Towards migrating to Inflation Targeting as a framework for the conduct of Monetary Policy in Nigeria come 2009, the Bank took a giant stride when it held an international conference at the CBN Main Auditorium on 19 January 2008. Nine papers were delivered during the conference by resource persons from the United States of America, United Kingdom, Israel, South Africa and the International Monetary Fund as well as the African Economic Research Consortium.
Towards migrating to Inflation Targeting as a framework for the conduct of Monetary Policy in Nigeria come 2009, the Bank took a giant stride when it held an international conference at the CBN Main Auditorium on 19 January 2008. Nine papers were delivered during the conference by resource persons from the United States of America, United Kingdom, Israel, South Africa and the International Monetary Fund as well as the African Economic Research Consortium.
...as All 4 Majors Deny Deals. Qtrax is now live, but without any downloadable content until deals with the majors are completed. After the jump...
...you can read the full text of Qtrax latest attempt at spin. (Why would a label want to license to these people?)
Most of press continues to skewer Qtrax over the botched launch though a few consider it a planned stunt. And despite the inability to download tracks, the payer and interface are getting good .
The splashy launch of Qtrax for midnight has been delayed but will launch "soon" according to a spokesperson for the company.
Meanwhile all four major label groups have publicly stated that they have no real deal Qtrax. But Qtrax CEO Allan Klepfisz seems unfazed telling that his company may not have agreements "written in stone," but that it doesn't mean Qtrax is without the labels' consent. "This is a tempest in a tea cup," Klepfisz said. "It's true, some of the deals may not be locked in ink, but it's also true that we had understandings. In some cases, we had endorsements."
Klepfisz said Qtrax Web will probably debut with music from all four majors despite comments from some labels to the contrary "...Nobody has threatened us with a thing," Klepfisz said. "We plan to release music the way we said we were."
* from all four major label groups
* More
* The
* After the jump, the latest press release
QTRAX V.2 BETA LAUNCHES AT MIDEM"SERVICE SEES 61,000 UNIQUE USERS PER HOUR
MIDEM CONFERENCE, FRANCE and NEW YORK"January 28, 2007"QTRAX (www.QTRAX.com)"the worlds first free and legal peer-to-peer music service announced that at todays V.2 Beta launch, its ground-breaking service had approximately 61,000 unique users per hour (between 7am and 1pm EST). This translates to approximately 1,464,000 unique users per day. QTRAX believes that a significant percentage of users were unable to access the site due to this massive demand and has now dramatically increased its download capacity.
"The response to the service is clearly unprecedented [ed. note: I'll say!]. We launched at MIDEM, the leading music industry conference, precisely because of the degree of support we have had and continue to enjoy from rights holders," said QTRAX President and CEO Allan Klepfisz. "We believe the exact nature of that support will be publicly clarified within a very short time. As the worlds first free and legal P2P service that has chosen to spend 4.5 years on licensing and not to violate IP rights, we have decided that we will provide activation keys shortly upon final execution of all pertinent contracts."
In the meantime, users will be able to enjoy all other functionalities of the QTRAX browser including importing and playing their existing music, browsing the vast and rich content, purchasing artist merchandise and tickets, and, for the first time, enjoying a fully integrated browsing and music experience.
The activation keys will enable users to experience full QTRAX V.2 Beta functionality, including search, download, access content, and play.
QTRAX has created a dynamic new music distribution model that represents a paradigm shift in the way people consume music, how the industry can monetize their catalogs and how artists get paid. The application download is available immediately at www.QTRAX.com
About QTRAX
QTRAX (www.QTRAX.com) is the worlds first legal and free peer-to-peer music service. Showcasing an innovative ad-supported downloading model that easily directs revenue back to artists and rights holders, QTRAX is the first P2P to be embraced widely by the music industry. QTRAX is a subsidiary of Brilliant Technologies Corporation (OTC:BLLN.PK), a publicly traded technology holding company.
The Compete Blog had a very interesting post on eBay last week showing how the online auction Juggernaut had performed over the last 6 years.
The chart below (provided by Compete) shows the steady quarter over quarter growth of eBay from 2001-2007. The data on the chart represents eBay's revenues in millions.
Additionally, shows how eBay's revenue per visitor has steadily increased as well. This was after a significant drop in 2001.
...Software Strategy. I couldnt resist using the title from the press release. Mathew Aslett has a nice summary of Nokias acquisition of Trolltech...
...for about $153M USD. Thedeal appears to be for ~4x 2007 estimated revenues of ~$40M USD.
Trolltech offers Qt for high-performance, cross-platform application development and Qtopia for mobile Linux devices. Trolltech utilize a dual license model. According to the , you can download their products under the GPL if Im Developing Open Source Software or a proprietary commercial version if Im Developing Commercial Software. It appears that the commercial versions have more capabilities than the OSS versions. Interestingly enough Trolltech does not offer support around the OSS versions. They are running a true product-based business model.
Interesting to see Nokia go down this route vs. Android. I guess Google couldnt really expect Nokia to run and hide at the sight of . The #2 & #3 handset providers behind Nokia, Samsung and Motorola, are members of the , which is behind Android.
Lets see if Nokia open sources the commercial versions of Qt and Qtopia in order to compete vs. Android. And if so, will ISVs jump for joy considering the risk of having to pick sides in the handset platform battle?
...The Inconvenient Truth. Gore-Backed Current TV Files For $100 Million IPO; $63.7 Million 2007 Revs; Losses Mount | paidContent.org
Wow, a company that's done nothing ever but lose money is filling for a $100 million IPO. Didn't Vonage already try this once?
Initially I really liked the idea of Al Gore's Current TV. I thought it would be really cool to watch. Then I tried watching it once, twice, three times.
It's as boring as watching a damn sand hourglass. I mean seriously, I'd rather watch re-runs of the (may he rest in peace) than Current TV. I mean, there's a reason most internet video is, well, internet video, right? And I mean myself included here. Trust me, I won't be winning any academy awards for my performance in photowalking videos. Give me a call if you want to do lunch though Al.
Maybe I'm not being fair and need to give Current a few more tries but, damn, $100 million. That's a lot of clams.
Good for you Al Gore if you can pull this one off. Personally I'd think you'd have been better off running for President of the United States or at least -- which was very very cool in a sort of way.
...and 25 Million Tracks. Qtrax launches making available 20-30 million tracks floating around on P2P's available for free and legal download via its new ad supported service.
UPDATES:
* plus a commentary
* The latest updates on the now
Users download and launch a player that runs ads while they search for and download tracks. DRM prevents the tracks from being burned and counts the number of times a sonis played to pay the rights holders. But the tracks can be stored onto the computer hard drive or transfered to portable players.
Two help users navigate through 30 million tracks, the site also has sections like 'Last Night' where users can search for new tracks from live concerts that were recorded the night before. as well as music videos, documentaries, interviews and reviews. Add a social networking component and Qtrax could become the ultimate music destination.
Qtrax claims that the service will be compatible with Apple products by March. "We've had a technical breakthrough which enables us to put songs on an iPod without any interference from FairPlay," said Allan Klepfisz, Qtrax's president and chief executive.
...to Remove Barry Diller. I wonder if Jim Lanzone is quietly chuckling to himself over news that LIbert Media is suing to have Barry Diller...
...removed from the board of IAC/InterActiveCorp.
Reuters reports the suit comes as Libert Medias John Malone is trying to get Diller and six other IAC board members removed.
"Diller has long controlled Liberty Medias voting rights in board matters, per a proxy agreement, but Liberty lawyers argue those rights were revoked when Diller decided to pursue the spin-offs without Libertys consent. Malones lawyers claim such consent is required under the agreement that gives Diller the rights in the first place."
"Liberty also said in court papers it would remove Diller as a director of an entity called BDTV, which it argues would take away his power to vote its shares, which constitute roughly half of Libertys IAC voting power. About 99 percent of BDTV is owned by Liberty subsidiaries."
IAC is the parent company of Ask.com"in case you didnt get the Jim Lanzone reference.
As a financial planner I do spend a lot of time with 16 year olds working in call centers, media companies, banks and so on. When I am with them and discussing their problems, the one question that often comes to my mind is, “If these guys cannot make their monthly salary stretch one month, how will they be able to stretch their ‘retirement nest egg’ for 30 years?”
The normal problems are over running their credit limits, paying partly for their cell phone bills, delaying the rent cheques, and all this, despite being paid well.
I try telling them the virtues of saving, starting early, investing, life insurance, mutual fund and all that. At my age I guess I sound like their dad/mom giving them advice, so like dutiful children they hear me patiently and ignore me nicely. Whenever I run into them again, in the canteen or the corridor, they sheepishly tell me “Sir, I was just looking for you. Will you be there till 4.30 pm?” At 5.30 pm when I am leaving, there is no sign. But by now I know their game, so I shrug it off!But surprise, surprise one day a smart, young woman comes up to me and says “Can I invest in a mutual fund or an insurance policy, or preferably both?” I flipped. I had been chasing a lot of these people and only a couple of them had come voluntarily to invest. So I had to probe.Then came out the secret…and I liked it. And since she was a media person, I asked her to write the story in her own words.So here it is…. in her own words. “I was on my way to work and Murphy's law had struck in the form of a traffic jam. In an attempt to dissuade my cab driver from blaring Himmesh Reshamiya's latest assault on music, I began to chat with him. In the course of my discussion, I asked him if the taxi he drove was his or was he on a shift system like many others. His reply had me speechless. Not only was the taxi he was driving his own, but he also owned six other fiat taxis, one Toyota Qualis, which he hired out and was now debating between a truck and bus for his next acquisition. Wow! I asked him where he got the money from... slightly nervous that I was riding with a possible hit man for Dawood. And his answer was even more surprising. He said "Madam, whenever you need to go some place you take a cab and go. When I have to go some place and I don't have a fare going in that direction, I park my taxi some place and hop into a bus.”
I listened as he spoke, “How much does it cost you to travel from your home to your office?” Rs 100 I said. "Well, Rs 200 for a round trip?”, he continued. “ Well let's say you travel through the month by taxi. How much would that cost you?" Some quick math later, I came up with the answer...Rs 6,000! I was spending Rs 6,000 a month to travel Then he said "The bus ticket costs you Rs 10 and say another Rs 20 to get from your home to the bus stop. That’s Rs 60 per day for a round trip. You are saving Rs 140 everyday. That's Rs 4,200 a month... nearly Rs 50,000 a year. If you invested that in something, you'd be able to buy your own car!” What could I say? I now travel by bus. And am doing a Systematic Investment Plan in a mutual fund and paying a monthly premium in a Unit linked insurance plan."
What I could not do in 18 months, a taxi driver had done in 18 minutes.As told to PV Subramanyam.PV Subramanyam is a financial domain trainer and can be contacted at .
...as All 4 Majors Deny Deals. Qtrax is now live, but without any downloadable content until deals with the majors are completed. After the jump...
The Compete Blog had a very interesting post on eBay last week showing how the online auction Juggernaut had performed over the last 6 years.
...Software Strategy. I couldnt resist using the title from the press release. Mathew Aslett has a nice summary of Nokias acquisition of Trolltech...
...The Inconvenient Truth. Gore-Backed Current TV Files For $100 Million IPO; $63.7 Million 2007 Revs; Losses Mount | paidContent.org
...to Remove Barry Diller. I wonder if Jim Lanzone is quietly chuckling to himself over news that LIbert Media is suing to have Barry Diller...
