“Although MP3 is an open format that does not carry the economic
incentive of a proprietary streaming media system, it will not be
doomed by its openness or lack of an owner, Cuban said. Rather, its
lack of a compression advantage over RealMedia or Microsoft ASF
files, plus the fact that it cannot be extended by new developers
as software like the Linux operating system can, means developers
will not find it attractive.”
“But recording-industry executives should not be smug or
complacent about the death of MP3, Cuban warned. Not only is the
Secure Digital Music Initiative likely to fail, Cuban said, but
also the structure of music and film distribution networks will
dissolve in less than five years in the face of Web-based
distribution. Cuban said he predicted the six companies that
control film rights distribution, and the five that control CD
music distribution, will be either dead or changed beyond
recognition by early in the 21st century.”