(entry last updated: 2002-07-22 16:42:32)

Nice little brouhaha forming around a recent Edison Research study into downloading and CD purchases. Wired.com talks about Brazil’s Re:combo. The New York Times writes about Real throwing down a technological gauntlet.

And, in an article that should warm Charlie Nesson’s heart, the Times points out that maybe commerce isn’t the rationale for the Internet, after all. Dan Gillmor seems to be ready to give Palladium a chance?

The EFF has letters from Tauzin and Hollings asking FCC Chairman Powell to implement broadcast flags in digital transmissions without having to deal with that messy legislation stuff. (From the EFF’s Consensus at Lawyerpoint - entry 1, entry 2 blog)

(6 items listed below)

• Slashdot posts the original press release from Edison Research, and the alternative interpretation from MP3.com as a kickoff for a discussion of the conflicting views.
• Wired writes about a Brazilian group trying to make music outside of the standard copyright restrictions called Re:combo
  

  “When we started this, it was more like a project for music and against copyright restraints — we think that the artist should be the owner and the decision maker about what he’d like to do with his intellectual production, not the labels or media companies,” says Haidée Lima, photographer and designer. “But actually, Re:combo has become more like a solid initiative related to different kinds of content, including Web art, digital video and software.”

  Note that Cory Doctorow knows of people here in the US who have similar ideas.

• Real has developed a clean room implementation of the Windows Media Server, marking a new round in the digital music delivery wars. Slashdot discusses, and Bruce Perins’s take on this from an open source perspective is summarized at The Register.
• Amy Harmon and Felicity Barringer suggest that trends in Internet use may mean that there are users working to shape the Internet to meet their needs, instead of the needs of commerce.
• Interestingly, Dan Gillmor’s latest column suggests that he may (note, may) be willing to give Microsoft a chance to make a credible case for Palladium.
• The closing paragraph of this USA Today article on the death of Internet radio has gotten more than one of us upset. (there’s a companion piece at USA Today)