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Apple Computers, which is reportedly in talks to acquire Universal Music from Vivendi, already has begun carving a spot in the crowded world of online music services. The company plans to debut a new service by the end of the month that will cater to Kazaa and Morpheus users while paying royalties to ailing record companies. The five major labels all will be represented on the new service, which links with the company’s iTunes software for downloading to Apple digital music player iPod. The Apple system will sell individual tunes instead of charging on a monthly subscription basis, as do music industry services MusicNet and Pressplay. Pricing has not been released. People have become more and more willing to pay for online content over the past few years. Jupiter Research estimates that customers will spend $2 billion this year on digital content, compared to $1.6 billion last year. Still, only 3 percent of the global PC market will have access to Apple’s new service. It’s only available to Mac users right now, although a Windows-compatible version may be introduced at a later date.
Internet quilt comforts families of those in Iraq
A cyberquilt has been providing comfort to families awaiting the return of their loved ones from the Iraqi war. Jacksonville, Fla.’s Roberta Wilcox, the mother of a U.S. Marine, began “sewing” the Tapestry of Love on her web site during January to offer a place for others to pray for their loved ones’ safe return. There have been 600 squares attached to the quilt since then, some including photographs and others just words. The tradition reaches all the way back to the Civil War, when families sewed quilts for soldiers battling for the Union and Confederate armies. Wilcox has received names of more than 3,000 others at her site (our.homewithgod.com/treeblooming/ourtroops.html), with each square taking about 10 minutes to complete. Two other women in Wilcox’s prayer group have begun helping as well, since the list of names has become so long.
Study: High-speed cable quicker than DSL
Cable is quite literally winning the race when it comes to high-speed connections, a new study by comScore Networks finds. Cable lines average 50 percent faster than digital subscriber lines, found the examination of home broadband connections. The study also found that broadband connections in general jumped 9 percent from October 2002 to March 2003, bringing the total of high-speed U.S. households to 28 percent of those with internet access. ComScore reports that Cablevision had the fastest connections, with Comcast and Adelphia following. AT&T WorldNet provided the fastest DSL, roughly 63 percent quicker than the industry average. Time Warner Cable, Verizon and BellSouth were not included in the study.
Nielsen//NetRatings introduces small-site service
Nielsen//NetRatings wants to do for small web sites what it’s been doing for big ones. The internet audience measurement firm Monday launched SiteCensus, which will provide research analysis for sites with audiences smaller than the super-sized ones that currently dominate the weekly NetRatings charts, such as America Online, Microsoft’s MSN, Kazaa and various news sites. The service will target media companies and content publishers and will cover visitors, page views, time spent and site demographics. The new service will rely on a census-based tagging system. NetRatings plans to compile research data based on sex, age and other demographics within the local and regional markets.
Another federal cybersecurity czar steps down
Cybersecurity hasn’t been a top priority for the government. Perhaps that’s what has spurred the exodus from its Critical Infrastructure Protection Board (PCIPB). For the second time in three months, a high-level official from the board has left, this time cybersecurity adviser Howard Schmidt. Schmidt reportedly based the decision on the Bush administration’s move to put PCIPB under the Department of Homeland Security umbrella. Schmidt replaced former PCIPB chairman Richard Clarke, who left in February for similar reasons. Just how the organization will fit into the Homeland Security division has not been determined yet, which is why much of the discontent has arisen.
April 23, 2003© 2003 Media Life
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