NYC legislator proposes iPod crackdown

iPod-wearing pedestrians could be violating the law in the state of New York if State Senator Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn) has his way. Kruger this week said he plans to propose legislation that would ban people from using an MP3 player, cell phone, Blackberry, or any other electronic device while crossing the street in either New York City or Buffalo. Kruger said his proposal was incited by two recent pedestrian deaths in his district, including a 23-year-old man who was struck by a car and killed last month while listening to his iPod. "While people are tuning into their iPods and cell phones, they're tuning out the world around them," Kruger said. The proposed law would make talking on cell phones and listening to iPods while crossing the street a comparable offense to jaywalking.

Napster reports narrower-than-expected loss

Citing strong growth in its music-subscription service, Napster today reported a third-quarter loss that was smaller than Wall Street had projected. The LA-based company reported a net loss of $9.5 million, or 22 cents per share, for the period, compared with a loss of $17 million, or 40 cents per share, for the same period a year ago. The company said that its revenue rose to $28.4 million, including $2.4 million of nonrecurring revenue, from $23.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal-year 2006. Napster said last September that it had hired investment bank UBS to look into strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company. But nothing has materialized to date, and Napster recently took over the music-subscription business of AOL, adding 350,000 news subscribers in the process.

Apple, Cisco call temporary iPhone truce

Cisco and Apple said this week that they have revived settlement talks over Apple's use of the iPhone name for the new touch-screen music phone it unveiled last month. Cisco has a trademark for the iPhone name, and the companies were in negotiations over Apple's use of the name prior to the announcement at Macworld in San Francisco.

Cisco sued Apple for trademark infringement when Apple made the iPhone announcement without any resolution to the talks. Apple subsequently called the lawsuit "silly."

The parties said they have revived the discussions aimed at "reaching agreement on trademark rights and interoperability."

Last.fm, Warner Music ink deal

Social networking music site Last.fm has inked a deal with Warner Music Group to allow the label giant's entire catalog to be played on it, making Warner the first major label to do so. Last.fm, which boasts more than 15 million active users per month, employs a system that recommends songs by tracking a listener's music-playing habits and automatically linking them to fans with similar tastes. Last.fm cofounder Martin Stiksel said the company was in talks with the other three major labels and content holders. Last.fm was launched in 2002 but exploded in popularity in 2005 when it developed a new method for connecting people with music and artists with listeners.