| Singles no. 1's |
| US |
Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera
Moves Like Jagger |
| UK |
Sac Noel
Loca People |
| AU |
Gotye & Kimbra
Somebody That I Used To Know |
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| 12-08-03 |
Superfastnetworks releases subscription-based file-sharing network
Superfastnetworks is releasing a subscription based "Digital Media Content Portal" where users can sign up and instantly have their own file sharing system that they can use to deploy media content. The portal was created and designed for Media Content Providers wishing to handle distribution of their media products or to expose their digital products to potential Content Marketers who will distribute their media products for them. SFN handles the hosting needs of the Content Provider and delivery of the media to end users employing a free multi-source streaming file sharing application backed up by an array of commercial servers to ensure high speeds.
RIAA subpoenas rejected by judge
A Massachusetts district court have caused a serious setback for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) by rejecting its subpoenas for the identities of Massachusetts students. For the moment, MIT and Boston College need not respond to the RIAA demands. The Massachusetts district judge granted requests from MIT and Boston College to reject RIAA subpoenas demanding identities of students the RIAA claims are violating copyrights. The subpoenas are part of a nationwide effort by the RIAA to identify and crack down on alleged copyright violators using peer-to-peer software to share music on the Internet. |
| 07-08-03 |
SBC sues RIAA to halt music industry subpoenas
SBC Communications has filed suit to stop a flood of recording-industry court orders that seek to track down Internet users who might be illegally copying music. SBC subsidiary Pacific Bell Internet Services sued the Recording Industry Association of America in federal court in San Francisco, saying the music industry trade group has been overzealous in its pursuit of suspected song-swappers. The RIAA recently issued more than 1,000 subpoenas to SBC and other Internet providers over the past few weeks, seeking to find the names of those who use peer to peer services like Kazaa and Morpheus to copy music, movies and other files from each others' hard drives for free. |
| 30-07-03 |
Napster to relaunch
Roxio has revamped online music service Napster which will debut in time for the holiday season and will give people access to music through a subscription or via an a la carte option. The new service, Napster 2.0, will likely debut with the largest legal music catalog in the world with close to half a million songs. |
| 23-07-03 |
Music industry starts suing users suspected of illegally sharing music files
The music industry has issued at least 871 federal subpoenas against computer users suspected of illegally sharing music files on the Internet, with roughly 75 new subpoenas being approved each day. Subpoenas reviewed by The Associated Press show the industry compelling some of the largest Internet providers, such as Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Cable Communications Inc. and some universities to provide names and mailing addresses for users on their networks known online by nicknames such as "fox3j," "soccerdog33," "clover77" or "indepunk74." The Recording Industry Association of America has said it expects to file at least several hundred lawsuits seeking financial damages within the next eight weeks. US copyright laws allow for damages of $750 to $150,000 for each song offered illegally on a person's computer, but the RIAA has said it would be open to settlement proposals from defendants. |
| 16-07-03 |
Record industry sues Spanish file-exchange site
Several record companies are suing the Spanish operator of the file-exchange site Puretunes, accusing it of illegally selling copyrighted songs over the Internet. The music companies, including Arista Records, BMG Music, Capitol Records and Sony Music Entertainment, seek up to $150,000 per copyrighted song and other financial damages against Sakfield Holding, operator of Puretunes. The suit was filed July 3 with the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The record companies contend the court has jurisdiction over Sakfield because the company is doing business in Washington, D.C., and has maintained the Puretunes site through an Internet service provider based there. According to the suit, Sakfield unlawfully copied and distributed thousands of songs from artists such as U2, Elvis Presley and Britney Spears through the Web site. The site went off-line in mid-June. Puretunes, which began operating in May, charged users for access to music files while misleading consumers into
believing they were buying music from a licensed online retailer, the suit said. The site charged $3.99 for eight hours of unlimited music downloads, and $24.99 to do so for a month. |
| 09-07-03 |
P-Cube launches recording industry-friendly P2P program
P-Cube has unveiled a new SmartStart-P2P program, it says will help recording companies from getting hurt. The company says its new venture is a regimented diet of products and services that let broadband Internet service providers understand the impact of broadband applications, such as peer-to-peer on their networks. The program also includes software tools to cut down on the amount of related problems such as congestion. The company said its SmartStart program follows a structured process of consulting and network inspection using P-Cube's Engage platform. The company is adopting a generalized P2P system with its JXTA program. |
| 02-07-03 |
European file-exchange companies unite against media companies
Internet file-sharing companies are forming a lobbying group in Europe to defend their interests against media companies trying to force them out of business. The move is the latest sign that file-sharing companies intend to fight for their right to distribute software that enables computer users to share files online. Media and software companies say the technology is a threat to their business because it lets users exchange copyright-protected materials such as video games, music, film and software for free. |
| 25-06-03 |
FBI enters P2P battle
A bill introduced recently in Congress would put federal agents in the business of investigating and prosecuting copyright violations, including online swapping of copyrighted works. Bill HR-2517, the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2003, instructs the FBI to develop a program to deter online traffic of copyrighted material. The bureau would also develop a warning, with the FBI seal, that copyright holders could issue to suspected violators. The new bill also calls for the Department of Justice to hire agents trained to deal with computer hacking and intellectual-property issues, and it requires the Attorney General, in conjunction with the departments of Education and Commerce, to develop programs to educate the public on copyright issues.
Online music service ITunes Music Store hits five million online sales mark
Online music service iTunes Music Store for Apple computer users in the US has sold more than five million songs in the two months since it was launched. The iTunes Music Store allows customers to download for 99 cents per song, without subscription fees. Apple said in a statement that 46% of the songs have been purchased as albums, and 80% of the 200,000 songs available on the online store have been purchased at least once. A Windows version of iTunes is planned for later this year and an overseas expansion is also in the works. |
| 18-06-03 |
New Prince album available online only
Prince will release a new album, titled "N.E.W.S.," on June 19 to members of his NPG Music Club Web site. The album features four songs "North," "East" "West" and "South," each of which is 14 minutes long. Club members can also preview three songs from the DVD "Prince Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas," which is due for release later this year. |
| 28-05-03 |
Radiohead make four new tracks available online
Radiohead have made four tracks from their upcoming new album "Hail To The Thief" available online. The tracks are available at www.capitolrecords.com/radiohead and are the completed versions of songs previously leaked on the internet.The new Radiohead album is due out on June 9. |
| 21-05-03 |
Roxio to relaunch Pressplay under Napster name
Roxio has acquired online music service Pressplay from Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment and plans to relaunch it under the Napster name before March 2004. Roxio, a manufacturer of CD burning software, has acquired Napster's assets late last year. |
| 14-05-03 |
Universal sues Bertelsmann over Napster
Universal Music Group has filed suit against Bertelsmann AG over the company's involvement with the former online file-sharing network Napster. The suit is similar to a separate complaint filed by a group of music publishers earlier this year. It alleges that Bertelsmann took numerous actions that directly and materially contributed to the millions of illegal acts of copyright infringement by the users of the Napster system. The suit alleges that, while Bertelsmann attempted to convert Napster to a legal network, the company wanted to exploit the Napster system without losing its user base. |
| 07-05-03 |
New software program PeerGuardian to protect file traders
A new application that protects individuals from network snooping is making the rounds among file traders, marking the latest salvo in the battle between music labels and file traders. Free software called PeerGuardian creates a personal firewall that blocks the IP addresses of snoops. They can see the names of files being traded, but they can't download the file to tell whether it's a copyrighted file.
New online Apple music store iTunes sells more than 1 million songs
Apple has said that its online iTunes music store, which opened only one week ago, has sold more than 1 million songs at 99 cents each. More than half the songs were purchased and downloaded as albums, allaying concerns by some that selling music on a per-track basis would hurt album sales. The new online music service, which has more than 200,000 tracks for sale, is integrated into its iTunes music software program and for now is available only for Macintosh. A Windows version is due by year's end. Users can listen to free 30-second previews of any track on the service and search by album, music genre, song title and artist. |
| 03-05-03 |
P2P programs Sharman Networks and Grokster win copyright infringement suit
The RIAA has been trying to implicate Sharman Networks and Grokster in their campaign to eliminate file-sharing, but a judge recently recognized that file-sharing networks have both legitimate and illegitimate uses. The judge ruled that in his opinion Grokster and StreamCast are not significantly different from companies that sell home video recorders or copy machines, both of which can be and are used to infringe copyrights.
Apple launches paid online music service
Apple has launched its iTunes Music Store, making more than 200,000 songs available for download. Recent releases including 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Tryin" an Fleetwood Mac's "Say You Will." All songs are available for download and burn at $9.99 each, with cover art included in the price. Singles can be purchased for $0.99 each, with iMusic offering a number of exclusives by the likes of Eminem, U2, Sting, Missy Elliott and Bob Dylan. |
| 23-04-03 |
Universal and EMI sue backers of Napster
Universal Music Group and EMI have filed a lawsuit against the venture capitalists who once backed Napster, claiming they contributed to the copyright violations by millions of users. The two labels have filed the lawsuit against Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and two of the San Francisco firm's general partners, Hank Barry and John Hummer.
The suit seeks punitive damages, along with $150,000 per violation. |
| 16-04-03 |
Overnet surpasses 1 million users mark
During March, the Overnet file-exchange community was doing well with approximately 500,000 users. But after the revised version .47 was released, its users exploded with an additional 500,000 users. These numbers reflect the total number of users connected to the network at any given time. It should also be noted that these numbers are fluid, and could represent a slightly higher or lower total. |
| 13-04-03 |
Ice T makes new album available through Kazaa
Rapper Ice T, one of the artists to support file-sharing, has said that he is making his music available for purchase to users of the Kazaa file-exchange service. Under the deal, marking the service's first commercial distribution of music by a hit artist, Ice T's new album, "Repossession," will be available for $4.99 to Kazaa Media Desktop users through a secure platform for peer-to-peer services developed by Altnet. Ice T, an outspoken critic of big record labels and an advocate for new distribution channels, said teaming with Altnet was an easy decision. |
| 02-04-03 |
New Radiohead songs leaked to the Internet
Radiohead songs from their yet unreleased upcoming Radiohead album "Hail To The Thief" were leaked to the Internet. According to the record company and the band, downloading of songs from the internet is a breach of copyright. The album "Hail To The Thief" will be released officially on June 9. The single "There There" will precede the album in late May. |
| 12-03-03 |
Recording industry to focus on illegal music traders
The music industry is starting to move down to the illegal music traders. According to sources, music publishers and other content owners will soon use 1998's Digital Millennium Copyright Act much more aggressively, prosecuting not only companies like Napster but also individuals who download copyrighted content. And they are likely to start with the biggest users of peer-to-peer networks. The new strategy became evident last year when the Recording Industry Association of America served Verizon with a subpoena demanding that the service provider disclose the identity of a user who uploaded more than 600 songs while connected to the company's Internet service. The music industry says that "it's just defending itself from digital piracy, which has contributed to two successive years of declining CD sales."
Kazaa creator admits to Fasttrack supernode server reliance
In September 2001 the RIAA conducted research into how FastTrack operates and found that Fasttrack had a server that list the location of supernodes. Kazaa Media desktop contacted this server if their were problems with a list of supernodes that came with the application. Janus Friis, co-creator of Kazaa and Fasttrack has now admitted to the existence of a supernode server, although FastTrack is said to be only partially reliant on the supernode server. |
| 26-02-03 |
Napster to be relaunched at end of the year
Pioneering online music file swapping service Napster will be relaunched by the end of the year by its new owner as a legal subscription service. The new owner is Roxio, which is a company that makes software for CD-burners. Napster's founder Shawn Fanning is back with the company as a consultant after Roxio hired him earlier this month.
The new Napster will no longer allow file-swapping which attracted 60 million users at the peak of its popularity before annoyed record labels brought the company down with legal suits. Last Friday, a group of songwriters, composers and music publishers has launched a $17bn lawsuit against German media giant Bertelsmann, alleging that it helped Napster deprive them of royalties. Roxio bought Napster on the condition it would not carry any potential liabilities.
The story of Napster will also be the subject of a feature film. |
| 19-02-03 |
Pressplay signs new labels for its online download service
Pressplay claims to be providing a catalogue of around a quarter of a million songs on its subscription-based online music service. It has reached agreements with a number of independent record labels that will add artists like Frank Zappa, Nirvana and Nelly Furtado to its catalogue. The company also says that, starting with the 14 February launch of version 2.5 of its service, it will add interactive features to its radio service allowing users to create customised radio stations. |
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