CMX - what is it good for?

The music industry "axis of evil", Sony, Warner, Universal and EMI, are launching a new download format for albums, called CMX. What's wrong with MP3, you might ask. Well, for starters MP3-files don't include lyrics and music videos. But who really cares about that? Do a google search and find the lyrics you're interested in. And music videos? What is this, the 80's?

Most importantly, though, MP3-files don't include DRM, a computer virus that I'm convinced this new CMX-format will be infected by:

"Only playable on a Microsoft Windows computer with Internet Explorer 8 installed. Can only be installed on one computer at a time. We reserve the right to shut down our DRM-servers at any time, rendering your purchase useless".

Ooooh, I can't wait to waste my money on this. Not.

Free - or not

I read a couple of reviews of Chris Anderson's book on the new business models on the web, "Free - the future of a radical price", and found it to be intriguing. So intriguing in fact that I wanted to have a closer look at it, and possibly even buy it. The review mentioned that the book was, true to it's content, available for free on the web.

So I googled it, and found that it was indeed available for free at Scribd, but wait...

Are you freakin' kidding me? The book is arguing that trying to protect your intellectual property with various kinds of annoying restrictions is not a very good idea in this new economy, yet it's actually utilizing the very same, ridiculous techniques as the rest of the entertainment industry, providing the consumers with a sub-quality product (who wants to read a 274 page book online, with no option for saving or downloading???) and the infamous and hysterically annoying geographical restrictions found on DVD's and several streaming video sites, to mention a couple. Makes me wonder if Chris Andersson's publisher, Random House, has even read the book they're publishing, or if it's all just a bad joke.

Granted, you can download the sound book version in MP3 format here, but who wants to listen to a book for seven hours? Where's the damn PDF?

Needless to say, I'm not contributing to Chris Andersson's and Random House's "radical economy".

Sweet deal...ummm, or not.

Virgin, or the ISP-part of the company, has revealed a sweet deal for it's broadband customers. In fact, you could say it's "an offer you can not refuse":

1. Download or stream MP3-files legally, for a monthly fee, and...

2. Get you internet activity closely monitored by Virgin, who reserves the right to terminate your internet connection if they suspect you're engaged in file sharing activities.

No, thanks, Virgin.