A new view of the ancient world

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), May 3, 2002

The WOW Digital TV unit picks up over-the-air digital broadcasts only. Consumers who receive regular or HDTV programming via cable or satellite will still need their existing converter boxes. The company will begin shipping the WOW Digital TV units this fall in the Salt Lake City area and then in other markets in 2003.

Confusion in e-music land

NEW YORK (NYT) -- The record industry's legal victory over Napster last year has neither stopped the trading of free music online nor halted a slide in music sales. A new generation of free music exchanges has blossomed in place of Napster, which was forced offline by a California court in July and has yet to return. And so the record companies have found themselves back in courtrooms worldwide, facing a more complicated set of legal questions.

The results have been mixed, with record companies applauding a decision reached by a Japanese court against a Napster-like service there, but decrying one in the Netherlands, where a court found that the users, not the music service, were to blame. And in perhaps its most significant ongoing battle, the music and movie industries are in federal court in Los Angeles fighting three services -- Kazaa, Grokster and Morpheus from Streamcast Media -- which can be used to exchange not only music, but films and other digital media. Tens of thousands of new users download the software each day.

Underscoring the industry's woes, a survey released on Tuesday by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, an international record industry trade group, found that revenues from global music sales fell 5 percent in 2001, to $33.7 billion. The federation attributed the decline, the largest since the mid-1980s, to the global economic slowdown and the copying of music, though the organization could not provide figures indicating the precise impact of either factor. Still, Jay Berman, the chief executive of the federation, asserted the sales drops "reflect the fact that the commercial value of music is being widely devalued by mass copying and piracy."

Some industry analysts disagree. Aram Sinnreich, a music industry analyst with Jupiter Communications, said that sales are dropping because of the cyclical nature of the music market, asserting that "very little of it can be ascribed to online music sharing." Increasingly, these matters are being debated in court.

He's a natural

NEW YORK (AP) -- Bill Clinton has talked with NBC executives about becoming the host of his own daytime TV talk show. The meeting took place Wednesday in Los Angeles, according to a television industry source who spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday. A Clinton spokeswoman, Julia Payne, said the former president has met with various people over the past year about potential projects. "President Clinton did not demand a talk show," Payne said. "He went to listen. The president is gratified by the range of opportunities that have been presented to him."

Her statement gave no further details. NBC had no comment Thursday.