The regulator’s rule book for deciding what is permissible on today’s roads is very thick indeed. The content, behaviour and performance of “stuff on roads” is massive, and grows by the day. Try hot-rodding your lawnmower – or deciding that on Thursdays, you will only make left turns, and see how far you get.
By contrast, the regulator’s rule book for deciding what is permissible on the internet – its content, behaviour and performance – couldn’t be simpler. There isn’t one.
News Corporation and the major record labels are facing antitrust questions about the blockbuster MySpace Music venture – even before the site has launched.
MySpace Music is billed as the biggest music retail launch of the year. It’s a one-stop shop backed by the cross-media muscle of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, with the three biggest record labels. The site promises to offer everything from downloads to ringtones to concert tickets, backed by the “street” cred of the MySpace brand, and a blockbuster launch is expected this week. Astronomical valuations – $2bn – have already been placed on the service, which MySpace insiders want to become the ‘internet’s MTV’.
The problem? Not everyone can play. Independents say they’re being frozen out of the new venture. No independent music company has inked a deal with the News Corp, and independent labels report that they’ve been blocked from uploading their music. And since MySpace Music is a joint equity venture between News Corp and the three biggest labels, which control 70 per cent of the US recorded music business, the trouble might only be starting.
The US Senate today embarks on what could become years of antitrust investigations into Google by the IT, telecoms and media industries. The hearing today is just that – a piece of political showboating ordered by antitrust subcommittee chairman Herb Kohl. It’s not a formal investigation, let alone a lawsuit. Yet with the destiny of … Read more