Business in brief: Wal-Mart selling DRM-free tunes
Wal-Mart’s online music store started selling songs free of copy-protection technology Tuesday for 94 cents per tune.
The songs from the Rolling Stones, Coldplay and Maroon 5, among others, will play on most portable media devices, including Apple Inc.’s iPod.
Although many independent music labels have for years sold their tunes without copy restrictions, major recording companies have insisted on digital-rights management, or DRM, technology in hopes of curbing online piracy.
DRM has been the source of consumer frustration. Copy-protected songs sold through iTunes, for instance, generally won’t play on devices other than the iPod, and iPods can’t play DRM-enabled songs bought at rival music stores.
Britain’s EMI Group PLC earlier this year became the first of the major labels to embrace DRM-free tunes, letting Apple sell DRM-free versions of songs with higher audio quality for $1.29 per track.
Spokane
Mining company reports Q2 loss
Mines Management Inc. reported a $1.6 million loss during the second quarter, compared to a loss of $1.5 million during the second quarter of 2006.
The Spokane company is working to develop the Montanore Mine, a silver-copper project in northwestern Montana. The company raised $34 million during the second quarter for advance exploration work at the property, which should be completed during the next 24 months, according to company officials.
The firm is working with state and federal agencies on a draft environmental impact statement for the Montanore Mine, officials said.
Housing slump hurting sawmills
Slower housing markets contributed to a drop in Western lumber production during the first six months of the year.
Sawmills in the Western United States produced about 8.4 billion board feet of lumber through June, a 13 percent decrease from the same period last year. Production in the coastal region was down 12.7 percent, while mills in the inland region produced 14.4 percent fewer board feet of lumber.
New home construction and remodeling account for the majority of U.S. lumber consumption.
“It’s Economics 101,” said Joe Heitz, associate editor for Random Lengths, a wood products newsletter. With fewer new home starts, sawmills have reduced output, adjusting to lower market demand, he said.
Boston
Ukrainian may lead to hackers
A Ukrainian man recently arrested in Turkey is suspected of selling some of the credit and debit card numbers stolen in a data hack of at least 45 million cards of TJX Cos. retail customers, a U.S. investigator said Tuesday.
TJX is the owner of 2,500 discount retail stores worldwide including T.J. Maxx and Marshalls.
Authorities hope the arrest of Maksym Yastremskiy, suspected of being a major international trafficker in stolen data, will eventually lead to information uncovering the TJX intruders’ identities.