The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which among other things is responsible for enforcing federal antitrust laws, is apparently suspicious of record labels intentions with respect to a new proposed subscription music service tentatively called TotalMusic. The service, originally proposed by Universal Music Group (UMG) CEO Doug Morris, would provide most major label titles for a monthly ... [ read the full article ]
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like we didn't know, duh. they have used their clout to steal from indie bands because THEY are the gatekeepers and everyone must pay up. They are stonewalling iTunes because steve will not let them price fix on the singles forcing him to raise prices and stupid bundles because destroying albums as who wants to purchase more than two songs off of any manufactured pop album. They have engaged in global price fixing and are currently being investigated in Europe over their tired pricing that they forced on apple to obtain licences and just as the media industry did with AllofMP3.com they are blocking ANY credit transactions outside of the card owners registered address, and this is exactly what is happening with the new and IMPROVED amazon drm free music store. and then you have the payola scandels but they are the gatekeepers after all!
Originally posted by link: Universal and Sony BMG are the targets of a new antitrust investigation by the US Department of Justice. The probe will focus on the labels' Total Music initiative and whether it might give them a way to shut out uncooperative vendors from the unique initiative. Spokespeople from EMI and Warner Music said that they had not yet been contacted.
The DoJ is no stranger to price-fixing investigations when it comes to the music industry. In 2000, the DoJ determined that the labels had participated in wholesale price fixing, and investigated the Big Four again in 2001 over complaints that they all backed two services (PressPlay and MusicNet) while refusing to license music to other providers. The latter probe was dropped due to a lack of evidence.
you will need bittorrent to download this, if you are a firefox user allpeers is a great plugin for sharing files with you trusted friends, so go ahead and create a dark net free from the spys of the MPAA/RIAA. it can be found here: http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3234
