Metue.com

If someone provides a service that can be used by their patrons to break laws, there are legal questions of responsibility that get asked.  With user-generated content, and the websites that act as repositories for it, these issues center on copyright liability.  It’s a question of how much responsibility a site that acts as a forum should take. 

Is a service like YouTube responsible for policing their site and actively looking for infringement?  Or is it enough to remove an offending article (video/etc) when notified it’s a copyright violation (via a formal  DMCA “Take Down Notice”) ?  The experts aren’t in agreement.  The Digital Millennium Copyright laws provide guidance but in many cases the legislation falls short and interpretation is being sent the courts.  As of now, there’s already a billion dollar case on dockets with more likely to follow.

So, rather than wait for court or Congress, Thursday a group of broadcasters and web power houses,  a mix of content owners and distributors,  announced they would take the responsibility themselves. Click to Read More

Last quarter Google shocked the world – not with their success, but with a failure.  Much to the surprise of analysts and others’ they stumbled and failed to meet second quarter earnings expectations in July.  The numbers were good, just not as high as the stratospheric expectations being asked of them.   It was only the second time since going public in 2004 they’d come up short.    So Thursday, rebuked for aiming too high last time (Google doesn’t give sales or earnings guidance) analysts were watching carefully to see if their picks were better when Google announced this quarters results. 

Was last quarter a fluke of mismanagement? A rogue wave to an otherwise steady ship?  Were analyst’s just too optimistic?   Investors who bid up the stock 19% during the last month haven’t thought so.  They’ve expected a windfall. Today, they all got their answer: all’s well in Mountain View.

Despite occasional criticism for being a “one trick pony” and deriving most of their revenue from one advertising strength, Google proved that pony still has plenty of speed and strength.  Click to Read More

First it was iPhone pricing.  Tuesday,  iTunes pricing.  Wednesday, it’s third party applications for the iPhone.  For the third time in less than as many months, Apple is reversing course.  For a company as sure footed as Apple, that’s borderline bizarre.   Even with a stock price through the roof and products selling like hot cakes, it’s something to stop and scratch your head about.   Makes you wonder what’s going on in Cupertino. One of those things that makes you go “hmm?”

The first adjustment came last month when Apple cut the pricing on the iPhone.  They then waffled over whether to compensate early adopters who paid a substantially higher price. Click to Read More

Yahoo’s earnings are out.  After the close of markets Tuesday, Yahoo launched this quarter’s wave of tech earnings announcements (along with Intel and IBM which also reported).   One headline reads “earnings slip again” another says earnings “encourage investors.”  That’s about right.  With the first 100 days of CEO Jerry Yang’s new tenure now finished, watchers aren’t’ yet sure what to make of Yahoo’s present state… or future prospects.  Some are still concerned while others are seeing the glass half full; maybe even getting fuller.

To the numbers: the trend was positive and analyst consensus expectations were beaten. 

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With music licensing partner Snocap on its deathbed, MySpace is wasting no time lining up new music partners. Today, the social network announced they’d signed a significant licensing agreement with Big 4 music label Sony BMG.

Under the terms of the deal, which was likely in the works for some time, Sony will use the MySpace site and platform to promote its artists with individual artist pages.  They will also license a selection of music, music videos and other content for distribution around the MySpace site.  MySpace, in turn, will share revenue from advertising and sponsorships.

In many ways the deal is merely formalization of a relationship that’s already been in place.  Click to Read More

Corporate M&A activity is a little like addictive behavior. Once a company sets down the road to grow by acquisition, chances are they won’t stop at just one hit.  For Discovery Communications, parent of TV’s Discovery Channel, TLC and others, the M&A road leads to a convergence of TV and internet initiatives. It seems they’re on it and happy to pay the tolls along the way.

Monday, Discovery Communications announced they’d agreed to buy privately held How Stuff Works, the informative and educational website property for a price reportedly near $250m.

HowStuffWorks is very much what their name describes.  Click to Read More

Touch screens, video-on-demand, GPS, Portable Entertainment, taxi’s with TV, highway rest stops with WiFi hotspots …. Entertainment technology is reaching into our travels and changing fast.   No where are these changes more apparent than airlines.  New planes have new technology and are trying to keep up.

Last week Virgin America, the newly launched U.S. low fare airline chose a handful of prominent Internet personalities and blogger’s as cartoon faces to front their new ad campaign.  They included people like Kevin Rose (Digg) and the team at popular blog Boing Boing.   I wasn’t among the chosen few – Metue is a good ways from the scale of audience to draw that kind of attention -  but I have flown VA twice this month and the time seems right to take inventory and do a review; a closer look at the entertainment technology aboard the newest company to take flight.

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