DMCA v The darknet

There's a fascinating discussion between a who's who of commentators on developments in technology and law, on the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the DMCA in tackling unauthorised copying via the Net, over at Picker Moblog.

Playlouder sign Sony BMG P2P deal

ISP Playlouder have signed a deal with Sony BMG to allow their subscribers to swap the label's music. Because the swapping will be done over the Playlouder network they can track which files get swapped and endure the label gets paid its cut. It's probably only a matter of time before we see other similar deals with the other major labels, and other ISPs getting in on the act. No details of the small print on the deal yet but it will be interesting to see these.

John Borland has a profile of another label backed P2P service, Mashbox due to get launched separately.

Thanks to Ian Brown of FIPR and Michael Geist for the links.