Exit Grokster, enter iMesh?
p2pnet.net News:- Way back, Big Four (then Big five) record label US enforcer the RIAA said it was suing Israeli p2p company iMesh, alleging it had contributed to “massive copyright infringement”.
iMesh acknowledged the lawsuit and a spokesman said it would respond appropriately and, “win this case on merit”. Then came the news that the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) had settled with iMesh for $4.1 million. And that was it, to all intents and purposes.
But it’s now apparent the new, corporate iMesh had merely been lurking quietly, waiting for events centering on Grokster v MGM to resolve. With that in hand, it today announced, “a fully authorized P2P business model and the upcoming launch of the newly configured iMesh” supporting Windows Media Player 10.
To further confirm its absorption into the corporate fold, Robert Summer, ex-president of Sony Music International and president of RCA Records, is the new executive chairman.
“Summer will oversee all aspects of the operation and liaise regularly with music industry partners to assure the performance and integrity of this new digital music venture,” says iMesh, going on:
“The first stage introduction will include an easily implemented feature that enables a confirmed rightsholder to make instant claim for protection and compensation for their works under an agreed formula.”
Ex-indie ventures
Sony’s Andy Lack is currently in cahoots with ex-Grokster president Wayne Rosso in yet another corporate venture, Mashboxx, slated to soon come out in beta.
And Mashboxx relies on yet another product developed by an ex-p2p rebel, Shawn Fanning whose Napster, killed and buried by the labels, was disinterred and is now back as the shaky Napster II music rental service.
Fanning went on to develop Snocap. It was suggested almost exactly a year ago that Fanning’s new ‘fingerprint’ service would be used in iMesh, but the rumour was quickly dispelled by iMesh’s PR company. “iMesh has no agreement with third party technical vendors,” a spokeswoman told p2pnet.
Now it can be revealed that iMesh will indeed have verification, “compatible with any of the ‘Plays for Sure’ devices,” and provided by the RIAA’s sad Audible Magic, “that recognizes copyrighted content through acoustic fingerprinting”.
And the music goes round and around.
Stay tuned.
Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net
See:-
in hand – Supreme court rules for MGM, p2pnet, June 27, 2005
iMesh – iMesh Unveils Authorized Peer-to-Peer Model and Service, June 27, 2005
Audible Magic – Audible Magic’s ’silver bullet’, p2pnet, July 13, 2004
June 27th, 2005 at 10:53 pm
Sure and Mashboxx launched in May………….Vaporware
June 27th, 2005 at 11:14 pm
vaporware?
June 28th, 2005 at 12:53 am
To me, it comes as no suprise – many things have pointed to this being announced, mostly being the lack of bug fixes being issued. The last iMesh build was released months ago, where they used to have a new build out at least once a week to fix bugs. But oh well, lets see what changes iMesh bring over time, although what I have read isn’t good!