As it suggested it would, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a major class action lawsuit against Sony for its use of harmful and privacy infringing DRM technologies in music CDs. Working with two class action law firms, sure to strike fear around Sony’s headquarters, Green Welling, LLP, and Lerach, Coughlin, Stoia, Geller, Rudman and Robbins, LLP, EFF has filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court asking that the company repair the damage done by not only the First4Internet XCP, the so-called Rootkit technology, but also SunnComm MediaMax software it included on over 20 million music CDs.
The MediaMax software installed on over 20 million CDs has different, but similarly troubling problems. It installs files on the users’ computers even if they click “no” on the EULA, and it does not include a way to fully uninstall the program. The software transmits data about users to SunnComm through an Internet connection whenever purchasers listen to CDs, allowing the company to track listening habits — even though the EULA states that the software will not be used to collect personal information and SunnComm’s website says “no information is ever collected about you or your computer.” If users repeatedly requested an uninstaller for the MediaMax software, they were eventually provided one, but they first had to provide more personally identifying information. Worse, security researchers recently determined that SunnComm’s uninstaller creates significant security risks for users, as the XCP uninstaller did.
In a statement, EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl said “Consumers have a right to listen to the music they have purchased in private, without record companies spying on their listening habits with surreptitiously-installed programs.” Sony is facing at least six other class action lawsuits and an action by the Texas Attorney General. How much better it would have been had Sony said it was sorry at the outset, issued some form of rapid consumer reassurance plan and maybe compensated unsuspecting CD owners right away.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 9:12 PM | Print | Comments (0)
It’s interesting that as Skype announces a retail distribution deal with Radio Shack, SBC is launching a branding strategy aimed at positioning a “web-friendly” no-caps version of the AT&T name as a dominant brand in the era of IP-based services. So, as the leading digital disrupter of telecom business models extends its reach into the mainstream, a resurrected Ma Bell hopes to revitalize (or at least salvage) the RBOC business model by harnessing it to the power of IP technology.
As USA Today reports:
The overhaul is aimed at freshening up the brand, [CEO Ed] Whitacre says. He says the pint-sized letters, reminiscent of alphabet soup, were a tough sell internally. “We agonized over the letters,” says Whitacre, who made the final call on the name and the logo. He says marketing people finally convinced him that the new look was more evocative of the Internet generation: “They tell me it’s more trendy and modern.”
Russell Beattie isn’t as convinced as Whitacre. He says the new AT&T logo “sucks.”
The Wall Street Journal discusses the AT&T strategy and some of the challenges it faces:
AT&T wants to be the first major carrier that will use Internet technology to deliver all forms of telecommunications services in the U.S. That may give AT&T a head start and a cheaper way to offer features that combine the three screens — PC screens, phone screens and television screens…[But] competitors scoff at AT&T’s ability to carve out significant market share in a business thoroughly dominated by cable and satellite companies that are aggressively competing with each other…Moreover, AT&T still faces major political and technological hurdles. The cable industry is girding for a major legal battle because AT&T believes it can offer its service without making the kind of deals with local governments required of cable operators…At the same time, it’s still not clear how long it will take AT&T to master Internet technology.
The USA Today story quotes Whitacre as saying “it will drop the Cingular name in favor of the AT&T brand.” It also includes a quote from BellSouth spokesman Jeff Battcher that suggests his company does not see the name change as “an issue.” [SBC/AT&T owns 60% of Cingular and BellSouth owns the other 40%]
But Endgadget has some additional reporting on the Cingular name change:
Update: Cingular fans, we have good news - as reported by RCR, apparently Cingular spokesman Clay Owen said they “are continuing with the strong Cingular brand that we have spent the past five years building and promoting.” In other words, it looks like USA Today’s report was predicated on some miscommunicated information - SBC is changing its name to AT&T, yes, and they plan on resurrecting AT&T branded wireless service, yes, but apparently as something more akin to an MVNO leasing Cingular’s network capacity. So if we’re to believe RCR on this, then Cingular stays, AT&T wireless is back as an MVNO in “select” markets, and all is well.
That makes the second time in about as many weeks that comments by Whitacre stirred things up a bit. By this time next year, the outlines and prospects of his company’s IP-based strategy should be a lot more clear. The prospects for clarity on the regulatory front by that time, however, don’t seem too good.
Posted by Mitch Shapiro at 5:58 PM | Print | Comments (0)
Lime, which counts AOL founder Steve Case as one of its backers, is aiming for the web as well as the TV set, adding to the profusion of traditional video providers who are branching out to the Internet. At Lime’s core is Wisdom Media, a cable network that reaches 6.5 million cable and satellite video homes, and an audio show on Sirius.
The network, however, is now fully entrenched in web video, and is asking suppliers for 26 eleven minute video “shows” or 50 five-minute segments. Lime’s focus is on healthy lifestyles and its blog, which currently features freelance postings, will start tilting more toward these video contributions.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 3:32 PM | Print | Comments (0)
As Reuters reports, Skype “is reaching for the American consumer mainstream by selling its telephone kits in RadioShack stores.”
Beginning Monday, RadioShack will also have a special kiosk to feature Skype products, including a new Motorola headset that uses short-range wireless Bluetooth technology to make calls via Skype, priced at $100. It will sell a $40 headset from Logitech and a $129 cordless phone from Linksys, a unit of Cisco Systems. The RadioShack kiosk will feature Skype starter kits for $5 with a simple earpiece/microphone, software and 30 minutes of free Skype calling time to any number in the world. Sales clerks will offer training videos and software to customers [More details on product availability can be found here].
Om Malik raises concerns about possible backlash from buyers when they face call quality problems, which he says he’s been experiencing himself. More ominous for Skype is Om’s comment that:
In recent conversations with CEOs of big telecoms, the message was pretty clear: Skype is going to be sleeping with the fishes soon. I have no reason to doubt the giants, because they protect their turfs pretty aggressively. Susan Crawford put it pretty aptly when she wrote, “I don’t think the fight over ‘network neutrality’ is one we’re going to win.”
Recent comments by SBC CEO Ed Whitacre underscore Om’s and Susan’s concerns.
Though it strikes me as pretty unlikely, there may be a scenario in which Skype’s effort to go mainstream—and potentially even any quality problems its users faced—could help it and other web-based service providers by increasing public awareness of the network neutrality issue and garnering support for the “open access” side of the debate.
In this scenario, call quality problems experienced by Skype users could potentially be used to make the case for network neutrality by blaming these problems on pipe-owners seeking to limit customer choice and unfairly hobble competitors. This seems a long shot given the PR muscle of the RBOCs and the need for users to consider broader issues rather than simply get turned off to Skype and pass on bad reviews to their friends and family. And, let’s face it, the RBOCs have been through this kind of situation in various forms for decades (i.e., competitors deliver service using RBOC networks and are at least partly dependent on the RBOCs for some elements of their service quality).
But in the age of blogs and electronic word of mouth, PR muscle isn’t as overwhelming an advantage as it used to be (though control of the pipes may remain so). And, as Sony’s recent debacle suggests, if clumsily executed in the face of expanding consumer outrage, a corporate PR defense can actually make things worse. That being said, it seems pipe-owners would not be as obviously vulnerable to this backfire affect as Sony was when it put users’ computers at risk.
Regardless of how it impacts Skype’s market prospects, the company’s deal with RadioShack could increase the visibility of the “network neutrality” issue, which would be a timely development, since Congress is considering new legislation to address this and related issues.
Posted by Mitch Shapiro at 2:54 PM | Print | Comments (0)Just when it looked like Tivo was headed to the whiz-bang electronic device graveyard, the company, under the tutelage of former NBC executive Tom Rogers, is getting feisty again. The latest development: Tivo has added a feature to allow users to watch recorded shows on Apple’s video iPods and Sony’s PlayStation portables. This move follows Tivo’s ability to tranfer recorded programs to PCs and DVDs as well as other devices that follow the Windows Media mobile format.
Tivo will charge something for the ability to convert the MPEG-2 videos to MPEG-4 format — according to this New York Times piece, the company will set a price of $15 to $30 to cover the MPEG-4 licensing fee. It’s not clear how this development jives with Apple’s deal with Disney to sell ABC programming to iPod owners. If a user can capture that programming, say “Desperate Housewives,” via Tivo, why buy the program from iTunes?
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 9:50 AM | Print | Comments (0)
Blogs We Read
