semaya.net

I haven’t written in a while but I wanted to point out something I just saw on digg. I have previously written about great college football game hoax by Yalies at Harvard in 2004 and the original Great Rose Bowl Hoax of 1961 by Caltech. A high school student in Ohio decided to copy this prank and was suspended for three days and banned from extracurricular activities for a semester. A video of the gag was posted to You Tube so you can see for yourself that this was not something that should warrant a suspension. There was no profanity involved, the prank didn’t cause anyone physical or monetary harm either. This didn’t happen during class time but between quarters at a football game. I can’t see how the principal of this school can justify the suspension. These kids were just having fun. This student is in his senior year so a suspension could be disastrous for his applications to college and the principal should know this.

Apparently hell has frozen over, or at least Coran has finally figured out this internet thing. The Dave Matthews Band is finally on iTunes. All studio albums are available, as individual tracks. This is after the band originally stated that they wanted to preserve the album format by not allowing individual track downloads. The band’s previous experience with online music includes an agreement with Napster that requires users to download and purchase full albums, sale of music from dmband.com in Windows Media format as whole albums, and sale of select live releases from dmband.com in unrestricted FLAC and MP3 formats.

I see this as the DMB playing catchup with the rest of the industry. Fans have wanted this for some time, however I am still not impressed. First of all, these are only the studio albums, which are all 6 albums recorded for RCA (Under the Table and Dreaming, Crash, Before These Crowded Streets, Everyday, Busted Stuff, Stand Up) plus the two Bama Rags releases (Remember Two Things and Recently), and Dave’s solo release (Some Devil). Boyd Tinsley’s album (True Reflections) has been on iTunes for quite a while.

The problem is that the band is not really embracing this technology. Instead it seems like they are being dragged into it, kicking and screaming. It is understandable that the band wants to have more control over their online presence and they feel that through iTunes they lose some of that control. It is NOT understandable how they could blame Apple and iTunes for being incompatible with their proprietary DRM-encumbered CDs. This shows that the band is being reactive and not proactive with technology. Ten years ago this was not the case, as the band was an up-and-coming group that valued the community of internet fans who traded live performances. Today that philosophy seems to be escaping the band as they take measures to prevent fans from trading their live performances online.

So what should the band be doing? Live content is a good place to start. How about next-day live concerts on line and by the track? That way if there is a new tour highlight, new song debuted, any fan can check the setlist on iTunes and immediately download a track of the song. Fans can pick and choose their favorite tour highlights and create iMixes that highlight each tour and the evolution of songs over time.

If I were Coran Capshaw I would be trying to get Steve Jobs on the phone to pitch him an idea, a Jam-band centric portion of the iTunes Music Store. Bands like DMB and Pearl Jam can have years of live archived shows available within a custom portal for each artist. The store would act as a setlist archive were fans can post not only reviews of the recordings but of the concert performances themselves. Apple would still take their standard cut of the sales, but the interface would be designed for the "live band" that has hundreds, or even thousands of shows to sell, BY THE TRACK. The Grateful Dead have already expressed interest in this concept. If Coran couldn’t get this done through iTunes then he should do it through Musictoday, and make the store entirely DRM-free and use itpc podcast URLs to integrate right into iTunes.

One can dream….

Note: I am experimenting with iTMS referral links in this post. Will report the results soon (if there are any).

This is interesting. Looks like Sony is actually responding legitimately to their incompetence. I’m not sure how they got my email address though.

From: class.settlement@sonybmg.com

Subject: Class Action Settlement/Software Update Notice

Date: March 2, 2006 6:45:42 PM EST

To: dsemaya@Princeton.EDU

Reply-To: class.settlement@sonybmg.com

***IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICE/SOFTWARE UPDATE NOTICE***PLEASE READ*** (Please do not respond to this email. Responses will not be read.)

If You Bought, Received or Used a SONY BMG Music Entertainment CD Containing Either XCP or Media Max Content Protection Software, Your Rights May Be Affected By a Class Action Settlement, And You Should Download Updates For That Software.

What is this about?

A settlement has been proposed in a lawsuit brought against SONY BMG Music Entertainment, Inc., SunnComm International Inc., and First 4 Internet, Ltd. ("Defendants"). The lawsuit, In re SONY BMG CD Technologies Litigation, Case No. 1:05-cv-09575-NRB, is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and relates to XCP and MediaMax content protection software installed on certain SONY BMG music CDs.

The Settlement resolves claims that the Defendants manufactured and sold CDs containing XCP and MediaMax software without adequately disclosing the limitations the software imposes on the use of the CDs and the security vulnerabilities it creates. The Defendants have denied that they did anything wrong.

Who Is Included, And What Does The Settlement Provide?

The settlement provides relief for persons who bought, received or used SONY BMG CDs with either XCP or MediaMax software. Under the settlement, any person in possession of an XCP CD can exchange it for a replacement CD, an MP3 download of the same album, and either (a) cash payment of $7.50 and one (1) free album download from a list of 200 albums, or (b) three (3) free album downloads from that list.
Purchasers of CDs containing MediaMax 5.0 software will receive a free
MP3 download of the same album and one (1) additional free album download. Purchasers of CDs containing MediaMax 3.0 software will receive a free MP3 download of the same album.

The settlement also requires the Defendants to stop manufacturing SONY BMG CDs with XCP or MediaMax 3.0 and 5.0 software and, until 2008: (1) make available updates to fix all known security vulnerabilities caused by XCP and MediaMax software; (2) provide software programs to uninstall XCP and MediaMax software safely; (3) fix any future security vulnerabilities discovered in MediaMax and any other content protection software placed on SONY BMG CDs; (4) provide independent verification that personal information about users of SONY BMG CDs has not and will not be collected through XCP or MediaMax; (5) waive certain provisions of the end user license agreements for XCP and MediaMax software; and
(6) ensure that any other content protection software will be clearly disclosed, independently tested and readily uninstalled.

At 9:15a.m. on May 22, 2006, the Court will hold a hearing at the United States District Court, Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, Courtroom 21A, New York, New York 10007-1312, to decide whether to approve the settlement and the class attorneys’ fees and costs.

How Do I Participate In The Settlement?
If you bought or received a SONY BMG Music CD containing XCP or MediaMax software and want to receive the relief you may be eligible for under the settlement, you must submit an online claim form at www.sonybmgcdtechsettlement.com, or mail a claim form to:

SONY BMG CD Technologies Settlement
P.O. Box 1804, Faribault, MN 55021-1804

All claim forms must be submitted by December 31, 2006.

What Are My Other Options?

If you bought, received or used a SONY BMG Music CD containing XCP or MediaMax software, and you do not want to be legally bound by the settlement or receive a replacement CD, cash, free downloads or other relief, you must exclude yourself by May 1, 2006. If you do not exclude yourself, certain of your claims against the Defendants that were or could have been asserted in the lawsuit will be released, meaning you may not be able to sue the Defendants for those claims.
To view the detailed legal Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement, Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Settlement Fairness Hearing and to download the software updates, visit www.sonybmgcdtechsettlement.com.
You may obtain further information by contacting the claims administrator at the address above or by calling toll free 1-800-242-7610.

Last week Princeton released the plans to renovate Butler. Unfortunately, they aren’t going with my original suggestion of renovating the existing buildings by adding essential amenities, such as tunnels with skylights and enclosed bridges to connect all the buildings underground and an underground pool in the center of the courtyard. Instead they will level the place and make new dorms that match the other new dorms on campus.

It seems that they may still connect the buildings together, but from the current descriptions it is unclear at this point. I must say that I now officially feel gypped. I spent two years isolated in a single in Butler and I wouldn’t wish that on any incoming freshman (especially against their wishes like myself). Maybe I should withhold gifts to the university until I save up enough to cover the cost of room and board for two years. Although on second thought that may mean that I don’t get to drink beer at reunions, so maybe I’ll just rant about it on this blog which no one reads.

On that note I should mention that the new Butler will be a four-year residential college, an idea that I do not agree with. We all know that the 4-year residential college concept is designed to weaken the street, regardless of what the administration says. Someday I will explain why this is bad and how it will hurt the administration and the university in the long run.

It’s no secret that I’ve been pretty frustrated with the record industry’s use of CD copy-protection schemes and their tendency to blame the fact that they don’t work with the iPod on Apple. Needless to say, when reading Freedom to Tinker today I was excited to learn that Ed Felten and Alex Halderman agree with me.

Freedom to Tinker has been a favorite blog of mine for the past 18 months. It is run by one my Computer Science Professors at Princeton, Ed Felten. I took Ed’s Information Security class in the fall of 2003 and I was fascinated by security design and policy. DRM has also been an interest of mine, as I wrote my Junior Independent Work paper on the future of DRM. Needless to say that paper is now very outdated (although cited across the internet in foreign-langauge papers that I do not understand) thanks to Apple turning the DRM world on its head just 4 days before my paper was due in May 2003. For my Senior Independent Work (the jukebox) I chose to ignore the DRM issue altogether. I was in some CS classes with Alex Halderman ‘03, who is now a graduate student under Ed. Alex has written some great papers in the past about DRM technology (he’s the one that caused SunnComm’s stock to tank) and has focused on issues that are important to me in the areas of computer privacy at Princeton. Alex is now a guest blogger on Freedom To Tinker as well.

Ed and Alex have been posting draft excerpts from their upcoming paper on CD DRM technologies to their web site in order to solicit feedback. I have enjoyed reading this information so far as it offers a great overview of both the technical and political issues involved and the hidden business agendas of the players involved. Today’s excerpt contains a section on the iPod-compatibility (or lack thereof) with the copy-protected CDs using XCP and MediaMax technology. The following excerpt clearly sums up what I’ve been saying all along:

Conspicuously absent from the XCP and MediaMax players is support for the Apple iPod—by far the most popular portable music player with more than 80% of the market [citation]. A Sony FAQ blames Apple for this shortcoming and urges users to direct complaints to them:”Unfortunately, in order to directly and smoothly rip content into iTunes it requires the assistance of Apple. To date, Apple has not been willing to cooperate with our protection vendors to make ripping to iTunes and to the iPod a simple experience.’’ [citation]. Strictly speaking, it is untrue that Sony requires Apple’s cooperation to work with the iPod. They ship thousands of albums that work “smoothly’’ with iTunes every day: unprotected CDs. What Sony has difficulty doing is moving music to the iPod while keeping it wrapped in copy protection. This is because Apple has so far refused to license its proprietary DRM, a system called FairPlay.

The labels don’t need Apple to support the iPod, they just need to stop treating their customers like criminals. As I’ve been saying for months, if they would just ship normal CDs there wouldn’t be an issue. The labels obviously have a (not so) hidden agenda here. I consider Ed and Alex the leading academic authority on DRM so it means a lot to me for them to have the same position.

On a related note, Ed and Alex will be appearing at an upcoming Spyware workshop at NYU in March. Seeing as how I work with NYU regularly and live fairly close I’ll be attending. There are some high profile speakers and panelists. It should be interesting.