Tag Archives: legal

Things I Learned this Week

Among the things I learned this week:
* Felled and properly laid trees can stop tanks. (Courtesy: War is Boring)

* Fake wine is a significant issue in the wine world. (Courtesy: Kate Krader/Bloomberg)

* Flying’s nine freedoms. (Courtesy: Paul McClean and Alex Barker/FT)

* Contrary to an earlier Things I Learned this Week post, Brazil does not ban coffee imports. (Courtesy: Joseph Leahy and Emiko Terazono/FT)

Media’s Coverage Of Search Engines And Privacy

A significant news story these last many hours has been Google’s refusal to hand over search-related data to the Department of Justice. We can debate the methodological issues associated with the DOJ project for all of the five minutes it takes to realize it’s fundamentally flawed, but I want to focus on the news coverage.

In every press account I initially saw, the headline focused on Google’s refusal, not on the other search engine’s (e.g., MSN and Yahoo) compliance. Is that bias a result of the popularity of Google? Is it reflective of what I perceive to be tendency to support enforcement over privacy issues?

Before asking those types of questions, however, it is important to make sure the facts are straight. Is Google receiving a disproportionate share of the attention of this story?

In support of this is the fact that the media did not pick up on the story until Google made it’s latest refusal, rather than when the other search engines complied. This, however, can be explained away by the fact that the press relies on the government to report the news before they report on it.

A better method would be a large-n study of news headlines. Thanks to the Internet, we can do that with news aggregators. I began with News.Google, the news aggregator I use most often. At first, I searched for each of the major search engine companies in the titles of news stories. Doing so yields these results (at 1210a, January 21):
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Miscellaneous: Music

I prefer content and posts with a coherent theme, but I have a couple of bits that I thought were interesting. Here they are:

(1) Sony BMG creates a music label for LGBT artists

I came across this story in The New York Times, but could not find a satisfactory account of it anywhere. Basically, Sony Music Label Group, a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, is partnering with Wilderness Media, which works with MTV on LOGO, to create a LGBT-oriented music label named Music with a Twist. The label has not signed artists, but is preparing compilations with LGBT artists and LGBT-themed music. For a second I almost stopped disliking Sony BMG. For more, do the usual News.Google search.

(2) Korn has entered an unusual contract with its music label and concert promotors

Under the terms of the arrangement, Live Nation Inc. will share far more than is typical for a promoter, which normally receives a cut of the band’s box-office sales but little else. Instead, the company is paying roughly $3 million for an estimated 6 percent stake in the band’s box office, licensing, publishing, merchandise and CD revenue for its recently released album, “See You on the Other Side,” and its next album, music industry executives involved in the deal say. Live Nation will also be the exclusive promoter of Korn’s concerts in the United States.

…

The deal reflects a new twist on relationships that generally involve only two players. Music acts sign contracts with record labels to distribute their CD’s; the acts strike separate deals with concert promoters to market their live performances. The labels and promoters historically have not shared in each other’s earnings, but under Korn’s arrangement with Live Nation – and an earlier all-encompassing pact that the band struck with the music giant EMI Group – the money will flow into one shared pot. The three-way partnership is the latest example of how the various players in the music business are scrambling to keep pace with a shifting market.

(3) Killing the iPod

In 2005’s Q4, Apple sold more than 100 iPods per minute (sorry, no linked articles on this). That’s amazing. It’s time to stop underestimating the iPod and to stop referring to “iPod killers.” Just as no one beat the Walkman in terms of sales and cred, no one will beat the iPod for digital audio players. In addition, iTunes downloads are out of this world, and enjoying 83 percent of all online music sales (again, no linked articles; pulled from Jobs’ keynote). Total online music downloads hit more than 1 million in the last week of the year. Check out music sales for 2005; the turning tide is impressive. It is also worth noting that P2P file sharing has doubled since the RIAA began filing lawsuits against its customers.

(4) Copyrights keeping older music down and out

Without diving into the storm surrounding copyrights, the Library of Congress found 84 percent of recordings from before 1965 can not be reissued without permission from the copyright holder, which is usually the original music label. That partially contributes to another finding that more than 70 percent of US music recorded before 1965 is not legally available in the US.