This time, we're not getting excited

There's not much pattern on the cloth of EMI's plans to expand its online download offerings; even the official press release doesn't give any details of the how; the list of artists would read like a who's who of the rock world, if you managed to build a time machine and go back to 1985. Duran Duran! Anne Murray! Billy Idol! (Okay, fair enough - there are The Vines and Kylie in there.)

But it's got the makings of another botched job - first, its US only. Handy with the Internet stopping as soon as you get to the edge of the Atlantic. Then, it looks like they're not using MP3, which puts it on a par with attempting to counter VHS video piracy by ensuring swift release of films on the Video2000 format. Why, if people are paying for the download, are they limited to only a fixed number of copies of it? And, finally, its taking way too long. But apart from that...