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 …

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 …