CustomScoop's Tech Jots

Internet Radio Providers Turn Silent in Protest

Internet Radio Silence
Mark Evans
Hundreds of webcasters, including Yahoo’s LAUNCHcast, are hoping that you are frustrated by their decision to shut down service for the day. The move is part of an organized “Internet Day of Radio Silence” to protest significant royalty fee increases set by the Copyright Royalty Board. Yahoo insists that the rate hikes, set to take place next month, will force many Internet radio providers to limit service or shut down entirely. Meanwhile, Mark Evans argues that the music industry is shooting itself in the foot by pushing for higher royalty fees that will likely lead to lower record sales. “It’s been almost a decade since Napster disrupted the music industry’s party, and the business is still no closing to figuring out what’s going to work and how it’s going to survive and thrive.”

Friendster, Back from the Dead?
TechCrunch
Friendster, the frequently mocked former leader in social networking, has reportedly seen a dramatic 40 percent page view increase in the last month. The boost has surprised many, including VentureBeat’s Matt Marshall, who calls the news “remarkable.” Duncan Riley argues that this is good news for Web 2.0, and a sign that startups can continue to prosper. “Friendster proves that despite strong, and some would argue superior competition, there’s still room for any Web 2.0 startup to grow, even in a crowded vertical marketplace. There is more Web 2.0 cake for everyone.”

Google Continues to Target Microsoft
Read/Write/Web
After winning concessions from Microsoft last week, Google is continuing to press, asking a federal judge to impose further anti-trust restrictions on Redmond. Josh Catone agrees with those that call this a “PR stunt” and points out that Apple was not named in the suit, despite the fact that its OS X uses some of the same methods that Google complains about in Windows Vista. “I'm not an antitrust expert, but it seems to me that if a practice is considered anticompetitive, then no company would be allowed to utilize it. Since Google's CEO Eric Schmidt sits on Apple's board, not naming them in the complaint to the Department of Justice makes the whole thing feel a bit disingenuous to me.”

Tech Bloggers in Trouble?

A-List Bloggers’ Integrity Questioned in “Mini Scandal”
Scobleizer
Valleywag’s Nick Denton has spurred significant chatter in the blogosphere by pointing out that a number of “A-List” tech bloggers supported Microsoft’s People Ready by writing statements for an advertising campaign. Denton suggests that the bloggers “crossed the line,” prompting a swarm of posts either agreeing or disagreeing with his take. Michael Arrington insists that there was nothing unethical about the ads. And while he argues that written disclosure was not called for because the quotes were contained in obvious banner advertisements, Robert Scoble disagrees. “First rule of avoiding bad PR for taking money is DISCLOSE, DISCLOSE, DISCLOSE!”

LinkedIn to Open Platform for Developers
TechCrunch
LinkedIn has announced plans to release APIs that will open its platform to third party developers interested in creating new tools and widgets for the professional networking site. Duncan Riley calls this a “step in the right direction,” but suggests that LinkedIn faces an uphill battle. “The problem LinkedIn faces is a market suffering from too many social networking options; Facebook offers a one stop shop that for many is becoming their main and in some cases their only choice in social networks.”

Google Expected to Buyout GrandCentral
TechCrunch
Rumors suggest that Google has agreed to terms that would lead to the acquisition of GrandCentral, a company that manages its users incoming phone calls under the mantra “one phone number for all your phones, for life.” Michael Arrington suggests that the acquisition will lead to improvements in Gmail and GTalk. “This is, in my opinion, a great move by Google. Grand Central… simplifies the lives of users with multiple phones… It’s a natural fit with GTalk and Gmail. “

Vista Security Lauded in New Report

Report Concludes Vista is Relatively Secure
CSO Blog
A six month vulnerability report on Microsoft Vista reveals that the new operating system has suffered from fewer “high severity” vulnerabilities than Windows XP, Mac OS X, and others. A few bloggers are suggesting that readers take the news “with a grain of salt,” due to perceived flaws and the fact that the report’s author, Jeff Jones, works for Microsoft. However, many are highlighting this report as good news for Microsoft, and Jones himself suggests that the amount of attention given to Microsoft software only makes the conclusions more impressive. “If you share the opinion that Windows and applications ported to Windows get a higher level of researcher scrutiny than other OSes, then the 6-month results are even more positive.”

Watch YouTube Clips on Apple TV
The Tech Beat
Apple TV owners can now use the device to watch YouTube videos on a real TV. Only 10,000 properly formatted videos are available now, but that number is expected to increase significantly in the near future. Stephen Wildstrom sees the feature as a “welcome addition,” but argues that the video quality is very poor, and navigating the system is unwieldy. “What looks good in a small window on a computer display looks pretty bad on a big screen TV […] Typing using the remote and an on-screen keyboard is really a pain and it's far too easy to select one of the thumbnails by mistake.”

Video Ads Based on Speech Recognition
Mashable
Blinx, a video search engine service, is planning to launch an advertising network that would automatically insert ads based on speech recognition. Blinkx Adhoc would allow advertisers to bid on keywords, as is the process in Google’s AdSense, and then have their video ads automatically appear in clips that mention those words (or contain the words in associated meta data). Adam Ostrow suggests that Blinx is large enough to make a significant impact. “Blinkx, which is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, claims more than 12 million hours of video in its index.”

Deal or No Deal?

Murdoch Mulls MySpace/Yahoo Stock Swap
Between the Lines
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is reportedly considering a massive stock swap that would leave the company with a 25-30 percent share of Yahoo in exchange for MySpace stock. Larry Dignan argues that this looks like a smart buy low, sell high move on News Corp’s part, noting that MySpace’s valuation has jumped more than $10 billion in two years. “Why Murdoch would do such a deal is obvious. Why Yahoo would make such a MySpace swap isn’t nearly as clear.”

Google to Build on Apps with Zenter
Google Blogoscoped
As part of its ongoing mission to build functionality into its online suite of applications, Google has acquired the presentation software company Zenter. Google says that it will use its newest asset to help develop improved file-sharing software. However, Phillip Lenssen wonders if the acquisition was more about clearing out potential competition. “It is interesting how Google’s snapping up several presentations-related companies (Tonic came before)... or can we have reason to believe Google is just removing competition (or clearing the field from acquisition candidates for larger competitors)?”

Microsoft Tweaks Vista for Google
TechCrunch
In an effort to avoid litigation, Microsoft has agreed to change its newest operating system after Google complained that Vista’s search features are anticompetitive. While specific details relating to the change are not yet known, Duncan Riley is intrigued by Microsoft’s apparent shift in legal strategy. “For Microsoft, questions remain: is this simply a case of Microsoft waiting to fight another day, or is the company now seriously spooked by both the threat of anti-competitive litigation and Google? It’s certainly very un-Microsoft like to simply settle without a fight.”

A New Chief in Yahoo Land

Yahoo Shakeup Leaves Semel Out, Yang In
Between the Lines
Yahoo Co-founder Jerry Yang has replaced Terry Semel as CEO in a move that left investors smiling yesterday as stock jumped three percent. However, Larry Dignan believes that the new CEO immediately finds himself in rough seas, and will face heavy criticism early on from those who doubt his ability to lead the company. “I think Yang is going to get a bum rap. Give him a few quarters and let’s see what he can do. But Yang faces an uphill climb convincing all of Yahoo’s constituents that he’s up for the task.”

Federal Court Rules that Warrants Now Required for Emails
Techdirt
In a “landmark decision,” a federal appeals court has ruled that emails deserve the same type of privacy protections as phone calls, meaning that federal investigators will now have to obtain probable cause warrants before seizing emails. Techdirt suggests that this appears to be good news, but the decision will likely be challenged further. “Of course, there will likely be another appeal, so this may end up in front of the Supreme Court eventually.”

Crazy Egg’s Carefully Placed Confetti
TechCrunch
Crazy Egg has just launched an overlay tracking service that will allow website owners to see the precise location of visitor clicks in the form of color-coded “Confetti.” The colorful dots are coded to track visitor referrals, as well as the individual’s OS, browser, window size, and time spent on the site before clicking. The service is free for those satisfied with tracking 5,000 visits on up to four pages, but paid users can track up to 250,000 visits on 100 pages. Duncan Riley suggests that Crazy Egg’s latest offering is designed more for monitoring trends than comprehensive data. “The limited number of clicks tracked may seem restrictive, but analytics from Crazy Egg are meant to run for a short period of time on a specific url to grab a sample of how your users react to design changes.”

Google Launches Policy Blog, Video Editing Tool

Google Unveils Policy Blog
IP & Democracy

In a move that Cynthia Brumfield calls “long overdue,” Google has launched its own public policy blog. The tech giant hopes to “promote real conversation” about policy issues with users, and highlights over two months of posts that were written in the blog’s internal testing phase. Brumfield applauds the new offering, and argues that other companies in the industry ought to follow suit. “It’s nice to see yet another major communications company use this powerful tool of political communications in the 21st Century.”

YouTube Remixer Encourages Video Editing
TechCrunch
YouTube fans can now tweak videos using the site’s new Remixer tool. The software, which is powered by Adobe Premiere Express, allows users to insert graphics, text, and audio among other options. Duncan Riley acknowledges that causal users will appreciate Remixer, but claims that “serious content creators” will likely be disappointed. “The interface is fairly simple if perhaps a little bit dull and boring... it’s just that it’s grey, uninspiring and so very not Google. I can also find no personal appeal in adding Gingerbread men to my videos; however others may view the service differently.”

Blockbuster Deals Devastating Setback to HD DVD
engadget
Blockbuster has chosen to heavily favor Blu-ray discs over HD DVDs by stocking only the former in most of its 1,450 stores. According to the Associated Press, Blockbuster VP Matthew Smith made the decision after seeing that 70% of all HD rentals were of the Blu-Ray variety. Evan Blass calls this a “huge blow” to HD DVD, which will be difficult to bounce back from. “While it's still a little too soon to declare Blu-ray the outright winner, this Blockbuster decision only contributes to the momentum that Sony's darling has had of late -- momentum that at this point, might be too difficult for the other guys to counter.”

A “Cold War” Among Tech Giants

Google, Ebay Escalate Feud
Venture Beat
If you enjoy the sight of tech behemoths doing battle, look no further than Google and Ebay. “Years of tension” have given way to action as the auction site has lifted all of its advertising off of Google’s networks in favor of Yahoo and MSN. This reportedly follows frustration over Google Checkout, a relatively new product that will compete with Ebay’s PayPal service. The fact that Google held a launch party for the product in the same city, Boston, and at the same time as Ebay’s latest user conference seemingly ignited the feud, according to Matt Marshall. “This is the sharpest break between eBay and Google yet, and it’s not likely to get better: Google is too much of a threat. Its rare to have such visible cold wars in the valley…”

A Push for Open Spectrum
The Technology Liberation Front
Frontline Wireless is turning heads inside the beltway with its proposal to build an interoperable public safety network using spectrum that will become available after the nation shuts down analog TV signals in early 2009. Frontline’s proposal calls for the network to be paid for by open access commercial use on the same spectrum. As a further stipulation, Frontline also is also now recommending that any carrier bidding on the spectrum agree to open access requirements on all of the spectrum that it holds. Hance Hanley wonders if the benefits of such a requirement would be worth the potential costs, as it would likely result in fewer bids. “Is it worth it for the government to rig the auctions to limit the number of bidders, so the spectrum may not be assigned to the highest, most valuable use?”

Private Postings v. Email
Techdirt
A New Jersey judge considering a sexual assault case has denied an attorney’s request to obtain private postings from social networking sites. This is earning the attention of a few bloggers, who believe that the judge appeared to indicate that private messages on sites like MySpace and Facebook merit greater protections than emails do. Techdirt expects the issue to be hotly debated in courts in the future. “It's likely that this type of request will start to become more popular in court cases -- and it may be difficult for judges to believe that social networking private messages are effectively any different than email.”