InternetYahoo To Reimburse Customers Of DRM-Protected Music (TechWeb)

TechWeb - InformationWeek - The company said its digital rights management servers would be taken down, severely limiting the use of the files.

Yahoo on Friday said it would reimburse customers who bought music that can no longer be easily played as a result of the Web portal shutting down its online music store. Yahoo recently notified customers by e-mail that it would shut down the servers that manage the copyright-protection technology embedded in the music files on Sept. 30, the tech news site Ars Technica reported. As a result, those files would no longer play if the user moves them to another computer or to a portable music player, or makes changes to the operating system in the original computer. Carrie Davis, spokeswoman for Yahoo Music, confirmed that the digital rights management servers would be taken down, severely limiting the use of the files. However, Yahoo did not intend to abandon its customers. "You'll be compensated for whatever you paid for the music," Davis told InformationWeek. "We haven't said exactly what we will do, but we will take care of our customers." The company planned to reimburse customers on a case-by-case basis, and has posted an FAQ page that includes a "contact customer care" button at the bottom for former Yahoo Music Store customers. Davis said customers... [ Read more on www.yahoo.com ]

InternetSoftware Group Contemplates Suing eBay (TechWeb)

TechWeb - InformationWeek - The SIIA is frustrated with eBay because so much pirated software is sold on the site that the group can't identify all the offenders.

InternetScreen Actors board backs negotiators on new media (Reuters)

Reuters - The board of the major union for U.S. film and television actors has backed its negotiators' demands to cover Internet-related work, signaling that contract talks with Hollywood's studios may remain stalled for weeks.