THREE-STRIKES THROUGH THE BACK DOOR VIA WORLD TREATY?
Forget about the role of the European Union in the fight against online piracy, could a global treaty up there with the big copyright conventions of Berne and Rome obligate governments the world over to force internet service providers to become the piracy police, and make the at times controversial three-strikes system law in most countries?

Well, perhaps. A not-much-reported conference of ministers from around the world focused on the trade and distribution of more traditional counterfeit goods, has been giving some thought to internet piracy. The conference, in South Korea last week, and involving reps from Japan, the US and the European Union, among many others, was discussing the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a global agreement that has been in development for two years now.

The talks have been rather secretive, but leaked documents show that online piracy, and ways to combat it, was very much on the agenda. And, as has been the trend of late, many representatives there saw the internet service providers as the people who could and should be stopping the infringement of intellectual property rights on the net.

Among the proposals discussed last week was some sort of global three-strikes rule, and a restriction of the so called "safe harbour" provisions of copyright law (to use the American jargon) which offer ISPs protection from infringement claims even when their servers and networks are used by others to infringe.

Three-strikes - whereby ISPs are forced to suspend or disconnect net users who fail to stop file-sharing unlicensed content after two warnings - has been controversial in all the territories where it has been seriously considered. As I remember it, only New Zealand and France have actually made the system law, though neither country's three-strike procedures are yet active. It looks increasingly likely, of course, that some sort of three-strike system will also be introduced here in the UK.

With ISPs the world over (well, outside of Hull - remember the Karoo story?) resistant to any proposals they take on more responsibility for combating online piracy, most in the content industries now recognise new laws are needed to force net firms to act. Of course if "safe harbour" type protection was removed so that ISPs would be liable for so called authorising or contributory infringement by allowing others to use their networks to infringe, the net firms would have to act even if no three-strikes system was actually in place.

The secrecy of the talks does seem rather strange, though with the strength of the ISP lobby and the volume of online opposition to any draconian policing of the internet, it may well be that those involved in ACTA don't want to garner too much attention until their proposals are formalised. Certainly if those proposals do cover internet piracy as well physical product counterfeiting, then they will prove more controversial when they get to treaty stage. Moves to stop kids file-sharing are always going to be more emotive than laws to stop market traders selling knocked off DVDs and dodgy sports kits.

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ALTERNATIVE RAMMSTEIN ALBUM RELEASED TO SATISFY CENSOR
Universal Music Germany has announced it will release a new version of Rammstein's new album 'Liebe Ist Für Alle Da' minus the content that, as previously reported, led to the German Federal Office For The Examination Of Media Harmful To Young People banning the record from public display.

That will mean the removal of the track 'Ich Tue Dir Weh' (or 'I Want To Hurt You') and photos featuring guitarist Richard Kruspe with a masked naked woman on his knees.

The Federal Office's ruling earlier this week meant that German record stores had to remove original versions of the album from display, and can now only sell the uncut version over the counter to music fans with 18+ ID.

Although Rammstein haven't officially commented on the Federal Office's ruling, the band's keyboard player Christian Lorenz said it was "petty misunderstanding of art and a massive interference with civil rights".

Though you can't help thinking such a government reaction is exactly what the metallers were hoping for when they wrote the chorus to lead single 'Pussy', a track accompanied by an x-rated video: "You've got a pussy, I have a dick, So what's the problem? Let's do it quick".

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MUSICIAN LOSES $400 BILLION BON JOVI LAWSUIT
US musician Samuel Bartley Steele has lost that previously reported and, I think it's fair to say, always slightly optimistic lawsuit seeking damages of $400 billion from Bon Jovi, Time Warner and Major League Baseball.

As previously reported, Steele claimed that Bon Jovi's song 'I Love This Town' was a clear rip-off of his 2004 tribute to the Boston Red Sox baseball team, '(Man I Really) Love This Team'. He says that he passed copies of his song to Major League Baseball with a view to doing a deal whereby they would use it to promote the sport (if I remember correctly, his plan was to record a version of the song for every team in the league).

Imagine his surprise, then, when the very same baseball league began using Bon Jovi's song to promote the 2007 play-off coverage on Time Warner's TBS cable TV channel. Litigation followed.

Which, all sounds quite reasonable. Apart from the demand for $400 billion in damages, of course. And the fact that Steele lost the case because his own musicologist said that the two songs aren't particularly similar. Oh, and the fact the judge also said that no reasonable jury could ever think that the two songs had anything significant in common with each other.

Despite all this, Steele has now appealed the ruling. Yeah, good luck with that.

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RADIO ACADEMY TO HONOUR WOGAN
The UK'S Radio Academy will induct Terry Wogan into its Hall Of Fame next month, ahead of his departure from the Radio 2 breakfast show, the biggest show on British radio, of course. At the same event the Wogan-meister will also receive the PRS John Peel Award for Outstanding Contribution To Music Radio. So that's nice. For him.

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COWELL NOT SHORT OF A FEW BOB
Simon Cowell, you will be pleased to hear, is the highest earning US TV personality, according to Forbes. He beat Donald Trump, who heads up the US version of 'The Apprentice', by a cool $25 million. Though Trump can sleep happy knowing that his combover is funnier than Cowell's high waistband. Cowell's colleague, 'American Idol' host Ryan Seacrest, came in third.

Here's the full top ten:

1. Simon Cowell, American Idol ($75m)
2. Donald Trump, The Apprentice ($50m)
3. Ryan Seacrest, American Idol/Keeping Up With The Kardashians ($38m)
4. Charlie Sheen, Two And A Half Men ($21m)
5. Steve Carell, The Office ($20m)
6. Howie Mandel, Deal Or No Deal ($15m)
7. Kiefer Sutherland, 24 ($13m)
8. Jeff Foxworthy, Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? ($11m)
9. Hugh Laurie, House ($10m)
10. David Caruso, CSI ($9m)

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TYLER NOT QUITTING AEROSMITH, OR PERHAPS HE IS
Steven Tyler isn't quitting Aerosmith and they're not looking for a new frontman. Or is he and are they? Who the flippin hell knows?

Last night it seemed pretty certain that rumours Tyler was quitting the band had been premature. Mainly because Steven Tyler had got up on stage and said so. While standing next to the man who'd been fuelling the split rumours, his bandmate Joe Perry. Tyler joined Perry on stage earlier this week at a charity bash staged by the Aerosmith guitarist's solo project the Joe Perry Project.

Perry had previously said he was pretty certain Tyler had quit the band, while criticising the Aerosmith frontman for failing to communicate with his bandmates. But Tyler was doing quite a lot of communicating at his bandmate's gig the other night.

Arriving on stage part way through the show, he told the audience: "I just want New York to know, I am not leaving Aerosmith. And Joe Perry, you are a man of many colours but I, motherfucker, am the rainbow!" The two men then played 'Walk This Way' together and everything was all happy and fine again. And if you don't believe me, there's even a video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC7EK68tdEY

And, with that all settled, the band's drummer, Joey Kramer, chipped in, insisting all the confusion around the future of Aerosmith was down to us pesky journalists. Apparently the bastards in the media had been misquoting everyone and taking things out of context.

He said on US radio station WPLR: "We've gone through a lot of stuff together. It's been a 40 year marriage. My partners have been misquoted and their comments have been taken out of context. I'm not going to make a statement about that on the radio. I'm going to make a statement about it in person". Presumably that means Kramer will be calling round all our houses to give us a personal insight as to what's going on.

Perhaps he can explain why Perry, despite Tyler's appearance at his New York show, still seems to think the band is imploding. Perhaps Rolling Stone are misquoting him and taking what he said out of context. But they quote Perry as saying Tyler's appearance at his gig came as a total surprise, and that as soon as he'd denied the split rumours and sung a song he walked his way out of the venue without another word to his bandmate.

Perry: "There was all this commotion during our encore break and somebody said, 'Steven is here'. I was like, 'What?' He came up and sang and that was the last I saw of him".

Perry is also standing by past comments that the band are looking for a new frontman, at least on a temporary basis: "He [Tyler] wants to take two years off from the band. The rest of the band wants to keep on working. We have so many different options to fill up that time. Anything is possible at this point".

So, yes, confusing. And unless Tyler appears on stage again to clarify matters, or until Kramer calls round to deliver his statement in person, all we can say is that Steven Tyler is
either quitting Aerosmith or he's not, and the rest of the band are either looking for a new frontman, or they're not. Sorted.

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SO SOLID CREW RETURN
It's the reunion we've all been waiting for. Yes, So Solid Crew are back. After five years spent variously struggling to maintain solo careers, being in prison and being accused of murder, the UK's answer to the Wu-Tang Clan (apparently), the So Solids have released the video for their comeback single.

Entitled 'Since You Went Away', the track features vocals from three of the group's best known members, Megaman, Lisa Maffia and Romeo, and sounds a bit like this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wNyKqQBWnc

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PULP REUNION MIGHT HAPPEN (BUT DON'T QUOTE US)
Right, last time we reported that Jarvis Cocker had said that Pulp were getting back together, he came straight out and denied that he had uttered any such thing. But apparently he's now said that he hasn't ruled out the possibility, following the positive reaction those false reports got.

Cocker told the NME: "I suppose it made me think a little bit - the fact that people did seem interested. That made me think about it a little bit more. I got asked about Glastonbury and someone said, 'Would I like to play there again?'. I said 'Yes', but I think people interpreted that as, 'I would you like Pulp to play Glastonbury again'".

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JAY-Z SIGNS THE TING TINGS
Jay-Z has signed The Ting Tings to his Roc Nation label, according to reports.

A source told The Hip Hop Chronicle: "Jay is hoping to lend his production skills to some of the new material, the staccato rhythmic style of The Ting Tings sits well with what he does best, so that was the attraction. Jay can make them one of the biggest British bands across the pond".

We rang Jay to find out if it was true but Beyonce said he'd just popped to the shop and she wasn't sure, so we'll try again later.

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ALBARN WRITING OPERA WITH ALAN MOORE
Gorillaz duo Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett are working on a second opera, with lyrics by Alan Moore, the grumpy graphic novel writer has revealed.

In an interview with Mustard Magazine, the Watchmen writer said: "We're planning for me to do the libretto on their next opera project".

Albarn and Hewlett's first operatic collaboration was, of course, 'Monkey: Journey To The West', which debuted in 2007 and concluded with a residency at the O2 Dome in London.

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LADYTRON HITS ALBUM PLANNED
Ladytron are putting together a 'best of' album as their next release, which will coincide with the band's tenth anniversary. The band's Reuben Wu told Spinner.co.uk: "We've got some ideas about what we want to do about the next album, but I think first we're going to release a 'Best of Ladytron'. Since we've done four albums, I think it would be time to put something like that together".

The Liverpool band have recently been working with a certain Christina Aguilera on her new album, and Wu admits that its occurred to him that might generate new interest in his own band, which may be another reason to release a hits collection now. Wu: "Since we've been working with Christina, I think a lot of new audiences out there will want to know about us".

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CAVE AND ELLIS TO RELEASE NEW SOUNDTRACK
I played Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' soundtrack for Cave's excellent film 'The Proposition' to a friend of mine a few years ago. His response was: "Are we going to listen to something good next?" You should ignore him though, he is an idiot with very questionable taste. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis (amongst many other things) are very good at film soundtracks.

The two Bad Seeds (assuming Nick Cave is allowed to be referred to as a Bad Seed) have since worked on various film, theatre and book soundtracks, and the latest, the score for John Hillcoat's film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road', will be release on 4 Jan. So you should be excited about that. And the film. The film sounds ace.

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SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS RELEASE NEW OLD ALBUM
Dream-poppers School Of Seven Bells have announced that they will release an alternative version of their debut album, 'Alpinisms', on 23 Nov, made up of demos, live performances and alternative versions.

The band are currently working on their second album, which is due for release next year, and will play a one-off headline show at the ICA in London in 4 Dec, as well as appearing at the My Bloody Valentine-curated ATP Nightmare Before Christmas on 6 Dec.

Here's the tracklist for 'Alpinisms: Special Edition':

Wired For Light (Live Drum Version)
Half Asleep (Alternate Version)
White Elephant Coat (Early Demo Version)
Caldo (Live on Stereogum's Decomposed)
Sempiternal (Alternate Version)
Iamundernodisguise (Vocal Mix I)
My Cabal (Early Mix 07)
Connjur (Alternate Version)
For Kalaja Mari (Drum Outtake Mix)

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SLAYER'S UK TOUR STILL ON
Slayer will play their upcoming UK tour dates as planned. There had been fears that the dates would have to be cancelled after the band pulled out of their Canadian tour in order for frontman Tom Araya to undergo surgery. But now drummer Dave Lombardo has assured fans that the band are still planning to play the British shows.

He told Classic Rock: "We did have to pull out of a Canadian tour with Megadeth because of Tom's situation. But, as far as I'm aware, the British shows will go ahead. Of course, Tom's health must take priority. However, he's making good progress, so we'll see everyone soon!"

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ROKIA TRAORÉ TO PLAY KOKO
So, here's a date for your diary. Acclaimed Malian musician Rokia Traoré will be playing a one-off show at Koko in London on 25 March. Don't forget.

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NME AWARDS TOUR
NME have announced details of the 2010 NME Awards Tour which will, of course, lead up to the music mag's big awards bash on 24 Feb. Set to play on the tour are The Maccabees, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Big Pink and The Drums with dates as follows...

4 Feb: Newcastle, O2 Academy
5 Feb: Glasgow, Barrowland
6 Feb: Manchester, Academy
7 Feb: Leeds, O2 Academy
9 Feb: Nottingham, Rock City
10 Feb: Norwich, UEA
11 Feb: Birmingham, O2 Academy
13 Feb: Cardiff, University
14 Feb: Bristol, O2 Academy
15 Feb: Brighton, Dome
16 Feb: Bournemouth, O2 Academy
18 Feb: Portsmouth, Pyramid / Guildhall
19 Feb: Cambridge, Corn Exchange
20 Feb: London, Brixton O2 Academy

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THE ENEMY JOIN EDINBURGH'S HOGMANAY LINE UP
The Enemy have been added to the line up for this year's Edinburgh Hogmanay street party which sees in the New Year Scotland style. They join a bill that already includes Madness, Noisettes, Frightened Rabbit and The Fratellis' frontman John Lawler's sideproject Codeine Velvet Club. Info at www.edinburghshogmanay.com.

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SINGLE REVIEW: King Charles - Love Lust/Mr Flick (Mi7 Records)
I saw the psychedelic assault on the senses that is King Charles in a pub in Angel earlier this year, and Charlie certainly has a look about him that screams rock star. He wouldn't get a job in finance, anyway. But let's not let that influence our opinion of his music.

Both of the songs on this double-A side single have a rhythmical quality, striking a groove and taking the listener into a raga of chanted choruses. Covering both the personal and the political, the first is about the contradictions of love and lust, while the second is about being restricted by 'The Man'... man.

It's good stuff. Although, with both tracks only about two and a half minutes long I felt a bit cheated. I want these grooves to go on for at least five minutes each to get into a mind meld of psyche-rock! IM

Physical release: 26 Oct
Press contact: Get Involved [all]

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

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COKE TO SPONSOR TUBE BUSKING PITCHES IN RUN UP TO CHRISTMAS
Coca-Cola will sponsor the busking pitches on the London Underground network during December, and the fizzy pop brand hopes to persuade at least some buskers to sing one of their promotional jingles while they are on the stand. Yeah, good luck with that. They might have more success in persuading busking types to sing a few Christmas songs, which seems to be at the heart of the promotion.

A spokesman for the drinks firm told reporters: "We are in discussions with London Underground about incentivising buskers and giving them the option to include festive songs in their repertoire during their set, which could include the 'Holidays Are Coming' tune from the Coca-Cola Christmas ad. This would be completely at their discretion and is not something that is at all mandatory".

Perhaps they could expand the busking pitches to comedy and persuade Mark Thomas to come and do his "why Coke are evil" routine.

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NEW CFO AND COUNSEL FOR EMI
If only EMI could find a way of monetising announcements of senior executive appointments and departures, the music major would be quids in. Do any senior execs stay with EMI for more than a month these days? Anyway, EMI yesterday announced the appointment of a new Chief Financial Officer and a General Counsel.

The former is Shane Naughton, who joins the major from Music Week publishers UBM Information. He will head up all of the financial operations of EMI's recorded music division worldwide. Which, if you believe the rumours, has got to be a pretty depressing job.

The major's new legal woman is Kyla Mullins, who joins EMI from ITV, so a least she'll be used to working for a struggling once-great British content company. In her new job Mullins will be responsible for all of EMI Music's legal, business and government affairs worldwide.

Confirming the appointments, EMI big cheese Elio Leoni-Sceti told CMU: "I am delighted that Shane and Kyla are joining EMI Music. With their proven expertise in the international media and digital arenas, they will be valuable additions to the EMI Music team as we roll out our global, consumer-focused strategy".

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AEG TO RELEASE 3D CONCERT FILMS
With the Michael Jackson 'This Is It' movie still raking in the cash at the cinema box office, tour promoters AEG, more than anyone, know the value of filming anything and everything that happens around live music events. But imagine if Jacko's final days, as he worked himself into an early grave, had been caught on film in 3D. The nearly dead king of pop could have moonwalked right out into the cinema.

Well, 3D concert films are AEG's latest venture. Earlier this year they teamed up with a company called Action 3D to film various US festivals, both AEG promoted events like All Points West and others like Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. And footage from those recordings will now be made available in a movie called 'In Concert 3D' which will arrive in US movie theatres next month featuring performances from Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper & Relentless7 and Gogol Bordello. A Kenny Chesney specific 3D movie will follow next Spring.

AEG is talking to lots of other artists about involvement in future 3D movie projects. I think artists getting hold of footage for their own DVD releases is a sweetener in the deals the promoter is doing with artists on this. But if any of those artists are reading this, please don't be tempted, you'll only encourage the making of more 3D films, and we all know that they are all shit.

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DUBAI SOUNDCITY: IS THE ALBUM REALLY DOOMED?
An interesting side debate at last week's Dubai SoundCity convention focused on whether the album is dead in the digital age, a question posed in response to the BPI's Julian Wall re-presenting those previously reported stats regarding single sales in the UK being at an all time high while album sales continue to slide.

Most on the 'Music For Free' panel, where the question was raised, seemed to agree that the future of the album was, if nothing else, in the air as consumers utilised iTunes and its like to pick and mix tracks from LPs, perhaps taking out their revenge on a music industry which, on some and maybe many occasions, forced fans to buy mediocre songs in order to get the handful of tracks on an album that they actually wanted.

CMU Publisher Chris Cooke observed: "The only reason bands ever released music in sets of ten songs, or there abouts, is because that's what would fit on a piece of 12" vinyl. Creatively there's no reason for artists to limit themselves to the traditional album format, and in the digital age the logistical reasons to do so are less important also. That's quite exciting".

But as tour promoter Michael Chugg pointed out, there are still some logistical reasons why a music market completely based around singles won't work. "What you're seeing is record companies signing one single deals, which means more artists are known almost exclusively for one song. That's not going to translate to live. I can't stage a tour for a band who only have a one single deal. People try, but you can't sell two thousand tickets for a band who are only known for one track".

As another SoundCity delegate pointed out to CMU shortly after the debate, there are other reasons why the album model is still sound, even though the distribution limitations that originally led to the format dominating the record industry no longer exist.

First, while there is no creative reason for artists to release music in sets of ten songs, it's true many artists have short creative spurts every couple of years, many couldn't or wouldn't produce stand alone songs on a weekly or monthly basis.

Second, for any touring band it makes sense to spend six months on a new album before heading out on tour for two years. And while music produced in one of those touring breaks could be held back and released over a longer period, in an age where studio session leaks are the norm, that's probably not going to work.

And third, and finally, does the public have the patience for mainstream acts to be constantly in their faces? True, dedicated fans will enjoy having new material from artists on a regular basis, but for artists who cross into the mainstream - surely the public at large appreciates the fact that after four months of Coldplay/Robbie/U2 saturation, said artists have the decency to disappear for two years while they tour on the other side of the world and work on their next long player.

All of which is very true. So, despite a public appetite for singles over albums, perhaps the album format will still survive the digital revolution.

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MORE DELAYS FOR LAUNCH OF SPOTIFY USA?
Rumours continue that the much anticipated US launch of Spotify is being delayed as negotiations with labels and publishers prove trickier than the popular streaming service would have wished. According to Digital Music News, a discussion about Spotify's US launch at a recent conference in Monte Carlo revealed that US music publishers were dragging their heals.

Concern also remains in the US over the ad-funded free service that Spotify has led with in Europe. Some American labels worry that such a compelling free service will hinder the slowly emerging market for subscription-based music services in the US. The fact Spotify is still struggling to convert serious amounts of European free users into ten pound a month subscribers will add to those concerns. Nevertheless, Spotify main man Daniel Ek is still talking about an early 2010 US launch for his service.

In related news, TechCrunch has reported that another free-to-use streaming service in the US, the expanded MySpace Music proposition, will restrict the amount of free streaming in the near future, and increasingly push a subscription service. It's thought ad revenues are not as high as hoped, and the end of an ad sales deal between MySpace and Google is forcing a rethink.

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ORANGE SELL LOTS OF IPHONES
Orange sold 30,000 iPhones on their first day selling the device, which is rather a lot I think. As previously reported, Orange is now selling the Apple device in the UK after O2's exclusivity deal with the IT firm expired.

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THIS WEEK'S STUDENT RADIO CHART
Yes, the Student Radio Chart is back. The songs most rated by student radio stations around the UK. The Student Radio Chart is compiled by the Student Radio Association and aired on student stations across the country, hosted by a different affiliated station each week. More at www.studentradio.org.uk/chart

1. Chase & Status - End Credits
2. La Roux - Quicksand
3. Florence And The Machine - You've Got The Love
4. Ellie Goulding - Under The Sheets
5. Deadmau5 feat. Rob Swire - Ghosts And Stuff
6. Passion Pit - Little Secrets
7. Chipmunk - Oopsy Daisy
8. The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
9. Bombay Bicycle Club - Always Like This
10. Calvin Harris - Flashback
11. Mr Hudson - White Lies
12. Biffy Clyro - The Captain
13. Snow Patrol - Just Say Yes
14. Editors - Papillion
15. Mumford And Sons - Winter Winds
16. The Dream - Walking On The Moon
17. Cheryl Cole - Fight For This love
18. Cobra Starship - Good Girls Go Bad
19. Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone
20. Little Boots - Earthquake

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RONNIE WOOD DIVORCE PROGRESSING
A decree nisi has been issued in the divorce of Ronnie and Jo Wood. The couple have been separated since the Rolling Stone's affair with young Russian waitress Ekaterina Ivanova was exposed last year. Jo Wood's legal papers cited her husband's adultery as grounds for divorce, though did not name Ivanova.

A decree absolute should follow in six weeks. It's thought Mrs Wood will get a £6.5 million settlement as part of the divorce.

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STING NOT AN X-FACTOR FAN
It looks like Sting won't be a guest on 'X-Factor', which is a shame because I always enjoy a Saturday evening nap. The Police frontman has called the show "televised karaoke" and accused Simon Cowell and his fellow judges of having "no recognisable talent apart from self-promotion".

He told the Evening Standard: "It is a soap opera which has nothing to do with music. In fact, it has put music back decades. Television is very cynical. ... It is appalling. The real shop floor for musical talent is pubs and clubs, that is where the original work is. But they are being closed down on a daily basis. It is impossible to put an act on in a pub. The music industry has been hugely important to England, bringing in millions. If anyone thinks the 'X-Factor' is going to do that, they are wrong".

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