Ringtones are a growing concern and not just when people don't shut them off.
Jamster is a weekly ringtone subscription that advertises to kids on channels like Nick and MTV. Kids are attracted to
crazy frogs like a magnet and are using the service
without parental permission. Now Britain is launching a
new inquiry into Jamster's
business practices. And lawyers in California filed a
class action lawsuit against the company. But Jamster isn't just some fly-by-night operation trying to milk as much money from kids as they can before regulators crack down. Jamster is
owned by VeriSign.
It's also a fair question whether it's worth paying 3 bucks for a few seconds of a song that sounds like a player piano, when it costs less than a buck to get the whole thing on the web (especially now that that crazy frog is a
single). Why can't you just pay the 99 cents or whatever to get the
song on your phone?
posted by kenneth
on Jun 29, 2005 -
77 comments
The file-sharing fight continues. Recording industry associations in Denmark, Germany, Italy and Canada have filed lawsuits or taken other legal action, aiming mainly at heavy users accused of offering a large number of songs online.
In other news,
A study of file-sharing's effects on music sales says online music trading appears to have had little part in the recent slide in CD sales.
posted by ashbury
on Mar 31, 2004 -
9 comments
RIAA settles with a disadvantaged, now sick, 12-year-old girl. Read
CNN's brief of the settlement and the feel-good synopsis by Gary Sherman, president of RIAA. OR, head over to the
UK to learn that the 12-yr-old has been getting sick from anxiety, feels terrible for the fragile artists and lives in a rent control apartment with her family. I'd take the UK's cynicism over the US slant anyday.
posted by omidius
on Sep 9, 2003 -
46 comments
Napster retains (ahem)
counsel. The right move I think. Along with the DeCSS case, this may be setting the precedent for what "intellectual property" and "public domain" mean in the 21st century. Hopefully, things will turn out better than in Sterling's
"Distraction". Either way, things will never be the same.
posted by aflakete
on Jun 18, 2000 -
1 comment
Napster throws Metallica a curveball. Napster has been pointing out to its kicked-off users a certain provision of the DMCA: If an ISP kicks a user off a service for violating copyright, that user may file a counternotification if they believe they were wrongly accused. The plaintiff (Metallica) then has 10 days to respond with a lawsuit directly against that user. If they choose not to respond, the ISP must restore the account. If enough users (among the 300,000 blocked) file counternotifications, Metallica may wish it had never begun this process.
posted by daveadams
on May 11, 2000 -
12 comments
