities to learn about the sector and have up-to-date information on key areas often result in too many third sector organisations whispering their successes when we should be shouting their progress. When knowledge share does occur it allows us to present ourselves as unified. It enables us to strategise more effectively. It reduces wasteful searching for material. Duplication of efforts should also decline.

The third sector is often very successful at researching. Through specialist third sector material being uploaded on organisations’ websites and increasingly blogs and other web 2.0 based communications third sector organisations have been able to make the case for volunteerism, philanthropy and civic engagement. This is very useful, as it gives individual organisations the chance to explain developments in the third sector, areas of best practice and issues that prevent organisations from being able to fulfil their goals.

However, considerable amounts of information get lost. Often the strains placed on people researching and writing pieces combined with other onerous tasks can result in the acquired knowledge being underexposed. For instance, articles may not be uploaded onto the Internet after having been forwarded onto publication editors. Reports may be delayed and only done in infrequent batches. Other organisations with a mutual interest in the results may not be even informed at all.

Refocusing Knowledge
The ESRC is developing a strategy for its engagement with the third sector to ensure that the academic community is able to fully comprehend our goals and create opportunities for knowledge exchange. This is a great opportunity to highlight the strengths of the sector and make sure that the third sector is as well understood as the public and private sectors. Hopefully we will be able to have a clear overview of how society wide changes in governance are providing the third sector with unique roles for civil renewal.

However, given the gaps in knowledge that some areas of academia have previously had of the third sector it is important to strongly guide the direction of research in some areas of academic enquiry. Through explaining the difficulties that we face we will be able to add authority to ongoing issues such as the need for a stronger and more enforceable Compact, the importance of service provision being based on outcome measurement systems and the benefits of continuing state and public sector reform. Hopefully knowledge clusters will develop, as well as around sector specific research. If this happens then shared opinion will be able to fully represent the beneficial utility of the third sector to public services and communities.

Through participating with ESRC’s research and articulating our needs and desires we should be able to examine and then transform how academics and organisations plan and release information. We must also make efforts to highlight and encourage organisations which provide joined up research. For example, Intelligent Giving’s blog usefully signposts reports and events in its commentary, allowing time conscious third sector employees and curious parties links to more information should they require further insight on topics. Looking at the long-term picture the potential of the Internet to coordinate the third sector’s communication makes it necessary to examine ways of improving the sector’s existing knowledge champions and perhaps even coordinating new third party research hubs.

The third sector’s diversity provides an oasis of innovative ideas that can make it difficult to get a comprehensive overview of its strengths and weaknesses without taking the time to search around. However, if we matched the new commitment from the academic community to increasing levels of research of the third sector’s processes and the positive outcomes of our efforts with a new attitude to sharing our knowledge then we should be able to accelerate the development of a more professional, confident and effective sector.

This article was written on behalf of Peter Kyle, Director of Strategy and Enterprise for ACEVO in July 2008