Sunday, April 08, 2007

ARTS & CULTURE


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EMI TO REMOVE LOCKS ON DIGITAL MUSIC

BCC - Music giant EMI is taking software locks off its digital music
sold via download sites such as Itunes. The "premium" versions of EMI
tracks will lack the digital locks common to songs available via many
online sites. The move is significant because most download sites
currently try to limit piracy by restricting what people can do with
music they buy. Apple's Itunes store will start selling the EMI tracks
in the "premium" format in May, with other services to follow.

EMI said every song in its catalogue will be available in the "premium"
format. It said the tracks without locks will cost more and be of higher
quality than those it offers now. . .

Contrary to early speculation there was no announcement about music from
the Beatles going online in any format. . . He said he expected the
other record labels and online retailers to follow suit in due course.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6516189.stm

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THE COST OF CORPORATIZING THE SMITHSONIAN

ROBERT SULLIVAN, WASHINGTON POST - The Smithsonian has just awakened
from a leadership nightmare. On this groggy morning after, it finds
itself soiled by commercialism, Disneyfication and politicization, and
sorely in need of a meticulous scrubbing. Supporters of now-departed
secretary Lawrence M. Small have characterized the former banking
executive's tenure at the Smithsonian's helm as a "clash of cultures,"
positing crisp, data-based corporate values on Small's side and airy,
ivory-tower academic values on the other. Nothing is further from the
truth. The Smithsonian is blessed with competent, high-performing staff
who have been misled and disrespected by a dysfunctional bureaucracy and
misguided decision-making.

All of this was orchestrated by Small and his administration after he
became the Smithsonian's 11th secretary in 2000. The questionable deals
and values of the Business Ventures Unit that Small promoted have
tainted and compromised the Smithsonian without generating any
significant increases in income over the past seven years. An obsession
with protecting congressional support and appropriations led to the
censoring of exhibitions and the avoidance of "controversial" topics,
while the desire to create a high-volume tourist destination meant that
content was dumbed down and interpretive themes were oversimplified.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/30/
AR2007033002078.html



MORE ARTS NEWS
http://prorev.com/arts.htm

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