snapshot 7/18/08

New Worm Transcodes MP3s to Try to Infect PCs
A new kind of malicious software could pose a danger to Windows users who download music files on peer-to-peer networks. The new malware inserts links to dangerous Web pages within ASF (Advanced Systems Format) media files.

Advanced Systems Format is a Microsoft-defined container format for audio and video streams that can also hold arbitrary content such as images or links to Web resources. If a user plays an infected music file, it will launch Internet Explorer and load a malicious Web page which asks the user to download a codec, a well-known trick to get someone to download malware. The actual download is not a codec but a Trojan horse, which installs a proxy program on the PC, Emm said. The proxy program allows hackers to route other traffic through the compromised PC, helping the hacker essentially cover their tracks for other malicious activity, Emm said.


Napster Takeover Looms as Funds See Cash Exceed Stock (Update1)
Napster Inc., the Internet music pioneer whose shares have plunged 95 percent in six years, has become takeover bait for hedge funds zeroing in on a cash hoard exceeding the company's market value. While Los Angeles-based Napster hasn't posted a profit in four years, its $69.8 million in cash and investments as of March 31 eclipses the shares' $52.1 million value. The company's biggest investor, New York-based hedge fund Eminence Capital LLC, boosted its stake to 9 percent in the second quarter, according to regulatory filings.


Top 5 online music stores
As one may suspect, working in digital music gives a person a somewhat skewed view about the permeation of online music in the general population. Everyone (aside from audiophiles and vinyl buffs) is getting their music fix though the Web nowadays, right? Wrong. Although digital music is on the rise, it's still well behind CDs in terms of overall sales ($2.8 billion versus $15.9 billion, according to one report).

Another report forecasts that digital music sales won't surpass physical media for another four years. Well, what say we prove some people wrong (always fun) and shave a year or two off that number? To help you sort through the clutter of online music, I've rounded up my Top 5 choices for digital tunes. These selections aren't really in any particular order; rather, each service offers a variety of advantages depending on your personal needs and preferences.


Amazon To Target $5.5 Billion Textbook Market With New Kindle?
Earlier this week Crunchgear broke the news on two new upcoming Kindle models : a smaller form factor Kindle to be released this year ahead of the holidays, and a large screen (probably 8.5×11) to come sometime next year. A couple of commenters in that post have pointed out that the large screen Kindle is perfect to target the college/university textbook market, a $5.5 billion market annually in the U.S. alone.


DRM-Free, Sort Of: Rhapsody Still Transitioning Catalog
Rhapsody joint venture partners MTV Networks and RealNetworks trumpeted a DRM-free launch at the tail end of June. But music fans are still encountering a considerable amount of protected content, and the catalog remains in transition. At present, a significant number of songs are encoded as protected, RAX files, instead of the advertised MP3s.

The long list of protected content includes albums from Paul Simon (Songs From The Capeman, Concert In The Park, 1964/1993); Curtis Mayfield (Honesty); Dave Matthews Band (Under The Table & Dreaming, Busted Stuff, Live at Piedmont Park, Listener Supported, others); Sting (Songs From the Labyrinth); Wu-Tang Clan (Iron Flag, The W); Pete Yorn (The Day I Forgot, Westerns, Nightcrawler); David Gray (Live In Slow Motion, White Ladder, A New Day At Midnight); The Who (Live at Leeds, Who Are You, Quadrophenia, others); Method Man (Street Education, Tical 2000: Judgment Day); and Toni Braxton (Libra, Secrets).


Why is the Grateful Dead Amazon.com's #1 MP3 Artist Right Now?
Because the band's album American Beauty is on sale for $1.99. Incredible that two of these album downloads cost less than one gallon of gas. John Lennon's Imagine is currently selling for about one gallon of gas.