A group of underground programmers has posted code online it says will reopen a backdoor in Apple Computer’s iTunes store, allowing Linux computer users to purchase music free of copy protection. The release comes just a day after Apple blocked a previous version of the program, called PyMusique, in part by requiring all iTunes customers …

Consumer groups launched a full-scale assault on the entertainment industry’s file-swapping legal strategy on Tuesday, with a study arguing that peer-to-peer networks are good for consumers. The near-80 page paper (PDF file) discusses the benefits to consumers of online music distribution, how peer-to-peer technology can be used for political speech, and cites record labels’ “anticompetitive” activities in the late 1990s …

Apple Computer has closed a security hole that allowed an underground program to tap into its iTunes Music Store and purchase songs stripped of antipiracy protections. The PyMusique software, created by a trio of independent programmers online, emerged last week as a copy protection-free back door into the popular iTunes store. One of the creators was Jon Johansen, the Norwegian …

A trio of independent programmers has released new software that allows people to tap into Apple Computer’s iTunes music store and purchase songs free of any anticopying protections. Joined by Jon Johansen, the Norwegian programmer responsible for distributing DVD-cracking code in late 1999, the programmers say their “PyMusique” software is a “fair” interface for iTunes, primarily aimed at allowing people …

Several of Microsoft’s partners, including CinemaNow and MediaPass Network, will begin offering downloadable music videos online, the software giant said on Wednesday. CinemaNow is adding music videos from several big music labels to its video-on-demand service, allowing customers to buy permanent copies for between $1.99 and $2.99. MediaPass will offer the videos as part of a subscription service. In both …

The U.K. music industry has compared the fight against illegal online file sharing with curbing drunk driving. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is likely to bring further legal action against U.K. citizens accused of sharing copyright-protected files over the Internet. Late last week the BPI won a court ruling that will force six ISPs to name 31 subscribers suspected of …

Online spending reached $1.8 billion in 2004, up 14 percent from a year ago, as music downloads hit a high note with consumers. About 19 million U.S. consumers shelled out money for online content in the fourth quarter of 2004, up 2.6 million from the same period a year ago, according to a study released Thursday by the Online Publishers …

Legislators in Wisconsin are mobilizing against a proposal they call the “iPod tax,” in a battle over online music and movies that could soon spread across the United States. At issue is whether consumers need to pay tax on digital downloads such as movies or songs purchased from Apple Computer’s iTunes store. In a few states, those who don’t voluntarily …

Napster will offer free digital music at select cafes in four U.S. cities this month to promote its new portable subscription service, Napster To Go. Napster To Go allows customers to move an unlimited number of tracks from Napster’s catalog of 1 million songs to any compatible MP3 player, though the songs are playable only as long as the user …

Web giant Yahoo is poised to launch a new digital store and music player, aiming to compete more directly with Apple Computer’s successful iTunes service, according to sources familiar with the project. As previously reported, Yahoo has been working on the project along with digital-music wholesaler MusicNet since before the $160 million purchase of rival music company Musicmatch. Sources familiar …

Moscow prosecutors have declined to press criminal charges against a popular Internet site that sells MP3s for just pennies, according to Russian news reports. Record industry groups in the United States and Europe are trying to close the Russian AllofMP3.com, which offers downloads of MP3s–including songs from The Beatles and other groups that have not authorized digital distribution–for just a …

A new generation of start-ups is taking a page from Apple Computer’s iTunes playbook, allowing Net radio listeners to draw their programming at will from one another’s hard drives. At the head of a movement that could transform online radio, Live365 and start-up Grouper are the latest to blur these lines between Internet radio and online song-swapping, with an alliance …

Record labels have asked an Australian court to block peer-to-peer company Altnet’s ad-revenue-sharing program. Altnet said earlier this week that it would share advertising dollars from Kazaa parent Sharman Networks with any record labels that agreed to sell music through its peer-to-peer networks. Record labels, which are suing Sharman Networks in Australia, are now asking a judge to block distribution …

Napster expects to end its fiscal fourth quarter with more revenue than it had previously forecast, the company said Thursday. The company now predicts that revenue in the quarter ending March 31 will be around $15 million, which is $1 million higher than it had projected earlier. Related story Chris Gorog sold Roxio’ssoftware business so hecould compete with Microsoftin music. …

Snocap, the new company started by Napster founder Shawn Fanning, said Thursday that it struck a deal with SonyBMG Music Entertainment to help distribute the record label’s music through file-swapping networks. Fanning’s company has developed a range of tools that allow songs to be identified as they’re traded online, and lets those trades be turned into sales. Labels see the …