Customers of new UK ISP get to share all Sony music on P2P

Aug 24, 2005 13:00 · 356 words · 2 minute read

I’ve been following the sales of music online for years now. I’ve been fairly okay with iTunes Music Service, because the restrictions on the files have not yet caused me grief and I’m certain they are breakable, should I ever find that the restrictions are causing me grief. I have also used AllOfMP3.com from time to time.

Here’s an exciting scoop from Boing Boing: Customers of new UK ISP get to share all Sony music on P2P

Here’s the deal. PlayLouder MSP DSL costs about the same as comparable DSL offerings in the UK (though right now, PlayLouder MSP’s one-meg speeds don’t compare to the high-end offerings from ISPs like Bulldog, who are offering 8-meg DSL). For their money, PlayLouder MSP customers get their regualr DSL lines, as well as:

  • The right to share any song in the Sony-BMG catalog
  • Even if it’s out of print
  • In any file-format
  • Using any file-sharing software
  • At any bitrate

This is some truly amazing news. While I understand the arguments against a scheme like this (everyone is paying, even those who don’t use the service is the primary complaint), the freedom you get with this is fantastic.

Personally, though, I don’t think going this far is absolutely necessary. If Sony is willing to sign a deal like this, they should really just revise their deal with Apple so that Apple can sell unencumbered MP3s or at least unencumbered AAC files. The sad thing is that even if Sony were willing to sign a deal like that right now, Apple might not want to do it because the FairPlay protected AAC files only play back on iPods… and we all know that’s where the money is.

One ironic thing about this deal with PlayLouder is that it was Sony Music that was crippling Sony’s MP3 players, which didn’t even play MP3 files because of piracy fears.

Boing Boing’s article sounds more positive than the Guardian article they’re linking to. I do hope that the Boing Boing version of the story comes to pass and we start to get over the copy protection nonsense that Hollywood has been foisting on us.