It's only rock and roll, but you pay for it

"The best things in life are free - but you can give them to the birds and bees..." That was the message earlier last week month from musicians and artists worried about their intellectual property disappearing into the internet's digital black hole.

Copyright on the web is not just a concern for the bread-heads in suits; it's also worrying gangster rappers and heavy metal rockers - the supposed sponsors of rebellion and anarchy.

The problem was highlighted earlier this month by the saga of heavy metal group Metallica's battle with controversial US MP3 download company, Napster. The company is facing lawsuits from the rock group and from rap artist Dr Dre, claiming that it encourages piracy by enabling and allowing users to distribute copyrighted songs through its servers.

Caught in the net
Digital music is now big business. Never one to miss out, Microsoft has recognised the need for ways of controlling the distribution of information on the net, and last week joined with Xerox to offer software and services that protect the copyright of digital publications, music and video.

The pair claim that the problems with attempting to protect intellectual copyright online have deterred internet publishers from placing valuable or sensitive work in the public domain, because they fear pirating or theft of their content and ideas.

Using content-controlling software, companies would be able to market their goods on a 'try-before-you-buy-basis' where, for example, the user can view a photograph, but is unable to download or print it before paying.

San Jose-based software company Vyou.com also jumped on the bandwagon this month, launching its copyright protection product Vyoufirst (pronounced 'viewfirst'). The service claims to give sites more security, while opening up ways to generate advertising revenue and commerce sales. Having downloaded the Vyoufirst software, a web publisher can specify whether a visitor can read, print, copy or download any element of the website, in any combination. The source code can also be protected.

Peter Levy, the founder of the company, had a copyright problem with his own firm, Intellichoice. A competitor lifted his whole website content and design, and was using it as its own. Levy had to go through a seven-month court battle to establish his rights.

The Vyoufirst software enables the publisher to set content access policies for any material which can be made available on the web - text, graphics, streaming media, audio, video, whatever - which determines whether people visiting the website can just look at it, look at it and print it, or look at it, print it, and download it, says Vyou.com's UK Manager Ian Panton. "It provides that additional level of security which just doesn't exist at the moment."

On a protected site, a dialogue box will ask if the surfer wants to download a plug-in which will then decode the page.

Cost of the software is structured on a fee-per-click basis for ecommerce firms, and on a negotiated one-off fee for an intranet, where security is the main issue. Panton says Vyoufirst is talking with UK finance companies, who would be the first users in the UK. Vyou's own business forecasts are for $5m in sales in the UK alone in the first year.

Data day problem
Not everyone is convinced by Vyoufirst's software. Once downloaded, the data can be captured from the printer buffer by someone with the technological know-how. User reluctance to download plug-ins is also a problem. But Vyoufirst claims these problems will be fixed.

"Version two of the product, which should be available later this year, will include encryption of the data so it cannot be captured from the printer buffer once it has been downloaded. But we want to make sure we don't spoil the experience for end users, so it will not significantly affect the performance of the download," says Panton.

While industry analysts claim that the software will give companies greater control over content, they are sceptical over whether copyright breaches have slowed down ebusiness take-up.

John Collins, senior analyst at Bloor Research, says: "I can see it's not right and it's not ethical. But I can't see how it has slowed down development of services on the internet."

"What is it giving other than a higher level of granularity to the existing log-in passwords, subscription, and user profiles? What more is it achieving?"

But competition is hotting up. Icopyright.com offers instant reuse and reprint rights for material from participating publishers, such as the Los Angeles Times. Vyoufirst's main competitors are Alchemedia, which targets Apple Mac users with protection for text and data.

Vyoufirst says that ecommerce companies and others can put their latest work online without fear it will be stolen.

"Website publishers will be able to put far richer content on the web than they would have before, and unique because they know they can do so safely without it being pirated," said Panton.

It's questionable that this software will help push ecommerce onwards to bigger and better things, but what is certain is that it's yet another nail in the coffin of the web pioneers' dream of a utopian, open internet where information is free for all.