The RIAA's settlement with Audiogalaxy calls to mind at least two ghosts of file sharing's past. First, there's the ghost of Napster, which is still hampered by an ongoing lawsuit with the RIAA even as it tries to build a service that will appease the record industry. Second, it recalls the specter of MP3.com's Beam-It service, which streamed music to users who inserted a hard copy of a CD containing those songs into their drives--something I still can't believe that the labels fought. ... How will consumers react to these developments? At this very moment, ex-Audiogalaxy users are e-mailing friends and asking what service they should switch to. As many former Napster users did, these folks will start moving toward those very decentralized networks that the RIAA has been tolerating out of necessity. Eventually, those users will flee to networks that are even harder to shut down than Gnutella, such as the nascent Freenet network. Theory four, outlined above, is clearly against the labels' best interests, and yet their actions are causing exactly that scenario.
The RIAA's settlement with Audiogalaxy calls to mind at least two ghosts of file sharing's past. First, there's the ghost of Napster, which is still hampered by an ongoing lawsuit with the RIAA even as it tries to build a service that will appease the record industry. Second, it recalls the specter of MP3.com's Beam-It service, which streamed music to users who inserted a hard copy of a CD containing those songs into their drives--something I still can't believe that the labels fought.
... How will consumers react to these developments? At this very moment, ex-Audiogalaxy users are e-mailing friends and asking what service they should switch to. As many former Napster users did, these folks will start moving toward those very decentralized networks that the RIAA has been tolerating out of necessity. Eventually, those users will flee to networks that are even harder to shut down than Gnutella, such as the nascent Freenet network. Theory four, outlined above, is clearly against the labels' best interests, and yet their actions are causing exactly that scenario.
Back in 1999, Audiogalaxy was a thriving Internet business on its way to drawing millions of visitors a month to swap MP3 files and read reviews of music both obscure and esteemed. Now the Austin-based Web site appears all but shut down, silenced by a recording industry copyright infringement lawsuit. But it does have a legacy: the gradual, tentative steps currently being taken by some of the music labels toward offering uncomplicated MP3 downloads.
Back in 1999, Audiogalaxy was a thriving Internet business on its way to drawing millions of visitors a month to swap MP3 files and read reviews of music both obscure and esteemed.
Now the Austin-based Web site appears all but shut down, silenced by a recording industry copyright infringement lawsuit.
But it does have a legacy: the gradual, tentative steps currently being taken by some of the music labels toward offering uncomplicated MP3 downloads.
As you've probably already heard, Audiogalaxy decided to settle out of court with the RIAA for a lot of money and now is blocking ALL songs. While I'm sure they're working on ways to stay in business, I'm guessing that most of their users will be gone within a couple of weeks. I was a programmer at Audiogalaxy for almost two years; read on to learn about the history of Audiogalaxy and hear my opinion about why Audiogalaxy was a cut above the rest of the peer-to-peer apps.
As you've probably already heard, Audiogalaxy decided to settle out of court with the RIAA for a lot of money and now is blocking ALL songs. While I'm sure they're working on ways to stay in business, I'm guessing that most of their users will be gone within a couple of weeks.
I was a programmer at Audiogalaxy for almost two years; read on to learn about the history of Audiogalaxy and hear my opinion about why Audiogalaxy was a cut above the rest of the peer-to-peer apps.
The settlement reached would allow Audiogalaxy to operate a "filter-in" system, which requires that for any music available, the songwriter, music publisher, and/or recording company must first consent to the use and sharing of the work. The other key provision of the agreement is for Audiogalaxy to pay the music publishers and recording industry a substantial sum based on Audiogalaxy's assets and interest in resolving this case quickly.
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