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How Apple Influenced The Labels To Shut Down My Music Streaming Startup

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Re: How Apple Influenced The Labels To Shut Down My Music Streaming Startup

#51
post #45

They were crawling the web for mp3s the same way that Google does. Though admittedly Google hides the mp3s much better nowadays then they used to. And the web is way more balkanized into all these corporate walled gardens so there are fewer free roaming mp3s on random websites as there used to be. But technically it was a search engine the same as Google. It always bothers me that this area of the law seems to be ent…

I was under the impression that the UI was pretty incidental in most judges' interpretations that platforms used mainly to locate copyrighted material were on shakier ground than platforms which incidentally, and despite ostensibly significant efforts on the part of developers to limit it, could be used to locate copyright material. It's not like Google doesn't get hit by content-provider lawsuits either, it's just that they're big enough to usually get a settlement agreed on favourable terms and far too big to be bankrupted by legal costs, which is a wider and more general problem with litigation.

Ironically I'm writing this listening to YouTube streaming in the background: a far superior free way to locate and listen to music without paying for it than most of the early pirate platforms ever could have hoped to be.

Re: How Apple Influenced The Labels To Shut Down My Music Streaming Startup

#52
post #46
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course you can have a monopoly on a retail product, how else could anyone ever introduce a new type of product to the market?

No. Monopoly is a form of market organization. Having a uniquely specific product doesn't make it a monopoly. If I introduce a new five-wheeled bicycle to the market, that doesn't mean I have a monopoly on the bicycle market.

No, monopoly is about being the only one doing something, not about "marketing organization".

If you invent the first bicycle and nobody else makes them then you do indeed have a monopoly on the bicycle market. The difference is just that we define "bicycle" as the market, not "5-wheeled bicycle".

Re: How Apple Influenced The Labels To Shut Down My Music Streaming Startup

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, although I think he sort of predisposed me to this attitude right off the bat with the desperate-seeming link to google results that are supposed to prove people called them an "itunes killer" (note: I could not find a single instance of anyone referring to them as an "itunes killer" in any of those results).

In fact, the first result (which is duplicated several times) is calling Songbird an 'iTunes killer' - quotes included - and mentions Seeqpod as one of the plugins, saying: > it expands your library exponentially, assuming you’re down with the kind of quasi-legality involved

I'd forgotten all about Songbird. I kept coming back to that app but I never managed to stay. I always felt I should like much better than I actually did.

Re: How Apple Influenced The Labels To Shut Down My Music Streaming Startup

#54
post #45

They were crawling the web for mp3s the same way that Google does. Though admittedly Google hides the mp3s much better nowadays then they used to. And the web is way more balkanized into all these corporate walled gardens so there are fewer free roaming mp3s on random websites as there used to be. But technically it was a search engine the same as Google. It always bothers me that this area of the law seems to be ent…

It's the difference between a phone book and a list of phone numbers of meth dealers.

They knew what they were doing was in at best in a legal grey area, and they were making themselves targets. Steve Jobs may or may not (this is second hand hearsay) have been the one to point them out to Warner, but ultimately they made themselves a target and it's not Steve Jobs fault that they failed.

Also, blaming someone who's dead for your company failing and then spending the rest of the post with ridiculous self-aggrandizement shows a serious lack of character, IMHO.

Re: How Apple Influenced The Labels To Shut Down My Music Streaming Startup

#55

" If I could compile and debug kernel issues along with X11 X86Config files with assistance from a good friend at the QNX-based Caprica Internet in LA and the 2-person Slackware “helpdesk” on the East Coast every few days then I’d be able to continue to test NCSA webserver over SLIP and PPP to deliver electronic faxes with a web interface for the Mosaic Browser for a sugar company in Marin County to save them a few t…

Maybe modern Xorg config files are not rocket science, but surely you remember the days of manually listing video modes, and trying endless combinations of video drivers. Hell I think you even needed to add special directives to get three button mice to work properly.

Fortunately those days are gone, but you definitely could debug xf86 config files.

Re: How Apple Influenced The Labels To Shut Down My Music Streaming Startup

#56
post #7

This article reminds me of a lot of what Dalton Caldwell spoke about in his talk about why not to start a music startup at a Startup School in the last several years. This business seems to have been run and have proceeded horribly, for the exact reasons that Caldwell and everyone else with experience in that area seems to be extremely familiar with. Is there anything legitimately interesting to the "Apple" and "Stev…

I found it interesting to see how - if the story is true - your enemies may not be who they appear to be. He thought the labels hated his business whereas they may have actually been quite partial to it in slightly different circumstances. That's useful to know for when your circumstances change.

Re: How Apple Influenced The Labels To Shut Down My Music Streaming Startup

#57
post #52
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Monopoly is a form of market organization. Having a uniquely specific product doesn't make it a monopoly. If I introduce a new five-wheeled bicycle to the market, that doesn't mean I have a monopoly on the bicycle market.

No, monopoly is about being the only one doing something, not about "marketing organization". If you invent the first bicycle and nobody else makes them then you do indeed have a monopoly on the bicycle market. The difference is just that we define "bicycle" as the market, not "5-wheeled bicycle".

or a pentacycle :)

https://horshamphotography.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/img_5...

Re: How Apple Influenced The Labels To Shut Down My Music Streaming Startup

#58
post #45

They were crawling the web for mp3s the same way that Google does. Though admittedly Google hides the mp3s much better nowadays then they used to. And the web is way more balkanized into all these corporate walled gardens so there are fewer free roaming mp3s on random websites as there used to be. But technically it was a search engine the same as Google. It always bothers me that this area of the law seems to be ent…

The UI bit is a red herring. The question is the developers' motivation and what actions they encourage a user to take. Design of the UI may be one piece of evidence of that motivation among others.

Re: How Apple Influenced The Labels To Shut Down My Music Streaming Startup

#59
post #52
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Monopoly is a form of market organization. Having a uniquely specific product doesn't make it a monopoly. If I introduce a new five-wheeled bicycle to the market, that doesn't mean I have a monopoly on the bicycle market.

No, monopoly is about being the only one doing something, not about "marketing organization". If you invent the first bicycle and nobody else makes them then you do indeed have a monopoly on the bicycle market. The difference is just that we define "bicycle" as the market, not "5-wheeled bicycle".

Monopoly, monopsony, oligopoly, etc., are all forms of market organization. This is textbook.

[Update] Here we go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_organization#Market...

Re: How Apple Influenced The Labels To Shut Down My Music Streaming Startup

#60
post #57
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, monopoly is about being the only one doing something, not about "marketing organization". If you invent the first bicycle and nobody else makes them then you do indeed have a monopoly on the bicycle market. The difference is just that we define "bicycle" as the market, not "5-wheeled bicycle".

or a pentacycle :) https://horshamphotography.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/img_5...

This is the best thing ever.
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