Friday Open Thread

Apple and a popular Web site that published company secrets about the maker of the Mac computer, the iPhone, and the iPod have reached a settlement that calls for the site to shut down.

Apple and the site, »ThinkSecret.com, settled the suit, which Apple filed in January 2005, and no sources were revealed, Apple and ThinkSecret said in statements.

College student Nick Ciarelli, ThinkSecret's publisher, said he plans to move on. He started the site at the age of 13.

said by niblifar:

Who is the gentleman relaxing on the canvas?

said by Jeffrey:

I never visited the site, nor do I know anything about ThinkSecret's creator, but if he's not an Apple employee, how can his site be shut down like that if the his information is considered "hearsay"? I guess obviously he was right a lot of the time, and the idea is that he had help from people inside Apple?

What am I missing here? I know I don't have the full picture.

said by hopeflicker:

I wish to see Karl's limp xmas tree image removed from the FRIDAY OPEN THREAD post.

Im offended

said by james:

That comment makes me limp.

said by quibbly:

That's offensive to all Ho's...

said by gaforces:

Hohoho

After 2006--a year when virtually no one managed to launch a digital-music service in competition with Apple's dominant iTunes--2007 was a refreshing change of pace.

Amazon.com
After years of "will they or won't they" teasing, Amazon finally unveiled its much-anticipated digital-music service--which, as promised, features iPod-friendly, digital rights management (DRM)-free MP3s from EMI Music, Universal Music Group, and a handful of independent labels. In addition to unprotected music, it promotes a variable pricing model that sells albums for between $5 and $9. In the short time it's been active, the service is already considered the third-largest digital-retail outlet on the Web, after iTunes and eMusic--and that's without content from Sony BMG and Warner Music Group.

SpiralFrog
The poster child for the much-discussed "ad supported" business model, SpiralFrog finally went live after a lengthy delay that saw its original CEO leave the company and millions of dollars in music-licensing fees wasted while the service hovered in limbo. It works much like any other music subscription service, complete with iPod-excluding DRM technology, only it requires that users view ads at least once per month rather than ask them to pay a monthly fee. All major labels and many independents are onboard.

Slacker
Belying its name, Slacker actually worked overtime this year, with two service launches. The first, in the spring, marked the start of its free, ad-supported customizable online-radio service. It then followed up in November with phase 2: transferring that service to a portable device that uses Wi-Fi to update channels, and a subscription service tier that offers users more functionality for a monthly fee.

Imeem
Start with a service that lets users stream free music, then hope to gain as many users as possible, so that when the labels threaten to sue, you can turn it around into a licensing deal instead. That's what Imeem did. After Warner Music Group initiated legal action against the playlist streaming service, Imeem implemented filtering technology and an advertising system from Snocap to cut Warner in every time a user played one of its songs. It now counts all four major labels as partners.

said by grobinette:

I'm thinking Walmart will be a special shopping experience this weekend.

said by Jeffrey:

I refuse to go to the Mall. This is the 3rd year in a row that I have done 100% of my Christmas shopping online.gh

said by grobinette:

I'm thinking Walmart will be a special shopping experience this weekend.

It is being reported by the IPFI that Yahoo China's music search feature violates the law when it deep links users to pirated music. Yahoo China's music search has been confirmed illegal in a Beijing court ruling which states that under new copyright laws it facilitates mass copyright infringement.

After being hounded by the IFPI since April 2006, Yahoo! China - partly owned by one the world's most prominent internet businesses, Yahoo! - today had its music search (via deep linking) deemed illegal by a Beijing Court, who said the service violates Chinese law by facilitating mass copyright infringement.

Yahoo! China had appealed against the guilty verdict reached in the case in April, but this was today dismissed by the Court.

said by KrK:

Wow, the Traffic tonite is the worst I've ever seen. Crazy stop and go for miles, every street jammed, oh, and people colliding all over the damn place. Highways crawling along bumper to bumper. It took nearly 2 hours to get home from work, and it's only 15 miles or so.

Wow... Never ever seen it this bad.

said by KrK:

Wow, the Traffic tonite is the worst I've ever seen. Crazy stop and go for miles, every street jammed, oh, and people colliding all over the damn place. Highways crawling along bumper to bumper. It took nearly 2 hours to get home from work, and it's only 15 miles or so.

Wow... Never ever seen it this bad.

Google watchers have their own educated guesses on the company's next business maneuver. They're going out on a limb with some bold predictions for 2008 and beyond.

1. 'You're Watching ABC Google' - In its quest for more advertising revenue, the company might acquire more-traditional media properties.
2. Get Your Free Google PC - In 2008 and beyond, most of the hardware and services that we now pay for are going to be available from Google for free -- or at drastically reduced prices, says Chris Winfield, president of 10e20 LLC.
3.'Come See the Softer Side of Google' - What better way to tout a high-profile company than to advertise during a high-profile sporting event? Look for Google to run a feel-good commercial plugging its virtues during a future Super Bowl.
4. Google Buys an Ad Agency - A Google ad campaign might even spark a play for one of the world's best advertising agencies.
5. Google Applications Finally Take Off - "The gPhone will undoubtedly have out-of-the-box integration with every Google application that's out there. The value in having all that information under the Google cloud in your pocket at any time may be the reason why people finally start to adopt these applications."
6. Google Offers Local Reviews - Some 63% of U.S. Internet users performed local searches online in July 2006, up 43% from a year earlier, according to a comScore study. With local content growing in popularity, "I think [Google] will get into local reviews," Fishkin says.
7. Google Takes Another Stab at Social Networking - Google tanked in the U.S. with its Orkut social network, though the network is widely popular in Brazil and India. Look for Google to take another, bolder run at this important market in 2008.
8. Get ready for the Google Operating System - "It would not shock me if there was an announcement next year that Google was going to put into beta an operating system on Linux, an open-source system, or something like it," Fishkin says.

1. 'You're Watching ABC Google' - In its quest for more advertising revenue, the company might acquire more-traditional media properties.

2. Get Your Free Google PC - In 2008 and beyond, most of the hardware and services that we now pay for are going to be available from Google for free -- or at drastically reduced prices, says Chris Winfield, president of 10e20 LLC.

3.'Come See the Softer Side of Google' - What better way to tout a high-profile company than to advertise during a high-profile sporting event? Look for Google to run a feel-good commercial plugging its virtues during a future Super Bowl.

4. Google Buys an Ad Agency - A Google ad campaign might even spark a play for one of the world's best advertising agencies.

5. Google Applications Finally Take Off - "The gPhone will undoubtedly have out-of-the-box integration with every Google application that's out there. The value in having all that information under the Google cloud in your pocket at any time may be the reason why people finally start to adopt these applications."

6. Google Offers Local Reviews - Some 63% of U.S. Internet users performed local searches online in July 2006, up 43% from a year earlier, according to a comScore study. With local content growing in popularity, "I think [Google] will get into local reviews," Fishkin says.

7. Google Takes Another Stab at Social Networking - Google tanked in the U.S. with its Orkut social network, though the network is widely popular in Brazil and India. Look for Google to take another, bolder run at this important market in 2008.

8. Get ready for the Google Operating System - "It would not shock me if there was an announcement next year that Google was going to put into beta an operating system on Linux, an open-source system, or something like it," Fishkin says.

"On Tuesday, Amazon.com was granted a patent for Personalized Selection and Display of User-Supplied Content to Enhance Browsing of Electronic Catalogs, which the three inventors note covers authoring and posting pieces of content, referred to as 'blurbs,' for viewing and rating by other users. The patent claims cover blurbs generated using a blurb authoring pipeline ('internal blurbs') as well as those obtained from external sources via RSS feeds ('external blurbs')." The details show that the patent is for personalizing these "blurbs," but it's difficult to see what's patentable here.

Google has patented "snippets"? Now wouldn't that make for an interesting patent infringement lawsuit? Google's patent appears to be about taking a document and coming up with an automated summary "snippet" that can be displayed with search results. Again, it seems like a stretch that this should be patentable, but the patent office clearly feels differently. So, let's see... if both blurbs and snippets are patented, what's next? Clips? Who wants to patent clips? Yahoo? Microsoft? eBay? Anyone?

A "development council" composed of several executives will replace Cisco Systems Inc. CEO heir-apparent Charles Giancarlo, who has resigned. Cisco Chairman and Chief Executive John Chambers announced the appointment of the group of executives to oversee acquisitions and other business deals on Thursday after he confirmed Giancarlo, his chief development officer, was leaving.

Chambers said in a conference call he and Giancarlo held with reporters that Cisco is shifting from a "command and control" organization to a network of task forces and other teams. Such a structure is rare in the tech industry, where heroic and charismatic executives often cultivate loyal followings. But "management by committee" approaches have become more common in the legal and financial industries in the last decade.

Chambers said he has little intention of stepping down in the near future; he emphasized that he would remain CEO for at least three years, more likely five. Meanwhile, Giancarlo alluded to his ambitions to be at the helm of a company, and he was frank about the shrewd calculations he made about his career after turning 50 this year.