The music world shrinks

eBay's recently acquired communications arm, Skype has completed several deals that allow them to offer ring tone downloads to their users. Why such a landmark deal?

"The agreement between Skype and the music publishers is important, because it is the first time music-publishing companies that own copyrights to songs have given licensing permission worldwide. Previously, licences were granted only for a particular region or country."

Could this be an window into the future? Probably not in the short term, and probably not across the board for all formats, but I do think disrtibution rights for digital formats are primed for a singular solution rather than the current disjointed state of affairs.