News written by Rich Fiscus (July, 2008)

The file sharing case of Tenise Barker has been going on for nearly three years now. Despite their best efforts, and even a brief in support of their case from the Department of Justice, all recording industry lawyers have managed to accomplish is to get their claim that simply sharing files is copyright infringement denied by the judge.

In response to an amended complaint filed in April she's now challenging the financial award RIAA lawyers are asking for. Her lawyer, Ray Beckerman, is arguing that the amount of $750 to $150,000 per song, which is several thousand times any real damages claimed, would be a violation of her constitutional right to due process.

According to Mr. Beckerman there are several options available to the judge, any of which would be likely to drastically increase the number of defendants who refuse to settle and choose instead to make the RIAA prove their cases in court.

One option offered would be to treat the entire case as a single act of infringement and assign an automatic $750 award to remain consistent with the letter of the law. Another alternative listed would be to award a total of $3.50 for each song in order to keep the amount less than 10 times the actual damages claimed (ie a single download of the song).

Last week a blogger received a DMCA takedown request from the IFPI telling him to remove some music from his website. The IFPI, which does in fact represent the label that distributes the song in question, claimed that the website somuchsilence didn't have permission to use the songs.

It turned out that the real problem was the IFPI didn't bother to find out whether the music had been licensed or not. They sent the letter based on an assumption.

In fact they put so much effort into the whole affair that they managed to list a different song than the one they were complaining about. From a completely different band even.

Eventually the matter was cleared up and the IFPI sent what could only be described as an apology in the loosest sense of the word. Here's the text of the letter.

"IFPI was contacted by a member of the label who confirmed you were given permission to post the file on your site.

We were unaware of this agreement but now that it has been notified to us please feel free to upload the file. Read more...

Zenith has already shipped more than 1 million DTV converter boxes to retailers across the US. Today they announced a deal to sell more of their $60 through K-Mart.

"Today, we're pleased to announce that K Mart has joined the list of large retailers now carrying the Zenith DTT901, a remarkable product no bigger than a hardback book that can bring the wonders of digital TV broadcasting even to the oldest of analog TV sets," said Zenith Senior VP Richard Lewis.

"Sales to retailers have already exceeded a million units at a wide assortment of stores, from national retailers Circuit City and RadioShack to regional dealers such as Fry's, h.h.Gregg, Abt Electronics, Brandsmart, PC Richard, Nebraska Furniture Mart and others," Lewis said, adding that production is increasing to meet the growing demand.

With just over 200 days remaining before the mandatory shutoff of nearly all analog TV signals in the US they're also offering a new widget for Google Desktop and Yahoo Widgets. Called the DTV Countdown Clock, it's a timer that counts down the number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the official cutover on February 17, 2009.

The popularity of Video On Demand (VOD) in the US continued to grown in 2007. According to numbers released by Rentrak from their "State of VOD Report" 2007 saw an increase of more than 40% in the number of VOD programs ordered over the previous year, and nearly 30% in the number of set-top boxes used to watch them.

Not counting adult content, Rentrak's report indicates more than 3 billion billion programs were ordered in 2007. Free content accounted for the lion's share of those orders, with just 27% coming from subscription VOD programming, included with premium channels like HBO and Showtime.

TV shows saw the most significant growth over 2006. According to Rentrak there was a 120% increase in orders for this category, combined with an increase of 68% in the number of set-top boxes used for viewing them.

Having finally gotten the blessing of the FCC yesterday, satellite radio providers SIRIUS and XM announced that their merger is complete. Both companies are now part of SIRIUS XM Radio.
The merger has actually been in the works for more than a year and a half, but had been held up by the FCC, who finally approved it in March. Yesterday FCC commissioners voted 3-2 in favor of allowing it.

"I am delighted to announce the completion of this exciting merger between SIRIUS and XM," said Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS XM Radio. "We have worked diligently to close this transaction and we look forward to integrating our best-in-class management teams and operations so we can begin delivering on our promise of more choices and lower prices for subscribers."

"We also believe that the completion of the merger will eliminate any confusion that has been lingering in the marketplace," added Karmazin.

The long approval process was largely a result of anti-trust concerns voiced by consumer interest group and other (terrestrial) broadcasters. However, unless significantly more subscribers are added in the next couple of years the new company's monopoly won't even be enough to help them survive.

Warner Brothers executives are claiming a huge win in the war against piracy was instrumental in 'The Dark Knight' becoming a huge hit. According to company representatives they spent months ensuring that no copies of the film would disappear, and no one was recording it in Australian theaters in the two days it ran there before its US opening.

"One of the reasons why it's so important to try to protect the first weekend is that it prevents the pirate supply chain from starting," said Darcy Antonellis, president of Warner's distribution and technical operations. "A day or two becomes really, really significant. You've delayed disc manufacturing that then delays distribution, which then delays those discs from ending up on street corners for sale."

The problem with this reasoning is obvious. Tickets for opening day showings across the country were sold out far ahead of time. The record box office results were being predicted weeks in advance. Oh yeah, and people like the movie. It's entirely possible that might have some sort of impact.

Eric Garland, chief executive of BigChampagne Online Media Measurement, was quoted in the LA Times saying "If the movie's a stiff, and word gets out too early that it's a stiff, it's devastating to the business model."

In May Canadian journalists began reporting on their government's involvement in drafting a controversial new intellectual property treaty with other affluent countries including the US. It turns out that's not the only copyright-related activity they've been hiding from their citizens.

It seems that there's also an internal government an Intellectual Property and Trade Advisory Group. The group is apparently comprised of representatives from 12 government departments and 14 different lobbying groups, including lobbyists for the music, movie, and software industries.

According to columnist Michael Geist, several industries are conspicuously missing from the group in the area of telecommunications, technology, and the internet. Privacy groups are also not represented on either the private or government sides.

Among other responsibilities, this group is supposed to be consulted about all aspects of the controversial ACTA treaty, which the public has been largely kept in the dark about. They're also being forced to sign confidentiality agreements, meaning they couldn't discuss the matter publically even if they wanted to.

Verizon has officially started offering FiOS TV service in New York City. The company had already been selling internet service in the city over their fiber optic network and earlier this month year they finally the necessary agreements with city and state officials to begin providing television service as well.

This will give New York City residents a choice besides incumbent cable television providers Time Warner Cable and Cablevision. Well eventually anyway. For now only about 300,000 New York City residents will actually be able to order FiOS TV. By the end of 2008 that number should be around 500,000.

"Our advanced fiber-optic network was built for HD, and we're offering more HD options than Time Warner or Cablevision" said Virginia Ruesterholz, president of Verizon Telecom. "With all-fiber connections running straight to their homes and apartments, viewers get eye-popping, jaw-dropping TV in both standard and high definition."

It looks like the MPAA has come up with a novel approach to getting consumers to stop downloading illegal movies on the internet. Well novel for them anyway. Instead of concentrating on lawsuits like the RIAA they're apparently developing a website to help consumers find legal ways to watch movies.

According to an anonymous source the MPAA is building a new website where consumers can search for a movie and be presented with options to buy, rent, or view it legally. For example, a search for a movie that's still in theaters might result in links to online movie ticket sites, while an older release would give you options for buying or renting the DVD, and perhaps others for downloading or streaming it.

Variety was reportedly told that the project was initiated after research showed that consumers often have a hard time distinguishing between legal and illegal sources for movies online.

Last week leading members of the US Senate Judiciary Committee announced plans to introduced yet another copyright bill. The latest is called the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008.

The new bill borrows heavily from other recent proposed legislation, most notably the PIRATE Act which was passed in the Senate in 2004, and the US House of Representatives earlier this year. It includes controversial provisions which would increase the maximum damages available for copyright infringement and make the Department of Justice responsible for taking civil action on behalf of copyright holders.

A statement from Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and one of the bill's sponsors, said "Many times, a criminal sanction is simply too severe for the harm done." It fails, however, to mention why the solution isn't to simply increase criminal penalties rather than giving copyright holders free legal representation.

Ironically Leahy also used the recently released blockbuster 'The Dark Knight' as an example of the products which are at risk of losing money from piracy. Perhaps someone should explain to Mr. Leahy that 'The Dark Knight' is already one of the most profitable movies of all time, and Warner Brothers seems to be doing well enough to hire their own lawyers.

A new product from Ion Audio gives new meaning to hardware-based video capture. The VCR 2 PC is combines videotape playback and capture in a single unit, allowing you to either play your VHS cassettes or capture and transfer them to your computer via a built-in USB connection. It also features the standard analog video and audio inputs found on other VCRs, allowing you to capture from sources like analog camcorders.

The VCR 2 PC comes in two different versions. One is an NTSC model featuring RCA inputs and outputs. A PAL version replaces the RCA connections with SCART. Unfortunately both versions are limited to mono sound.

At $250 the price is fairly steep, especially considering a decent VCR and capture card would cost less separately. However, if your primary goal is simplicity this may be the perfect capture device for you.

TidalTV, the online television service that recently entered beta testing, has added a new channel featuring past programs from Sony Pictures Television. The new channel features more than 500 full-length episodes from such shows as 'Married... With Children,' 'Bewitched,' and 'Party of Five.'

Scott Ferber, chairman and founder of TidalTV, said, "With the addition of Sony Pictures Television's programming, we can now reconnect fans with old favorites like Al Bundy, Samantha, the Angels and more, while helping to introduce a new generation to these classic characters. Plus, viewers can catch today's stars in their early years -- such as George Clooney on 'The Facts of Life,' Alyssa Milano on 'Who's the Boss?,' Christina Applegate on 'Married... with Children' and more."

Later this month TidalTV will be featuring shows with celebrity guest stars including Mr. T, Ben Stiller, and Milla Jovovich. They'll also be showing something called 'Battle of the Blondes,' featuring episodes of 'Charlie's Angels,' 'V.I.P.,' and 'T.J. Hooker.'

Last year's flat revenue in the DVD market compared to the year before had many in the movie industry concerned about the format's future. Based on information from the first weekend in theatres for the new blockbuster 'The Dark Knight' seems to suggest that the real issue may have been a lack of excitement over theatrical offerings. According to Rentrak firgures, sales last week for the 2005 title 'Batman Begins' on DVD increased 345% from the week before,

In part the increase can be attributed to a limited edition gift set released earlier in the month 2008 to coincide with the July 18, 2008 theatrical release of the sequel. But that wouldn't account for the accompanying 76% increase in rentals.

While last year was a record year for US box office revenue, that doesn't tell the entire story. The increase in revenue from 2006 was actually due to a corresponding ticket price increase with attendance actually remaining flat.

This year, on the other hand, seems to already have more than its share of blockbusters and increased DVD revenue.

According to the results of a recent J.D. Power and Associates and Market Force Information survey plasma TVs are at a disadvantage when it comes to recommendations from electronics sales staff. The '2008 Television Retail Insights Report,' released earlier this week, finds that sales people overwhelmingly recommend LCD televisions over plasma.

More than 2,000 mystery shoppers were sent out to determine the knowledge of sales staff and find out what recommendations they are making. They found retail sales people tended to be ignorant of recent developments in plasma technology. Close to 40% told customers that LCD TVs last longer and warned of image burn-in on plasma models.

"While we see that salespeople are aggressively pushing shoppers to LCD sets, it is important for consumers to understand that plasma technology also offers a number of unique advantages, not the least of which is that inch for inch, plasma sets cost less than LCD sets," said Larry Wu, senior director of the technology practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "In addition, compared with most LCD sets, plasma TVs also display deeper blacks and show fast-moving objects better."

Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings is pleased with his company's performance over the last quarter. The company increased in both revenue and subscribers, just as they have in every quarter but one during their short history. His primary focus during a conference call today was expansion of their streaming video offering.

Hastings repeated sentiments voiced at the company's annual Investor Day earlier this year. Despite the lack of growth in the DVD rental business he predicts that the company's percentage of the market will continue to increase, resulting in overall growth for Netflix over the next 5-10 years.

He plans to get Netflix streaming support built into Blu-ray players, game consoles, internet connected DVD players, and standalone set-top boxes. He mentioned the success of the Roku set-top box and partnership with Microsoft.

In Afterdawn 's home country of Finland one of the most interesting DRM-related cases ever may be going to the country's highest court if the defendants get their way. At issue is the question of whether the CSS encryption used on DVDs is legally considered "ineffective."

A Finnish court had initially ruled that bypassing CSS encryption doesn't violate Finland's implementation of the European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD) because it specifically mentions that "ineffective" DRM isn't covered. But is CSS actually ineffective?

According to an appeals court it's not. In May the Helsinki Court of Appeals overturned the lower court's ruling.

It's generally accepted that DVDs will be the dominant home video format for at least the next few years. With the possibliity that it may be legal to break that encryption would make it possible to do things like watching DVDs in Linux and even distribute tools to bypass CSS.

Yahoo Music Unlimited has now officially become limited. In February they decided to partner with Rhapsody and stop selling music through their own premium service. Now they're planning to pull the plug on the DRM servers after the end of September.

That means as of October 1 people who purchased music through Yahoo Music Unlimited will no longer be able be able to listen to it if they upgrade to a new computer, or simply have to re-install Windows.

You may recall that Microsoft made a similar decision regarding the DRM servers for the MSN Music service, but decided to change their minds and maintaing the license servers until 2011 when confronted by their angry customers.

It's almost as though Microsoft and Yahoo are trying to point out just what's wrong with using DRM in the first place. When you no longer have access to the music you purchased with the understanding you'd be able to play forever there's something wrong.

As Corynne McSherry of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) pointed out today, it's ironic that the more money someone gave Yahoo, the more they're being punished.

A class action lawsuit against Comcast has been filed in Portland, Oregon alleging the company misrepresented their internet service. The suit was filed by Gilbert Randolph, which was already involved in similar actions in California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Washington DC where the firm is based.

By filing in Federal Court instead of yet another state they make they're making any settlement or decision against Comcast available to people in every state where the cable giant offers internet access.

That assumes a judge grants the suit, which was filed on behalf of Robert Topolski of Oregon, class action status. Given the large number of lawsuits currently pending against Comcast, the largest cable company in the US, that seems like a good bet.

Alyson Foster, an associate at Gilbert Randolph, said “Comcast surreptitiously installed receiver packets to keep people from using file-sharing programs when it promised it wouldn’t. Of course the competition is fierce in telecommunications, but they were trying to get an unfair leg up,”

Foster characterized Comcast's practices as an attempt to make their internet service seem better than it actually was at the expense of P2P users. “Comcast surreptitiously installed receiver packets to keep people from using file-sharing programs when it promised it wouldn’t." said Foster. "Of course the competition is fierce in telecommunications, but they were trying to get an unfair leg up,”

TiVo has a new deal with Amazon.com to integrate TV viewing with online shopping. This new feature allows viewers to order products from participating companies directly from Amazon using their TiVo remote control.

The general idea is for products like books or albums that are being promoted on various TV shows. Information on available products related to a particular show will be shown after playback, giving the viewer a chance to buy them right away.

Products will also be listed in TiVo's Universal Swivel Search in case you want to buy a product without recording or watching the program its featured on.

"Product Purchase adds a whole new dimension to the TV viewing experience," said Evan Young, Director of Broadband Services for TiVo Inc. "By teaming with Amazon.com, TiVo enables viewers to purchase products related to their favorite TV shows or that they've seen in TV ads without leaving their couch."

He added, "Television advertisers and consumer products companies are no longer limited to the traditional linear shopping channels that require live viewing for product merchandising and fulfillment -- if their product is seen or advertised on any TV show or network, and sold by Amazon.com it can be merchandised to viewers through TiVo."

After bullying most of the major ISPs operating in New York into blocking a list of websites and newsgroups alleged to provide access to child porn, and seeing the other involved in a similar agreement with the Attorneys General in 45 different states, you'd think New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo would be satisified that his censorship work is done. Based on a letter sent from his office to that other ISP he's not only unhappy but willing to wage a public battle against them if they don't sign on to his plan.

The target of Cuomo's wrath is Comcast, the largest cable provider in the US. Through the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) they've already made a pledge to do basically the same thing he's demanding. Instead of being satisified with that he's decided to threaten Comcast with unspecified legal action instead.

According to a letter sent from Cuomo's office to Douglas Gaston, Comcast's General Counsel, "within five days the Office of the New York Attorney General intends to commence legal action against Comcast." The letter contains no mention of what law Comcast could possibly have broken in ignoring Cuomo's demands.

Apple has just issued their financial report for the quarter that runs through the end of June - the 3rd fiscal quarter for the company - and it's a record setter. Revenue is up 38% from the same quarter last year and 40% for January through June of 2008 comared to 2007.

Despite the amount of press the iPhone and iPod get Macs are still the star of the Apple lineup. Over 2.5 million Macs were shipped during the quarter, increasing Apple's share of personal computer shares to nearly 20% from just over 15% in the June quarter last year.

iPods and iTunes also helped significantly, accounting for a third of revenue growth. Although revenue from iPod sales was up just 7% from a year ago, the number of units sold was up 12% worldwide, including a 15% gain outside the US. Currently the iPod enjoys a market share of more than 70% in both the US and Australia, greater than 60% in Canada, and better than 50% in the UK, Japan, and Switzerland.

Half way through 2008 the home video market has made studio executives happy. Although spending hasn't grown from last year's levels it also haven't fallen, which many in the industry considered a strong possibility.

Blu-ray in particular has seen a spending increase of around 300% from the first half of last year. It has amounted to more than $200 million in revenue so far this year.

“I think people are becoming pickier on what they spend their money on, but home entertainment always represents a good value,” said Lori MacPherson, general manager for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, North America. “Thirty dollars for a Blu-ray movie that you can watch over and over again is still a great value.”

Despite the positive spin, the same economic factors that make Blu-ray discs a better value than movie tickets or other alternatives put standard DVDs at a similar advantage over Blu-ray. Even people who already own Blu-ray players may not be willing to part with their money to buy hi-def versions of movies they already own on DVD.

As we told you last week, a lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) for allegedly abusing the DMCA takedown process has finally come before a judge. In that case Stephanie Lenz, with the backing of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), is claiming that the takedown request issued was made in bad faith and UMG should be penalized as a deterrent to future meritless claims.

In an interesting twist UMG's lawyers seem to actually agree that the YouTube video in question is fair use rather than copyright infringement, but they're arguing that they don't have to take that into account before they issue a DMCA takedown request.

When asked by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel "Are you saying there cannot be a misuse of a takedown notice if the material is copyrighted?" UMG attorney Kelly Klaus replied "I don't think 'fair use' qualifies."

The question was in regard to the wording of the DMCA, which states "Penalties are provided for knowing material misrepresentations in either a notice or a counter notice." Material misrepresentation means lying about the facts.

The iPhone Dev Team released version 2.0 of the Pwnage Tool, which allows you to jailbreak iPhones and iPods running the new iPhone 2.0 software. It also unlocks first generation iPhones, allowing them to be used on any mobile phone network, but won't unlock the new 3G model (yet).

If you happen to have owned either a first generation iPhone or an iPod touch prior to the opening of the iTunes App Store you probably at least considered the possibility of jailbreaking it to take advantage of the third party software being developed for it. With the ability to jailbreak the units while running the current Apple software you can now get the best of both worlds.

You can find links for downloading the Pwnage Tool, as well as some instructions to follow if you run into problems using it on the iPhone Dev Team blog.

A group called the P2P-Next Consortium is testing what they're calling "a next generation Peer-to-Peer (P2P) content delivery platform." They're hoping to develop software capable of offering P2P-based streaming, and they're inviting the public to help them gather data.

If you're interested in helping you need to use a BitTorrent client, called SwarmPlayer. Once you have it installed you can watch either a 5 minute Video On Demand (VOD) test stream provided by the BBC or a webcam feed from Amsterdam. SwarmPlayer sends performance data back to a P2P-Next server which they'll use in future development.

You can also give them feedback on the project, as well as viewing some information about the ongoing experiment.

A report based on research from the Library of Congress in conjunction with a number of groups advocating the open availabillity of information in digital formats. The report paints a very negative picture of the influence the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) has had over the ability to legally archive works stored in digital form.

Specifically, the report notes "There is no specific authorization for libraries and archives to make preservation copies of published works in their collections. Section 108(c) deals with copying for replacement and does not specifically address preservation." It goes on to point out that "to be eligible for copying under this section, the work must be lost, stolen, damaged, deteriorating or in an obsolete format, and then may be copied only if, after reasonable effort, the library or archives determines that an unused replacement cannot be obtained at a fair price."

Beyond that a library may make no more than three digital copies of traditional works, which the report characterizes as insufficient to ensure the work's survival due to the relatively volatile nature of digital media. It points out that "Long term management of a digital work usually requires that multiple copies of the work be made over the course of its lifetime."

Apple is suing Psystar over their Mac clone, saying the terms of the OS X End User License Agreement (EULA) forbid the owner from installing it on anything but Apple hardware. They allege Copyright Infringement by Psystar, as well as Inducement of Copyright Infringement, Breach of Contract, Trademark Infringement, and Trade Dress Infringement. In short they're trying to put Psystar out of business citing language in the Mac OS X license forbidding the owner from installing it on anything but Apple hardware.

Psystar's Open Computer takes advantage of Apple's switch from Motorola to Intel processors to make clones that run OS X. Although Apple licensed their OS to a number of different vendors in the 1990s, when Steve Jobs returned to the company license fees were increased and all the licensees eventually gave up the business.

The issue of whether a vendor can impose additional restrictions via EULA is a hot one. Apple lawyers say the license terms change the consumer's legal rights once they accept them. On the other side of the argument that puts Apple in an unfair position to require things that are unreasonable because otherwise consumers can't use the software they purchaed.

There are more than 15 million IPTV subscribers around the world according to the figures released today at the Broadband World Forum Asia in Hong Kong. It's double the number of subscribers from a year earlier. That's out of 370 million broadband internet connections.

Of particular interest is the geographical diistribution of customers. More than half of all IPTV subscribers worldwide are in Europe. North America is in third place with fewer than a third as many subscribers.

Not surprisingly Europe also has the largest number of broadband internet subscribers. In total just over 115 million Europeans have broaband connections. Western Europe saw in increase of 16% but Eastern Europe broadband subscriptions grew a staggering 32%. Similar growth was seen in Latin America as well as the Middle East and Africa.

Growth in cable internet subscriptions has slowed to 18%, while fiber optic connections increased by 33%. DSL still accounted for 240 million, or almost 65% of boradband connections.

"This report shows that although DSL remains the key vehicle for delivering broadband associated services, alternative access technologies, such as fiber, are increasing their footprints and their requirements need to be considered in our work," said George Dobrowski, Chairman and President of the Broadband Forum.

Whatever your feelings about the iPhone, it has had a major impact on the web browsing habits of owners. A new comScore report inidicates that 80% of iPhone users in France, Germany, and the UK use their phones to browse the web. By contrast, only 32% of those using other smartphones use it for browsing.

Perhaps just as interesting is that more than half of those browsing the web on their iPhones are using them to visit social networking sites. That's not just more then the 3% among other smartphone owners, but also significantly higher than the 10% of all mobile phone owners who visit those sites via other means. Of course that's not entirely surprising given the younger demographic shared by both social networking participants and iPhone owners.

The web features of the iPhone seem to be just as important to its owners as playing music. While 70% used it to listen to music, a nearly identical 69.5% used it for email.

According to MovieTickets.com pre-sales tickets for 'The Dark Knight' are more popular than three of the best performers in the website's history. The sequel to 'Batman Begins' has sold more than three times as many tickets as 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' had with the same amount of time to go before release. It's also sold more than twice as many as 'Spider-Man 3,' and nearly doubled 'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.'

Just in New York and Los Angeles there are already more than 150 sold out performances in New York and Los Angeles alone and is scheduled for more than 1,300 midnight showings which are listed on the MovieTickets.com website.

In a survey they conducted more than 90% of moviegoers ages 34 and under expressed interest in seeing the movie, as did nearly 80% of those between 35 and 44, and even 2/3 between the ages of 45 and 59.

I guess we can stop feeling sorry for the movie studios and all the money they're losing from piracy.

Borders Books is launching a new MP3 store of a different kind. Instead of selling music Borders.com will feature audiobooks in MP3 format, making them compatible with standard portable media players. They'll initially be offering a selection of 15,000 titles. Borders.com was launched just last year following a split from Amazon.com, where their online store had been hosted for seven years.

"With the launch of Borders Audiobook Downloads on Borders.com, the availability of the download service in our concept stores, and the option to buy audiobooks on CD, we are giving customers what no other book retailer does-the ability to enjoy this great form of entertainment in a variety of formats including the universally compatible MP3 format," said Kevin Ertell, senior vice president of e-business for Borders Group. "We look forward to growing our audiobook catalog so that customers always have access to the best selection of audiobooks available."

The company also recently opened a concept store in Ann-Arbor, Michigan where customers can already download both audiobooks and music directly from computers located in a special area of the store designated as the Digital Center. They can even create and burn their own custom CDs.

The PS3 is gaining ground on the Xbox 360. Through last year Microsoft's console outsold Sony's. With a year's head start in sales, a lower price, and the success of Xbox Live there were many reasons to pick the Xbox 360 over the PS3. That's changed this year, with sales figures through May making the PS3 the number two seller of 2008, still trailing the Nintendo Wii.

The PS3 has had significant obstacles to overcome, including a head start of an entire year for the Xbox 360 and a significant price advantage for both the Microsoft and Nintendo consoles. They still trail the Xbox 360 in total sales, but the gap is closing.

If you believe Sony's Howard Stringer the competition with Microsoft is all that counts since he claims the Wii is "more of an expensive niche game device," and not a competitor for the PS3. He pointed out that the PS3 is "still the best way to buy a Blu-ray player.''

And he's certainly correct that it leads that market, but it seems foolish to believe he isn't disappoiinted about coming in second in the console market, especially considering that the video game market is growing while home video remains stagnant.

According analysts at comScore YouTube continues to lead the pack in online video viewing in the US. According to their numbers more than a third of the online videos viewed in May were from YouTube. That accounted for 98% of Google's top ranking among all online video providers.

Despite an impressive gain by their next closest competitor, Fox Interactive Media, they served fewer than 20% as many videos as Google in May.

More notable than YouTube's continued dominance was Hulu's first entry on comScore's monthly ratings. Even though they just made it on at number 10, if you were to list them by the amount of profit they'd likely be in first place. That's an impressive fact if you consider YouTube served around 50 times as many videos.

Google also led the way in unique visitors and average number of videos viewed per visitor, but they didn't have nearly as big a lead in either category. Interestingly Hulu didn't make the top 10 in either category. Instead ESPN.com made the list.

In total over 141 million Americans watched more than 12 million videos in May, with an average of 228 minutes of viewing each. That amounted to almost three quarters of all US internet users.

If you've followed the on-going saga of record label lawsuits against their customers over P2P file sharing you've probably already heard of MediaSentry. If so, you may have read about how they've gone on the defensive as the legality of their investigations on behalf of the RIAA has been called into question. Defendants in more than one case have claimed MediaSentry's activities make them private investigators, even though they're not licensed in any state.

Now the company is being investigated in North Carolina in connection with several John Doe lawsuits. In these suits Capitol Records is going after North Carolina State University students whose identities have so far not been revealed. Attorney Stephen E. Robertson, who represents at least one of the alleged file sharers, has filed a complaint with the North Carolina Protective Services Board accusing the RIAA of conducting investigations that are "both illegal and seriously flawed."

Mr. Robertson alleges that MediaSentry representatives are acting as "unlicensed and unlawful investigators" who "claim to have entered the hard drives of hundreds, if not thousands, of private North Carolina citizens to look for music recordings stored there." It goes on to say that MediaSentry then sells the IP addresses of individuals found sharing copyrighted content to the labels.

Along with their announcement that they've already sold a million iPhones, Apple is making a big deal about the number of programs downloaded from their newly opened iTunes App Store. The App Store offers a variety of programs, most costing less than $10, for the iPhone 3G. There's also a free upgrade to the 2.0 version of the required iPhone 2.0 software for the first generation iPhone, as well as an update for iPod Touch owners that costs $9.95.

Before anyone starts counting the money Apple must have made from the App Store you should keep in mind that many of the programs available are actually free. In fact some are actually either translations of web apps that have been around for the iPhone for months or even programs originally written for unlocked iPhones before the SDK was even announced.

While there's no way to tell how many downloads can be attributed to these free programs, it's reasonable to assume they're among the most popular titles. This would seem to be backed up by the lack of any breakdown from Apple when they announced the numbers.

Apple today announced that the 1 millionth iPhone 3G was sold on Sunday, making it an even hotter product than its predecessor, the original iPhone.

“iPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “It took 74 days to sell the first one million original iPhones, so the new iPhone 3G is clearly off to a great start around the world.”

The iPhone 3G is currently available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and the US and will be offered in France later this week.

Apple's press release announcing the sales figures didn't mention what percentage of iPhones had been successfully activated.

NBC isn't the only company planning to offer online video from the Beijing Olympics later this year. PPLive, a Chinese company that provides streaming TV feeds using P2P technology, has inked a deal with China's state run China Central Television (CCTV) to provide coverage of the event. The video offered will be provided by CCTV.com, which is the official internet broadcaster of the event in China. According to AC Nielsen ratings PPLive streams video to 35 million people worldwide each month.

"We are very excited to partner with CCTV.com to broadcast the Beijing Olympic games through our new Internet media platform. We are committed to delivering to our viewers the highest quality and most in-depth coverage of the sporting games that make up the Olympics." Bill Yao, Founder and CEO of PPLive PPLive Inc. said

The streams will be encoded using the On2 Flix Engine to encode the video to On2 Technology's TrueMotion VP6 video codec, which will then be delivered via Adobe Flash on both the CCTV and PPLive websites.

If you bought one of the new iPhone 3G's that were officially launched today you may have been unpleasantly surprised to find that it couldn't be activated due to Apple's servers being overwhelmed. Perhaps this shouldn't come as any surprise considering the same thing happened last year when the original iPhone launched. No doubt many had assumed that experience would have guaranteed Apple would have taken measures to avoid it this time around.

And the issue isn't limited to new phones either. Owners of the original version who decided to take advantage of the free upgrade to the new software version in order to use the new iTunes App Store are also having problems. Like the new phones they must be activated after installing the update, turning a number of iPhones already in use into significantly less useful iPaperweights.

For those who didn't download the update early this morning it's proving difficult to even download it. When I tried to purchase the update for an iPod Touch I received the following error (about 50 times over the course of a few hours).

In August Seagate will begin shipping new Barracuda hard drives that hold 1.5TB (1.5 trillion bytes) of data. It represents a 50% over their current Barracuda drives, which go up to 1TB. Some time in the fourth quarter they'll also be introducing the new Momentus 5400.6 and 7200.4 laptop (2.5") drives, capable of storing 500GB (500 billion bytes).

"Organizations and consumers of all kinds worldwide continue to create, share and consume digital content at levels never before seen, giving rise to new markets, new applications and demand for desktop and notebook computers with unprecedented storage capacity, performance and reliability," said Michael Wingert, Seagate executive vice president and general manager, Personal Compute Business. "Seagate is committed to powering the next generation of computing today with the planet's fastest, highest-capacity and most reliable storage solutions."

Despite the ever-increasing need for more storage, especially for multimedia, it's important to remember that relying on a single drive to hold that much without some kind of disaster-recovery solution like a RAID array or backup (or better yet both) is asking for trouble. If you're planning to buy one of these massive drives you should also make sure you're prepared for the worst.

Today marks the launch of both Apple's iPhone 3G and the iTunes App Store where developers can sell programs built using the iPhone SDK. Unlike the original iPhone, the new model is being launched simultaneously in 24 countries spread across 4 continents, including the US, UK, Japan, Australia, and of course Afterdawn's home country of Finland.

The iPhone 3G is different from its predecessor, with new features including support for 3G mobile internet connections and GPS. It also has a new version of the iPhone OS, a compact version of OS X, which includes support for the brand new iTunes App Store. Owners of first generation iPhones can update to the new version of the OS for free. If you happen to own an iPod Touch there's an update available for you as well for $9.95.

After reading a recent study which concludes DVD ripping in the UK is on the rise you might get the impression the home video industry is in trouble. But according to figures from the British Video Association that's simply not the case. Their numbers indicate that 2008 sales are actually up 3.3% from last year.

“Last year proved a bumper year for the home entertainment industry with 250 million videos sold and DVD accounting for 99% of that. We are delighted to see that the half year 2008 figures reveal an increased demand for home entertainment, especially in the current challenging economic climate," said Lavinia Carey, the organization's Director General.

In fact they're predicting continued growth in spite, or more accurately because of the economic downturn which continues to face the world economy as a whole.

She said “History has shown that in times of economic hardship, consumers find even more value in home entertainment when the leisure pound is stretched as it is. As video is one of the most cost-effective forms of entertainment we would expect to see continued volume growth in our market as consumers tighten their belts in response to increasing economic uncertainty.”

A new set-top box from WhereverTV allows viewers to watch internet-based TV feeds from around the world directly on their televisions. The company launched their website last year, where streaming video from providers all over the world is already available. With the introduction of the new set-top box the same content can now be delivered through a broadband internet connection to your TV without requiring a computer.

"The WhereverTV Receiver clearly defines a new era for the television viewer," said Mark Cavicchia, WhereverTV Founder and CEO. "We believe WhereverTV will become a great source of entertainment and comfort for millions of immigrants living away from home, businesspeople traveling abroad, or anybody wishing to enjoy a wide variety of television programming from around the world."

Measuring a mere 5" x 5" x 1", the WhereverTV Receiver is even small enough to travel with. As long as you have access to a broadband internet connection that could allow you to watch familiar TV shows even when visiting other countries.

The Center for Social Media, a group connected with the School of Communication at American University, focuses on the use of multimedia to affect public awareness and social change. They've published a new guide on fair use intended to help creators, content owners, and service providers understand the generally accepted standards for fair use in documentary video.

Their guide isn't a comprehensive guide to the limits of fair use, something that can really only be determined on a case-by-case basis in a courtroom. Instead it combines commentary from a panel of legal scholars with the standard practices established by professional film makers. It offers general guidance on the legal issues that go into a decision on whether particular cases may or may not qualify as fair use.

Whether you're a future professional film maker or just like to make your own videos for Center for Social Media it's an interesting and informative document worth taking a look at. You can get your own copy or read it online for free from the Center for Social Media's website.

The evidence appears to be in and it looks like the anticipated US price drop to $299.99 for the Xbox 360 Pro is coming this Sunday. It will be a $50 drop from the current pricetag of $349.99.

Although there's still been no official announcement from Microsoft, scans of ads for Sunday from both Best Buy and Target have appeared online, joining a previously leaked K-Mart filer.

No doubt expecting a major sales increase from the new price, Target even appears to be offering a $25 gift card to make the decision on where to buy a little easier.

It's not clear yet what this will mean for the price of the bugdet Xbox 360 Core model, which currently sells for just $20 less than the new price for the Pro model.

According to a decision by the Frankfurt Court of Appeal the victims of WiFi theft can't be held responsible for the thieves' copyright infringement. The same court that previously ruled parents can't be held responsible for the flle sharing activities of their children overturned a lower court's decision, and potentially dealt a blow to the campaign being waged by a UK lawfirm against several hundred people for alleged copyright infringement.

Lawyers at Davenport Lyons have been sending out letters to alleged UK file sharers pointing out the German court ruling making individuals whose WiFi connection is used by others without authorization responsible for any infringement. They went on to point out that it was likely that decision would be echoed by UK courts. Don't expect to see a similar claim about this new decision.

With the possible implications of the ruling don't be surprised to see yet another round of arguments before things are decided for sure. Christian Solmecke, a lawyer currently defending around 500 file-sharers said “The future will show us what the highest court in Germany - the Bundesgerichtshof - says to this difficult question.”

Parks Associates has released the results of a new survey in the US and Canada that reveals some interesting facts about how people listen to music. Not surprisingly the results indicate around two thirds of all people in both countries with broadband connections regularly play music on their PC and half that many use portable media players, such as Apple's iPod. More surprising was the revelation that as many people seem to use their TV for music as own MP3 players.

"iPods are sexy, but not everybody has one," said John Barrett, Director of Research at Parks Associates. "TVs are ubiquitous and increasingly capable of delivering a range of content, especially with new features like digital music delivery and place-shifting services. This is just the tip of the iceberg for TV applications."

Analysts from the company are recommending that developers consider all three platforms when developing new digital entertainment services.

And organization called the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA) will be holding the P2P Media Summit Silicon Valley in San Jose on August 4th. The inaugural conference will be a forum for the various P2P software providers, content owners, ISPs, and other members of the DCIA to discuss everything from technology to business models.

"We are thrilled to be able to present a program devoted to the latest technological innovations and newest business models being introduced in the rapidly emerging P2P marketplace," said DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty in making the announcement.

Despite the demonization of file sharing among major content owners from movie studios and record labels to software developers, in recent years many have come to believe that the decentralized distribution model offered by P2P technology is the future for delivering content. Conferences like this one are important in order for the various elements to work together on ways to make it work in a way that's profitable for everyone and still useful to consumers.

Earlier this week we told you about correspondence between the agency contracted to investigate file sharers by the RIAA and the Michigan Department of Labor. In the letter, published on Ray Beckerman's website, MediaSentry lawyers argued that their activities don't require a Private Investigator's license because they merely act as technical experts, analyzing publicly available information. As it turns out the RIAA themselves have made exactly the opposite argument in court to block Mr. Beckerman's efforts to question MediaSentry's employees or obtain details of their operation.

On his blog, Recording Industry vs. The People, he points out that lawyers for Universal Music Group (UMG) specifically claimed on three separate occasions that MediaSentry was not being relied on for any technical expertise, but were in fact only being utilized as investigators. An excerpt from a November, 2006 filing UMG lawyers wrote the following.

Specifically, MediaSentry has not been designated as an expert witness in this case and is not offering any expert opinions. Rather, the MediaSentry investigator who detected the infringement at issue, Tom Mizzone, is a fact witness, having downloaded information from defendant's Kazaa share folder that any other Kazaa user could have downloaded.

Since last year's revelation that Comcast was indeed throttling BitTorrent traffic from customers of their broadband internet service it brought them to the attention of the FCC, where they're already vigorously defending themselves. They've cited a lack of specific rules outlawing their "network management" techniques as proof they've done nothing wrong. They're also being sued in California, where a judge has granted them a stay, pending the FCC's decision.

The California lawsuit does make claims of illegal interference with network traffic, but it also alleges false advertising. The plaintiffs claim that Comcast is advertising more than they're actually delivering when it comes to high speed internet service. The judge has indicated that only the FCC has jurisdiction over traffic management, agreeing with an argument made by Comcast attorneys who wrote the following.

"Because these issues are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the FCC, and because the FCC is actively investigating them, this Court should stay its hand under the primary jurisdiction doctrine."

According to a new study funded by Macrovision a third of all US and UK residents have copied at least one DVD in the last 6 months. In the UK the number is around 32%, compared to around 36% in the US.

Among other things the report from Futuresource Consulting titled 'Consumer Home Piracy Research Findings' concludes that

• Around one third of all respondents in both countries admit to making copies of pre-recorded DVDs in the last 6 months, up from just over a quarter of respondents in 2007.


• UK respondents showed a significant increase in copying TV shows on DVD when compared with 2007.


• In the last 6 months, DVD copiers have copied an average of 12 titles of all genres in the USA and 13 titles of all genres in the UK


• In the last 6 months, the average number of movies copied in the UK was 13 new release and 9 catalogue; in the USA the figures were 7 and 6 respectively.


• The majority of UK and USA respondents would most likely buy these movie titles new at sale or promotional price.

The iPod Touch is something of a marvel of modern technology. But for all its technical brilliance it has one glaring flaw. Replacing the battery is practically impossible.

While previous iPod models haven't exactly been designed in a way that makes the batteries easy to replace, with a little research and a the right tools it's fairly simple. In the case of the iPod Touch the soldered battery connection increases the difficulty level substantially.

As an alternative to sending your iPod Touch to Apple where it would be replaced with a different unit, causing you to lose any media or software on it, you can send it to a company called Milliamp Ltd instead. Milliamp's technicians will install a replacement battery that they guarantee for 10 years, and now they'll even get it done in a day. The best part is the price, which is about 3/4 what Apple would charge you.

As an option you can simply order the battery to replace it yourself, but Milliamp won't provide any instructions or support so it's not recommended unless you have a lot of confidence that you know what you're doing.

SomaFM, an ad-free internet radio provider, now supports streaming to the iPhone and iPod Touch. By simply opening their main webpage at www.SomaFM.com in Safari on your iPhone or iPod touch you'll be directed to a custom portal where you can access their streams optimized for either AT&T's EDGE network or a Wi-Fi connection.

"We've been expanding our availability on wireless devices, and are excited to now be iPhone accessible," said SomaFM's Rusty Hodge. "The iPhone was one of the last mobile devices that we didn't support, and we've been getting a lot of requests for it."

SomaFM's streaming service doesn't require an unlocked iPhone or iPod Touch to work. It uses standard features included with the official iPhone software. Their programming is also available on internet radio devices from Sonos, Roku, and Slimdevices.

"Our goal continues to be able to connect with our listeners whether they're at their desk, in their car or at a local coffee shop," said Hodge. "As new mobile devices become available, we will work hard to develop the technology to enable SomaFM programming to be available through them."

Today new color DVDs compatible with the LightScribe disc labeling system became available. Like all LighScribe media they can have labels burned into them using a special type of burner. Previously LightScribe DVDs were only available with a gold background. The new discs add red, orange, yellow, blue, and green.

"Customers tell us they love the color background CDs launched last year," said Kent Henscheid, marketing manager for LightScribe. "That media constitutes a significant proportion of all LightScribe CD media, and it was logical to fill out the LightScribe DVD lineup with color background technology as well. We expect these DVDs to be available in more and more channels worldwide."

The new colors won't require any new hardware. They're compatible with all existing LightScribe drives. They're offered in a variety of brands, including HP, Imation, Memorex, Philips, and Verbatim.

In the past few days reports have come out that the MPAA was endorsing the use of a new streaming video system which utilizes 2048 bit encryption. The information was based on a press release from DreamStream, the company that developed the new technology. Today DreamStream issued another press release clarifying their earlier statement.

It turns out there was no actual endorsement by the MPAA. In fact they've only assessed the technology in order to educate their members.

"DreamStream used unfortunate wording to describe our relationship with the MPAA," said Scott Diffenderfer, chief executive officer for DreamStream. "We did not wish to make any implications of endorsement of our technology by the MPAA and apologize for any confusion in this regard."

The original release had been intended merely to state that the MPAA's review had concluded that the DreamStream system is viable without taking a position on whether it's the best choice for studios.

Despite the switch to digital only TV in most of the US next February, there will still be some low power TV stations exempt from the mandatory change, and still broadcasting analog signals. A new voucher eligible converter from Zenith, the DTT901, is designed for people who still need to access these analog broadcasts along with the new digital signals. It includes an analog pass through feature enabling both analog and digital broadcasts to be received by the same box.

"We recognize that many consumers who require a converter box for digital channels also will continue to enjoy low-power analog stations after next February, and including the popular analog pass-through feature provides the means to achieve this important goal," said Zenith Senior Vice President Richard M. Lewis. "Building on our long-time alliance with full-power broadcasters across the nation, we look forward to working with low-power community stations to help educate American consumers about the nation's transition to digital TV and how to choose the best converter box for their needs."

The Community Broadcasters Association (CBA), whose members include many of the low power television stations that will continue to broadcast analog signals, is very pleased about the new Zenith box.

LeapFrog Enterprises, manufacturers of a number of educational themed electronic toys, appear to be eyeing the more mainstream handheld game console market with the introduction of two new products, the Leapster2 Learning Game System and Didji Custom Gaming System.

Besides their emphasis on educational titles, the new cosoles are unique because they each target a specific age group. The Leapster2 is oriented toward 4-8 year olds, while the Didji is intended for kids between 6 and 10.

Like other handheld consoles the new LeapFrog models will have games featuring familiar properties ranging from Sonic the Hedgehog and SpongeBob SquarePants to Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Of course instead of the typical gameplay they'll feature educational problems and puzzles.

Besides copying the look and feel of other handheld games, the Leapster2 and Didji are also revolutionary for the educational market because of their web connectivity. In August LeapFrog will be launching a new online tool called Learning Path that will allow parents to keep tabs on how their kids are progressing with each game title.

The G8 Summit began today in Tokyo, Japan. Among the topics expected to be discussed is the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) treaty proposal drafted in secret primarily by the office of the US Trade Representative and legislators from Californiia. Not surprisingly, the California lawmakers are well known for supporting just about any legislation that increases the term or scope of copyright or strengthens penaitles for infringement.

Despite some attention from websites like Afterdawn, public interest groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and news publications in Canada we don't really know anything more now than we did when a draft of the proposal was first published by the watchdog site Wikileaks.

Besides suggesting the controversial move of making law enforcement responsible for investigating and prosecuting intellectual property infringement, the proposal has come under fire for the exclusive group of countries included in the initial discussions. Unlike the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or World Trade Organization (WTO), every member of the G8 have businesses that derive a significant amount of revenue from intellectual property.

Blockbuster has decided to back away from their earlier plan to buy Circuit City. The offer, made more than two months ago, was always contingent on a review of the ailing electronics retailer's books. Apparently they didn't like what they saw and retracted the offer.

With this deal at an end the apparent next step for Blockbuster is figuring out if there's another similar company worth buying. Blockbuster's interest in Circuit City was predicated on the belief that their brick and mortar video rental operations are in need of a presence in a more traditional retail setting. They've already been working on kiosks for transferring video directly to portable media players and flash drives.

"We continue to believe in the strategic merits of a consumer retail proposition that would bring media content and electronic devices together under one brand. We will pursue this strategy through our Blockbuster stores as a way to diversify the business and better serve the entertainment retail segment," said Jim Keyes, Chairman and CEO of the company.

The problem is the increasingly tight profit margins for consumer electronics. Even Best Buy, the undisputed heavyweight champion of US brick and mortar electronics specialty stores, faces slimmer margins as video game console sales grow and demand for other products like DVD shrinks.

On July 13 Pioneer will be giving a presentation at the International Symposium on Optical Memory and Optical Data Storage where they'll discuss recent advances that apparently make discs with up to 16 layers possible. Although other companies have found ways to radically increase the number of layers on an optical disc, Pioneer seems to be the first company to manage it with as much as 25GB per layer, making it very similar to Blu-ray.

In fact the company has said "it is possible to maintain compatibility between the new 16-layer optical disc and the BD discs." That could potentially mean a single Blu-ray disc capable of storing up to 400GB with the new technology.

Of course that's assuming a number of things, including that manufacturing costs, which are already very high for even single layer Blu-ray discs, come down significantly. The large amount of data per layer for Blu-ray increases the precision required to make them compared to DVD, resulting in a higher percentage of bad (unreadable) discs. It's reasonable to assume that putting 16 such layers on a single disc would lower yields even further.

As the RIAA's campaign of file sharing lawsuits against customers has gone on a number of interesting legal questions have been raised about how investigations are being conducted. MediaSentry is responsible for finding and identifying computers sharing copyrighted music on behalf of RIAA attorneys. One important question that has yet to be answered is whether they are required by law to be licensed as private investigators.

According to a letter from MediaSentry lawyers to Michigan regulators they believe the answer is no. The letter is in reply to another, in which Michigan officials suggested that MediaSentry's investigations might put them in violation of state law with respect to what activities require a private investigator's license. The original letter notes the following requirement.

A person, firm, partnership, company, limited liability company, or corporation shall not engage in the business of furnishing or supplying, for hire and reward, information as to the personal character of any person or firm, or as to the character or kind of business and occupation of any person, firm, partnership, company, limited liability company, or corporation and shall not own, conduct, or maintain a bureau or agency for the purposes described in this subsection except as to the financial rating of persons, firms, partnerships, companies, limited liability companies, or corporations without having first obtained a license from the department.

As we reported 2 weeks ago, Universal Music Group (UMG) wants to dismiss a long-running file sharing lawsuit against Marie Lindor. UMG's lawyers are trying to get the lawsuit dismissed without prejudice, which would mean they make no admission of being wrong, and are therefore not liable for Ms. Lindor's legal expenses. This is based largely on the claim of "false statements and misdirection" by the defendant and her lawyer, Ray Beckerman. They've even gone so far as to request that Ms. Lindor pay their legal costs.

Mr. Beckerman is well known for his blog detailing lawsuits filed in the RIAA's war against their customers. Not surprisingly he's written a response to the judge hearing the case in which he rebuts UMG's claims of victimization at the hands of the defendant.

He denies their assertion that he's attempted to block legitimate discovery attempts, saying his client made it clear to the plaintiffs from the beginning that she was available to be deposed at any time, and also that they instructed her children to cooperate as well.

Linksys has introduced a new wireless router designed specifically with streaming media mind. WRT610N is a dual band router that the company claims is better suited for streaming than others.

"There are products on the market that are framed as Dual-Band that allow access to only one band at a time or lose transmission speeds when both bands are in use," said Mani Dhillon, director, Linksys Consumer Business Organization. "As consumers begin to use the 5GHz spectrum for their multimedia devices, it becomes more important to have access to the full capabilities of both bands."

On a typical network anything from internet downloads to print jobs can interfere with smooth streaming, which relies on a consistent level of throughput.

The WRT610N also features Wi-Fi Protected Setup, a feature available on a growing number of wireless devices that simplifies setup by allowing them to connect with relatively little user interaction. Instead they can simply push a button on the device and it will automatically negotiate a connection to the router.

Although this has a lot of potential for storage devices it's currently found primarily in access points and external wireless network adapapters. However, the Wi-Fi Alliance currently lists three multimedia projectors certified for the feature.

We have some new addition to our Guides section. The new guides are an entire series intended to help you work with subtitles. They concentrate primarily on VobSub's IDX and SUB format, but also include additional information for dealing with subtitles in VobSub's SRT format, as well as SubStation Alpha SSA files.
Subtitles ExplainedAn introduction to what subtitles are, how they work, and three common subtitle formats

Rip Subtitles with VobSub

Convert Subtitles from SUB / IDX to SRT

Convert Subtitles from SUB / IDX to SSA

Mozilla has officially announced the results of their world record attempt for the most softoware downloads in a 24 hour period and not surprisingly they've succeeded. Technically this only means at least 1 person downloaded Firefox 3 on its launch date, but the official tally is a slightly higher 8,002,530.

"As the arbiter and recorder of the world's amazing facts, Guinness World Records is pleased to add Mozilla's achievement to our archives," said Gareth Deaves, Records Manager for Guinness World Records. "Mobilizing over 8 million internet users within 24 hours is an extremely impressive accomplishment and we would like to congratulate the Mozilla community for their hard work and dedication."

The real win for Mozilla has been the buzz generated over a new browser release. They still have a long way to go if they want to catch Microsoft in browser market share. Due in no small part to the world record promotion, Firefox 3 was downloaded around 5 times more on launch day than the previous release. It also beat Mozilla's stated goal of 5 million downloads by more than 50%.

US District Court Judge Louis L. Stanton has ruled that Google must turn over to Viacom logs showing what videos have been watched on YouTube and when. The information will include login names and IP addresses for the viewers.

Viacom is suing the search giant for YouTube's allegedl failure to live up to their legal responsibility for actively combating piracy on the service. Google has owned YouTube in 2006.

According to the ruling, "A markedly higher proportion of infringing-video watching may bear on plaintiffs’ vicarious liability claim, and defendants’ substantial non-infringing use defense."

Viacom lawyers are claiming that YouTube intentionally turned a blind eye to copyright infringement because of the traffic it generated, and they're hoping to show that YouTube officials knew, or should have known, the correllation between popularity and piracy.

This is essentially an end-run around Google's claim that they've done everything required by law by responding to DMCA takedown notices in a timely manner.

Viacom hopes to take advantage of the standard established in MGM v. Grokster that a business which is built primarily on piracy isn't eligible to claim a defense of 'substantial non-infringing use.' That would mean the DMCA defense doesn't apply.

As the primary backer of HD DVD, Toshiba spent a lot of money developing technology that they didn't get a lot of use out of. Some features from HD DVD players, like upscaling, fit nicely into standard DVD players. Others, like web-enabled content, aren't quite as applicable. Sure you could put the same capabilities into a DVD player, but with no official standard you'd be hard pressed to get anyone to take advantage of it.

Now it looks like they're hoping to establish such a standard as DVD Download. At their last meeting in June, the DVD Forum's steering committee, headed by Toshiba, approved a logo for it.

Although it's not a definite sign that Toshiba will be adding any type of web-features to their DVD players, as one of the last major companies to seriously support the continued development of actual DVD technology (Blu-ray is separate from the DVD Forum), they may be in a position to push for adoption of HD DVD features in the DVD specs.

On June 11 the DVD Forum's Steering Committee met for the second time this year. Their biannual meetings usually result in boring discussions about bureaucratic matters, but not so this time around. That's not entirely surprising considering it's the first meeting with an agenda set entirely after HD DVD's demise at the hands of Blu-ray earlier this year.

You might think Blu-ray's victory in February would have immediately halted any serious discussion about new HD DVD development, but you'd be wrong. In fact a format called C-HD DVD is still in development. The C stands for China, which is where it's being developed and expected to be sold.

Don't expect this to mean the return of HD DVD in the rest of the world, at least not any time soon. It's not in the studios' interest to rekindle the format war. And it's hard to believe the executives who were apparently blind sided by Toshiba's decision to suddenly drop HD DVD are lining up to repeat that experience.