SEOUL - Samsung Electronics Co
and LG Electronics Inc, the world's No 3 and No 6
handset makers, plan to sell phones that allow users to
download and listen to music, the companies said on
Friday.
The move came after a dispute over
copyrights between the handset manufacturers and the
South Korean music industry appeared to have settled
down late last month.
LG Electronics is
scheduled to release its LG-LP3000 phone through LG
Telecom Ltd, South Korea's smallest cell phone operator.
So far, the phone has attracted 50,000 pre-registered
reservations, LG Electronics said.
Starting
early this month, Samsung Electronics is also to unveil
its SPH-V4200 phone, expecting the device to appeal to
eager South Korean gadget fans. The new phones feature a
built-in MP3 music player along with other functions
such as a digital camera.
For months, the
troubled South Korean music industry, which has
gradually escalated its fight on music copyrights,
citing a significant fall in sales, had opposed the
planned sale of MP3 phones.
On March 30, a South
Korean music industry lobby group and the handset makers
agreed tentatively on the sale of MP3 phones on the
condition that users would be unable to listen to free
music files for more than three days.
Users will
not be able to transfer the downloaded music from the
phones to other devices, such as personal computers or
digital music players, in order to protect copyrights.
To completely settle the dispute, the handset
makers may agree to pay royalties on the sale of the
phones to the music industry group, according to some
analysts.
However, some critics have accused the
music companies of losing touch with reality, given the
widespread use of MP3 digital music players.
(Asia Pulse/Yonhap)
Apr 3, 2004
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