Comments on: The Collapse of Music Journalism, American Idol Gets Beatles Songs, Music 1.0 is Dead, and Recommended Listening… http://www.kingsofar.com/2008/02/28/the-collapse-of-music-journalism-american-idol-gets-beatles-songs-music-10-is-dead-and-recommended-listening/ Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:35:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: max http://www.kingsofar.com/2008/02/28/the-collapse-of-music-journalism-american-idol-gets-beatles-songs-music-10-is-dead-and-recommended-listening/#comment-125748 max Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:30:41 +0000 http://www.kingsofar.com/2008/02/28/the-collapse-of-music-journalism-american-idol-gets-beatles-songs-music-10-is-dead-and-recommended-listening/#comment-125748 Jon, you hit on it exactly..."but unless they own domains like music.yaan.gov.cn, the files all seem to be located externally." Chinese publications have been pointing to Baidu being suspiciously linked to these "external" music hosting domains....read it here: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bw/2008-03/10/content_6521101.htm It is fairly obvious what is going on here - Baidu is probably working under the guise of a search engine.. If you were here in China, you would understand that the assertion that Baidu's music search is akin to Yellow Pages is laughable..... Jon, you hit on it exactly…”but unless they own domains like music.yaan.gov.cn, the files all seem to be located externally.”
Chinese publications have been pointing to Baidu being suspiciously linked to these “external” music hosting domains….read it here: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bw/2008-03/10/content_6521101.htm
It is fairly obvious what is going on here - Baidu is probably working under the guise of a search engine..
If you were here in China, you would understand that the assertion that Baidu’s music search is akin to Yellow Pages is laughable…..

]]> By: Jon Cole http://www.kingsofar.com/2008/02/28/the-collapse-of-music-journalism-american-idol-gets-beatles-songs-music-10-is-dead-and-recommended-listening/#comment-121039 Jon Cole Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:57:37 +0000 http://www.kingsofar.com/2008/02/28/the-collapse-of-music-journalism-american-idol-gets-beatles-songs-music-10-is-dead-and-recommended-listening/#comment-121039 Maybe that's what they're accusing them of, but that doesn't mean that it's what's actually going on. It's pretty obvious that the Chinese labels are clueless, even more clueless than their international counterparts. And with all of the ridiculous allegations thrown at Oink, I'm all the more eager to call their bluff. I browsed the site myself & couldn't find any mp3s hosted on baidu.com. I found plenty of lists of mp3s, but unless they own domains like music.yaan.gov.cn, the files all seem to be located externally. That's what a search engine does. I'm not familiar with Chinese law & I'm not familiar with the Yahoo! China case mentioned in the article, but I think the comparison to the yellow pages plenty of water. How can you run such a huge company based on media & completely ignore technology for so long? It absolutely blows my mind. Maybe that’s what they’re accusing them of, but that doesn’t mean that it’s what’s actually going on. It’s pretty obvious that the Chinese labels are clueless, even more clueless than their international counterparts. And with all of the ridiculous allegations thrown at Oink, I’m all the more eager to call their bluff.

I browsed the site myself & couldn’t find any mp3s hosted on baidu.com. I found plenty of lists of mp3s, but unless they own domains like music.yaan.gov.cn, the files all seem to be located externally. That’s what a search engine does.

I’m not familiar with Chinese law & I’m not familiar with the Yahoo! China case mentioned in the article, but I think the comparison to the yellow pages plenty of water.

How can you run such a huge company based on media & completely ignore technology for so long? It absolutely blows my mind.

]]> By: max http://www.kingsofar.com/2008/02/28/the-collapse-of-music-journalism-american-idol-gets-beatles-songs-music-10-is-dead-and-recommended-listening/#comment-121009 max Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:06:22 +0000 http://www.kingsofar.com/2008/02/28/the-collapse-of-music-journalism-american-idol-gets-beatles-songs-music-10-is-dead-and-recommended-listening/#comment-121009 @Jon, it seems that this case against Baidu is different in that Baidu is being accused not of being the yellowpages, but the warehouse where the stolen goods are stored. In fact, if I read the Forbes article carefully, what they are saying is "What you're doing IS illegal...period, and don't hide behind the guise of being a neutral search engine" @Jon, it seems that this case against Baidu is different in that Baidu is being accused not of being the yellowpages, but the warehouse where the stolen goods are stored. In fact, if I read the Forbes article carefully, what they are saying is “What you’re doing IS illegal…period, and don’t hide behind the guise of being a neutral search engine”

]]> By: Jon Cole http://www.kingsofar.com/2008/02/28/the-collapse-of-music-journalism-american-idol-gets-beatles-songs-music-10-is-dead-and-recommended-listening/#comment-120967 Jon Cole Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:11:13 +0000 http://www.kingsofar.com/2008/02/28/the-collapse-of-music-journalism-american-idol-gets-beatles-songs-music-10-is-dead-and-recommended-listening/#comment-120967 I don't think that China is stealing music in the name of freedom. I think it's a completely different scenario. And it's hardly the fault of baidu.com... piracy has been rampant in China for much longer than it has in America, back to the VHS days. Hell, I buy my imitation Ray Bans off ebay from China & taiwan. You can get pirated/imitated anything at little shops & booths all across China. Part of this is economic, part of it has to do with tourism, part of it has to do with lack of education, & part of it has to do with the dentralized nature of it making copyright infringement very difficult & costly to enforce. The same stuff goes on in Mexico, though it's less technology/media driven. This kind of thing has long been commonplace among the Chinese & digital piracy is a natural outgrowth of it. But going after baidu.com is like holding the yellowpages responsible for listing shops that sell pirated material. Whether you take baidu.com or the yellowpages completely down, the content is still there. And whether it's through word of mouth or some other search engine or whatever, people are going to find the music & download it. It's just a really terrible plan. The idea that "What you're doing isn't illegal, but you could help us & you won't so we'll just make what you're doing illegal" is totally absurd. I don’t think that China is stealing music in the name of freedom. I think it’s a completely different scenario. And it’s hardly the fault of baidu.com… piracy has been rampant in China for much longer than it has in America, back to the VHS days. Hell, I buy my imitation Ray Bans off ebay from China & taiwan. You can get pirated/imitated anything at little shops & booths all across China. Part of this is economic, part of it has to do with tourism, part of it has to do with lack of education, & part of it has to do with the dentralized nature of it making copyright infringement very difficult & costly to enforce. The same stuff goes on in Mexico, though it’s less technology/media driven.

This kind of thing has long been commonplace among the Chinese & digital piracy is a natural outgrowth of it. But going after baidu.com is like holding the yellowpages responsible for listing shops that sell pirated material. Whether you take baidu.com or the yellowpages completely down, the content is still there. And whether it’s through word of mouth or some other search engine or whatever, people are going to find the music & download it. It’s just a really terrible plan.

The idea that “What you’re doing isn’t illegal, but you could help us & you won’t so we’ll just make what you’re doing illegal” is totally absurd.

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