Interest in Creative Commons licenses comes as artists, authors and traditional media companies begin to warm to the idea of the Internet as friend instead of foe, and race to capitalize on technologies such as file-sharing and digital copying.

First, a Washington Post article which looks at the future (and present) of music distribution, and wonders if there's any place for fixed media.

Second, a Grammy award for jazz composer Maria Schneider's album "Concert in the Garden", which was sold only on the Net and which made her more money that any artist could expect with traditional labels and distributors.

Use Ogg/Vorbis. Please.

The record companies, however, seem to ascribe the success of online music to "Internet Magic". Why else would they raise prices and decrease quality and still expect people to go for it?

Theorem: There is no idea so good, nor technology so useful, that a sufficiently greedy company cannot run it into the ground.

Proof: As follows ...