| CMU Daily - on the inside 23 Dec 2003 |
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In today's CMU Daily:
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RIAA vows to fight on
- Jack white may face jail
- 50 Cent US best seller
- Single Review: The Delays - Long Time Coming
- Embrace ready for return
- ITV positive despite Pop Idol ratings slip
- Robbie goes shoots up the UK All Time Greats poll
- Government advisor reckons digital TV may have to be given away
- DVD Review: The Directors Series (Palm Directors)
- Eminem furious at tracks leak
- Uri tells Jacko to stay in America
- Movie industry defeated in Norweigan court
- Fox sign up Method Man comedy
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RIAA VOWS TO FIGHT ON
The Recording Industry Association of America yesterday said it would continue to pursue its litigation campaign against individual downloaders despite a serious set back in the American courts on Friday.
As reported yesterday, American appeal courts have ruled that internet service provider Verizon was, in fact, right in arguing that the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act did not give the RIAA the right to subpoena the identities of individual suspected downloaders directly from colleges or ISP without first going to court. It was after the courts initially ruled against Verizon on that issue earlier this year that the RIAA began its campaign of suing individuals they suspect of sharing large amounts of music via P2P systems. To date the trade association has sued 382 such individuals.
The US Court of Appeal also called into question the RIAA's whole legal campaign, which centres on the DMCA. The three-judge panel says the Act does not, in fact, sufficiently address the issue of file sharing and that only a change to the Act by Congress could make the RIAA's case against individual downloaders clear cut.
American politician Rick Boucher, who has called for greater privacy rights for internet users, spoke out in support of the latest court ruling, telling reporters: "Today's federal appeals court decision is a victory for the privacy rights of internet users. I encourage the recording industry to direct its efforts toward the establishment of lawful websites, which contain the complete inventories of its member companies. By making copyrighted content available to the public for a reasonable price in a user-friendly format, the recording industry will dramatically expand its sales through harnessing the power of the internet for its own purposes."
However the RIAA yesterday said it would continue with its current hard line legal campaign, if necessary pursing with "John Doe" lawsuits based on e-mail addresses of suspected infringers, even though that is a much slower process and some argue it requires significant judicial oversight.
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JACK WHITE MAY FACE JAIL
Well, we were joking when we told one of the CMU team - as he smugly held his White Stripes tickets - that his favourite musician might be in jail by the end of January when he's due to play London's Alexandra Palace.
But the Detroit Free Press yesterday suggested Jack White really could face a one year prison sentence if found guilty of aggravated assault against Von Bondies singer Jason Stollsteimer. As reported last week, White gave Stollsteimer quite a beating when the two singers had an altercation in a Detroit club last week. The latter says it was an unprovoked attack, the former says he acted in self defence. Either way local police are now planning to charged Mr White with aggravated assault and the singer is expected to hand himself in any time now.
According to the Detroit newspaper Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Duggan yesterday said: "It seems that far too often celebrities think that the law doesn't apply to them. So many don't understand the impact they have as role models on young people. This just can't be tolerated.''
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50 CENT US BEST SELLER
Well, in case anyone was in any doubt, it really was 50 Cent's year - certainly in terms of US record sales. Eminem's protégé had the biggest selling album of 2003 in America going six times platinum with 'Get Rich Or Die Tryin'. When you add to that the two million copies of G-Unit's 'Beg For Mercy' that were sold it was quite a year for the MC.
Outkast also did well, scoring six times platinum for 'Speakerboxx/The Love Below'. The biggest rock albums of the year followed someway behind - Linkin Park's 'Meteora' and Evanescence's 'Fallen' both went three times platinum.
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SINGLE REVIEW: The Delays - Long Time Coming (Rough Trade)
This has a lovely melody and a 60's style big orchestral production which shimmers like the Byrds specked out in summer pastels. So not very seasonal but gorgeous none the less. This Southampton four piece have already had a top 40 with 'Hey Girl' and with a bit of luck this third single should nudge them into the chart again. JW
Release date: 19 Jan
Press contact: Wild [CP, CR] Rough Trade IH [RP, RR, NP, NR]
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EMBRACE READY FOR RETURN
Embrace singer Danny McNamara wrote a message to fans on the band's website yesterday following two low-key gigs in Leeds this weekend in which the band revealed some new material.
Danny writes: "I can't tell you how good it is to be back, after spending the last two years doing nothing but writing songs. Even on my birthday, which was New Year's Eve, I was at home all night writing. The bar's been raised to a level that's so high you can't see it from the ground. Now at last we've got 10 songs that clear the bar. Everyone seems to be saying that we've got something back that we lost along the way. For me each album has got progressively more honest. The difference with this one is that the big tunes are back. I want to write songs that make people stick out their arms in a T shape and shout 'TUNE!' We're going to carry on writing over Christmas, then we go into the studio at the beginning of next year to start work on the new album".
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ITV POSITIVE DESPITE POP IDOL RATINGS SLIP
ITV tried to put a positive spin on the viewing figures for the Pop Idol final last weekend - pointing out ratings on the series as a whole were up on series one. However critics were keen to stress that the ratings peak for the three and half hour epic finale was 11.9 million, while the Will Young / Gareth Gates final eighteen months ago peaked at 14 million. Insiders say ITV bosses had hoped to top 15 million this time round. However, all that said, they thrashed BBC1's Saturday night line up, and the revenues from the 10 million plus phone votes and text messages are sure to please the bean counters at the network (the fact that 7 million people turned off the minute Pop Idol finished, with the Rugby World Cup celebration show that followed only attracting 3.6 million will please less people!).
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ROBBIE GOES SHOOTS UP THE UK ALL TIME GREATS POLL
Robbie Williams enjoyed the biggest climb in the annual All Time Greats chart, published by the Book of British Hit Singles. The chart rates every artist that's been in the charts since they began in 1952, based on the number of weeks they have been in the chart. Much of the list is made up of the old favourites - but Robbie saw his name shoot up twenty places to number 46 after enjoying chart success this year with 'Come Undone' and 'Something Beautiful'. That puts him above acts like T Rex and Abba.
At the upper end of the chart there was little change, with the top ten remaining unchanged:
1. Elvis Presley (1193)
2. Cliff Richard (1152)
3. The Shadows (771)
4. Elton John (623)
5. Madonna (606)
6. Diana Ross (560)
7. Michael Jackson (509)
8. Rod Stewart (477)
9. Beatles (456)
10. David Bowie (452)
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GOVERNMENT ADVISOR RECKONS DIGITAL TV MAY HAVE TO BE GIVEN AWAY
Government advisor Barry Cox has admitted that eventually the government may have to fund the mass purchase of digital set top boxes in order to ensure everyone is receiving digital TV in time for the anticipated turn off of analogue broadcasts in 2010. Cox, whose opinions were backed by consumer body Voice of the Listener and Viewer, told reporters yesterday: "There are two ways of making everyone switch to a digital source, such as a set-top digital box, cable or satellite. One is to pay people to switch, the other is to force them. My view, and it is only a private one, is that it will be a mixture of both." He pointed to the example of Berlin where authorities gave families on benefits a financial boost to help them switch to digital TV. In the UK that would mean giving those families the £70 required to buy the set top box required to pick up the free-to-air Freeview network.
Jocelyn Hay, chairman of the Voice of the Listener and Viewer, added: "In the end there will be some people that the Government will have to pay or help to pay. If people are paying a licence fee, for instance, they have a right to receive something in return."
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DVD REVIEW: The Directors Series (Palm Directors)
Waiting around for a decent music video, or even a crap one, on a music TV channel seems a waste of time, what with countless episodes of The Osbournes and Jackass filling their various schedules. So praise be to Palm, whose seasonal gift is a series of three DVDs stuffed with ace promos from three very different directors. Michel Gondry offers cinematic, narrative and very polished visions on two discs, with the likes of Bjork, Beck, The White Stripes and Cibo Matto soundtracking accomplished vids that feature Lego, backwardsness, black and whitery and so on. Spike Jonze's double disc offers a choreographed but visually raw approach, with those ridiculous Fatboy Slim flicks and some Beastie Boys playground joy, plus more Bjork. You won't hear this sentence uttered too often, but the standout is Weezer's 'Buddy Holly', which sews the band expertly into an episode of Happy Days. Chris Cunningham, right on cue, fills heads with expletives of pure joy. His crafted, FX-laden clips include Aphex Twin's celebrated 'Window Licker' and yet more Bjork; the heavenly 'All Is Full Of Love' robo-lesbo-serenity-fest. Oddly, only eight of his music videos appear; if the works themselves weren't so wondrous, and without the interesting interview footage, it might seem stingy in the face of its brethren. Each package comes with a posh booklet, and each has a different menu system (which, annoyingly, force you to see ads for the other discs from time to time). Gondry's is charming, frankly, which just pushes his set above the other two. But with interviews and other features heaped lovingly into each and every set, these are all distinguished, desirable discs. DR
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EMINEM FURIOUS AT TRACKS LEAK
According to the American media Eminem is livid after secret recordings from his new album ended up for sale on the internet. Three unfinished tracks found their way out of the LA studios where Slim Shady is currently working on his new album, and were up for sale to the highest bidder on eBay. If you are tempted to make a bid, hard luck, eBay have cancelled the bidding. Interscope will now investigate how the tracks got out of the studio.
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URI TELLS JACKO TO STAY IN AMERICA
Uri Geller has told reporters he has recommended to Michael Jackson that he doesn't come to Britain over Christmas. As previously reported Jacko is planning to come to the UK this week to promote his greatest hits album, but with some politicians and child welfare groups opposing his visit, rumour has it Jackson's people are advising him against the trip because of a fear of a media backlash.
Geller told reporters: "I do not think Michael should come here. My advice to him is that the media structure here is devastating towards him. I am not blaming the media but the viciousness of some reports will tear him apart."
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MOVIE INDUSTRY DEFEATED IN NORWEIGAN COURT
As the RIAA faces set backs in the courts regards its anti-piracy litigation campaign, the movie industry was dealt a similar blow yesterday in its high profile campaign against Norwegian computer programmer Jon Johansen. He developed a program that decrypted DVDs by stripping away the film studios' Content Scrambling System. He the prompty put the program on the net. The Movie Picture Association of America took Johansen to court arguing he was committing piracy, and encouraging others to act likewise. But Norwegian courts ruled Johansen was at liberty to do what he liked to DVDs he had legally purchased, and that ruling was backed by the country's appeal courts yesterday.
Needless to say the MPAA weren't impressed: "The actions of serial hackers such as Mr Johansen are damaging to honest consumers everywhere. While the ruling does not affect laws outside of Norway, we believe this decision encourages circumvention of copyright that threatens consumer choice and employment in the film and television industries." It is unclear if the MPAA will now take the case to Norway's Supreme Court.
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FOX SIGN UP METHOD MAN COMEDY
Fox TV have reportedly snapped up a comedy concept created by Wu Tang member Method Man. The yet-to-be titled project will feature Method Man and fellow MC Redman playing themselves. The two rappers move into a big house in a predominantly white New Jersey suburb ... the good times roll until Method Man's mom moves in. Erin Simon Berenson of Regency TV, involved in developing the programme, told reporters: "It is a very traditional fish-out-of-water story, but Meth and Red really bring a lot of charm and their particular brand of charisma to it and make it very appealing."