Campus battle against P2P filesharing
Students have long been the target of the RIAA and its many assorted cronies; they love P2P filesharing and they’re generally unwilling (or unable) to pay for the same material they can get for free on Campus. With fast network connections in rooms – as well as near-neighbors with huge file collections – colleges are well suited for hot P2P filesharing action.
Campuses are going on the offensive and encouraging students to use Ruckus. Ruckus is a music-download service catering specifically to this type of downloader. Naturally Ruckus files are DRM protected meaning there’s nowhere you can put this file but on your computer. The selection? Not as good as you would get with a P2P filesharing application like Ares, quite simply.
So where is this offensive of P2P filesharing likely to go? Not very far if you ask me. Students will find a way around the flimsy barriers erected by industry and by their learned academic institutions. Power to the people? Probably.
We7 gets support from Sony to offer free music downloads
Like free music downloads? Don’t like infringing on copyright? Then head over the We7: Peter Gabriel’s ad-supported online music downloads store has earned the support of Sony BMG meaning its entire back catalogue will soon be available for free. This announcement by We7 and Sony is fantastic news for music lovers and absolutely terrifying news for much of the rest of the industry.
Interestingly a parallel announcement by 24-7 Entertainment sees them preparing to launch unlimited mobile music downloads for a Nordic provider, as well as being in talks with a number of phone providers from the UK.
O2 is also getting on the act by partnering with the daddy of music downloads, Napster. Napster are currently in talks with giant Vodafone, meaning the likelihood of some solid deal coming out of Napster’s camp are increasing.
What will happen to CD sales? Will this rush of free music affect online sales of music tracks? Who knows? Keep tuned, dear reader.