EMI Shuts Down Beatles Download Website

A U.S. federal judge ruled for Beatles download website Bluebeat.com to be shut down via preliminary injunction, as initiated by EMI Music Group.

The now-defunct website had streamed and sold high-quality versions of the band’s copyrighted music from the Beatles, created by re-recording store-bought CDs and improving the sound quality of the files. Bluebeat.com owner Hank Risan called his technique “psycho-acoustic simulation,” while EMI attorneys referred to it as “technobabble and doublespeak,” as Irish newspaper Independent House reported last week.

Ironically, Bluebeat.com surfaced just as EMI released the band’s first version of a digital catalog two weeks ago. Beatles in Stereo, costing $333, conveniently compiled all 14 albums and 13 mini-documentaries in one apple-shaped USB drive.

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