A lot has changed since The Orchard opened its doors 15 years ago. Whether it’s the way music is delivered and played, or how it’s marketed and shared, there’s no tip-toeing around it: without technology, we wouldn’t have created the opportunities to develop the way we have.
Here are 15 technological advances that have marked us, in good ways and bad (though we like to think we took the bad and turned it into something positive!):
And in more detail…
If you weren’t able to make it down to SXSW this week for the four panels we’re participating in, here are two you can catch nearby at the end of the month:
Right here in New York, Jason Pascal – VP, Licensing & Associate General of The Orchard – will be at the Institute for Information Law & Policy to talk about international approaches to copyright reform. The date is March 27; RSVP to this address by 3/20.
If copyright isn’t your thing, head down South (though not as far as Austin!) to Philadelphia for March 28, when The Orchard’s CTO Josh Builder will be attending Phorum, a technology conference for business and IT professionals. There, he will participate in a panel entitled “Views from the Enterprise,” where he and other industry experts will discuss the impact of cloud technology on their business and how it could help benefit them in the future.
Here’s all the information you need to catch Jason and Josh this month:
Panel Discussion: International Perspectives on Copyright Reform
with Jason Pascal
6:00pm – 8:00 pm
Faculty Commons, W201 (185 W. Broadway – New York, NY)
Is current U.S. copyright law effectively dealing with online piracy? What laws have countries such as France, United Kingdom, and Spain implemented to address the piracy issue? Has anyone found the solution? Our program will address various international approaches to copyright law regulation as a means to combat piracy. Our discussion will focus on recent legislation such as HADOPI (three strikes) in France, the now-abandoned PIPA/SOPA in the United States, Sinde Law in Spain, and international treaties such as ACTAe. Panelists will compare the effectiveness of these approaches and the impact that it has on curbing online piracy.
Panel Discussion: Views from the Enterprise (Track 2)
with Josh Builder
2:45pm – 3:30pm
World Café Live (3025 Walnut Street – Philadelphia, PA)
A panel of enterprise users discuss how cloud technology is impacting their business models and enabling them to disrupt competition, create new economic models and gain market share. Panelists include Josh Builder of The Orchard, Robert Butler of the Hay Group, Simon Moss of Pneuron Corporation and a representative from JPMorgan Chase. Moderated by Rob Kelley.
Google Search Box, January 18, 2012
There are likely more black pages, icons and avatars appearing on the web today than at any time in its history. Why? Two pieces of legislation being considered on Capitol Hill: The Stop Online Piracy Act (a House bill commonly called SOPA) and the Protect IP Act in the Senate (called PIPA).
From today’s Google doodle’s censorship iconography to Boing-Boing, Craigslist and countless other sites going dark while Twitter is immersed in “#stopsopa“ and “#stoppipa“ verbiage and imagery, the opposition to this legislation is obvious and growing rapidly. Several weeks back, a consortium of the “founders” of the web (not you, Al Gore) asked congress to (re)consider their actions and possibly listen to someone who knew something about the matter. Web giants such as Yahoo!, eBay, and Facebook, which apparently many people use, have also come out against the legislation. Today, Wikipedia powerfully darkened their U.S. home page and included the Orwellian statement “Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge.” Um, no thank you.
The ins and outs of how we got here are maze-like and not worth rehashing. Wikipedia offers a wonderful (community-edited, of course) overview. In essence, there are bad actors on the web; sites which knowingly and willfully house copyrighted material with the full intent to disseminate that content to end users without compensating the intellectual property owners. This is true. And has been for a long while. No one debates the fact. Now, exactly what to do about it… that’s another issue. Very quickly, you’re in first amendment waters. Deep waters, indeed.
The Orchard has decided to let its feelings on PIPA and SOPA be known today. We feel that as providers of a technology platform and business engineered to facilitate the broad distribution, discovery and legal consumption of online content, we are uniquely positioned to do so.
Herewith a summary of our thinking:
It would appear that we are in good company as the Obama White House has come out against SOPA, indicating that it would only consider legislation “narrowly targeted only at sites beyond the reach of current U.S. law, [that] cover[s] activity clearly prohibited under existing U.S. laws, and [that is] effectively tailored, with strong due process and focused on criminal activity.” The statement went on to say that they would seek legislation “that provides new tools needed in the global fight against piracy and counterfeiting, while vigorously defending an open Internet based on the values of free expression, privacy, security and innovation.”
Clearly, this is not over. We will be actively watching and participating in the dialogue. We hope you will be, too.
For many of us, checking into Foursquare has become as commonplace as sending an email. Apparently the good folks over at Foursquare caught wind of this and have ramped up to make check-ins official. So what’s the difference? Well, instead of just checking into a place, you’ll be able to go to an event and check into a venue under an official naming convention. Foursquare has hooked up with ESPN for sports, Movietickets.com for movies, and Songkick for concerts to implement specific events into their database.
These partners will allow users to refine their check-in’s to individual movies at a theater, or particular artists at a concert venue. Instead of checking in at “New Meadowlands Stadium” then shouting “Jets game”, you’ll now be able to check in at “New York Jets vs. Miami Dolphins at New Meadowlands Stadium”. While Foursquare is rolling out more than 50,000 events at the release date, they look to expand to hundreds of thousands in the coming year.
For more information on this development, check out the Foursquare blog.
Aaaaaayo, are you tired of using technology?
Well if you’re Belgian, such fatigue hasn’t stopped you from using iTunes to make Milow’s new acoustic cover of 50 Cent’s “Ayo Technology,” one of the top 10 purchased downloads in your country! Shout out to Belgium! Keep the dream alive, Flanders!
If you’re Perez Hilton or Kanye West (or perhaps have taken some Be KANYE) you’ve even utilized weblog technology to announce fanfariously to the grand public:
Milow has arrived, with dancers.
And if you’re you (and we know you are!), you’re already setting your mouse pointer’s sights on the above link and clicking, since that will take you to the new “Ayo Technology” video from Milow!
