ChunKing writes “YouTube is to block all premium music videos to UK users after failing to reach a new licensing agreement with the Performing Rights Society. For many of us in the UK this is great news. The two main music licensing agencies in the UK — Phonographic Performance Limited and PRS — have a stranglehold on music use in this country and are stifling creativity.”
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I Don’t Believe in Imaginary Property writes “Lawyer Scott Harris, one of the inventors of the concept of a ‘marketing company devoted to selling/marketing products produced by other companies in return for a share of their profits,’ is appealing the USPTO’s rejection of US Patent Application No. 09/387,823 which was intended to patent that ‘invention.’ This court action is important because it directly challenges the In Re Bilski ruling, which tightened the rules to get rid of most so-called ‘business method’ patents. One of Mr. Harris’s legal theories is that a ‘company is a physical thing, and as such analogous to a machine.’ If the name seems familiar, it’s because Mr. Harris has a long history of inventive legal maneuverings. I’m honestly surprised that SCO never tried to hire or sue him.”
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It looks like someone got their mitts on a piece of technology history over at 1 Infinite Loop. Someone is selling some prototype iPhones with a wacky pre-iPhone type of OS on it. One of the iPhones actually even works.
First, it was the unveiling of the concept that individuals utilizing Windows 7 would have the ability to turn Internet Explorer either on or off, however now other features included in Microsoft’s OS are being revealed — each of which will be able to be turned on or off under user control.
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Owen Goss writes “Everyone is familiar with the story of the iPhone developer who spends two weeks of spare time making a game that goes on to make them hundreds of thousands of dollars. The reality is that with the App Store now hosting over 25,000 apps, the competition is fierce. While it’s true that a few select apps are making developers rich, the reality is that most apps don’t make a lot of money. In a blog post I take a hard look at the first 24 days of sales data for the first game, Dapple, from Streaming Colour Studios. The post reflects what is likely the norm for developers just getting into the iPhone development game.”
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That brings the consortium up to 38 media companies, representing 793 total newspapers, up from 635 newspaper partners a year ago, and 176 at launch in November, 2006
Palm essentially has to bet all of its money on the Pre phone – may go bust. But here’s the problem: No phone yet. All that buzz, and if you want a cool touch-screen phone, the choices are still pretty much your local Apple store, or a BlackBerry outlet. The Pre is nowhere to be found. And now, Palm admits that re-starting the buzz…
The failure of multiple hard drives at Facebook left users without access to their photos beginning on Friday.
Wolfram Alpha has been covered recently by everyone from ZDNet’s own Larry Dignan, to Techmeme, to Ars Technica, with varying degrees of enthusiasm and skepticism.
