Music labels force pioneering MP3tunes into bankruptcy

MP3tunes, a music locker service that has spent years locked in litigation with major record labels, announced last week that it was closing up shop.

The startup scored a partial victory in court last year, helping to establish the legality of cloud music services in the process. But founder Michael Robertson says that "four and a half years of legal torment" forced his company to file for bankruptcy on April 27.

[via arstechnica]

India. Case against religious ringtones

Arguing that setting of religious songs or hymns as ringtones hurt religious sentiments, a Punjab resident on Monday moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court and sought directions to the Centre to ensure that such religious songs are not set as ringtones.

[via The Indian Times]

Mating calls for mobiles - Raising money for endangered species

The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust has created ringtones from six endangered species.

DWCT have turned the amorous calls of some of the endangered species kept at their wildlife park in Jersey into ringtones to highlight their plight and, of course, to raise money.

If guttural moaning is not your thing, the whoop-whoop of the chunky mountain chicken frog is cheerful and actually sounds like a ringtone.

Others are:

-- Western lowland gorilla: guaranteed to scare small children

-- Red-tailed laughing thrush: does just what it says

-- White-handed gibbon: sounds like a cute klaxon

-- White-naped crane: get the party started!

Read more.