TECH ROUNDUP:
WE OWN THE RIGHTS!

WE CAN’T SWAP THE OLD DECISION FOR A NEW ONE?
Napster has been denied a rehearing in the case brought against it by the RIAA-represented major labels. The initial hearing resulted in an injunction against the file-sharing service. Let the spin begin. "While we are disappointed that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined to reconsider its February 2001 decision, we recognized going in that rehearing petitions are infrequently granted," reads a statement from newly appointed Napster General Counsel Jonathan Schwartz. "That is especially so at this stage of the case, where no trial has yet been held in the underlying case. We will now review our legal options going forward. We will continue to comply with the outstanding injunction. With the launch of the new membership service later this summer, we believe we will put to rest many of the outstanding legal issues." In a related story, Napster recently unveiled the beta version of its version 10.3 client software, which is designed to give users unfettered access to unsigned and independent music that hasn’t been expressly barred from the netco’s P2P system.

FREE-LANCERS WORKING FOR DOLLARS
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that free-lance writers can determine whether or not work sold to a print publication can be reproduced by that publication in electronic form. The 7-2 ruling in New York Times v Tasini means that free-lancers must give permission before media companies can post their work online. It mainly affects work created before contracts took electronic rights into account. More importantly—for those of us supplementing our hitsdailydouble.com salary by posing for penthouse.com—free-lance writers, artists, photographers must be paid additional money for work included online or on CDROM databases. God bless America.

MTV, MACHINE MAKE BAD SINGING FUN—
OR AT LEAST EASIER
Sparked by the popularity of MTV’s "Say What Karaoke," karaoke machine manufacturer The Singing Machine Co. Inc. has buddied with MTV to introduce a line of MTV-branded machines. This does not mean a hot iron marker was pressed to the side of the sing-a-long systems, but rather that the machines are complemented by a line of CDs with graphics (CD+G) targeted at the music cable network’s core audience. The compatible CD+Gs available feature "MTV music", including songs from artists like NSYNC, Blink-182 and Destiny’s Child, among others. The company has found other uses for the hot marker. The Singing Machine/MTV STVG-700 model, which contains a 7" TV, sells for about $199.00. It also features radio, cassette player/recorder and TV connectors and a sampler CD+G with MTV music. The system and its portable model, the SMGK-1000 (retailing at $79.99 to $89.99), are expected to be available by the end of July. "At MTV, we are focused on connecting young people to the music they love," said MTV Consumer Products VP Heidi Eskenazi. "The machines and the exclusive CD+Gs are excellent examples of how fans can create a more personal music experience. Too bad most of our target demo is too young to drink, because without booze, karaoke sucks ass."