Consumer content

SpiralFrog users can continue to play songs obtained from the now defunct company for two more months before they become inaccessible, according to a source close to the company.

The ad-supported music service shuttered its Web site late Thursday evening and ceased operations, the source told CNET. Some customers of the service asked on Friday how long their music, which is wrapped in copy-protection software, will continue to play. A source familiar with SpiralFrog's operations said the service's digital rights management technology, designed to prevent unauthorized copying, will lock up the music indefinitely after 60 days. The songs … Read more

Samsung has launched a virtual store where customers in Europe can buy or rent movies and TV programs and download them to their mobile phones.

In its initial rollout phase, the Samsung Movies service will offer more than 500 films from studios such as Warner Bros., Paramount, and Universal. The service launched initially in Britain and Germany, but Samsung intends to open it up to other European markets later in the year. By the end of the first quarter, the company said it planned to double the number of titles it will offer to 1,000, and again to 2,… Read more

Update, 10:38 p.m. PDT: To include more background on factors that led to shutdown.

SpiralFrog, the pioneering ad-supported music service, quietly closed down on Thursday. SpiralFrog's site went dark at about 4 p.m. PDT.

A source close to the company told CNET News that SpiralFrog has ceased operations and assets have been surrendered to creditors. To keep operations going last year, the company issued secured notes in order to borrow at least $9 million from several hedge funds and others.

SpiralFrog representatives weren't immediately available for comment.

New York-based SpiralFrog made a splash in August … Read more

Add YouTube to the list of Web sites offering visitors live streaming video of NCAA Division I men's tournament games.

The Google-owned video site quietly began streaming college basketball games on Thursday via a feed from CBS (parent company of CNET News).

I don't understand why CBS wouldn't have promoted this more in order to take full advantage of YouTube's enormous audience. YouTube, by far the Web's largest video site, recently said more than 100 million U.S. visitors log on to the site. YouTube didn't do a lot of press prior to Thursday'… Read more

Writing a term paper and thinking about borrowing one that already got someone else an A, or at least is geared to deliver a mere passing grade?

For some California high school students, that dodgy maneuver now means reckoning not just with the sharp (or tired) eyes of the teacher, but also the algorithms of a Web-based plagiarism sniffer.

San Mateo High School is trying out the services of Oakland-based Turnitin.com, according to a report from CBS station KOVR-TV in Sacramento. (Note: CNET News is a unit of CBS Interactive.) Students are asked to submit their essays online, and … Read more

As expected, iTunes customers (Windows|Mac) can now buy and rent films in high definition, Apple said Thursday.

Customers can buy hit titles for $19.99 and rentals will cost $4.99. Rentals will be available a month after a film is released on DVD. Prior to this offer, high-def films were only available for rental.

The high-def quality movies are compatible with Macs and PCs. But iPhones and iPods can still only play films in standard definition, the company said. Each high-def film comes with a standard-def copy to play on Apple's handhelds.

"Customers have made HD … Read more

As part of a plea to lawmakers in New Zealand to overturn a new pro-copyright law, Google claims that most takedown notices are bogus.

According to a story in PC World, Google says 57 percent of the takedown notices it has received under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act were sent by businesses trying to undermine a competitor.

About 37 percent of the notices weren't valid copyright claims, Google wrote.

New Zealand is considering whether to force Internet service providers to cut off Web access to those accused of violating copyright law. Google opposes the plan.

The law would "… Read more

Updated 7:46 AM PT with comments from executives at Cisco and Pure Digital.

Cisco Systems, the world's largest maker of switches and routers that power the Internet, has taken another step toward becoming a major player in the consumer electronics market.

On Thursday the company announced it has acquired Pure Digital Technologies, the maker of the popular Flip Video camcorders. Cisco will pay about $590 million in stock for the company and will also provide about $15 million in retention-based equity as incentives to PureDigital employees, the company said in a statement.

Pure Digital started selling its consumer-friendly mini camcorder in May 2007. The device, which is a little bigger than a deck of cards and has a built-in USB connection, was designed to provide an easy and simple way to take video and upload it to the Internet, especially to popular sharing sites like YouTube and MySpace.

The device, which costs between $100 and $229, depending on the version purchased, has built-in memory storage to take up to 30 minutes or 60 minutes of video. The integrated software also makes the device easy to upload video to PCs or Macs. The product line has grown and now includes the Flip MinoHD, a small high-definition camera. Pure Digital says it has sold more than 2 million total Flip video units since the product first went on sale.… Read more

Sony's e-book reader is about to get a little help from Jane Austen in its battle with the Kindle.

Sony announced a partnership with Google Wednesday night that will bring a half-million classic books to the Sony Reader Digital Book. Users will now be able to access the free book downloads through Sony's eBook Store.

For years, Google has scanned books and converted them to digital format--at least in part--for its Google Book Search project. For now, Google is providing books to Sony whose copyrights have expired, which means most of the new additions to the Sony Reader … Read more