Great news out today that Big Champagne has a deal with Universal. We’ve been fans of Big Champagne for a long, long time, and I’ve been lucky enough to get Eric Garland on a panel or two over the years.

In addition to being one of the smartest guys I’ve ever met, Eric has managed to cultivate two qualities that seem to elude the EFFluviati and their fellow travelers: Credibility and trustworthiness.

When you are trying to pick someone to do your accounting, after you get finished kicking the tires and checking the locks, you have to look the guy in the eye and decide whether you trust him when your back is turned. Building an accounting software package is not a unique skill–building one you can trust–and trust someone else to operate–is another story. Needless to say, in the online world that is a very, very short list which includes iTunes, Amazon, Microsoft, Dell and a handful of others.

Before you can account, you have to track, and Big Champagne has made it their business to understand the online world of tracking.

Now if we can just get the online pirates to use the tracking to get licenses and to make payments there may be a future for creators.