Two Beatles download sites to remain closed indefinitely

Two web sites which sold songs by The Beatles for 25 cents each should remain indefinitely shut down, according to a Los Angeles federal judge.

A preliminary injunction was issued against BlueBeat.com and Basebeat.com by US District Judge John F Walter, at the request of EMI Group. The injunction prohibits the sites and their owner, Hank Risan, from streaming or selling songs by The Beatles and a number of other musical acts.

The case was due to be heard on Friday, but Walter decided the issue after hearing pleadings by attorneys for Risan and the music label.

EMI Group sued the sites and Risan earlier in the month to prevent the sites from streaming or selling its music. It claimed the sites were selling high-quality versions of copyrighted songs.

Risan argued in court filings that he had re-recorded the music and inserted artistic touches based on a technique he pioneered called “psycho-acoustic simulation.” Attorneys for the music label dismissed the explanation in a filing as “technobabble and doublespeak.”

The process allegedly involved re-recording store-bought CDs and improving the quality and trying to simulate how a live listener would hear the music.