The biggest change
came in August, when the consortium of technology companies and record
labels that make up the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) -- ranging
from Microsoft to BMG to Sony -- agreed on what executive director
Leonardo Chiariglione (above) calls "a framework where different security
solutions can be plugged in and provide a high degree of
interoperability."
But how? No one at the major labels believes that piracy can be
totally prevented -- and Frankel claims that any system operating through
Windows will have a capturable digital stream that can be turned into an
MP3 file. Yet basic security -- like watermarks encrypted into the music
itself -- can make casual piracy difficult. If the music lacks these
watermarks or if the watermarks are not keyed properly, SDMI-compliant
players won't play it. "What has to be understood is that they will never
eliminate piracy," says Lucas Graves, senior analyst at Jupiter
Communications. "What they can do is limit the casual ability to make
copies and set up a legitimate system that is easy for the consumer."
If the music is easy to download and if the cost is nominal -- say, a
buck for a single or a quarter for a few plays, though no one really knows
yet -- then why would anyone bother to troll the Net seeking obscure
pirate sites? "That's what we are aiming for, to take away the incentive
to search out illegally pirated music," says Jack Lacy, an SDMI spokesman.
In the meantime, record labels are scrambling to secure formats,
software and distribution. Universal has aligned itself with AT&T,
Matsushita and BMG to develop a shared codec, a compressor/decompressor,
to allow digital transfer. Universal has team ed up with InterTrust
Technologies to develop digital-rights-management software. Universal's
competitors are keeping pace. Sony and EMI are partnering with Microsoft,
and Warner Music is joining up with Real Networks to digitize its catalog.
In the short term, competing formats are bound to make life confusing for
consumers: Not all players will play files from all codecs.
Of course, the music already in circulation, from CDs on down, will
always be playable -- and piratable. The SDMI and record industry concede
that there is no way to take back the huge amount of legacy music out
there, ready to pluck. "That's all out there, gone, goodbye," says Jim
Griffin of One House, a music-industry consulting firm. "What remains to
be seen is whether the marketplace accepts sdmi and new music that is
really secure." And who better than Frankel to help build that
support? In a flurry of graceless motion, Frankel, now freckled and
goateed, manages to control a yellow-and-red Hacky Sack with his
tube-socked, size-13 feet. With a deft flick, he passes it to Lord, 29,
who kicks the sack to programmer Dana Dahlstrom, 20, who sends it back to
the boy boss. It's 3 p.m. in Frankel's living room in Sedona, and the
brain trust of Nullsoft -- his six-employee software firm -- is in
conference. The discussion revolves around when Frankel will move to San
Francisco.
PAGE 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
PHOTO: NAJLAH FEANNY-SABA
Justin Frankel How a boy wonder blew apart the music industry
MP3 Artists Tom Petty and Public Enemy are giving their music away online
How to Do It Downloading and playing MP3s doesn't have to be difficult
Leonardo Chiariglione - Helping the music industry protect itself as it goes online
