Mom Still Has To Pay for the Songs

Among the reasons this blog got started was to report on what was happening in the action against individuals by RIAA– especially kids – who used peer-to-peer networks to share music illegally. Ironically, now comes a new ruling against a mom in Minnesota - at 10 times the penalty imposed in her first trial and roughly 1,000 times the amount she might have initially paid to settle out of court - all at a time when the RIAA is no longer pursuing the hardball tactics that netted her in the first place. Jammie Thomas-Rasset has been found liable for damages of almost $2 million for sharing 24 songs through the Kazaa P2P network.

Will this embolden the RIAA to go after more individuals? Probably not. Now their strategy is to work with several Internet service providers to warn violators and then restrict their service. Still not the kind of folks you or your kids want to tangle with!

iTunes and Your Rights to the Music

On this site, we’ve explored in detail the perils of navigating what DRM-free (Digital Rights Management) really means now that music bought on iTunes and Amazon bear that label. In a nutshell, DRM-free means that there are no software restrictions on what you can do with a purchased song, but there still are copyright restrictions. You might also want to pass along to your kids before they share that favorite tune with the world that the name and e-mail address from the iTunes Store account used to buy a song are embedded in the purchased song file. You can see the information by selecting the track and pressing Control-I (Command-I on the Mac) and clicking on the Summary tab.

Apple’s iTunes Store Drops Copy Protection

Apple who previously sold every single song on the iTunes site for 99 cents, most with copy-protection software, has come up with a new price structure and by the end of March will drop all copy protection on the music it sells. That will allow people to use music they purchase in homemade videos, for instance, or move songs easily to another music player. But you need to make it plain to your kids that that does not mean that they can use they music they buy in any way they want. Fair Use still is in effect and the music they buy can’t be used without permission as the background for a school performance, for example, without permission.

In April, all song prices will change to one of three tiers: 69 cents, 99 cents or $1.29. Back-catalog songs will be priced at 69 cents, with most new ones going up to $1.29. Hard to know what will cost 99 cents.

Apple made new deals with the media industry that is hungry for a new revenue stream since CD sales have taken such a beating. Apple has faced competition from Amazon, which began selling unrestricted music in 2007.

Sharing a Computer and iTunes

Do you have an iPod and share a computer with a teen or someone else who has an iPod? Perhaps you are like me and have a spouse in a similar arrangement. If so, take a look at Two iPods, One Computer  for some tips on how to get that kind of arrangement to work.

Choosing the Right Headphones

There are so many kinds of headphones on the market these days, but which ones are right for you and your kids? Having the right headphones can be crucial to long term hearing health so CNet has put together one of their handy tip columns on choosing the right style of headphones. The ears you protect may be your own...

Average iPod Has Over 800 Illegally Downloaded Tunes

According to research by the University of Hertfordshire, young iPod owners in the United Kingdom are walking around with an average of 842 illegally copied songs. The survey, which questioned 1,200 participants, also revealed that nearly two-thirds of young people download music tracks illegally. The average is 53 songs per month. Probably not surprisingly, a further 42 percent of the 14- to 24-year-olds surveyed admitted to uploading music onto file-sharing networks.

"I was one of those people who went around the back of the bike shed with songs I had taped off the radio the night before. But this totally dwarfs that, and anything we expected," said Fergal Sharkey, former lead singer of The Undertones, and now chief executive of British Music Rights (BMR). BMR, which commissioned the research, is spearheading a campaign to make legal download services easier to use, and to make breaking copyright less appealing.

Pop Quiz on Copyright Law Cuts Down on P2P Software Abuse

One university is resorting to an old standby - the pop quiz - to cut down student abuse of peer-to-peer networks on campus to share music and movies illegally and stop the complaints and fines of the recording and movie industries. Missouri University of Science and Technology now requires students to ace a six-question quiz on digital copyright law to get six hours of access to peer-to-peer software they can use to share music and movies online. The quiz has cut copyright complaints on campus from the recording industry to eight this academic year, down from 200 in 2006-07. Missouri S&T students who violate copyright law may lose their Internet privileges or face fines, community service, extra research assignments or suspension from classes. Violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act also can draw lawsuits by the recording industry, which often cost several thousand dollars to settle. Universities that fail to stop repeat offenders can face liability too.

Five Sites That Can Help You Find Your Musical Beat

Interested in finding music akin to the beat you already move to? USA Today's recent article Tune in, turn on to music on these five sites directs you to five sites that can help you (and your kids) do just that.

Trends in the Digital Music Biz

Ok - the music biz is reeling and the editors at CNET have made some predictions about how being digital is going to change the biz in the next year or so. Why should you care? Because your kids are huge consumers and you need to stay current with what's going on to help them guide them through the landmines. To summarize, the folks at CNET see: Apple giving in on music price flexibility (labels want to set their own prices..is this end of the .79 to .99 cent download?), Digital Rights Management copy-protection schemes will cease to be an issue after 2008 (but your kids still will need to be careful where they use their music), music companies will use social-networking sites to promote acts rather than marketing departments, and bands, without the backing of music labels, will join forces to distribute their music on the Web. Welcome to the new world of digital music.

What Parents Think & Do When It Comes to Their Children & the Net

Parenting Moves Online: Parents' Internet Actions and Attitudes 2007 features the results of a poll taken by Cable in the Classroom and Common Sense Media. It features information about what parents are doing at home to keep their children safe online in addition to parent attitudes about how the Internet can help their children. Find out if parents are facing the same problems with their children's Internet use as you are with your students' Internet use. You might also be interested in the 2006 poll, Parenting the MySpace Generation.