mp3tunes

In MP3tunes copyright case, EMI wants CEO's assets

Record label EMI is tightening its grip on the personal assets of Michael Robertson, the longtime tech entrepreneur, maverick, and founder of MP3tunes.com.

MP3tunes.com, a pioneering cloud music service, fought a five-year long copyright battle with EMI before going bust last month. In the lawsuit against MP3tunes and Robertson, EMI claimed that the company encouraged users to pirate copyright songs. After nearly five years of legal maneuvering, MP3tunes ran out of money.

Neither Robertson nor representatives from EMI were available for comment. We'll update as soon as we hear back.

After MP3tunes filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy … Read more

EMI says bankruptcy won't protect MP3tunes from copyright suit

Bankruptcy will not protect MP3tunes.com or founder Michael Robertson from answering for the copyright violations they allegedly committed, according to EMI, the record company that's home to The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Coldplay.

CNET broke the news today that MP3tunes.com, a music locker service that let users store songs on the company's servers and then access them from Web-connected devices, filed for bankruptcy protection.

The service was noteworthy for being one of the first unlicensed music locker services and helping to pave the way for similar services offered by Google and Amazon. But MP3tunes.com … Read more

MP3tunes.com locker service files for bankruptcy (exclusive)

MP3tunes.com, the music locker service that rose from the ashes of pioneer sharing site MP3.com, has filed for bankruptcy, records show.

MP3tunes.com was sued out of existence by EMI, one of the four top record companies, according to founder Michael Robertson, a technology entrepreneur who started Linspire, MP3.com, and DAR.fm. In 2007, EMI accused MP3tunes.com of violating its copyright and so ensued more than four years of litigation, heaping loads of legal costs onto the startup music service.

"Four and a half years of legal costs and we're not even out of … Read more

Facebook bumps up privacy controls

The new iPhone may land on Sprint by mid-October, developers can start submitting apps for Windows Phone 7 "Mango" due out next month, and Facebook has announced new privacy controls.

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

EMI v. MP3tunes decision leaves much undecided

MP3tunes.com founder Michael Robertson claimed a victory yesterday in his copyright fight with record label EMI, even though Robertson could be forced to pay as much as $75 million to EMI in damages.

EMI also ballyhooed a triumph in the case, despite failing to convince the judge to bar MP3tunes from safe-harbor protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. EMI filed a copyright suit against MP3tunes in 2007, accusing that company and sister service Sideload.com of enabling users to search for copies of pirated music and then store them in MP3tunes' locker service.

The truth is that neither … Read more

New BlackBerry Curve arrives

RankMyHack.com lets hackers brag about their latest endeavors, the iPhone 5 is rumored to be a dual-mode device, and Research In Motion has released a new BlackBerry Curve.

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

Court says MP3tunes protected by DMCA

A federal judge has decided that MP3tunes, a music locker service accused in a lawsuit of enabling mass piracy, has protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. But the judge has also ruled that the company's founder, Michael Robertson, is personally liable for music he uploaded to the service without permission of copyright owners.

In a 29-page decision, U.S. District Judge William Pauley granted the summary motion filed by record company EMI on the two points.

Pauley, from U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruled that Robertson and MP3tunes.com are liable for … Read more

Amazon's cloud risks war with labels, studios

Amazon shot past Apple and Google into the cloud and generated a lot of buzz by launching a new service last night that lets people store their digital media on the company's servers.

What the company didn't do was license the rights to do this from the major Hollywood film studios and top record companies. Certainly, many from the film and music camps believe that without obtaining the proper permission, Amazon's new service violates their legal rights, multiple sources from the entertainment sector told CNET.

Cloud Drive, announced late Monday, is a hard-drive backup service accessible via … Read more

Sony to mSpot: Get off of my cloud

One of the chief concerns that some in the music industry have about digital-locker services is that at least a couple of them allow all songs, even pirated tunes, to be stored in the cloud.

Thomas Hesse, digital chief for Sony Music Entertainment, said as much at the Midem conference in France on Saturday, according to Billboard.

"We are very uncomfortable with a model where you can just throw anything into the cloud and stream it, if what you threw into the cloud was not legitimately purchased," Hesse said during a panel session. "It's not the … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1356: Microsoft listens to the show (podcast)

Microsoft now says the Kinect was left open "by design." Ok, if that's what you have to say to save some face, guys. We know you got the "Lego robotics model" idea from us. Also, Netflix officially launches its streaming-only plan, Murdoch brings the paywall to the iPad, and FIOS gets even faster for the lucky few who have it (or can afford it). --Molly