Login:
Password:
Lost Password?
Print this article  |  E-mail this article  |  Comment on this article

MySpace Gets Tough on Copyrighted Music

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

October 30, 2006, 3:49 PM

News Corp., the parent company of MySpace, said Monday that it would be employing technology aimed at keeping copyrighted material off its pages. Additionally, the site would crack down on violators of the policy, kicking them off the popular social networking site.

Technology from Gracenote would scan music uploaded to the site's profile pages and then compare it to the privately held company's database. If it detects the file does not match a filing with the company, it would be blocked.

If a user continues to attempt to upload illicit files, it would result in his or her account being deleted. In addition to these moves, MySpace would also remove copyrighted material when requested by the labels and other content owners.

"MySpace is staunchly committed to protecting artists' rights - whether those artists are on major labels or are independent acts," said Chris DeWolfe, CEO and co-founder of MySpace. "This is another important step we're taking to ensure artists control the content they create."

Gracenote says that its technology, known as MusicID, is used in several different applications, including content filtering, broadcast monitoring, mobile music recognition, music file recognition and rights clearance.

Add a Comment (17 Comments)

BetaNews reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Foul language and personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Name (required):

E-mail (required):

Enter Your Comment:

By JabbaPapa

edited Nov 1, 2006 - 6:24 AM

There's something ridiculous about this, given that technically ALL downloadable music recordings are owned by someone, and therefore copyrighted. I mean that the act of posting music at a certain verifiable date on a certain website would in itself constitute copyrighting the music. This would not invalidate the original holder's right of control of the material ; but it does mean that this MusicID software is technically illegal, as it provides certain parties (large corporations) with undue advantages over other parties (ordinary folks), violating the basic legal principles of equality and fairness.

Anyway, it's a losing battle, like the one they fought against tape recorders...

However, the fact remains that people will continue to spend x% of their disposable income on music, no matter what technology is available. The thing that will change, is HOW that money will be spent, and some big players will necessarily lose out and end up crying wee wee down the lane

Score: 0

By foxfyre

posted Oct 31, 2006 - 12:50 PM

Who cares...

Opps..obviously far too many as evidenced below...

;-))

Score: 0

By imafurby

posted Oct 31, 2006 - 8:27 AM

Another story about that hideous waste of time MySpace. Perfect for Halloween!

Score: 0

By Lunacy

posted Oct 31, 2006 - 1:29 AM

Are they referring to those posing as artists and uploading the files to the music section or those linking to outside servers for music players? I happen to have a music player on myspace but none of the files are available for download and if the music industry is that upset over someone hearing an artists music or seeing their video, they are stupid because exposure is what matters most, who'd buy a CD if they never heard of the artist or their music. Oh wait, RIAA doesn't care about that, they want money and want the internet shut down, didn't they or Universal or someone file a lawsuit against YouTube for this? It's silly, it's exposure!

Score: 0

By Ruf

posted Oct 30, 2006 - 9:20 PM

According to Myspace's terms of service, no one under 14 is allowed to become a member....WHAT A JOKE! No wonder Myspace.com is bookmarked by every pedophile in the US.

Score: 0

By bourgeoisdude

posted Oct 30, 2006 - 7:05 PM

Unlike DRM or copy protection, this is a method I can agree with. If the system finds something illegal, block it. Is this a problem? Just email them and there will at least be a way to fix the issue. Copy protection and DRM will physically prevent you from doing things, and the software company will not help you bypass DRM either.

Score: 0

By Shane P. Lee

edited Oct 30, 2006 - 6:29 PM

Umm, why did this turn into a flame against MySpace? Nevermind, my questions are: Why could they not detect sexual predators on their site, but are able to quickly find a destroy "copyrighted" material? And just what constitutes "fair use" on a webpage? And where the heck is Waldo at anyway?

Score: 0

By 2mins4roughing

edited Oct 30, 2006 - 6:22 PM

If the truth is out there...Hollywood should look for the truth, his comments are so one sided..Even if Myspace is so yesterday with most teens today..If they start deleting accounts and images as well as songs the site is forever doomed. It's hard to tell a twelve year old about copyright laws. Ever heard the term start off hard and then get softer. It harder going the other way because it was already the norm. Even if it is worth 20 billion thats today value tommorrow who knows...Some self loathing tattooed teen could buy it.

Score: 0

By charlespaugh

posted Oct 30, 2006 - 6:21 PM

I am a little confused here. The article says, "If it detects the file does not match a filing with the company, it would be blocked." Wouldn't it make more sense that if a file matches one in their database as being copyrighted, then it would be blocked?

Score: 0

By Paul Skinner

edited Oct 30, 2006 - 6:48 PM

I think the 'journalist' got confused by his sentence as much as we have.

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

posted Oct 30, 2006 - 5:21 PM

MySpace, the place for people who don't have real freinds and incredibly low self esteem.

It's true, all of the people I know who have MySpace accounts hate themselves. Tattoos and body piercings are the easiest way to spot a self loather. That is just a subconscious way of torturing yourself and letting everyone know about it.

How many CEO's are on MySpace and have holes all over thier bodies and ink on every appendage? None.

Not to say a person with tattoos can't be successful, unless it involves manual labor.

Hollywoods Laws: Learn them and be enlightened

www.thedvdwars.com

The truth is out there.

Score: 0

By rbeier

posted Nov 1, 2006 - 12:17 PM

Ummm....Hollywood...what does this have to do with the topic at hand? Keep your comments on topic. All this does is show your ignorance. So what if CEO's don't have tattoos....yet...they will...and you'll be the first ignorant fool to go....http://www.examiner.com/a-349880~Tattoos__Piercings_Slip_Into_Dress_Codes.html

Score: 0

By jshurst

posted Oct 31, 2006 - 8:57 AM

What an idiotic statement. MySpace is a great way to find people that you lost touch with.

Also, how in the world do you go from MySpace to tatoos and piercings? I don't think that rockstars (say Tommy Lee for example) have low self esteem and a ton of them have tatoos.

Also, tatoos and piercings are a cultural thing, so that broad of a generalization is just wrong.

Score: 0

By crs2500okc

edited Oct 30, 2006 - 6:49 PM

1st you can not generalized.
it shows lack of vocabulary,and the ability to think outside one's own limited world, wheather on this topic or any other.
thus our limited choices of canidates and our willingness to make those candidates talk about the issues.
please take the time to learn about those others; without, placing your own limited experiences or lack of such into play.

Score: 0

By FubarJeb

posted Oct 30, 2006 - 5:43 PM

Do you have any proof behind your claims or are you just shooting from the hip?

Score: 0

By EvilLinux

edited Oct 30, 2006 - 4:38 PM

Myspace is soo retarted. There so many ways to get around this it isn't even funny. Not that I care too much its that myspace.com takes a non-proactive way to dealing with this. If they offered the music and videos people wanted then the people wouldn't do it. Someday (pretty soon) myspace.com will fall and it will be funny!

Score: 0

By FubarJeb

posted Oct 30, 2006 - 5:44 PM

Perhaps one day it will fall, but being worth 20 Billion dollars (estimated by CNN) it won't happen anytime soon.

Score: 0

Sep 5 - 8:44 PM ET Mozilla's Aza Raskin: The journey back to Ubiquity

Sep 5 - 7:10 PM ET Red Hat buys virtualization specialist Qumranet

Sep 5 - 7:06 PM ET Analysts: Online news viewers rising as newspaper readership falls

Sep 5 - 6:55 PM ET Where does Sarah Palin stand on technology issues?

Sep 5 - 6:51 PM ET Adobe Flash to deliver NFL games in full

Sep 5 - 4:29 PM ET Exclusive beta invitation from GameTap and BetaNews

Sep 5 - 4:09 PM ET Report: OLPC buy one, give one deal returns

Sep 5 - 3:45 PM ET No ruling yet in TiVo vs. EchoStar patent case

Sep 5 - 3:37 PM ET Google Analytics starts tracking Chrome, with intriguing results

Sep 5 - 2:14 PM ET Comcast challenges FCC's authority in sanction appeal