Latest News
Week commencing 12th March 2007
Latte Be?
Rumors are in the air that Sir Paul McCartney maybe signing to the new record label set up by Starbucks. The label called, Hear Music will be selling recorded music through its stores as well as through traditional retailers. Representatives for both parties have denied any deal between the two.
DRM - RIP
Is Digital Rights Management at an end? The major record labels, it was thought, would not allow any of their recorded music to be available for download without the protective software systems being in place. However, representatives of EMI have suggested that the may not always incorporate DRM. The hope with DRM is that it would protect the copyright and prevent piracy in that it restricts the ability of the consumer copying freely what they have downloaded. When you download a track from I-Tunes the track is encoded with the FairPlay AAC files.
Many claim however that DRM is not working: it restricts the ability to download and in any event can be gotten around.
As physical sales keep falling, making a profit from online usage has not yet filled the deficit, making it even more of a concern for the music industry. If it is open season for and we can pick our music for free how is the industry to surive?
Cybersquatting - not very nice!
According to WIPO, cybersquatting is on the increase. Cybersquatting is where someone registers your trading name as their domain name, not with the intention of trading themselves but rather in the hope that you will pay them for the domain name to be transferred to you.
Top Tip: before registering your company or trademark get your domain name. People check Companies House and the Patent Office (the Intellectual Property Office) for new registrations and then get the relevant domain name.
What's In A Name?
The Patent Office will be changing its name on 2nd April 2007 to - wait for it, you may want to sit down due to the excitement - the Intellectual Property Office.
