According to a lawsuit filed by the record labels, XM Satellite Radio's XM + MP3 service is causing "Massive Wholesale Infringement." Ooo... that sounds bad! The suit, filed May 16, 2006, alleges that the service is an improperly licensed "download service." Ouch!

Americans have a long history of paying for convenience over quality. Sometimes it makes sense (i.e. plastic utensils or paper napkins) and sometimes it doesn't (i.e. quick serve restaurants or .mp3 files). In general, it is hard to predict the quality/convenience ratio for average Americans. But let's try.

As the medium of television continues to be disassembled before our eyes, recognition of video as the true asset of trade has started to take hold across the advertising landscape....

Thomas Edison liked to demonstrate the phonograph by allowing people to speak into the machine and then playing the recording back for them. However, the technology was outside almost everyone's conceptual understanding. Up to that point in history, the only thing that could mimic the sound of one's voice was a ventriloquist, so people thought it had to be a trick....

After having prayed for broadband for years, now that it's here, I sometimes regret it. Almost every new video project launched on the Web is awful.

A few weeks ago I was having a typical advanced-media conversation with a C-level executive. During the conversation, she made the following declarative statement: "My six-year-old grandson does not know the difference between the television screen, the computer screen or the 9" diagonal screen in the back of his parent's SUV. To him it's all the same!"

It's not quite the four Cs of diamond-buying, but whether you approach online video from the interactive side or the traditional side, here are a few characteristics to help maximize the effectiveness of in-stream video campaigns.