"Catching Blondie’s reunion tour broadcast at 4 in the morning wasn’t an option for XM Satellite Radio subscriber Scott MacLean. ‘I was missing concerts that were being broadcasted when I was asleep or out,’ he said.

"So the 35-year-old computer programmer from Ottawa, Ontario, wrote a piece of software that let him record the show directly onto his PC hard drive while he snoozed.

"The software, TimeTrax, also neatly arranged the individual songs from the concert, complete with artist name and song title information, into MP3 files.

"Then MacLean started selling the software, putting him in the thick of a potential legal battle pitting technically savvy fans against a company protecting its alliance–and licensing agreements–with the music industry."

Reuters. MP3 Tool Pulls Satellite Radio Into Piracy Fight. News.com. Aug. 27, 2004.

Update: Paul Festa. XM Radio Pulls PC Hardware Amid Piracy Concerns. News.com. Aug. 30, 2004. (XM Radio discontinues radio receiver that could be outfitted with TimeTrax, software that allows unit users to record songs onto their PC hard drive; unit is being sold on eBay.)

"After more than a decade of false starts and empty promises, publishers may finally be starting to understand what consumers want from electronic books.

"Although revenues remain tiny, industry surveys show encouraging signs of growth in e-book sales over the past year.

"Publishing executives and analysts say the industry is finally coming to grips with the most significant issues that have stalled e-book adoption to date."

David Becker. Have e-books Turned a Page?. News.com. Aug. 27, 2004.

"Federal authorities searched computers in six locations yesterday in an attempt to disrupt a network used to trade copies of movies, software, games and music.

"The Justice Department said the searches represented the first time that so-called peer-to-peer networks had been singled out for a criminal enforcement action under copyright law.

"The department has stepped up enforcement of copyright law this year, but until now it has focused on organizations known as warez groups, which steal copies of movies and other materials to make them available to downloaders."

Saul Hansell. U.S. Searches Computers, Trying to Disrupt Piracy. The New York Times. Aug. 26, 2004.

See also
Peter Kaplan and Andy Sullivan. U.S. Raids Net Song Swappers in Copyright Crackdown. Reuters. Aug. 25, 2004.

Attorney General John Ashcroft. Digital Gridlock Announcement. Aug. 25, 2004.

(Editor�s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archive.)

"Electronics manufacturers and some Internet providers are mounting a counterattack to a copyright bill intended to ban peer-to-peer networks and that could also imperil devices like Apple Computer’s iPod.

"That measure, called the Induce Act, has been widely panned by the technology industry. Now some groups, including SBC Communications, Verizon Communications and the Consumer Electronics Association, are fighting back with their own proposal that will be sent to Capitol Hill on Tuesday afternoon.

"Their proposal, dubbed the ‘Don’t Induce Act,’ (.pdf) is designed to provide the Senate with an alternative that’s less threatening to the industry. It is far narrower, saying that only someone who distributes a commercial computer program ’specifically designed’ for widescale piracy on digital networks could be held liable for copyright violations."

Declan McCullagh. Industry Offers Alternative to P2P Bill. News.com. Aug. 24, 2004.

See also Katie Dean. Copyright Bill Needs Big Changes. Wired News. Aug. 25, 2004.

"A music company claiming to own the rights to Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land is Your Land’ may have gotten more than it bargained for when it took on JibJab Media, the Web animators behind a wildly popular parody of the U.S. presidential campaign.

"The animators on Tuesday beat back copyright infringement charges leveled at their work, which was based on the tune. Attorneys for the company also said they had found evidence that the copyright on Guthrie’s song expired in 1973, meaning that anyone can use it for free.

"’This song belongs to you and me,’ quipped Fred von Lohmann, an attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which defended JibJab in the case."

Evan Hansen. JibJab Beats Copyright Rap. News.com. Aug. 24, 2004.

Electronic Frontier Foundation. Music Publisher Settles Copyright Skirmish Over Guthrie Classic. Aug. 24, 2004.

Editor’s note: See also SNTReport.com’s prior story on this political parody.

"Colleges and universities across the country are taking new steps to fight rampant Internet music piracy by beefing up their education efforts, offering legal music downloading options and stiffening penalties for illegal file sharing, according to a report released today.

"The report, which was prepared by a coalition of higher education institutions and the recording industry, said that schools are adopting new policies as well as technological and educational measures to ensure that students have access to online music without resorting to illegal downloads."

Jonathan Krim. Justice Dept. to Announce Cyber-Crime Crackdown. WashingtonPost.com. Aug. 25, 2004.

See also:
Katie Dean. Music Services Score an A-Plus. Wired News. Aug. 24, 2004.
Cynthia L. Webb. Online Music Goes Back to School. WashingtonPost.com. Aug. 24, 2004.

(Editor�s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archives.)

"The Motion Picture Association of America said Monday that it has sued two chipmakers for selling DVD chips to companies that are flouting copy-protection rules.

"The lawsuit is the second to target DVD hardware makers and is part of a new campaign by the trade association to crack down on the spread of disc players that deviate from a Hollywood-approved system of copy control features.

"According to the MPAA, Sigma Designs in Milpitas, Calif., and Taiwan-based MediaTek each have sold DVD-player chips to companies that offer features in their products that aren’t allowed under the general DVD technology license. That act violated the license the chipmakers had to sign to build the DVD chips in the first place."

John Borland. Hollywood Cracks Down on DVD Chipmakers. News.com. Aug. 23, 2004.