As the success of digital music services like Apple Computer’s iTunes and Napster puts new pressure on corporate and other private computer networks, a generation of tools is springing up to control the software. On Tuesday, network traffic management company Packeteer released an upgrade to its software that would allow network administrators to identify and …

A San Francisco federal judge last week moved the venue for SBC Communications’ lawsuit against the recording industry’s file-swapping legal strategy, a potentially significant victory for record labels. The decision, which was released late last Wednesday, transfers a closely watched legal battle over the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) dragnet for online music traders to courts in the nation’s …

Shortly after buying the MP3.com domain name and announcing that its sprawling music archive would close, CNET Networks said Wednesday it will start its own free service for independent musicians online. MP3.com’s existing database, which contains more than 1 million songs, largely from unsigned and independent musicians, will be shut down Dec. 2. But CNET said it will create a …

Two filmmakers are getting attention around the Net for an “antiadvertising” project aimed at protesting what they call the “dirty secret” of the iPod music player–its battery life. Brothers Casey and Van Neistat, who collaborate on video projects using Mac editing software, said they were told by a technical support representative at Apple Computer that the cost to replace the …

The Norwegian programmer who distributed the first widely used tool for cracking the copy protection technology found on DVDs has turned his attention to Apple Computer’s iTunes. Late last week, programmer Jon Johansen posted a small program called QTFairUse to his Web site, with little in the way of instruction and even less explanation. But during the next few days, …

Lawyers from the record industry and telecommunications giant SBC Communications faced off in a San Francisco courtroom Friday in a dispute over the record label’s legal charges against file swappers. The Internet service provider is challenging the legality of subpoenas from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) that sought information on SBC Internet subscribers alleged to have offered copyrighted …

Lawyers from the record industry and telecommunications giant SBC Communications faced off in a San Francisco courtroom Friday in a dispute over the record label’s legal charges against file swappers. The Internet service provider is challenging the legality of subpoenas from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) that sought information on SBC Internet subscribers alleged to have offered copyrighted …

A new piece of file-swapping software for Macintosh computers is drawing thousands of downloads by offering peer-to-peer options that had been limited largely to Windows computers. Originally released in July, and updated substantially since then, the “Poisoned” file-swapping software allows connections to the hugely popular FastTrack system as well as several smaller networks. That means that for the first time …

While Apple Computer, Microsoft and others target a potentially vast market for paid music downloads, Viacom’s MTV unit is setting its sights closer to home. In his first remarks on MTV’s planned music download service, an MTV executive in charge of online properties described more limited ambitions than the company’s chief executive officer did when he announced the service earlier …

With its plans to set up its own music store online, Microsoft is leaving some partners feeling betrayed, and with MSN Newsbot, it’s marching deeper into Google territory. But it makes nice with Office customers. Microsoft confirms plans that it will launch its own music download store, putting it on the path to direct competition with Apple’s iTunes and a …

Microsoft has at last confirmed plans that it will launch its own music-download store next year, putting it on the path to direct competition with Apple Computer’s iTunes and a growing list of rival digital song stores. With unequaled software reach, Microsoft’s entry into the market will almost necessarily create a splash larger than that of virtually any other company, …

Sharman Networks, distributor of the popular Kazaa file-sharing software, previewed its first-ever set of print ads Monday that will run in major newspapers and Rolling Stone magazine beginning this week. In separate ads aimed respectively at entertainment moguls and at consumers, Sharman exhorted executives to stop treating file swappers as pirates and asked computer users to lobby record labels and …

Internet media company CNET Networks announced Friday that it is acquiring the assets of online music distributor MP3.com. San Francisco-based CNET Networks said it has signed a definitive agreement with Vivendi Universal Net USA to acquire the assets of MP3.com, with the deal scheduled to close in December. Terms of the transaction were not released. CNET Networks operates an array …

An independent software developer has created a program called MyTunes that lets users of Apple Computer’s iTunes for Windows grab song files from other people on a computer network. While iTunes’ main purpose is to let people buy music online and play songs stored on their PC, the software also includes a feature that allows customers to listen to songs …

Angry at what they see as a misuse of their funds, some Pennsylvania State University students are protesting their college’s new deal with the Napster music service. The new service was announced Thursday with considerable fanfare, touted by university officials and the company as a way to provide students with a legal alternative to downloading music illegally from Kazaa or …