Looks like there is trouble ahead for the awesome music website Turntable.fm, according to Pitchfork. The DJ/ social networking website, which “has been gaining popularity over the last month (140,000 registered users and counting),” allows one to “create your own DJ room or join in on an already existing one where you can occupy one of five DJ slots (if theres an open slot available) or just hang out and chat with others” while DJing for favorite songs to the cheers or jeers of your digital audience. And, as is the case with almost all music-based websites on the internet, the Law is cracking down on Turntable.
Over the past several days, Turntable has faced numerous shutdowns, and now all non-U.S. subscribers have been blocked form the site. Why? Pitchfork has the scoop:
“According to Forbes, the reason why those licensing constraints might not apply to users in the U.S. (for the moment, anyway) is because, according to Turntable.fm chief executive Billy Chasen (via AllThingsD), the sites protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which lets similar websites (like Internet radio hub Pandora) operate without deals with record labels as non-interactive Web radio services. While the site certainly relies heavily on user interaction, PCMag notes that certain features a limit on playing songs more than once in a specific time period, the requirement that a room must have more than one person in it to play full songs comply with the DMCA.”
Translation? Despite the fact that you can’t illegally download music from the website, we’ll likely have to start paying a fee just to log on. Wonderful.
What do you think of the Turntable news?
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