BitTorrent Bite Back

In a classic case of "do not blame the messenger for the message", Torrentspy, the company behind BitTorrent have moved to prevent the system being declared illegal in the USA, the BBC reports.

BitTorrent has become a widely used online system to get hold of very large video files as the technology is very efficient at splitting up and sharing data. Ira Rothken, Torrentspy's lawyer said Torrentspy had cooperated with Hollywood in removing objectionable links to torrent files and did not actively promote copyright infringement. "It cannot be held 'tertiary' liable for visitors' conduct that occurs away from its web search engine ... This appears to be the first case where major Hollywood studios are suing a search engine that does not even link to any files copyrighted by Hollywood. 'The MPAA is in essence trying to outlaw the torrent file format."

Since November last year, the global recording industry the global recording industry launched its largest wave of legal action against people suspected of sharing music files on the internet, targeting 2,100 alleged uploaders using file-sharing networks in 16 nations including the UK, France, Germany and Italy. File-sharers in Switzerland, Sweden, Argentina, Singapore and Hong Kong are also facing cases.

The number of cases brought by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) outside the US since March 2004 now stands at more than 3,800. In the US, civil lawsuits have been brought against more than 15,597 people since September 2003 and there have been at least 3,590 settlements.

Several popular US podcasts use the BitTorrent system to deliver their content, including Evil Genius Chronicles. UK podcast Fetish Radio also uses BitTorrent.

French Tell Apple, Sony, Microsoft: Open Up

"The French parliament has backed plans to give consumers more choice over music downloads from the internet. MPs backed a draft law to force Apple, Sony and Microsoft to share their proprietary copy-protection systems by 296 to 193 votes. The aim is to ensure that digital music can be played on any player, regardless of its format or source.... Currently most online stores lock consumers into their own downloading systems and players, such as with Apple's iTunes and its iPod. The French bill says that proprietary copy-protection technologies must not block interoperability between different systems." - BBC

iTunes not only leading the world in digital downloads, accounting for 70% of music sales globally, but it is also the most-used point of access for podcasts, and although hard data is hard to come by, the f1 podcast makes this assessment:

"iTunes is by far the most popular podcatcher among my listeners (currently over 27,000 hits compared to under 5,000 for iPodder Lemon, the next most popular client)."

It remains to be seen whether this French law will translate into the kind of EU-wide antitrust pressure that Microsoft has experienced, or impact the UK.

Podcast Advertising Model: The "One Penny Podcast"

Taking his cue from the Million Dollar Homepage, Jon Watson has come up with a model for podcast advertising:

The problem seems to lie in the amount of advertising time available on a podcast. The current models being tossed around are typically a short 5-10 second bit at the beginning or the end of the show OR a longer, 30-second piece in the middle of the show. That's about all the advertising space there is to sell in a typical podcast and advertisers and podcasters disagree on how much it's worth. I want to increase the time available to be sold.

If podcasters were to focus on quantity rather than quality, that creates a lot more advertising 'space' in the show. I'm going to test out a model where advertisers can get three spoken lines into my JaK Attack! podcast for one-cent per download. How's it work? Simple - you send us $5 and three lines of text. We'll speak those three lines during the show somewhere and you're guaranteed that show will be downloaded at least 500 times in the first 30 days.

At the moment this system relies on the Podcaster speaking the lines submitted in an improvised way within the recording. It is not clear whether advertisers will be able to submit their own short recordings for inclusion in the podcast.

UK Podcast Licence Poll

This is for UK podcasters only and refers to the licence which MCPS-PRS Music Alliance have proposed to implement. In the main this seeks to establish a licence to use MCPS-PRS-registered music in podcasts, with (apparently) plans to extend this to voice-only podcasting, and to establish a set of "podcast rules".

Please read the PRS website for details. You might also want to refer to this forum in which UK podcasters discuss some of the issues involved.

You may only vote once on each question. Please add your specific comments below. Thanks for your input.

Do UK Podcasters accept the need for any UK Podcast license?

Yes No Don't Know

Do UK Podcasters think the proposed £50 per quarter rate for using MCPS-PRS licensed music is:

Fair Too High Too Low Not Applicable

Do UK Podcasters think that voice-only Podcasts should be licenced?

Yes No Don't Know

Please vote on the following podcast "rules" as laid out in the licence:

Podcasters shall

obscure at least 10 (ten) seconds at the beginning and end of each individual track played in a podcast with speech or a station ID

Agree Disagree Don't Know

deliver podcasts only in their entirety, not individual tracks or portions of a podcast;

Agree Disagree Don't Know

ensure that music constitutes no more than 80% of the total length of any Programme;

Agree Disagree Don't Know

ensure that the podcast is at least 15 minutes in length; and

Agree Disagree Don't Know

take all reasonable steps to ensure that individual tracks within a podcast are not capable of being ripped and that metadata or other information or data transmitted or downloaded by the podcaster is not used to identify recordings for download from unauthorised databases or sites.

Agree Disagree Don't Know

Podcasters shall not

produce podcasts that contain recordings from a single artist or that have more than 30% of the musical works written by the same composer or writing partnership;

Agree Disagree Don't Know

play any individual track more than once in any single Programme;

Agree Disagree Don't Know

provide an electronic guide to the podcast which contains tracks played and corresponding times

Agree Disagree Don't Know

insert any flags or other markers in the podcast which may directly indicate or which may be used to indirectly infer the start and end point of tracks or segments of copyright content;

Agree Disagree Don't Know

incorporate repertoire works into advertising;

Agree Disagree Don't Know

use the Repertoire in such a way as may be taken to imply that any goods or services are endorsed, advertised or associated with the Repertoire or any artist whose performance is contained on the Repertoire or any other party who owns rights in connection with the Repertoire.

Agree Disagree Don't Know

And finally:

Do UK Podcasters think there is a need for an organisation to represent the interests and protect the rights of UK Podcasters?

Yes No Don't Know

MCPS-PRS £200 Annual UK Podcast License

This press release from MCPS-PRS, the two main recognised UK copyright and repertoire institutions, dated 3rd March 2006, recently appeared on the PRS site. The licensing scheme as presented is said to have started on March 1st.

According to the MCPS-PRS scheme, the minimum fee for using licensed music in podcasts will amount to £200 per year. Even if podcasters use totally podsafe (royalty free) music and record their own voice, they will soon be subject to licensing and have to pay to podcast for the rest of 2006.

Podcasting licence

The MCPS-PRS Alliance has launched a new licensing solution for music podcasters. The joint MCPS and PRS scheme allows podcasters access to the global repertoire of musical works represented by the Alliance – some ten million musical works – granting the necessary writer/publisher permissions for inclusion of their works within the podcast.

The license is the first serious attempt by a European collecting society to support the growth of music podcasting.

The license is being made available until the end of 2006, during which time both podcasters and the Alliance will learn more about each other’s needs. A more complete scheme is planned for launch in early 2007.

"Podcasts that generate low levels of revenue and usage are also catered for by the Alliance. Podcasting is being incorporated into the updated Limited Online Exploitation Licence (LOEL) being launched in the second quarter of 2006, where royalty rates begin from as little as £50 a quarter.

Non-music podcasts (e.g. predominantly speech with very little music) will be licensed under a new on-demand scheme for non-music services which is being prepared for launch at the end of April 2006."

PRS-MCPS have also introduced a set of "podcasting rules" which if applied strictly will impact upon podcasters' creative freedom and could restrict the development of new content formats:

"Podcaster shall:

• obscure at least 10 (ten) seconds at the beginning and end of each individual track played in a podcast with speech or a station ID;
  


• deliver podcasts only in their entirety, not individual tracks or portions of a podcast;
  


• ensure that music constitutes no more than 80% of the total length of any Programme;
  


• ensure that the podcast is at least 15 minutes in length; and
  


• take all reasonable steps to ensure that individual tracks within a podcast are not capable of being ripped and that metadata or other information or data transmitted or downloaded by the podcaster is not used to identify recordings for download from unauthorised databases or sites.


Podcaster shall not:

• produce podcasts that contain recordings from a single artist or that have more than 30% of the musical works written by the same composer or writing partnership;
  


• play any individual track more than once in any single Programme;
  


• provide an electronic guide to the podcast which contains tracks played and corresponding times;
  


• insert any flags or other markers in the podcast which may directly indicate or which may be used to indirectly infer the start and end point of tracks or segments of copyright content;
  


• incorporate repertoire works into advertising; or
  


• use the Repertoire in such a way as may be taken to imply that any goods or services are endorsed, advertised or associated with the Repertoire or any artist whose performance is contained on the Repertoire or any other party who owns rights in connection with the Repertoire. "
  

(my emphasis)

What immediate impact this will have on UK podcasting remains to be seen, with many podcasters using music outside the MCPS-PRS repertoire, and many others either unwilling to pay or unaware of any obligation to pay for the use of copyright material in their non-commercial , low distribution, non-revenue generating podcasts.

LINKS: Dutch record companies say no to podcast licence - 7th November 2005
BMI Launches New Songwriter/Artist Podcast; Licenses Podcasters in Nationwide Initiative (USA) - 9th May 2005
U.K. indies deliver universal podcast license - 12th May 2005

BBC White Paper

This BBC article is mostly about the UK Government's White paper (i.e.new laws proposed) about BBC funding, but the background is interesting:

The BBC lets radio listeners hear most radio programmes on-line, through its Radio Player, and they can download and podcast much of the material too.

It has been testing a video version - the Interactive Media Player - and ITV is linking up to do the same. Sky viewers can download films and sport material.

DVDs sell in their millions, but some media companies now also offer video-on-demand - "libraries" of films and programmes which can be watched by via cable or on-line, either on subscription or for a one-off charge.

Broadcasters are also rushing to put their content - or whole channels - on mobile phones and other devices, such as the Play Station Plus or the Video iPod. Imagine how much life will change when the speed of broadband quadruples and there's almost infinite storage space on devices like iPods and PVRs. Seventy per cent of homes have access to digital TV.

These technology developments are changing viewing habits, particularly among the young. The two channels that have dominated viewing for 50 years have shed millions of viewers. BBC One has just recorded its lowest ever peaktime rating. Its chat show Davina and a Panorama special on the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes attracted less than 12% of the Wednesday night audience. ITV1's share of viewing fell to 21% last year. In 2000, it was 29%, and it's not that long since it was over 40%.

How many viewers will the two "big" channels have by 2016? What devices will they be watching them on? And what does that mean for the TV licence fee, when every home is a digital home?

And, what will new laws mean for the humble UK Podcaster?

We The Media: The Growth of UK Podcasting

Dan Gillmor, author of We the Media, director of the Center for Citizen Media wrote this BBC article. I responded below:

Blogging, podcasting and the growth of citizen-driven media is the first full flowering of the internet and the best application of the word "interactive" yet devised in my opinion. The most exciting aspect of this is the way that it allows individuals to add their uncensored voices to the mass media.

In April/May 2005 having blogged for a year I decided to podcast the UK elections 5/5/5 at five.org, using audio and video, focussing on local issues, interviewing the local candidates, talking with voters and political luminaries such as Robin Cook. As a result, I received this comment:

Thanks for making available these series of podcasts with the candidates in my constituency - much appreciated. I'm planning on listening to each one before casting my vote on Thursday. I've been away from Islington a lot recently so I've managed to avoid any direct canvassing from the candidates - and election flyers are not something I read. Hence your podcasts will probably be my primary tool for making the decision.

--
Posted by Ollie to Five at 5/3/2005 10:59:53 PM

This made my month-long efforts worthwhile and convinced me of the social usefulness of the genre.

I agree that we are now seeing only the beginning of this great upsurge as people pick up the tools and use them. Increasing diversity of voices and views can only benefit communities.

The next phase will be very interesting indeed as podcasting differentiates itself from broadcasting and downloading - it is neither ! - and the self-organising of the UK podcast community so that heavy-handed, badly informed licensing doesn't hinder this important cultural development in will prove to be very important.

Prince Charles Likes Podcasts

As this recent picture shows, Prince Charles, heir to the throne and outspoken dissident, is a big fan of podcasts.