Music industry takes new view on music downloads

The music industry appears to have something of a change of heart about the effect of music downloading on CD sales. Sales in the US are up 9.4 per cent this year despite the success of online stores such as iTunes and Napster. ...more

The future according to HP

HP outlined its view of a "service-centric" future of computing at a news conference to highlight its major computing research projects. With the World Wide Web playing a central role, HP foresees computing services being purchased wirelessly from any location at any time of day, and these services will be underpinned by massive data centres linked around the world. This is the scenario HP is assuming for its major paths of research. ...more

EMI/Time Warner make further concessions

EMI Group and Time Warner are prepared to make drastic concessions to push through their merger, says an industry source. According to the source, quoted by Reuters, the two companies will pacify the European Commission by agreeing to shed record labels in Spain, France and Denmark and stop their CD manufacturing business. The two firms have also agreed to restructure their distribution business and stick to prices set for music copyrights by national collecting societies. ...more

CA draws a line under financial troubles

CA is hoping to draw a line under its financial troubles, finally filing its late 10k and appointing a new CFO. The management software company has seen a fifth of its market value wiped out this year as it underwent an internal investigation into financial irregularities that brought to light stock awards made several years after they were granted, as well as errors in accounting for its subscription revenues prior to 2006. Its 10k form filed today noted 'material weaknesses in its financial controls . ...more

RIAA delays case against dead man

A grieving family in America does not, after all, have to answer charges relating to illegal file sharing. For 60 days. The Recording Industry Association of America has shown its softer side by applying for a stay in the copyright violation case against Larry Scantlebury who died in June of this year. ...more