A year out, where's RIAA's promised ISP help-

A year out, where's RIAA's promised ISP help?
Music execs had told me much the same thing and I wrote last year that AT&T and Comcast were testing their own graduated responses. But a year after the Journal's initial story, the number of ISPs that have acknowledged adopting the RIAA's graduated response program is zero. In addition, many of the big ISPs, such as AT&T and Comcast, have gone out of their way to deny that they would ever interrupt service to customers simply because they were accused of copyright violations by the film or music industries. To do that, they would need a court order. Some ISPs, including AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon, appear to be sending greater numbers of their own warning letters--in addition to those sent by content owners--to customers suspected of file sharing. The letters typically notify customers that they have been accused of illegally sharing songs and informed them that such activity is illegal.But here's the big question about the RIAA's graduated response plan: is it worth anything without a legitimate threat backing it up? It's difficult to believe that sending letters is enough of a deterrent.Mitch Bainwol, the RIAA's chairman and CEO, acknowledges that his organization hasn't achieved all of the goals it laid out a year ago, but he says that the ISP strategy is well thought out, progressing, and has already seen dramatic results. "We've seen a million notices [from ISPs to customers suspected of file sharing] go out over the past year and that is certainly meaningful," Bainwol told CNET last week. "Are we prepared to make an announcement that is broad in scope and cuts across ISPs? No. Are we engaged in significant discussions that we believe will ultimately prove productive? Hell yes."Maybe so, but these deals were supposed to have been done or nearly done a year ago. What happened to those "hashed out preliminary agreements" that the Journal wrote about?Missing teethMultiple music sources have told me over the past month the RIAA leaders were feeling pressure to drop the lawsuit campaign, but were also being lobbied by some at the labels to put some kind of deterrent in place, even if totally toothless. They didn't want the public to think there weren't any consequences to pirating music, even if the reality was exactly that. "Are we prepared to make an announcement that is broad in scope and cuts across ISPs? No. Are we engaged in significant discussions that we believe will ultimately prove productive? Hell yes."--RIAA CEO Mitch BainwolAccording to those sources, the announcement about the ISP strategy last December was little more than a scarecrow. Bainwol didn't comment on that but did say: "The substance of our pivot to ISPs is in fact accurate. The broader arrangement that cuts across the ISP community is still out there to be tied down. There clearly are discussions going on."The reason that some at the labels wanted an end to the litigation is that for years it brought down mountains of public scorn. The lawsuits were also expensive and RIAA's members wanted costs slashed, which happened earlier this year. The decision was made to continue to pursue the suits already in the courts, but the widescale practice of suing individuals was over. Here's the other reason that several of the music-industry sources say the RIAA acted before any deal was done: to fire a shot across the bow of some of ISPs that were dragging their feet. By spreading the word that the RIAA had sewn up a deal with a group of big ISPs, RIAA managers hoped they were ratcheting up the pressure to join, sources say.They alsoturned to Andrew Cuomo, New York's state attorney general, to nudge the ISPs into fighting piracy in the same way he pushed them to combat child pornography, said two music industry sources. This not only rubbed some ISP execs the wrong way, but unlike with the porn problem, the law was all on the side of the ISPs. Nothing in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires ISPs to adopt a graduated response or even send their own warning letters. "I don't know that the (ISPs) are legally obliged to do it," said Jonathan Zittrain, a noted cyberlaw expert and author. "I don't know any ISP that has been sued over it...The industry has chosen not to provoke a fight."One reason for that may be that many bandwith providers want greater access to top entertainment content. The best example of that is Comcast's proposed acquisition of NBC Universal. To many in the film and music sectors, it appears that the interests of entertainment companies and ISPs are aligning. "We've seen great progress and great cooperation from many of the ISPs," Bainwol said. "Getting to a public uniform understanding about how we're going to work together is obviously an extraordinarily complicated endeavor...[piracy] is a problem that developed over years and a solution is going to take time but we're achieving progress toward that goal."Some progressTo be sure, in some ways the music industry's digital strategy has never been in better shape. It's never been easier or less expensive to acquire music legally than it is at such sources as iTunes, Amazon, and Pandora. The music sector hasn't obtained a three-strikes policy in the United States, but it's been much more successful in forcing ISPs based overseas to boot repeat copyright offenders from their networks. And some ISPs, including Cox Communications, established antipiracy policies long ago that were similar to the RIAA's graduated response. But since the U.S. is a tougher environment when it comes to discussing service interruption, has Bainwol altered his definition of "graduated response"?"I'm not locked into any particular definition," Bainwol said. "I think the parties that are negotiating and having discussions about what kind of program is appropriate will define how you work a graduated response program. The question here is: Are we working with the ISPs? Will there be some kind of graduated response program, where the infringer is made aware when they're caught and also when there are escalating tensions. "We'll be flexible about how we get to a deal," Bainwol continued. "We'll let others define the poles of the position."

How to use Spotlight search in iOS 8 to find more results

How to use Spotlight search in iOS 8 to find more results
With the launch of iOS 8, Apple has beefed up the search capabilities in its Spotlight feature. Previously designed to search for items just on your iPhone or iPad, Spotlight has been a handy tool for finding emails, appointments, contacts, music and other locally stored items. But in iOS 8, the search universe has expanded way beyond just your local device. Here's how the new Spotlight works: Trigger Spotlight by swiping your finger down from just below the top of your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. The search field now says: "Spotlight Search" instead of just "Search iPhone" or "Search iPad." The screen also explains the types of items you can now find. Beyond searching your local device, Spotlight will offer suggestions from the Internet, iTunes and the App Store. It can also locate nearby locations, showtimes for movies, the latest news and even items from Wikipedia. For example, I opened Spotlight and typed "Guardians of the Galaxy," the new movie that's been in theaters for a while. In response, Spotlight pointed me to a local theater where I could see the film, as well as to a Wikipedia entry on the movie. It also served up links to various Web sites about the film, including the flick's IMDB page, an Amazon page selling the soundtrack and a Marvel website on the movie. A search for "CNET" pointed me to the CNET website as well as websites about CNET, various CNET contacts, emails, events and the CNET mobile app. Asking Spotlight to track down "Mexican restaurants" showed me a couple such restaurants in my neighborhood, along with a few related websites. And searching for "Robin Williams" conjured up a Wikipedia entry on the late actor and comedian, a Robin Williams comedy album stored on my iPhone and a different album that I could purchase on iTunes. In most cases, Spotlight shows you just a link to the item you want, so you have to tap the link to drill down further and see the full entry. The new Spotlight is a handy way to delve beyond content that's stored on your local device. But you can limit its capabilities through the Settings page should you wish.30 tips every new iOS 8 user should knowSee full gallery1 - 4 / 31NextPrev Open the Settings app on your iOS device. Tap the General tab and then tap Spotlight Search. The results show you check marks in front of all the different types of items Spotlight will find in a search. To filter out a certain item from the search, simply tap it to remove the check mark. For example, tapping off Bing Web Results will prevent Spotlight from scouring the Web for information. By default, your Spotlight searches and related information are sent to Apple. On its privacy screen for Spotlight, the company says it doesn't store your searches and instead uses the data to try to make its search suggestions more relevant. However, those of you concerned about privacy may still wish to turn off the entry for Spotlight Suggestions to prevent your search queries from being shared in this way.For more helpful iOS 8 tips, be sure to check out our complete guide to iOS 8.

App Store price fluctuation angering some iPhone users

App Store price fluctuation angering some iPhone users
When Konami's Frogger popped up in the iPhone App Store early Wednesday, the $9.99 price tag immediately set off a firestorm of angry user reviews. Apple's review system has doubled as a forum for users who find bugs, or otherwise feel the need to vent about the shortcomings of various developer-built applications.The rather exorbitant price tag for a 26-year-old software title has been met with overwhelmingly negative reaction from potential customers, even though it's been rewritten to include iPhone-hardware-specific controls using the accelerometer and touch screen. Similar offerings that have started out at the same price point have succumbed to outspoken users and have issued price drops.On the other end of the spectrum, there's something very different going on with developers who have offered their applications for free. They've found a fairly simple way to work Apple's own ranking system to their advantage. Since developers are able to change their price point at any time, some have offered early versions of their applications free of charge then switched the price over once it reaches a critical mass.While this move is perfectly reasonable for the people who created a good application to profit from their success, it's also taking advantage of the way Apple displays its information. Apple's top applications section as seen from both the mobile application store and iTunes lists both the free and the paid titles. Once a popular free application switches to being paid, it can jump lists. In most cases the number of free downloads jumps it to the top of the paid applications list, even if that doesn't necessarily mean the proportionate number of users has paid for it.Some users have called for Apple to reset or make separate an application's download counter in the case that a free application goes paid, if only to bring a sense of order. Meanwhile, some paid applications that have been running the paid leaderboard for weeks have been knocked out by these smaller, older applications.In the case of Crazy Lighter developed by Ezone.com, the switch from free to paid put it on top of the paid applications list. Coming up just behind is BreakClassic, another free app that switched to being paid. Both are only 99 cents, but users seem far more content with BreakClassic's approach, which has added more levels and functionality than it had before.Ultimately, it will be up to consumers, not Apple, to police the applications marketplace. To an extent, equilibrium has already been reached; Apple's built-in review system has managed to at least offer warning to would-be buyers about potential problems others have been having--something quite different from the the original intent of the same review system put in place for music, movies, and audio books. Going forward, it would be wise for Apple to offer much deeper capabilities in the rating system to give users commenting, threaded discussion forums, and a way to track price changes throughout the history of an application.