COPYRIGHT
Napster Settles Lawsuit Filed by Music Publishers (WP)
PRIVACY
Disputes on Electronic Message Encryption Take On New Urgency (NYT)
ADVERTISING
AOL, Blaming Terrorist Attacks, Lowers Outlook (NYT)
WIRELESS
Wireless Web Isn't Connecting (Wired)
COPYRIGHT
NAPSTER SETTLES LAWSUIT FILED BY MUSIC PUBLISHERS
Issue: Copyright
Napster announced yesterday that it has agreed to pay music publishers $26
million to settle their lawsuit against the company. Unfortunately for
Napster the settlement only the dispute between Napster and two musical
publishing firms and does not resolve a lawsuit filed by the world's major
record companies. The deal announced yesterday covers the copyrights owned
by the Harry Fox Agency and the National Music Publishers Association. The
major music companies have said that they will not drop their lawsuit
against Napster until the service can prove that its users are no longer
able to trade unauthorized copies of songs.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E12), AUTHOR: Christopher Stern]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19900-2001Sep24.html)
PRIVACY
DISPUTES ON ELECTRONIC MESSAGE ENCRYPTION TAKE ON NEW URGENCY
Issue: Privacy
The attacks of Sept. 11th have reawakened a debate on how strongly the
public - and by extension terrorists and other criminals - should be able to
encrypt their electronic messages. The technology of scrambling data and
messages has become a crucial element of computer security for businesses
and consumers alike. Encryption technologies were the subject of bitter
debate in the mid- 1990's, when the Clinton administration proposed a
technology popularly known as the "Clipper Chip" that would provide back-
door access for law enforcement, and also restricted the export of strong
encryption products by American firms. Companies and consumers said they
would not use a product that had government access built in.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/25/technology/25CODE.html)
(requires registration)
ADVERTISING
AOL, BLAMING TERRORIST ATTACKS, LOWERS OUTLOOK
Issue: Advertising
AOL Time Warner Inc., the world's biggest media company, announced yesterday
that it would badly miss its financial goals for the year, largely because
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks exacerbated the erosion of the advertising
market. Ever since America Online agreed to acquire Time Warner early last
year, executives from the companies have trumpeted their relative
independence from advertising, but Twenty-four percent of AOL's revenue
still comes from advertising. "Prior to Sept. 11, the company had not yet
seen an improvement in the overall advertising environment," AOL said in a
statement yesterday. "Due to the events of Sept. 11, it has further
deteriorated. The state of the advertising market is impacting the company's
networks, America Online, publishing and cable operations."
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: SETH SCHIESEL]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/25/technology/25AOL.html)
(requires registration)
WIRELESS
WIRELESS WEB ISN'T CONNECTING
Issue: Publishing
The Seybold Publishing Conference opened Monday with an eight-hour seminar
on wireless publishing. About 50 people showed up. Organizers expected more
than 100. The attendance reflects the overall feeling right now about
publishing for wireless telephones: either the audience hasn't arrived; or
wireless publishing is an event worth missing. Unfortunately for the
attendees the panelists couldn't help them figure out which. Aside from
warnings of conflicting technical standards to transmit data and security
breaches to worry about, they admitted not having a clue how to make money
offering wireless services. "If I knew, I wouldn't be here," joked Seamus
McAteer, an analyst from Jupiter Media Metrix. Possible moneymakers, SMS, a
form of short text messaging currently charged per use in Europe and
photography through cell phones. But that isn't exactly PUBLISHING, now is
it?
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Elisa Batista]
(http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,47077,00.html)
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