"Skype was created as a no-cost long-distance phone service. It does that very well. What it also allows you to do, if you’re just a little technically-minded and have a homebrew gene or two, is to record your Skype phone conversation, with the other person’s permission, to an audio file on a second computer. Once you’ve recorded the audio, you can edit out the uhms, ahs and pauses, compress the audio and then place it on the web for public consumption.

"I’ve been doing some experiments recording Skype interviews and am writing this article to pass along some tips and pointers."

Phil Shapiro. Using Skype as a Community Media Production Tool. No publisher. No date.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"Calling all music players.

"A growing number of people are sharing the digital music on MP3 players and other music devices using freely available software and Skype, a free Internet phone service.

"The enthusiasts are borrowing heavily from another personal broadcasting phenomenon called podcasting, in which digital recordings are posted on a Web site for download to a variety of music players, including desktop PCs and portable gadgets like Apple Computer’s wildly popular iPod. ‘Skypecasters, as they call themselves, use Skype’s peer-to-peer telephone network to distribute recordings over the Internet directly to each other for free."

Ben Charny. VoIP Calls Get Podcast Treatment. News.com. March 29, 2005.

See also:
John Borland. A Novel Podcast. News.com. March 24, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"VeriSign has taken a major step toward retaining control of .net after beating out four rivals in a rating of the contenders seeking to run the Internet’s third-largest domain.

"VeriSign Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., ranked the highest in a report (.pdf) released late Monday by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the main oversight body for the domain-name system. ICANN now will begin negotiating a registry agreement with VeriSign, a process that is expected to last about two weeks.

"Once an agreement is reached, the selection of VeriSign as the registry for .net could go before ICANN’s board of directors as early as its scheduled meeting in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on April 8. ICANN also has begun accepting public comments on the report."

Matt Hicks. VeriSign Favored to Run Major Internet Domain. eWeek. March 29, 2005.

See also:

Jim Wagner and Michael Singer. VeriSign Retaining Stewardship of .net. InternetNews.com. March 29, 2005.

Anick Jesdanun. Panel: VeriSign Should Retain Domain Name Control. Globe and Mail. March 29, 2005.
ICANN. ICANN .net RFP Evaluation. (.pdf). March 2005.

ICANN. ICANN Publishes Telcordia Report on their Findings and Rankings for .NET. (Press Release.) March 28, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"Since taking office two years ago, President Luiz In�cio Lula da Silva has turned Brazil into a tropical outpost of the free software movement.

"Looking to save millions of dollars in royalties and licensing fees, Mr. da Silva has instructed government ministries and state-run companies to gradually switch from costly operating systems made by Microsoft and others to free operating systems, like Linux.

"On Mr. da Silva’s watch, Brazil has also become the first country to require any company or research institute that receives government financing to develop software to license it as open-source, meaning the underlying software code must be free to all."

Todd Benson. Brazil: Free Software’s Biggest and Best Friend. News.com. March 29, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"A group of companies that operate electronic databases have agreed to pay freelance writers up to $18 million to settle copyright infringement claims brought under a class action lawsuit, according to a settlement announced Tuesday."

Associated Press. Writers Settle with Databases for $18M. Business Week Online. March 29, 2005.

Editor’s Note: Jonathan Tasini, formerly president of the National Writers Union and the named defendant in the Supreme Court case, is now president and executive director of the Creators Federation.

See also:
Richard Wiggins. The Tasini Decision: A Victory for No One. LLRX.com. Aug. 15, 2001.

Carol Ebbinghouse. Tasini Case Final Decision: Authors Win. Information Today. June 28, 2001.

Rachel Metz. Freelancers Hit the Jackpot. Wired News. March 29, 2004.

Legal Information Institute. New York Times Co., Inc., et al. v. Tasini et al.. June 25, 2001.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"The much-heralded Supreme Court showdown in the Grokster case today between old-fashioned entertainment and new-fangled technology found the justices surprisingly responsive to warnings from Grokster and its allies that a broad definition of copyright infringement could curtail innovation.

"Justice David H. Souter asked Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., the lawyer arguing for the Hollywood studios and the recording industry, to envision ‘a guy sitting in his garage inventing the iPod.’

"That David Souter, the least technically minded of the justices, was an indication of how this confrontation of powerful interests had engaged the court.  But by the end of the lively argument, any prediction about what the court will actually decide appeared perilous."

Linda Greenhouse. Justices Seem Responsive to Arguments on File Sharing. The New York Times. March 29, 2005.

See also:
John Borland. Supreme Court Takes Hard Look at P2P. News.com. March 29, 2005.

Jon Healey. Technology or Piracy? Court Asked to Draw Line. Seattle Times. March 29, 2005.

Ted Bridis. Supreme Court Weighs in on File-Sharing. ABC News. March 29, 2005.

National Public Radio. Supreme Court Weighs Online File-Sharing Case. All Things Considered. March 29, 2005.

National Pubic Radio. Slate’s Jurisprudence: File-Sharing. Day to Day. March 29, 2005.

David McGuire. At a Glance: MGM v. Grokster. WashingtonPost.com. March 29, 2005.

Katie Dean. Camping Out for the Grokster Case. Wired News. March 29, 2005.

Update:
Andrew Leonard. Music Rules. Salon. March 30, 2005.

Jim Puzzanghera. Justices Wary of Barring Tools for File-sharing. San Jose Mercury News. March 30, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"Ken Fuhrman’s Colorado-based start-up company is a television junkie’s dream, making powerful home media servers to hold digitized versions of television shows, movies and music.

"But Fuhrman is worried. On Tuesday morning, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether file-swapping software companies Grokster and StreamCast Networks should be held responsible for the widespread copyright infringement on their networks, and he’s afraid his company, Interact-TV, could be affected too."

John Borland. Top Court to Hear Landmark P2P Case Tuesday. News.com. March 28, 2005.

See also:
John Borland. FAQ: Betamax–Tech’s Favorite Ruling. News.com. March 28, 2005.

Katie Dean. Supreme Showdown for P2P’s Future. Wired News. March 28, 2005.

Saul Hansell and Jeff Leeds. A Supreme Court Showdown for File Sharing. The New York Times. March 28, 2005.

Jon Healey. High Court Prepares for Case Against File Sharing. LATimes.com. March 28, 2005.

Marcia Coyle. Justices to Weigh Key Copyright Case. Law.com. March 21, 2005.

(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.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.