DoJ Investigates possible Anti-Trust Violations by Music Industry

[Warren Togami]

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-7525332.html

"The government is also looking into whether the companies colluded to set
discriminatory terms for digital licenses. The investigative demands are the
civil counterpart to the subpoenas used in criminal cases."
"Scrutiny of the companies took a new turn
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-7479309.html last week when federal
Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, who is presiding over the music industry's
copyright suit against Napster, turned her own deeply critical eye on
MusicNet and Pressplay."

(She said) "I'm really confused as to why the (record companies) came upon
this way of getting together in a joint venture," Patel said in a San
Francisco court hearing. "Even if it passes antitrust analysis, it looks
bad, sounds bad, smells bad."

"Patel is considering whether to open up the Napster case to look at the way
the record companies have licensed music online, as the file-swapping
service contends they have "misused" their copyrights. That argument, which
theoretically could save Napster from paying damages for copyright
violations, is still viewed as a long shot, however."