Mike McGuire

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Mike McGuire
Research VP
11 years at Gartner
21 years IT industry

Michael McGuire is a research vice president with Gartner's Media Industry Advisory Services. Mr. McGuire covers online music and media distribution, DRM, copyright-related issues, publishing , and how social-networking technology…Read Full Bio

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Kazaa to Try and Go Straight: Bold New Business Plan or Just a Plea for Attention?

by Mike McGuire  |  July 21, 2009  |  1 Comment

Tis’ the season for contrition, or so it seems.  First Pirate Bay’s buyers last month claimed that they planned to leave their pirate ways behind and offer a legit online music service. Now, it appears that Altnet, parent company of Kazaa – one of the post-Napster file-trading protocols that hit the market soon after Napster – is “talking” to independent labels and even movie studios about getting content licensed in order to launch a legit subscription service.

According to this report, for $20 a month, Australian consumers would get DRM-wrapped content and a catalog far smaller than those offered by existing online services.

To which I can say, the Internet is truly a wonderful thing. Anybody, with any idea, can use it to live out their dreams.

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1 response so far ↓

  • 1 Kimball Brown   July 21, 2009 at 1:13 pm

    Boy, I’d like to get $20 buck a month for DRM-wrapped songs with a small catalog. But I doubt the market will pay for it. Good luck!