Has Google jumped sides in copyright war-

Has Google jumped sides in copyright war?
But yesterday, Google's position began to blur. The search engine announced it would start booting alleged copyright violators off AdSense, the company's successful advertising program. Google said it would try to block terms associated with piracy from appearing in the search engine's Autocomplete function. In addition, CNET has learned that antipiracy software tools that Google once planned to offer to the Recording Industry Association of America for a fee will now be offered for free, according to a music industry source. In announcing Google's plans, Kent Walker, the company's general counsel, wrote in a blog post that those who use the Internet to infringe content are "bad apples." For file sharers, Google's antipiracy moves raise some questions, such as why now? Will Google do more piracy busting and if so where will it stop? Google could cause file sharers some pain if the company thrust a shoulder into antipiracy. Content supplyAs for what prompted Google to move now, Walker said little. He wrote that the company has seen a growing number of issues related to infringing content. Maybe so, but Google's timing is hard to ignore. The company's willingness to act as copyright enforcer comes as some of its most high-profile media initiatives are content starved.Google TV, which launched in October, is off to a rocky start. Billed as a way for people to access Web video on a living-room TV, the software platform is unable to do that for a wide range of shows. The four broadcast networks and Viacom, which also owns Comedy Central, have chosen to block access to Google TV. Over in music, Google is in negotiations with the major recording companies about launching a service that would compete with Apple's iTunes, multiple music-industry insiders told CNET. The parties, however, haven't got much done, the sources said. While those overseeing Google's music initiative told their label counterparts that they hoped to launch this year, Google has yet to ink a licensing deal with any of the top four labels, according to the sources. Any launch will have to wait until the next year. In the negotiations, the film and music sectors have made it clear that they wanted more assistance from Google on antipiracy, according to sources with knowledge of the talks. The movie studios and music labels each have their own antipiracy wish lists, but to both media sectors, nothing was more important than getting Google to cut off AdSense money to pirate sites.Severing pirate tiesGoogle pays the people who post its ads on their sites. These ads are common at sites connected to file sharing or those that stream pirated movies to users. It was a big enough problem for the entertainment sector to complain to the U.S. government. Two months ago, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and senior Republican member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced a bill called Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act. There was little doubt that part of the legislation was pointed directly at Google. Mitch Bainwol, CEO of the RIAA.Declan McCullaghIf passed, the bill would hand the Department of Justice the power to shut down alleged pirate sites as well as order ad companies like Google to stop doing business with the accused sites. Ellen Seidler, an independent filmmaker, has been very vocal about calling for Google to sever financial ties with pirates. "It's never been realistic to expect Google to police every AdSense member," Seidler said. "But even when Google learns that a site is linked to piracy, they still don't stop doing business. All we're saying is that once it's proven these sites are involved in piracy, Google should disable their AdSense accounts." That brings us to question 2, about whether Google will do more piracy fighting. While we can't say for certain what it will do, we do know the entertainment companies will keep asking for more cooperation. Google's antipiracy plans don't go far enough to satisfy some in the entertainment business. One music industry insider complained that Google's promise to remove pirated material within 24 hours of being notified doesn't mean much when it comes to pre-released songs or films that are leaked to the Web. Popular content spreads too fast to wait a full day for Google to act, according to the source. There's also no oversight in place to make sure Google fulfills its promises, the source said. One particular sore spot with content creators is one of the people influencing Google's copyright policies. In July, Google hired attorney Fred von Lohmann as senior copyright counsel. Prior to that, von Lohmann crossed swords with the film studios and music labels in a host of big copyright cases as senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group for Internet users and tech companies. While von Lohmann is a hero to the file-sharing community, some entertainment execs believe he's linked too closely with anti-copyright positions to steer Google's course here. That didn't stop Mitch Bainwol, RIAA CEO and Bob Pisano, interim CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, from applauding Google's antipiracy plans. Both men, however, signaled that they want more from Google. They defined the search engine's moves as "first steps." "These are important first steps toward helping protect the rights of content owners," Pisano said. "We also look forward to working with Google to address other important issues, including Google's listings and rankings of notorious pirate sites as places to go to get movies that are still only in the cinema."But these aren't really Google's first steps are they? In 2007, Google created a sophisticated filtering system to help keep unauthorized clips from being posted to YouTube even though it wasn't required by law. Back then, Google claimed it wanted to be a good partner to copyright owners. It appears the company is willing once again to prove it.

The 404 597- Where we're getting FaceTime with the Apple iPhone 4 (podcast)

The 404 597: Where we're getting FaceTime with the Apple iPhone 4 (podcast)
Don't call it the 4G or the 4HD. The Apple iPhone 4 is here and Gizmodo ruined the surprise. As predicted, the new handset has *almost* all of the rumored features, including a 960X640 resolution display, a bigger battery, HD video recording and editing, a three-axis gyroscope, an upgraded 5MP rear camera, and a front-facing camera for use with Apple's new video chat program FaceTime.This content is rated TV-MA, and is for viewers 18 years or older. Are you of age?YesNoSorry, you are not old enough to view this content.PlayApple's new Retina display promises 4X improvement over the current screen, and Steve's demo screenshots show significant improvements to text and images, but CNET's own TV expert David Katzmaier takes issue with the claim that viewing HD video on the new device is akin to the HDTV experience.He emphasizes that users will likely notice a significant difference in text, but the change in photos and video will be subtle, especially since most of the video material out now on YouTube and other sites just isn't scaled to fit the pixels on the small screen. Also, keep in mind that Steve's giant demo projections show a much more substantial difference than you'll see on the actual 3.5-inch handheld.Regardless, Wilson and I are both excited about AT&T's "favor" to Apple that offers immediate upgrade privileges to any user with a contract ending in 2010, including yours truly. Forget about flipping your old iPhone 3G or 3GS on eBay for a profit, though: Apple also announced that only the 3GS will remain with a price drop to just $100. You can, however, take advantage of RadioShack's trade-in program that'll net you a gift card ($210 for a 16GB 3GS or $122 for a 16GB 3G) that you can use to preorder the iPhone 4.During yesterday's WWDC Keynote, Jobs also unveiled FaceTime, Apple's proprietary video chat program for the iPhone and optimized for the iPhone 4. Currently, the program only runs on Wi-Fi, but Steve also talked about plans for 3G access coming next year. iPhone 4: Photos!See full gallery1 - 4 / 7NextPrevCNET's Rick Broida gave three reasons why FaceTime will flop, but we're just excited to have our Jetsons dreams finally realized. Apple is hoping parents and friends will be the first early adopters to jump on FaceTime, but we're thinking couples will be the most creative with its uses. The iPhone 4 has so many more features than I can write about in this blog, but we cover them almost all of them in today's episode of The 404 Podcast. Download the episode and don't forget to circle back and let us know what YOU think of the new iPhone. Give us a call at 1-866-404-CNET or you can also e-mail the404(at)cnet(dot)com.EPISODE 597Listen nowYour browser does not support the audio element. Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) |Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video Follow us on Twitter!The 404Jeff BakalarJustin YuWilson TangAdd us on Facebook!The 404 Fan PageThe 404 GroupJustin YuJeff BakalarWilson Tang

How Apple's Ping dings Twitter, Facebook

How Apple's Ping dings Twitter, Facebook
The thing is, iTunes happens to be inhabited by 160 million people. But, unlike the inhabitants of, say, Facebook and Twitter, they at least all have something in common. It may not be the same band, but it's the same passion for one band or another. So Apple believes that by starting one big musical cocktail party it can create more connections, more sharing, more feeling and therefore more buying. Where Facebook and Twitter exist to be everything to everyone, in the hope that everyone finds the right someone to follow, to befriend or to ignore, Ping focuses on a conversation we have all had: at a bar, at a concert, even at a wake.It starts with some version of a very simple question: what music do you like? It's a far safer question than "What people do you like?" And it is an automatic starting point for an open conversation. What is quite lovely about Ping is that you can make it as open or closed a conversation as you like. While Facebook has forced people to be more open--often against their knowledge--in order to build its business, Ping begins by giving you simple privacy settings. It even--strange, strange concept, this--asks you to opt-in, rather than bulldozing you into interactions for which you are either unprepared or in which you are plainly reluctant to participate.Ping picks at the nice parts of Facebook and Twitter--friending and following--and offers these benefits to its users without the generalists' pains. Unlike Twitter, for example, these are all real people. Unlike Facebook, you can just wander around and see who or what you like without having to become someone's friend and without having to like anything at all.This is real people with a real enthusiasm meeting in a bar and talking about a subject they love, rather than about a subject they often hate--themselves. There's very nice music playing in the background, too. How many truly passionate, fundamental enthusiasms do large numbers of people share? Movies and sports, probably. Books and food, perhaps. (I wonder if there really are all that many.) Right now, these are often all being talked about on Facebook, each fighting with another for sufficient attention across very mixed groups.It might not happen that hundreds of niche social networks will suddenly become enormously successful as people decide to fragment themselves across their various enthusiasms. But there are a few core subjects that arouse passion, conversation and the spending of money. Music is one. Apple is another.

How Apple stores serve as monuments to Steve Jobs

How Apple stores serve as monuments to Steve Jobs
On the first anniversary of Steve Jobs' death, the popularity of Apple's products is a living testament to his special genius. But it's not the just the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, and iPad that are his legacy. The hundreds of Apple stores are a kind of monument to his design and marketing vision and virtuosity. With more than 390 stores in 13 countries, Jobs engineered a direct-to-customer connection and more than 1 billion people have entered an iconic Apple store since the first one opened in May of 2001. Jobs proved a multitude of critics wrong, who believed the retail store investment would never pay off. Today Apple's stores generate more money per square foot than any other U.S. retailer, and accounted for $16 billion in sales for 2011 from 327 stores. Between October 2011 to August 2012, nearly 300 million people visited an Apple store around the world, and 50,000 people a day belly up to the Genius Bar for assistance, according to Apple.The crowd at the Apple flagship store in Sydney, Australia, prior to the iPhone 5's debut.Joe Hanlon/CNET AustraliaJobs' imprint is all over the stores. He fussed over many of the design details, and received patents for the glass staircase and other design innovations (see this New York Times interactive graphic for Jobs' patent citations). As reported in Walter Isaacson's biography, Jobs obsessed over what hue of gray to paint the store restrooms, the signature glass staircases and windows, and the stone used for the store floors that came from a quarry outside of Florence.The digital store that was part of Jobs' disruption of the entertainment industry has sold more than 20 billion songs in the last nine year. The iTunes store is now available in 63 countries, and Apple now has 435 million accounts with a credit card attached. Going beyond music and video, the Apple App store is available in more than 150 countries and has more than 700,000 apps available. Jobs left a strong foundation for his successors to build upon, and will bea tough act to follow.Apple store on 5th Avenue and Central Park during the original iPad first day on sale.Dan Farber/CNETApple flagship store in New York CityDan Farber/CNETThe bulk of the line to buy an iPhone 5 at the Paris Apple store wound back and forth between metal barriers.Stephen Shankland/CNETThe Sanlitun Apple Store in Beijing.AppleApple Store in Amsterdam with the patented staircase.AppleApple Store Carrousel du Louvre, ParisMikhail (Vokabre) Shcherbakov/FlickrApple store on Broadway and 67th in New York City following the death of Steve JobsDan Farber/CNET