As CNET points out, Bono is on the board of Elevation Partners, which is an investor in iLike — and Valleywag’s Megan McCarthy notes that the connections are even more intertwined than just that if you look closer — but nevertheless, I think it’s a great idea.

The song is a preview of a tune called Waves of Sorrow, and it’s a nice long clip of Bono talking about the inspiration for the song and then kind of singing along and talking about it as he sings it. I admit that I’m a U2 fan (although the Bono “saviour of the world” act gets a little thin at times), but in any case I think it’s a pretty interesting use of Facebook.

After just three days of being up on Facebook’s iLike page and available to be added to users’ iLike widgets (and displayed in their feeds, of course) the song has more than 1.3 million fans, and there are over 9,000 wall posts. Will Bono be reading each one? Somehow I doubt it. In other iLike news, Billboard reports that the company has signed a deal for exclusive content with Keith Urban.C

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FCC Gets Monkey’s Paw From Telco Front Group

It appears as good news. An anti-Net-Neutrality, pro-telecom organization calls for Net Neutrality enforcement. And if the telecoms demand something of FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, you know it will be done.

Must be all the birthday singing they do for him.

After Comcast was busted blocking BitTorrent downloads, HOTI sent a letter to Martin asking the FCC to launch a full investigation to see if the four principles of Net Neutrality had been violated.

Just for review, those four principles are the same ones AT&T had to accept in order for their merger with Bell South to be approved, the same ones Martin himself said had no teeth. They are as follows:

1.    Consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice;
2.    Consumers are entitled to run applications and services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement;
3.    Consumers are entitled to connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network; and
4.    Consumers are entitled to competition among network providers, application and service providers, and content             providers

The authors of the letter, Mike McCurry and Christopher Wolf, disagree with Martin’s initial assertion that the principles are unenforceable and believe the FCC "has clear authority" to do so.

What’s interesting about the letter is not just what is between the lines, but also how it plays on Martin’s philosophical inconsistencies. They use his own words to the Senate Commerce Committee against him to drive home just how extensive the FCC’s authority over Internet service providers is (or vice versa).

Another inconsistency to leverage: Martin’s reluctance to regulate or interfere with telecom giants, but full willingness to get his hands dirtied with cable providers. Before the keys were cold again on HOTI’s keyboard, Martin was dead set on stiffening regulations on the cable industry – most likely driven by his conscience, a la carte programming that provides true family friendly programming the trump to his deregulation mindset.

But what is most elegant about the HOTI letter is that it subtly mirrors a couple of very pro-telecom objectives: It puts additional heat on a very large competitor in the Internet and television space (the telecoms are beginning to offer TV); and it appears pro-Net Neutrality in an increasingly pro-Net Neutrality time without actually being so.

Smell that? It’s opportunism.

An FCC that appears to enforce the principles helps build a case that there is no legislation needed. In a perfect free market world, the FCC can hold its own, enforcing its own principles without Congress, even principles its own chairman said were unenforceable.

Just to save you following a link, let’s relive Martin’s words here:

Importantly, however, while the Democrat Commissioners may have extracted concessions from AT&T, they in no way bind future Commission action. Specifically, a minority of Commissioners cannot alter Commission precedent or bind future Commission decisions, policies, actions, or rules. 

The "concessions" are the same principles as listed above. Though a minority of Commissioners cannot bind Commission actions, perhaps AT&T-backed grass roots groups can. They’ve been pretty good at pulling Martin’s strings in the past.

If they can hurt a competitor while ensuring Net Neutrality remains unenforceable (while making others think that it is), then that fits squarely into a win-win corporate strategy.

" AT&T’s front group calling out Comcast is like Exxon calling out Texaco — they’re all bad faith actors with business models built on attacking competition in the marketplace and hurting consumers," says MoveOn.org’s Adam Green.

But what is equally disturbing, is the extent to which AT&T is involved in the workings of our federal government. Recently it was revealed that the secret room at AT&T HQ reserved for NSA personnel was used not only to snoop on phone calls, but all Internet traffic coming across the backbone as well.

If worded right, Net Neutrality legislation could put a stop to that, too. You know, if certain legislators don’t grant immunity to them in the meantime.

The dark conclusion, as usual lately: The government, including the FCC, the DOJ, the Administration, and a good portion of Congress don’t work for the people anymore. They work for shareholders and contributors.

And Kevin Martin? He’s made it very clear over the years whom he serves.   

But first, the facts of the case.  “I got word that YouTube today TOOK DOWN an ORIGINAL piece of video content (not any news network) that had John McCain joking about bombing Iran,” said MoveOn.org’s Adam Green in an e-mail to WebProNews.  Indeed, an attempt to view the clip led only to a “terms of use violation” page.

Click For Larger Image

“It had 196,000 views,” Green continued, and as that comment implies, the video isn’t exactly a secret – organizations such as the Associated Press and USA Today are already well aware of it.  It’s surprising, then, that anyone would try to remove the clip from the public eye, but that nonetheless appears to be the case, and Green is not at all happy about it.

“To understand the importance of allowing political video like this to thrive online,” he wrote, “it’s worth noting that this exact video formed the basis of a TV ad MoveOn.org Political Action announced today . . . against McCain.”
 
And whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or something else entirely, Green feels that the removal of the video is something to get upset about.  “It is time to draw a line in the sand and make clear that taking down political speech first and asking questions later is absolutely unacceptable behavior.”

UPDATE: Just before posting this story, I noticed that the video has been “un-removed.”  YouTube has not yet responded to our inquiry on the matter.

UPDATE 2: A YouTube spokesperson said this was all a big "oops":

"We appreciate the prompt feedback from our community regarding the
McCain video. It was flagged by our users, we reviewed it and it was
mistakenly removed. We have examined the situation and have since
reinstated the video."

Yahoo’s latest offering in original programming, however, could leave many new viewers scratching their heads in confusion; or, more aptly, covering their ears in dismay.

The project, entitled “Odd News Underground”, will feature news delivered in a unique format; it will be sung by the anchorperson.

"This project will create an entirely new kind of news beat, so stay tuned," Scott Moore, Head of News & Information at Yahoo says in an article covering the announcement.

"All I can say for now is that this reporter will leave you tapping your feet."

Odd News Underground is the first original programming venture from Yahoo News since last year’s launch of "The Hot Zone With Kevin Sites," a documentary that chronicled Mr. Site’s journeys to areas around the world that have been ravaged by war.

It remains to be seen if the “singing anchor” will turn out to be the next great innovation in news reporting, or whether it will join the ranks of all the other Internet ventures that “seemed like good ideas at the time” but ended up as colossal failures.

No firm details concerning program launch or the choice of anchor have been released as of yet, although according to sources Yahoo already has someone in mind.

If I can make a suggestion, however, I hear that Connie Chung is looking for work. She’s got a background in both news and vocals, so it seems like a perfect marriage to me.

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Last week, I wrote about Digital Rights Management (DRM) and the negative publicity that the practice has wrought upon the iTunes download service. It seems now that the metrics are beginning to support the notion that DRM, at least in part, is actually driving people away from Apple’s music store.

I’m not one to say I told you so… err, wait a minute.

Who am I kidding, of course I’m one to say I told you so.

The following is an excerpt from the Forrester report of findings:

Forrester research analyst Josh Bernoff notes, “iPods are not sitting around generating dozens and dozens of transactions every quarter, People buy a certain number of songs, and then they stop.”

Another blogger weighs in with this perspective:

There’s no denying that people love their iPods. Filling the portable devices with content, however, seems to find users looking more toward unprotected formats and pirated tracks, rather than dealing with the hassle of paying for content with little to no device portability.

Bernoff puts it this way, “There’s a problem here. CD sales have fallen 20 percent over five years. The message here is not that CD sales are coming back, the ability to obtain pirated music is now so widespread the DRM looks to consumers more like a problem than a benefit.”

How long has the handwriting been on the wall when it comes to DRM and iTunes?

“Maybe piracy is just too big in the end, maybe DRM won’t matter either way, maybe iTunes sales are collapsing. My gut says either way, the big money knows (knew) this today and yesterday,” comments Howard Lindzon.

Whether or not so-called “industry insiders” could have predicted such a trend can perhaps be called into question. What cannot be questioned, however, is the tremendous opportunity that figures like these present to competing services like eMusic, Rhapsody, and so forth.

If digital music aficionados are becoming disillusioned with iTunes, then other services need to step up to the plate and offer a viable alternative.

Nick Carr shares a similar viewpoint, putting the ball in the recording industry’s court:

People want easy access to their music, and once purchased, they want the ability to do anything they want with it. This is the nature of the portable media beast. If the choice is between DRM and piracy, you can bank on the fact that piracy is going to win that battle every day of the week (and twice on Sunday). And if other music services can offer a lower cost, DRM-free alternative, iTunes is in for some serious trouble.

My suggestion to Apple is simple: Do away with DRM before it’s too late.

Otherwise, tell the fat lady that she’s on in five.

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Joe is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

That’s when the dark little voice inside speaks its discouraging words. Cole Porter nails this feeling in a song Sinatra made famous, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” In the lyrics, the singer talks about pursuing his love “In spite of a warning voice that comes in the night and repeats, how it yells, in my ear: Don’t you know, poor fool, you never can win. Wake up to reality.’”

We all get that “reality voice” in our ear in the dark of night when we’re going through the most difficult stretch in creating a business. That nighttime voice is the most discouraging of all. It says: “What on earth gave you the idea that you could succeed where others failed?” There’s no reasoning with this voice. You simply have to override it with positive reinforcement and leaving it little room to break through a loud and constant blare of YES I CAN!

My son’s grandmother immigrated to the U.S. from The Philippines. Like many first-generation immigrants, she had a fiery entrepreneurial spirit and a profound appreciation for American opportunities. When my son was born, she looked at his fresh young face and said, “We have to build up his ego.” I chuckled at this odd statement and asked what she meant. “The world will try to tear him down. So we have to build him up strong. We have to make sure he hears only positive things about himself.”

If you didn’t have a grandmother with that golden wisdom, you’re going to have to learn to do it yourself. You will need to create your own special propaganda that says “Yes I can, yes I can, yes I can” over and over in countless versions until you half-convince yourself you may succeed. If you can persuade yourself, you stand a much greater chance of persuading customers, banks, investors and your immediate family, all of whom need continual reassurance through your start-up.

Is it possible to brainwash yourself to success by repeating positive mantras? There is certainly a danger that you might convince yourself to keep a doomed business alive until you’ve lost every family nickel. If that’s your fear, you might want to run your business plan and situation by a seasoned entrepreneur. Try S.C.O.R.E. It’s a group of retired business people who offer free advice to entrepreneurs. S.C.O.R.E. members have an presence at every S.B.A. office.

Once you get some reassurance that you may actually succeed in your rocky endeavor, then brainwash yourself with a flow of positive input. Try books like, “Rich Dan Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki or “Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life,” by Martin Seligman. The audio book versions are particularly effective, since you can play them over and over in your car, soaking up power of repetitive positive messages.

There are also a few churches that are very good at teaching positive thought. Unity and Religious Science have churches and learning centers throughout the U.S. These groups share the same New Thought roots from the 1880s. It’s all based on improving your life through positive belief. Motivational speaker, Les Brown, based his prosperity message on New Thought teachings.

Keep in mind, that positive thought doesn’t make you a more skilled entrepreneur. You will learn your business skills the ancient way, by making big mistakes and taking corrective action. In time, your corrective action dominates and you’ll make fewer mistakes. Positive thought offers you the ability to keep going while you make mistake after mistake on your rough path toward success. All positive thought does is keep you from quitting before you learn how to run a business.

Rob Spiegel is the author of Net Strategy (Dearborn) and The Shoestring Entrepreneurs Guide to Internet Start-ups (St. Martin’s Press). You can reach Rob at robspiegel@comcast.net.