UK music downloads up. "But contrary to past dire warnings of a P2P-driven market collapse, physical singles and album sales grew in value between Q2 2003 and Q2 2004."

RIAA lawsuits against individuals seem to be netting results. Expected value of file-sharing still $0.03 or so. It's interesting that the fines are so low ($11K is cited as a large one), since defendants were settling in the very beginning for ca. $3000.

Eight hours pass before NBC shows major news on prime-time. Old paradigm meets new.

Ruckus MIT-developed network expands to NIU. This seems very much like it exploits the very Fair Use rights the RIAA opposes: "Ruckus is “tethered” so students can still download music and movies without officially owning, buying or burning downloads, said Marone. "

Justice Department official skeptical about Pirate Act.

First new P2P software released after Morpheus/Grokster decision.

Boston Globe editorial on change in the music industry.

Bandwidth headaches over XP SP2 release. Too bad MS didn't allow SP2 to be distributed over the BitTorrent network, which would have nicely solved the problem.

Successful band derides traditional record company business model. RIAA's tactics come back to haunt them--"Record companies, schmecord companies – who needs ‘em? That’s not where the money is. The business is with the real customers – the fans." From a band's perspective, the record companies are not where the real money is, since they keep almost all the profits from an album.

--Ari