Steve Jobs has written an open letter to the music industry urging them to look differently at DRM. In it, Jobs explains how DRM doesn't work and the tug-of-war Apple and other companies play with DRM-hackers hinders consumer interest rather than protect the music.

Jobs then provides the options at hand:

• Continue down the current path where iTunes content only plays on the iPod and Microsoft's Music Store content on the Zune. The current DRM hurts consumers as it limits their ability to move music, such as that purchased via iTunes, between devices produced by other manufacturers. Jobs also provides some interesting statistics, such as only 3% of the content on the average iPod is DRM protected.
• The second option would include Apple licensing their DRM-protection to other companies to ensure interoperability between players. The issue is that as more people have the DRM-protection in their hands, the chances for leaks increase. If the DRM-protection is then compromised, Apple would need to work with the full list of vendors to develop a fix and it would be nearly impossible for the updates to be done quickly and in concert. Lastly, Apple would no longer be able to guarantee protection of the music it licenses to the record labels.
• The last alternative that Jobs suggests is to abolish DRM altogether. Jobs writes, "Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music. That’s right! No DRM system was ever developed for the CD, so all the music distributed on CDs can be easily uploaded to the Internet, then (illegally) downloaded and played on any computer or player."

Lastly, Jobs makes a little jab at Europe as many countries in the EU have been the ones crying out for Apple to share it's DRM-protection. "Perhaps those [European countries] unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free. For Europeans, two and a half of the big four music companies are located right in their backyard. The largest, Universal, is 100% owned by Vivendi, a French company. EMI is a British company, and Sony BMG is 50% owned by Bertelsmann, a German company. Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly."

Verizon is warning its West Virginia customers about an increasing number of criminal acts that have caused major telephone service outages, creating risks to public safety for thousands of customers across the state.

Over the past 12 months, thieves have been responsible for nearly 45 incidents involving theft of copper telephone cables and electronic equipment, as well as vandalism to Verizon's telecommunications network. More than 17,000 customers have unnecessarily experienced telephone service delays - up to five days in some cases - and endured serious risks to their personal safety.

Researchers estimate that 25-30% of total media time is spent multitasking, and the more media a person consumes, the more likely they will consume several channels at once. Why should marketers care? Because multitasking has a profound impact on consumers' ability to absorb and remember ad messages.

The Research and Markets' eMarketer report: Multitasking Consumers: Distracted or Connected? explores how the 24-hour-day morphed into something much longer – and that means marketers are facing more complex communications challenges.

According to a 2006 study by Yahoo! and OMD, US consumers now live a 43-hour day filled with more than 16 hours of interaction with media and technology. MTV, meanwhile, in a 2005 study, says the "normal" day lasts 32 hours, with 6.5 hours devoted to various media.

According to the Shanghai Daily, Beijing TV has become the sixth company to obtain an IPTV license in China. The previous five are reported to have gone to Shanghai Media Group, China Central Television International, Southern Media Corporation, China Radio International, and China National Radio.

At CSTB 2007 show, SecureMedia and Netris JSC announced that the companies have fully integrated SecureMedia's Encryptonite ONETM System CA/DRM software solution with Netris's IPSoft iVision IPTV Middleware.

Today the majority of IPTV deployments in Russia are using Netris' IPSoft iVision IPTV Middleware as a core element of their IPTV network solutions.

More than half of communications industry executives believe that IPTV can generate significant revenue within the first three years of service, according to findings of a survey released by Accenture and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The survey of nearly 350 executives from telecommunications, broadcasting and media companies across 46 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia revealed industry-wide confidence in the longer-term outlook for IPTV, with 60 percent believing that IPTV will generate significant revenues within three years.

However, confidence in the short-term outlook remains mixed, with slightly more than half (52 percent) of respondents saying they are not confident in the ability of IPTV to generate significant revenues within the next 12 months. On the other hand, one-fifth (20 percent) of respondents said they are confident or very confident, and more than one-quarter (28 percent) said they are somewhat to fairly confident, that IPTV will generate significant revenues within 12 months.

St. Louis, Missouri at the request of Mayor Francis Slay, has introduced a bill for AT&T to create a city-wide WiFi network. "Although it has been a long time coming, this is a great opportunity for the City of St. Louis. City residents will have broadband wireless Internet access in return for us allowing AT&T to put their equipment on our light poles and street lights," stated Slay.

The service will be primarily free with an optional fee for higher speeds. "The free service will help close the digital divide, provide Internet access for families on a budget, and be an amenity for tourists, convention goers and other visitors to our City. The paid service will be attractive to heavier users and high-end business customers who want faster wireless Internet."

The planned service should be available, starting in our Central Business District, later this year.

Few vehicles are as effective at reaching large segments of the population as television, a fact that has established it as the favored medium for advertisers in many product categories. For as long as that has been the case, however, TV networks and advertisers have been fearful of emerging competitors and technologies that threaten their route into consumers' minds. From the remote control to the Digital Video Recorder (DVR), there have long been predictions that live TV and its embedded advertisements were going to be adversely affected by consumers' ability to bypass commercials. More recently, a different kind of threat has emerged from YouTube, the Internet's response to one-stop digital video viewing.

Recent research by Harris Interactive suggests that this fear may indeed be warranted. Over four in 10 (42%) online U.S. adults say they have watched a video at YouTube, and 14 percent say they visit the site frequently. Almost one in three (32%) of these frequent YouTube users say they are watching less TV as a result of the time they spend there.

Tiscali UK revealed its plans for the launch and national roll out of Tiscali TV, following the acquisition of the Homechoice IPTV service in August 2006. Tiscali TV will launch on 1 March 2007 when over 40,000 Homechoice subscribers will become Tiscali TV customers and will offer broadband plus TV for £14.99.

Tiscali TV is currently available in London and Stevenage but will be available outside London in Birmingham, Edinburgh and Newcastle during April and May, and in areas of Leeds, Sheffield and Liverpool by mid-year.

Entone announced that its Hydra IP video gateway is integrated with Latens' conditional access security system and Minerva's iTVManager middleware platform. This collaborative effort will enable service operators a more efficient and enhanced IPTV solution that can be quickly and easily deployed.

Entone's Hydra IP video gateway enables service operators to distribute video signals throughout the home using existing coax cabling.

The Register has an interesting write-up about the Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) Study Group and their findings for ethernet power management. It is estimated that Energy-Efficient Ethernet could save a total of $450 million every year in just the U.S. alone, with even more significant savings worldwide.

"We're going to look at ways to reduce power consumption by switching to lower speeds during periods of low link-utilisation," said EEE Chair Mike Bennett.

The latest worldwide IPTV research from Canalys shows how the number of commercial IPTV launches escalated in 2006, and suggests that IPTV services are now moving into the mainstream. Most major incumbent telecoms providers have launched commercial services and the market is becoming increasingly competitive with the entry of alternative operators, such as ISPs and energy companies.

"2007 will see the competitive landscape become even fiercer as IPTV services from established service providers will be challenged by aggressively priced alternatives from Web TV, cable, satellite and content companies. These are all contenders for a share of the limited wallet of most consumers," said Canalys senior analyst Nadia Griffiths.

Amedia Networks announced the development of a gigabit passive optical network gateway with built-in home networking capabilities and a personal media library. The HG-G1000 is being designed to provide the integrated functionality of an in-home Broadband Home Router, an outdoor Optical Network Terminal, and integrated battery backup. Simply put, telecommunications companies can offer the HG-G1000 as a single, “in-home” gateway appliance for subscribers – with no required outdoor-hardened optical or electrical components. This significantly reduces installation costs, relative to the multiple equipment unit (ONT plus BHR plus battery backup) solution, by eliminating outdoor installation and media required to interconnect multiple products, while also providing means to utilize existing home television and telephone wiring within the connected home.

Netris and Central Telegraph, a Russian telecommunications company, announced a successful IPSoft iVision IPTV Middleware deployment as a core platform for digital television service delivery for Central Telegraph' United Multiservice Network (QWERTY network) subscribers. According to a long-term agreement, Netris has deployed its platform for interactive service delivery, IPSoft iVision IPTV Middleware, and will provide to Central Telegraph ongoing support and future development services.

JupiterResearch has found that 53 percent of online teens watch video on the Internet occasionally and 22 percent of them view video weekly or more frequently. A new report from JupiterResearch, "Teens and Online Video: Understand Young Viewers to Target Them Effectively," provides recommendations for programmers and marketers on how to effectively reach these young, frequent online video viewers.

"Younger consumers tend to be extremely savvy about online media so it's not surprising that teens are making significant use of Internet video," said Joe Laszlo, Senior Analyst and Research Director with JupiterResearch. "Moreover, teen frequent video viewers tend to be both active online and socially influential. For example, 47 percent of them buy products and services online, compared with the 33 percent of online teens overall who make such purchases."