Marcoullier.com

Image via WikipediaThe RIAA has proclaimed victory over Russian MP3 service AllOfMP3.com, declaring that the site is “defunct and out of business,” while turning a blind eye to MP3Sparks.com, the parallel service that sprung up days after Russian authorities were forced to shut down AllOfMP3.

Is this win/win or lose/lose?

• The RIAA shut down one popular service and a dozen others sprouted in its place.
• The site continues doing business, although in a neutered fashion – most US services won’t submit payments to the site.
• Consumer still get cheap MP3s, but it’s a pain without the wonderful AllOfMP3 downloading app.

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Inquistr writes that FriendFeed is new hotness and Twitter is old and busted (Remember that meme? It came out right after “where’s the beef?”) and as a result, the former should bust a cap in the latter.

In honor of this great non sequitur, I offer some additional strategy suggestions:

• Pixar should kill AT&T
• Grand Theft Auto 4 should kill Internet Explorer
• Al Gore should kill the music industry
• The “hang in there” kitten should kill NASA
• Frozen Yogurt should kill the war in Iraq

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“Imagine a circus act in which two enormous, clumsy, awkward elephants that don’t really like each other are supposed to mate while riding on skateboards. Now imagine that it is your job, you lucky bastard, to be one of the little circus clowns standing alongside trying to make this extremely unnatural and unholy act take place. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people will have their lives completely ruined and flipped upside down for the next two years because of this deal.”

Can’t… Get image… out of head!

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Don’t let the trappings fool you, both companies are in the ad sales business. Both originally thought that it was cheaper to pay others to make content (Yahoo’s index / Google’s search) but along the way, Yahoo decided it was more cost-effective to make their own content. That’s why they’re a media company.

Which begs the question: Why does Microsoft want to own a media company?

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During my brief tenure at Yahoo!, people frequently lamented “I wish Microsoft would just buy us already.” Microsoft finally forced the issue this morning.

I have no idea whether a marriage could work, but if a buyout ultimately occurs, I have no doubt everyone will put on a brave face and talk about how great it will be. Which pretty much describes the last eight quarters at Yahoo!.

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