p2pnet news view | P2P | Music:- Regular p2pnet readers will recognise Christopher Parsons (right)  as someone who’s deeply interested in Deep Packet Inspection (DPI). A doctoral student at Victoria University on Vancouver Island, BC, his research interests focus on how privacy is affected by digitally mediated surveillance, and the implications it has in, and on, contemporary Western political systems. But he’s also a music lover and as such, signed up to the new a2f2a.com Artist 2 Fan 2 Artist project just launched by myelf  [Jon Newton] and Billy Bragg. “The intent of the site is to bring artists and fans together and encourage these parties to speak directly with one another, without needing to pass through intermediaries such as producers, labels, public relations groups, managers, and so on,” says Christopher on his blog, Technology, Thoughts, and Trinkets. He notes a key element of the site is the “discussion of paying artists (and other content creators); how can we avoid demonizing P2P users while at the same time allocating funds to artists/copyright owners in a responsible manner.” Musician, writer, p2pnet contributor and a2f2a technical manager Chris Ovenden broached this in ‘In Favour of a Music Tax‘, “and I wanted to bring some of my own ...

Sony saw sales drop nearly across the board in its fiscal second quarter as the consumer electronics and media giant continued to struggle with a withering global economy. As shoppers around the world cut back on buying televisions, cameras and computers, Sony's revenue plunged 19.8% to $18.5 billion from the same quarter a year ago. Bargain pricing also eroded profit margins, leading Sony to swing from a $200-million profit last year to a $292-million loss. Sales slipped in all of Sony's divisions except for its financial services business in Japan. Sony's consumer products and devices division, which includes its Bravia TV and Cybershot camera businesses, plunged 36.5% to $8.9 billion as consumers bought fewer electronics and at lower prices. Still, the unit eked out a $99-million operating profit. Its networked products division, which includes Sony's PlayStation video game and Vaio computer businesses, also saw a steep 24% drop in sales to $3.9 billion. Losses for the unit widened substantially to $654 million, accounting for the bulk of Sony's operating loss in the quarter. Sales of its PlayStation 3 game console jumped 33% to 3.2 million units, thanks to a $100 price cut that brought the price down to as low as $299. But ...

Lala is working with Google to add some intriguing features to its music search service, and it hopes to have its iPhone app approved by Apple next month.

Beijing - China Unicom has begun selling Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iPhone in China -- albeit without the key feature of Wi-Fi connectivity, Reuters reported. The iPhone is now available from 2,000 Unicom retail stores; the company hopes to sell 5 million in three years, according to Chinese news reports cited by Reuters. A company spokesman told Reuters the company expects its next batch of iPhones to include Wi-Fi. read more

San Francisco - Apple (NASD: AAPL) has broken the Palm (NASD: PALM) Pre's ability to sync directly with iTunes, as if it were an iPhone, for the third time. The new 9.0.2 iTunes software update removes the feature. Palm had complained to the USB Implementers Forum that Apple was misusing the technology to lock out competitors back in August, but the standards body ruled in Apple's favor, and said that Palm may in fact be in violation of its terms. read more