Google's evolution into a portal took a major step forward with "Fusion", which lets people personalize Google.com. The choices are fairly basic - Gmail, BBC, New York Times, stock quotes, movies, driving directions, etc. Strategically, however, it's a crucial step forward by bringing Google one step closer to direct competition against Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft. My initial impression is it makes Google.com that much more sticky by offering some basic Web services. it's the first step in amalgamating Google's various Web properties - Froogle, Blogger, Okrut, etc. - into one entity. Google fascinates me because it has turned into an exciting and somewhat unpredictable R&D laboratory backed by the lucrative AdSense business. Fusion is just another way Google is throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. Personally, I like the idea of Fusion because it provides Google.com users with another reason to stick around all day. It's reason to make Yahoo CEO Terry Semel sleep a little less soundly, and a major blow to search engines look to grab a foothold.

Canadians can still download free music without the fear of being sued after a Federal Court of Appeal upheld a lower court ruling that ISPs don't have to disclose the names of their customers. As a result, the music industry has no way to legally pursue people who download free music - at least for the time being. This means the music industry must continue its efforts to have the federal government change the copyright laws. Given the Liberal Party is desperately trying to stay in power, this will likely be a low priority. So if you live north of the border and have no qualms about downloading music for free, fire up Kazaa and go crazy. Of course, you can only download music; you can't share it otherwise that's breaking the law. Make of that what you will. Addendum: I may have been off the mark in my take on the Federal Court decision. While the music industry's appeal was denied, it looks like the court said the identify of downloaders can be disclosed if the music industry moves quickly and shows the court the information is fresh and relevant.

The dial-up business, which is supposed to disappear as broadband becomes more ubiquitious, refuses to go down without a fight. A key figure in their corner - excuse the boxing theme - is Slipstream Data Inc., which develops acceleration technology that puts dial-up service on steroids. Slipstream just signed up their 2,000th client - which is surprising because I didn't think there were 2,000 dial-up ISPs in business. While dial-up may not get a lot of attention these days, there is clearly a market for the service from consumers unwilling to pay $40 to $60 a month for a high-speed connection. These are people who may want to check e-mail from time to time, or looking for cheap Internet access while on the road. For ISPs, dial-up is a lucrative business because costs are low even if you sell it for $10 a month. Slipstream's customers include AOL Canada (Netscape Nitro) and United Online (Net Zero, Juno).

A conversation with a twenty-something in the office this week about music downloading caught my attention when he remarked that he had started buying CDs again. Intrigued, I asked why he had walked away from free P2P services such as Kazaa, which are still legal to use in Canada until our copyright laws change. His answer was far from definitive - he had just grown tired of "stealing" music. It's an interesting comment because it makes you wonder what's changed, and if this is representative of a growing sentiment. My sense is there may be "P2P Fatigue" starting to emerge. It's like going to an all-you-eat buffet with amazing desserts. After a while, you get stuffed and realize that maybe the next time you're out for dinner, the nice - more expensive - restaurant up the street - with smaller, but better portions - would be a better. You can equate the nicer restaurant to CDs or Web services such as iTunes, which - for a fee - offer high-quality, virus-free downloads. Music retailers are making this option more appealing with lower CD prices and more places online to buy music. Meanwhile, artists such as Dave Matthews are doing what they can to counter stupid moves by the old-guard music industry by giving their customers/fans way to get around Windows Media DRM protection. I'm not suggesting P2P activity is declining and there will be a massive wave of people poised to storm HMV stores or iTunes but maybe more people are deciding to go legit. If P2P Fatigue is really alive and well, there is a huge opportunity for the music industry to win back consumers.This means the industry needs to stop hammering its customers legally and, instead, focus on the benefits of buying legitimate music such as higher-quality products, access to value-added features such as priority concert tickets and merchandise.