Exact amounts aren't known yet but the paid service is likely to be $2.95 to $4.95 per month for Basic membership with a transfer limit, and a Premium membership of $5.95 to $9.95 a month with unlimited transfers.
It's launching 'This Summer'.
Personally I can't see it happening. If all of the above were possible, then yes, I could see it happening. I think enough people would pay at least for a while. BUT if Napster suddenly became a genuine business, all legal, tip top... all the money the big five have pumped into Digital Rights Management would be down the toilet, a complete waste. If all five sign up for this I will be VERY surprised.
DVD
I've been playing with DVD Profiler and it is a damn good program. The sort of program I've been waiting for for CDs for a long time. It is nothing more than a database for DVDs, however all the information is webacceable like CDDB, except of FAR better quality with cover scans and more. Whats more you can enter your DVD simply by entering the barcode number and it will fill in the rest.
I've always wanted to be able to buy a cheap barcode reader and enter all my CDs into a database by scanning them, with all the info coming up automatically. Maybe a program like this exists? At least I can now do this with my DVDs.
DVD 2
I discovered Canada again a couple of days ago. At least, I discovered they've got damn cheap DVDs and fantastic shipping prices compared to the US. Specifically, ABSound. Terminator 2 Ultimate was only $30Canadan, or $21US. Much better than the $30US I nearly paid, and only $9.95Canadian for posting two DVDs, better than $11US.
Moving Image Archive update
I tried downloading again from Moving Image Archive and it's working. Half way through a 250Meg file. Pain.
Copyright
The so called 'Mickey Mouse' law has been ruled 'constitutional', which obviously means something other than 'wrong'. It is simply the extention of existing copyright laws to prevent currently owned corporate copyrights from expiring and entering the public domain. A hand out to the owners of Mickey da Mouse.
Music from the dead
I saw this on the news a while back. Stuart Eaton died (suicide) at the end of 1997 and left a book of 290 songs. His friends have made a CD of it. I've listened and I'm not overly impressed by the music but it's a damn nice thought, and all money from sales go to suicide prevention. Even better is they're giving most of the CD away in MP3 at MP3.com.au. Check out the Stuart Eaton CD Project page now.
Fairtunes
I posted about Fairtunes a while back. I checked them out recently and I still think it's a fantastic idea. You can pledge any amount of money to any band. The general idea being people feeling like they need a way to pay a band for music they've downloaded can do so. They're now integrated into a few P2P products and also have a plug-in for Winamp. I'm adding a link to Fairtunes to my template soon after this post.
Censorship
More censorship, this time from our friends next door in South Australia. "They aim to make it illegal to make available online matter that would be illegal if left in a public place offline." Sounds all nice and happy doesn't it? Unfortunately it's illegal to be nude in public. Or to swear too often in front of the wrong people.
Clone8
Excellent band I saw recently and posted about, Clone8, have lost their singer. It's a great shame because they were fantastic. They have a demo without vocals at the moment, and some old stuff with the guitarist singing which will be on MP3.com.au soon. I was really looking forward to a CD from them too.