response 107 of 162:

Aug 31 22:23 UTC 2003

Sharman Networks is now offering a Kazaa Platinum that axes the 
spyware and ads, plus has some additional features that I can't 
remember.  I use Kazaa Lite myself, which features a DAT viewer-- 
which is helpful if the file didn't download completely.  This does 
smack of hypocrisy, yes, but I suppose the company is attempting to 
ensure their "Platinum" version sells somehow. 

response 109 of 162:

Sep 1 11:07 UTC 2003

(What does DAT mean in the context of resp:107 ?)

response 111 of 162:

Sep 2 02:12 UTC 2003

Kazaa Lite maintains an opening page for a Google search, an Internet 
movie database, and some various links.  It's just slightly different.

response 113 of 162:

Sep 2 18:22 UTC 2003

Receiving files?  Not very likely.  sharing files?  Much more likely.
Maybe I'm more paranoid than the average person, but I'm not taking my chances
with either and don't download or share copyrighted material.  Never have.

response 115 of 162:

Sep 3 17:45 UTC 2003

There's a whole passle of news stories; there will be an even bigger flood
if the RIAA lawsuits hit in the next few days.
 
p2pnet.net points to this Macworld UK story.  An analyst for Raymond James
& Associates argues that, while it looks like the RIAA's lawsuit threats
may have slowed file trading, the period of the lawsuit threats coincides
with an even steeper falloff in CD sales.
 
http://macworld.co.uk/news/main_news.cfm?NewsID=6800
 
Or, as an essay at musicdish.com pointed out, fear is not going to 
sell CDs.
 
-----
 
The RIAA press release on US CD sales for the first half of 2003 has numbers
even more dire than the numbers in the Macworld article.  The numbers 
indicate that the slide in CD sales is accelerating.
 
In tabular form:         decline in units sold         decline in dollars    
        first half 2002         10.1%                         6.7%
        first half 2003      ** 15.8% **                     12.0%

The story suggests that the crash in CD retailers -- 1,000 stores closed 
in the first half of 2003, the article says -- and the decline in sales 
are starting to feed on each other.   The article says that surviving 
music retail outlets are shrinking their CD inventory.
 
http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=196736
5

-----

Slashdot points to a BBC news article which says that hundreds of lawsuits
from the RIAA are imminent.  The RIAA will offer to settle for $15,000
initially; if the targets of the lawsuit offer any opposition, the price 
of the settlement rises to $50,000.
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3201399.stm

response 117 of 162:

Sep 3 18:47 UTC 2003

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/32636.html

A court in France has ordered EMI to issue a refund to a woman who was
unable to play a copy-protected CD in her car.  Alternatively, EMI can
provide a working copy.  The CD was essentially ruled to be "defective"
under French law.

response 121 of 162:

Sep 4 18:34 UTC 2003

Here's the background on the Universal price cut: sorry I didn't get this
summary in earlier.  (Written originally for Utne Cafe a couple of days 
ago:)

-----

As if the recorded music industry did not have enough problems with
slumping sales: now the labels are facing ferocious demands from
their biggest retailers to slash prices.

This is from BILLBOARD, August 16.  Not available online; Billboard
keeps the juicy stuff out of the free section of the public web site.

Quote:
"For more than 25 years, labels have dictated the terms and have taken
the lion's share of the upside.  ((profits))   But Wal-Mart, Best
Buy, Target, K-mart, Circuit City and other discount store chains now
control about 55% of music sales and have finally gained enough
marketing muscle to start driving the business model."

Sources are unnamed throughout the article.  It is reported that Best
Buy, the only big-box store to stock a decent variety of titles, is
threatening to slash its stock to the same level (5000 titles) as the
other big-box stores if the labels do not give substantially on price.

The goal of the retailers seems to be to get new releases under $10
per CD and then catalog CDs priced a few bucks below that.

Some label execs complain that the labels shouldn't be supporting
pricing levels which are destroying CD-only "specialty"
retailing.  "In the past two years, more than 1,000 music specialty
chain and independent stores have closed, according to Billboard
estimates."

"'Soon we will have a marketplace where the people left in business
will only be carrying 10% of the SKU's ((titles)),' a distribution
executive said."

The discount retailers are very unhappy over how music CDs are
selling, especially when compared to DVDs and games.

One interesting side note:  Wal-Mart is insisting that the industry
bring back single CDs for top radio hits.

-----

end of paraphrase and quotes.  Heh.  At Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania last
weekend, I saw stacks of reasonably recent movie DVDs priced under
$9.  Consumers just don't see a reason for well-promoted DVDs to be
significantly cheaper than audio CDs.
So, I believe the Universal price cuts to $12.98 list are quite real:
this will put selling prices at $12 in Borders and $10 at Best Buy.
I expect the other major labels to follow Universal's lead.
 
My questions: what does this mean for independent CD pricing, and what
does it mean for online pricing such as iTunes?

response 123 of 162:

Sep 4 20:19 UTC 2003

"The article says that surviving music retail outlets are shrinking 
their CD inventory."

How is a smaller inventory going to get buyers back into their stores?

response 125 of 162:

Sep 4 22:32 UTC 2003

That's pretty much what I've done.  My assumption now is that any store
I walk into isn't going to stock what I'm looking for, so I might as
well buy online and save myself the trip.

response 127 of 162:

Sep 5 20:37 UTC 2003

A handful of items from The Register today:

First is an editorial about the Universal Music price cuts.  Among other
things, it points out that CD prices have remained constant since they
were introduced, even as volume increased, and that Universal was, along
with other record labels, found guilty by the FTC of price fixing only a
month ago.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/32690.html

Second is an article about the RIAA's apparent plans to offer amnesty to
small-time noncommercial file traders.  Frankly, this is probably the
only way for them to stick with their enforcement program without
creating a PR disaster.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/32681.html

Finally, U.S. District Court judge Rebecca Pallmeyer has denied part of
a motion for summary judgement against Skylink Technologies, brought by
Chamberlain Group.  Chamberlain had argued that Skylink was violating
the DMCA by producing garage door opener remotes compatible with
Chamberlain's openers.  Judge Pallmeyer commented, "The homeowner has a
legitimate expectation that he or she will be able to access the garage
even if his transmitter is misplaced or malfunctions."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/32684.html

response 129 of 162:

Sep 6 19:41 UTC 2003

  Today's New York Times has a piece entitled "Aiming at Pornography to
  Hit Music Piracy" which relates the music-industry lobby's new tactic
  in their war against peer-to-peer file sharing networks:  smear them
  by linking them in lawmakers' minds with pornography and then play the
  "won't someone please think of the children?" trump card.

  http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/07/technology/07PORN.html?pagewanted=2&hp

response 131 of 162:

Sep 8 16:55 UTC 2003

-----Original Message-----
From: BreakingNews@MAIL.CNN.COM [mailto:BreakingNews@MAIL.CNN.COM]
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 12:46 PM
Subject: CNN Breaking News

-- Recording industry files 261 lawsuits against Internet music file sharers,
announces amnesty program for individuals.