Bebo, Audible Magic work to axe piracy

Following this week's deal with Apple to bring iTunes to its social network, Bebo today announced its partnership with Audible Magic, a provider of content recognition technology designed to ensure all artists and the half million bands on Bebo have complete control over their music. Using Audible Magic's content identification and digital fingerprinting technology, Bebo aims to instantly identify unauthorized copyrighted content and remove it from its site. "Bebo Music was established to enable people to build direct relationships with the artists they love, and to enable these artists to make money from their art," said Michael Birch, CEO & founder, Bebo. "With Audible Magic we ensure that artists and the labels that represent them are the only ones who decide which songs they give away for free and which not."

June 29th shopping appointments cancelled?...

Apple has reportedly cancelled at least one Personal Shopping appointment for June 29th -- the chosen date that its highly-anticipted iPhone is scheduled to hit shelves at 6:00 p.m. local time. A ZDNet blogger who made a Personal Shopping appointment on what AT&T is predicting to be the largest commercial product launch in the history of electronics received a phone call from the local Apple store to reschedule his appointment, following earlier personalized email notifications confirming the appointment.