Notices

I have already comented on the decision and erased my last.fm account.

R.I.P. Last.fm, the music industry got you too. Unfortunately for them is the fact that it's only one more reason to go for illegal sources.

This will probably stop vegalume and the canola last.fm plugin from working, even if the nit's are not mobile phones.

http://www.last.fm/group/Last.fm+Web...21604/_/517212

IIRC, they already stated that the N8x0s are not affected, which is logical, because they're small computers rather than mobile phones.

it will be very interesting though how they define "mobile phone" with regard to the new maemo5-device. from what we know, it will have "cellular data connectivity" (that's the criterion they use). so: what about netbooks with built-in cellular data units? what about notebooks and desktop PCs with HSDPA-connectivity?
more important: what about clients that were written for the (GNU/linux-)desktop and are ported to a HSDPA-enabled maemo-version? or to openmoko?

the whole move is absurd. it seems they didn't think much about it.

Just like the Hulu Boxee move. These industry people are totally clueless.

Well clueless as in: will do anything to cling to the old business models.

From the comment about their licensing partners its probably something to do with streaming licensed music over cellular data networks which is being tied down by legalese. It makes sense, a lot of carriers have some kind of music store or service, there is probably a lot of lobbying dollars behind this.

Quote:

Q: What defines a "mobile phone" in this case? What about, say, a Nokia N810, which is an Internet tablet/MID, NOT A PHONE. Would this be barred from using the API in an application such as Vagalume to stream music? What about dedicated internet radios? These are all "portable" devices that are not phones, but are certainly mobile.

A :The N810 doesn't connect to a cellular data network, so it's not a phone.

Q: And, as an aside - what is the rationale for the "no mobile phones" rule?

A: It's a restriction imposed by some of our music licensing partners, and not by us.

The obvious problem with that answer is that the N8xx can in fact be used with a cellular connection. Which goes right back to the Netbooks with cellular 'net access. Same thing.

Just like the Hulu-Boxee thing. They wan't to dictate how you watch/listen to material. Not sitting in front of your laptop. Broken license. using the cellular network access (which you paid for) to stream music rather than WIFI (which you also paid for) broken license.

Why? because some d-wad at some cellular company thought: Hey we already rake our customers over the coals for phone "service" , Data plans, and tethering charges, why aren't we getting paid for the content that flows over those connections too!

Well this is easy for me. If either Vagalume or LastFMProxy (for my Roku Soundbridge) cease to work, I cease to scrobble as it holds no value for me anymore. Too bad for me and Last.fm.

Frank

Also don't forget the small line which says...
Even if the tablets are not classed as mobiles, that will probably kill Canola and Vagalume off for most people.

It's even worse: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/25/lastfm_paywall/

Last.fm is apparently shifting to a paid-subscription-only service for most countries.

It would really suck if Vagalume and Canola get the rug pulled out from under them. 95% of my music-listening time is done through Vagalume on my N800, so if that stopped working, I'd be pretty disappointed. Well, I guess there is always Last.FM radio...