In Atlantic v. Howell, an anti-piracy lawsuit in Arizona, the RIAA is making the case that, while it’s legal to rip CDs for personal use, it’s illegal if you store ripped tracks in a folder that is shared:

Once Defendant converted Plaintiffs’ recording into the compressed .mp3 format and they are in his shared folder, they are no longer the authorized copies distributed by Plaintiffs. Moreover, Defendant had no authorization to distribute Plaintiffs’ copyrighted recordings from his KaZaA shared folder.

Each of the 11 sound recordings on Exhibit A to Plaintiffs’ Complaint were stored in the .mp3 format in the shared folder on Defendant’s computer hard drive, and each of these eleven files were actually disseminated from Defendant’s computer.

A lot of bloggers are construing this case to hype the idea that you’ll get sued just for ripping CDs, which suggests that they haven’t read the case documents.

You’re still safe to exercise your fair use rights, rip your CDs and load up your iPod. Or you can skip the RIAA drama and listen to legal free music and support the musicians that are reinventing the music business.

via RIAA Against The People

Cheap digital cameras are making it possible to do new things with video, and to experiment with cameras in ways that weren’t previously possible.

On the slopes near Park City, Utah, Anthony Godoy, of Twenty20, and Graham Watanabe, of the U.S. Snowboard Team, invented and tested the “Granthony Cam.” The Granthony Cam mechanism enabled the very lightweight VholdR digital camera to freely circle around Watanabe as he moved down the slope, yielding a surreal, 360-degree, “Surround-Me” view of the action:

The Granthony Cam is macgyvered of a skateboard wheel, some PVC pipe, a driveway marker, some screws, a bolt, some washers and some nuts and Gorilla Tape.

Online video behemoth YouTube announced today an initiative in which original content creators will now have an opportunity “to reap rewards from their work” and receive the same promotional benefits afforded to YouTube’s other professional content partners.

YouTube is inviting US and Canadian users to join their expanded YouTube Partner Program. Earlier this year, the YouTube Partner Program began rewarding the site’s most popular and prolific original content creators by allowing them to earn money from their videos. Previously, users eligible for the revenue-sharing program were those considered to have a “significant” audience on YouTube (as measured by video views, subscribers, etc.) Now, anyone living in the US or Canada can apply to become a partner at youtube.com/partners. Partners decide which of their videos they would like to generate revenue on YouTube, and in turn, receive a portion of the revenue generated from ads that run next to those videos.

YouTube also hopes that its expanded Partner Program will entice and benefit marketers, expanding both the quality and quantity of video content available to marketers.

Says YouTube: “This new program will improve the YouTube experience by inspiring users to develop more innovative, original content and encouraging marketers to develop interactive ads that are relevant and appealing to the YouTube community.”

Hayden Black, video podcaster and creator of Abigail’s X-Rated Teen Diary tells us:

“A couple of weeks ago, on Thanksgiving, we were contacted by a Marine Sergeant stationed in Iraq who, along with his unit, are big fans of the show and wanted a special video dedication. We were so surprised and pleased to hear that we had viewers on the other side of the world; we of course had to grant their wish.”

Here’s Abigail’s video postcard to the troops:

As social media gets more and more popular, companies are struggling to understand what’s important, who they should pay attention to and what they should measure, according to a report by the Institute for Public Relations and Wieck Media.

Here are the highlights:

• Fifty-seven percent of respondents said that social media tools are becoming more valuable to their activities as more customers and influencers use them;
• Twenty-seven percent reported that social media is a core element of their communications strategy;
• Only three percent stated that social media has little or no value to their communications initiatives; and
• Respondents believe that social media is most effective for the following sectors: arts, entertainment and recreation; communications; computer hardware; and education.

“Blogs, podcasts, and social networks are changing the way we think about media and influence,” said Jen McClure, executive director of the Society for New Communications Research. “We wanted to learn what criteria communications professionals use to define new influencers; how social media is being used to communicate with these influentials; and how to measure the effects of such efforts. The ultimate goal of the study is to offer a set of recommendations to the PR profession.”

Respondents reported that the most effective tools for their social media initiatives are currently:

• Blogs
• Online video
• Social networks

The top three criteria for determining the relevance and potential influence of a blogger or podcaster are:

• Quality of content on the blog or podcast
• Relevance of content to the company or brand
• Search engine rankings

Paul Colligan, a long-time podcaster and a business podcasting guru, has posted some interesting thoughts on easy ways to make your podcast more valuable, all of which are simple and “bite-sized”:

1. Spend less than ten bucks on a domain name for your new production company. Advertisers don’t want to deal with directors, they want to deal with producers. You’re a producer Рspend $10 looking like one.
2. Get some album art that looks like album art.
3. Don’t advertise anything on your Podcast site that says “I got this for free” РWordPress, design templates, hosting services, etc.
4. Be very careful about using your Feedburner chicklet to advertise how many subscribers you have. You control the message about the size and makeup of your audience, not a tiny graphic from Feedburner/Google.
5. Get rid of the donation button. “Valuable Podcasts don‚Äôt look desperate.”
6. Make your production look as desirable as possible to the outside world. Consider advertising for so “big names” through their affiliate programs, etc.
7. Stop referring to your podcast as “my Podcast”, refer to it as “the Podcast” and “my business.” You don’t produce a Podcast, you have a business that produces a Podcast.

All of these are straightforward suggestions for making your podcast, aka “the podcast”, look more professional. Check out the full article at Paul’s blog.

50 Cent says he isn’t snorting coke, but some in the industry may think that he’s talking like he’s high.

In an interview with Pål Nordseth in Oslo, Fitty denied taking coke on live TV in Zagreb and then went on to talk about how file-sharing was inevitable and that the music industry needed to figure out how to deal with it.

“What is important for the music industry to understand is that this really doesn`t hurt the artists,” said Fitty, aka James Jackson III.

“The advances in technology impacts everyone, and we all must adapt,” added Mr. Cent. “Most of all hip-hop, a style of music dependent upon a youthful audience. This market consists of individuals embracing innovations faster than the fans of classical and jazz music.””What is important for the music industry to understand is that this really doesn‚Äôt hurt the artists,” added Cent. “A young fan may be just as devout and dedicated no matter if he bought it or stole it.”

50 Cent went on to criticize the industry for failing to adapt.

“The concerts are crowded and the industry must understand that they have to manage all the 360 degrees around an artist. They, (the industry), have to maximize their income from concerts and merchandise. It is the only way they can get their marketing money back.”

“The main problem is that the artists are not getting as much help developing as before file-sharing. They are now learning to peddle ringtones, not records”

via Torrentfreak

Google has announced a new project, Our Stories, to help people share the stories of their lives, no matter where they live or how their stories unfold.

The project brings together the efforts of Google, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) and UNICEF.

Google is providing the infrastructure to let people around the world create and share personal stories, starting with children in developing countries who are using OLPC computers or those who are working with UNICEF radio producers to record and share interviews.

Children are asked to record the stories of elders, family members, and friends. There’s already a collection of stories on the site, which includes stories from Brazil’s Museum of the Person and stories from Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, and Pakistan (through UNICEF).

Here’s an example of the project, Daniel’s Song:

One Podcast Per Child

The project is based on Google’s YouTube infrastructure, so it’s basically using video sharing technology to deliver audio podcasts.

We’re calling the Our Stories recordings “podcasts” because the project seems to be completely in the spirit of podcasting – enabling anyone, anywhere to tell their story to a global audience.

We’d like to see Google treat these recordings as true podcasts, though, and offer One Feed Per Child. This would let you easily subscribe to Daniel or any of the other kids that share their stories and listen to the stories on your iPod or other digital audio player.

Are you ready to try out HD streaming video in your Web browser?

On Wednesday, Adobe Systems announced the immediate availability of Adobe Flash Player 9, which adds H.264 standard video support, the same standard deployed in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD high definition video players, and High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio capabilities. The player features hardware accelerated, multi-core enhanced, full-screen video playback for high-resolution viewing across major operating systems and browsers.

To demo the Player, Adobe has added a new video showcase to its site that features high-def content. In order to try it out, you’ll need to download the new Flash Player.

You’ll also need a good computer and a fast connection. Even with that, you’re likely to see some stuttering at 720p or 1080p.

The image quality, though, is gorgeous.

Check out the screen captures below, then download the plugin and let us know in the comments what you think about the demo videos.

Click to see them full size:

HowAudio has released a new tutorial DVD, Introduction To Podcasting, that covers the basics of podcasting.

The DVD features podcasting and audio consultant Daniel Murphy discussing the basics of audio production, including microphones, audio recording/editing software, mixers and soundcards. It also covers topics like USB vs. Firewire, VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocols), adding music, podcast Web-hosting companies, RSS feeds, MP3 compression and publicizing a podcast.