News written by James Delahunty (May, 2006)

Next generation WiFi technology could be used to send Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) around the home, according to WiFi chip-maker Airgo Networks. The company announced on Tuesday that Caton Overseas and STMicroelectronics will use Airgo's latest technology to distribute video through WiFi links throughout the home. Airgo is the pioneer of the Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) technology which improves WiFi's range and throughput.

MIMO is primary basis for next-generation WiFi standard 802.11n. Airgo supplies companies like Linksys with its high performance chips. The company has tweaked its MIMO technology to improve the throughput, range and reliability of the signal to make it adequate enough to transmit three high-definition TV channels. Airgo's next generation chips are called True MIMO Gen3.

Using this latest technology, transmission speeds up to 240mbps can be reached. Airgo tested the technology in a 6,000-square-foot model home, according to Dave Borison, director of marketing. Carriers are already breaking the bank rushing to upgrade their networks to offer IPTV to consumers but another problem remains; most homes today aren't equipped with Ethernet cabling. This is where WiFi comes in.

When you hear the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) talk about the effects Internet piracy has on the global films industry, you are guaranteed to hear about how movie downloaders are stealing from everyone involved in making movies. Hollywood studios call movie downloaders thieves for this act, but can they also be called thieves if they steal somebody else's work? Well, a growing number of cases are accusing studios and movie producers of stealing screenplays.

Reed Martin is responsible for just one of many lawsuits that have been aimed at Hollywood studios or people. He worked on his screenplay while he was working at Columbia University and New York University. After ten years he finally got his break when a Hollywood talent manager read and really enjoyed his script.

"And he agreed to send it around to actors in the industry," said Martin. "He asked me to make up a list of people I'd like to have in the film and I gave him my top choices -- among them Bill Murray -- and he said he'd try to make it happen for me." I can't imagine how good this could have made Martin feel. It would seem that his creative work was about to pay off - but he discovered that Hollywood had a few surprises in store for him.

Slyck.com has learned that the popular Swedish BitTorrent tracker, ThePirateBay.org, is currently being raided by Swedish police. "…The police right now is taking all of our servers, to check if there is a crime there or not (they are actually not sure)," ThePirateBay.org spokesperson brokep told Slyck. With the servers gone, the site will remain offline until the police complete their investigation.

Up until now, ThePirateBay has been viewed by BitTorrent users as almost immune to legal troubles. The site even posted and ridiculed legal threats from entertainment and software companies on its site. In 2005, a new anti-piracy law went into effect in Sweden, but ThePirateBay was defiant weeks before it came into effect, leaving this message on the site: "By the way, we will NOT shut down the 1st of July."

It is unknown if this raid will take the site offline for good or just temporarily. "We are not sure when it will return, but we are moving it to another country if necessary," brokep said. Back in June last year, the site had a few major upgrades to make it faster and far more user friendly. The Google-style layout was also complemented with the addition of 10 languages besides English.

A man who was advertising subscription to his site as a way of downloading music without having to face litigation has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Los Angeles man Cashier Myricks settled the deception charges brought against him after the FTC alleged his site deceived users into thinking that his referral or tutorial conferred a license to share copyrighted files. Mp3downloadcity.com contained nothing more than tutorials to use free P2P software.

Myricks was charging $24.95 for access to his tutorial which he claimed would make file sharing "100 per cent legal". The FTC filed the suit against Myricks in September 2005 and the settlement now brings an end to the legal action. As part of the settlement, Myricks must return the more than $15k the FTC alleged he received to 611 individuals he had duped into forking out the cash.

From now on he must also inform users that "using P2P programs to download copyrighted music, movies, games, or other material without a license from the copyright holder can subject you to lawsuits, fines, and even criminal prosecution." He is barred from making future misrepresentations about the legality of any computer product also.

According to a survey by Famitsu magazine, Japanese consumers are anticipating Nintendo's Wii console much more than Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3). Readers voted the PS3 release date and pricing information as the biggest news to come out of this years E3, but 88.4% believe the price is far too high for a gaming console. Only 10.9% believe the price is about right and a mere 0.7% actually believe the PS3 price tag is too low.

A huge 68% of respondents revealed they are most interested in the Nintendo Wii console. The support for PS3 is crawling behind at 21% and Xbox 360 received support from 7% of the respondents. The remainder expressed most interest in the Nintendo DS handheld console. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was the most popular game to be shown at E3, followed by Final Fantasy XIII, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Super Smash Bros.

The launch and price details of the PS3 revealed at E3 sparked a worldwide debate of whether the cost was just too much for a gaming console. Over and over again, Sony and PlayStation fanboys have argued that the cost is acceptable mostly because of the included Blu-ray disc drive. The argument is understandable; a stand-alone Blu-ray player would set you back $1,000+ in the United States.

The Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator (AACS LA) has chosen Macrovision's Analog Content Protection (ACP) technology to plug the analog hole on the next generation of optical disc including HD DVD and Blu-Ray Disc. This announcement expands Macrovision's leadership in content protection for entertainment content to next-generation, high-definition media formats. Macrovision's ACP will be included in the latest AACS LA protection specification release, the Advanced Access Content System (AACS).

"The goal of AACS LA is to develop, promote and license technology that will enhance the digital entertainment experience," said Michael B. Ayers, spokesperson for AACS LA. "Macrovision's ACP enables content providers, content aggregators, and device manufacturers to provide quality content for their consumers as next-generation technology such as HDTV gain market adoption." ACP is included on over 4.5 billion DVDs for Hollywood and other rights owners since the format's introduction.

NBC has announced it will add some of its news and documentary content to Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes download store. The company claims that it is the first news broadcaster to add current and archive content to the Apple store. "We're leading a trend to put our work and our journalism everywhere our viewers and users want it to be," said Mark Lucasiewicz, NBC News vice president for digital media. As more people switch to high-speed Internet services, the demand for video content is growing rapidly, and Apple wants to turn that demand into revenue.

Along with extra revenue for the company, the inclusion of hit TV shows such as Lost on iTunes helps to promote Apple's video iPod models. The deal to include NBC News content shows how Apple is striving to make iTunes a more complete video resource and not just focusing on the top US TV shows. NBC will also make documentary and special interest programming available through iTunes. Interviews with John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and a tour of the White House offered by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy will be among the available content from NBC.

Source:
Macworld

A New York judge has granted final approval to a settlement for music fans who purchased audio CDs from Sony BMG that contained harmful Digital Rights Management (DRM) software. The DRM software included on these CDs were First4Internet's XCP and SunnComm's MediaMax. "This settlement gets music fans what they thought they were buying in the first place: music that will play on all their electronic devices without installing sneaky software," said Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Legal Director Cindy Cohn.

As well as getting the music you purchased without the harmful DRM software included, some people are also entitled to additional downloads or a small cash settlement. "Participating in the settlement is a way to show Sony BMG -- and the entire entertainment industry -- how important this issue is to you," said Cohn. "If you take the time to claim the product you deserve, maybe other music labels will think twice before wrapping songs in DRM."

Nike Inc. announced earlier this week that it is making running shoes that can deliver details to the wearer on demand including the distance run, running speed and the number of calories that have been burned. The information can be delivered right to the runner through a miniature iPod from Apple Computer Inc. It is estimated that 75% of runners already listen to music when they are out running. Nike's plan to tap the iPod success helped its shares rise 2%.

A new wireless system called Nike+iPod will help the instant information to be delivered to the runner. A Nike+iPod Sports Kit will be available for around $29, and will enable miniature versions of the iPod to provide the details to the runner from an attachable receiver that gets the data from a sensor in the insole of special Nike shoes. The sensor will be about the size of bubble gum, and will be usable with any compatible shoes. The new Air Zoom Moire line of running shoes are the first to include space for the sensor and Nike said more will follow soon.

Nike also launched a line of "iPod ready" performance clothing, including jackets, shirts and shorts that can hold iPods and keep wires hidden. "We share the same types of consumers (with Apple)," said Trevor Edwards, Nike's vice president of global brand management. "We know that these two brands work really well together." Apple, which has shipped over 50 million iPods, controls 77% of the U.S. market for portable digital music players according to the NPD group.

P2PNet editor Jon Newton has made a plea for donations to help him fight a lawsuit brought against him by Sharman Networks and Nikki Hemming. Jon sees this as an important free speech case and one does have to ask, just how much can a blogger/editor say on the Internet and remain immune to legal attacks? The outcome of this case will have an impact in Canada, whether it's a victory for free speech on the Internet or the beginning of a nightmare for publishers. It could also be used in similar cases internationally as an example.

Here's a post that Jon made...

p2pnet is being sued by Kazaa owner Sharman Networks and Kazaa ceo Nikki Hemming for alleged libel.

But what's really on trial is whether or not an online publication - a blog - can be held responsible for something someone else posts. Or put another way, rather than being a publisher, is it in reality a content filter acting on behalf of persons unknown?

And there's something else: as far as I'm concerned, an anonymous post is the same as a confidential source. I don't have to like a post, or even agree with it. But I believe that as an honest and responsible human being, I do have to safeguard the poster, if indeed I know who he or she is which in this cased, I don't. Read more...

Two men have received jail terms of between 6 to 15 months for distributing pirated copies of music on the Internet through their release groups. George Hayes, 31, a member of the release group "Chromance," or "CHR," received a 15 month jail sentence after pleading guilty to criminal copyright infringement. He was sentenced by US District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia. Separately, Aaron Jones, 30, was sentenced to six months in prison and six months' home confinement.

Along with another man, Derek Borchardt, 22, Jones pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement during his involvement with a release group known as "Apocalypse Crew," or "APC." Borchardt was sentenced to six months' home confinement for his involvement with the group. Another alleged APC member, Matthew Howard, 24, is set to be sentenced next week.

These are the first federal criminal sentences for members of pre-release music groups that stemmed from the FBI's Operation FastLink, which targeted professional piracy groups on the Internet. The FBI had help from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in its investigation.

Eurogamer has revealed that the 60GB version of the PlayStation 3 will cost £425 in the UK when it is launched on November 17th. The details came directly from Sony Computer Entertainment UK's managing director, Ray Maguire, who has followed in line after Sony executives and said the price is a bargain because the machine includes a Blu-Ray player. "I don't think it's an expensive machine; I think actually, it's probably a cheap machine," he said. "If you think a Blu-Ray player by itself might be £600-700, and we're coming in at just £425 - it's a bargain."

Sony unveiled two models of the PS3 console at E3 this year, but well informed retailers have suggested Sony will not release the lower spec console in the UK at all. The more expensive model has a 60GB HDD compared to the 20GB HDD in the €499 model. In addition to lower storage capacity it also lacks Wifi capabilities, High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) support and doesn't include a card reader. A direct conversion of €599 to GBP is £405.

The PS3 will cost £140 more than Microsoft's Xbox 360 console and it has been reported that Microsoft told retailers that that the cost of an Xbox 360 plus HD-DVD peripheral will be less than the price of a PS3 around Christmas. "£425 is definitely not a mass market price, no," Maguire admitted. "But you think about the price, think about the price of just a Blu-Ray player. It will be cheaper than a Blu-Ray player just by itself. So fundamentally we're going to be great value just from that point of view without even looking at the games side."

In a patent infringement case that kicked off in 2004, Altnet, a subsidiary of Brilliant Digital Entertainment, Inc., has announced it has reached a settlement with Loudeye and Overpeer. The suit was originally brought against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Loudeye Corp., Overpeer Inc., Media Sentry (now part of SafeNet) and a number of individuals. Media Sentry and Overpeer were two of the companies responsible for "poisoning" P2P networks like FastTrack with fake files.

The method used to distribute these spoof files infringed two patents critical to P2P business. RIAA executives and other defendants were reportedly put on notice about their infringement of the patents before the lawsuit was brought. "We welcome this settlement as an important step toward the acknowledgment and recognition of the TrueName patents as a prerequisite to legitimate utilization and exploitation of P2P technology." said Kevin Bermeister, CEO of Altnet.

Creative Technologies Inc. has sued Apple Computer Inc. in the U.S. District Court in California for infringing its patented technology. The suit demands an injunction to stop Apple from selling it's iPod and iPod Nano MP3 players in the United States. Additionally, Creative has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission seeking the injunction. The company is accusing Apple of infringing on a patent that was awarded to Creative last August.

The patent in question covers the Zen player's user interface. Creative CEO Sim Wong Hoo had vowed late last year to "aggressively pursue" companies that infringe Creative's key patent. Apple's iPod player holds around three quarters of the MP3 player market so it's understandable that Creative wants to get a cut. Creative has tried to steal some of Apple's share of the market, releasing players like the Vision:M to take on the iPod video player head on.

Creative is not the first company to complain that Apple's iPod players infringe their technology. Pat-rights, a Hong Kong company, claims that Apple's FairPlay Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology infringes its intellectual property. Also Contois Music & Technology claims that Apple uses its patented technology for the iTunes interface.

No you did not read the headline incorrectly, p2pnet.net, a valuable news source for all us news junkies and people who want to hear things straight without the spin the entertainment world creates, is being sued for libel. P2Pnet editor Jon Newton is keeping specific details to himself and the other entity/person involved for now for legal reasons. I think it's safe to say that most of our readers would visit p2pnet quite often as Jon does a terrific job in covering stories (easily 10+ per day by himself).

"Until I've been able to get legal advice, I can't go into detail. For now, though, to me freedom of speech is paramount, and this is very much a freedom of speech issue," Jon told me earlier. P2Pnet is a non-entrepreneurial, not-for-profit site based in Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The project funds itself now but doesn't leave much left over for Jon and as he put it himself he's "not living in the lap of luxury".

Jon is currently seeking a Canada-based lawyer who might be prepared to help him out pro bono publico (for the public good). We here at AfterDawn wish Jon Newton the best of luck and hope this matter can easily be solved. Be sure to keep your eyes on p2pnet for updates and we'll make sure to keep up to date on the issue here as well.

A hacker known as commodore4eva has put smiles on the faces of some Xbox 360 owners around the world with his Xtreme firmware for the Xbox 360 Toshiba-Samsung TS-H943 DVD-ROM drive. Needless to say, this won't work with Hitachi-LG drives so don't try it. The same individual was also responsible for the release of a Samsung DVD Firmware Hack for the Original Xbox console recently. Here is a paste of some of the post he made at XboxHacker.net.

14 May 2006

------------------------------------------------------
Xtreme firmware for TS-H943 Xbox 360
------------------------------------------------------

Here it is, the long awaited World first Xbox 360 backup firmware modification to boot all game backups!

Features
-----------------

Boots all Xtreme Xbox 360 backups
Boots all Xtreme Xbox 1 backups
Boots all Xbox 360 originals
Boots all Xbox 1 originals on Xbox 360
Xtreme0800 extraction firmware enables drive to function natively under Windows without any hardware conversion/adaptors
Use on Xbox Live at own risk

Technical details
------------------------

Reads Xbox 360 security sector from PSN 04FB1F (Layer 0)
Reads Xbox 1 security sector from PSN 605FF (Layer 0)
Security sector must be extracted using Xtreme0800 360 firmware for Xbox360 games and Xbox 1 games
Will not boot Xbox 1 backups made with Xbox1 605b 0800 firmware (maybe in future release) Read more...

The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) is celebrating after successfully training two sniffer dogs, Lucky and Flo, to locate DVDs. The two black Labradors were part of a project supported by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Eight months after their training commenced, the dogs can now successfully locate DVDs amongst other cargo items. The dogs passed a test at FedEx's UK hub at Stansted Airport where they were successful in identifying packages and parcels containing DVDs.

However, since legitimate pressed DVDs smell pretty much the same as counterfeit DVDs, the DVDs the dogs successfully located were in fact legitimate. In total the dogs identified three packages, which customs officers then opened. Despite the failure of the dogs to locate a single counterfeit DVD, FACT is claiming the initiative as a great success. Usually dogs are used only to find explosive substances or drugs.

"This is the first time dogs have been used anywhere in the world to search for counterfeit DVDs and the results were amazing," said FACT director general Raymond Leinster. "With the cooperation and assistance of FedEx and Customs we were able to properly test the dogs in a real life situation and prove that they can work in a busy airport environment." Mary Callahan of the MPAA also praised the dogs. "Lucky and Flo’s immediate success in locating DVDs in transit offers us a new and highly effective means of detection for counterfeit discs." she said.

Kaz Hirai, Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO, has defended the cost of both versions of the PS3 console that will be available in November. The higher priced version, which will cost $599, provoked a shocked response from some gamers on the Internet, but Hirai believes this is a very good price when you consider what's under the hood of this next generation console. The most highlighted point is the inclusion of a Blu-ray player.

"I think when you look at what we put into the box – Cell, Blu-ray, backwards compatibility, the ability to go online - I think it's a very compelling package for consumers," Hirai said. "The totality of what we bring to the table makes it a good value for consumers." Stand-alone Blu-ray players will cost $1,000 or more when they are launched in the United States. Taking the components of the PS3 into account, the $599 price is a good deal, but the $499 model has significant differences which might cause problems in future.

The more expensive model has a 60GB HDD compared to the 20GB HDD in the $499 model. In addition to lower storage capacity it also lacks Wifi capabilities, High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) support and doesn't include a card reader. "We felt that if you want to save something on your Memory Stick, most people have those readers on their PC, which is easily adaptable to the PlayStation 3 with a USB cord," said Hirai. "The only difference is HDMI – and at this point, I don't think many people's TV's have that. The ultimate result, to my eyes anyway, is there's not a discernible difference between what you get between HDMI and other forms of high definition."

Sony has revealed that the highly anticipated PlayStation 3 (PS3) console will cost up to $599 when it launches in the U.S. in November. A version of the console with a 20GB storage capacity will be available for $499 (which was the rumored price for the system) as well. The company believes that consumers will be willing to pay extra for the console mainly because it includes a Blu-ray drive that will play back high definition movies on BD discs.

According to Kazuo Hirai, Sony Computer Entertainment America's chief executive, the company will ship 4 million consoles by the end of the year. The console will be available in Japan on November 11th at a cost of 59,800 yen for the 20GB model, the 60GB model will be priced by retailers. The PS3 will then go on sale in the U.S. and Europe on November 17th.

Sony also unveiled a controller that allows gamers to control their games by waving it around in the air, much like the controller used by Nintendo's Wii console which is expected to launch in the fourth quarter. Hirai said that Sony will make 2 million consoles available at launch and will have shipped 6 million by March 31st.

The Beatles' record label, Apple Corps, has lost its challenge against Apple Computer Inc. over the use of an "Apple" logo on iPods and the iTunes music store. The record label, which is controlled by Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the families of George Harrison and John Lennon, accused the U.S. firm of breaking a 1991 agreement between both companies that gave the label exclusive rights to using the Apple logo in the record business.

Since you can clearly see Apple logo (an apple with a bite taken from it) on the iTunes music store and on iPods, the record label sued the company and wanted the wanted London's High Court to award damages and stop its rival using the Apple logo in its music operations. However, today the judge ruled against the labels saying that Apple Computer Inc. is using the logo in association with its store, not the music, and so was not in breach.

"I conclude that the use of the apple logo ... does not suggest a relevant connection with the creative work," he wrote in his judgment. "I think that the use of the apple logo is a fair and reasonable use of the mark in connection with the service, which does not go further and unfairly or unreasonably suggest an additional association with the creative works themselves." He said that iTunes was an electronic music store, but not involved in "creating" music.

Movies on Blu-ray Disc will not be available in stores on May 23rd as originally planned, but have been put back until June 25th to coincide with the launch of the first Blu-ray Disc player from Samsung. Benjamin Feingold, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment President, said that the first batch of BD titles will in fact be ready by the May 23rd but that retailers asked the studio to reconsider the release date.

"The majority of our retail base and hardware partners have requested that we reconsider this date to better coincide with the first commercially available Blu-ray-compatible hardware," Feingold said. HD DVD had a head start on Blu-ray, but on launch date only three titles were available for early adopters to choose. There will be 8 titles available with the launch of the Samsung player.

Those movies are Underworld Evolution (arriving the same day as the DVD), 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight's Tale, The Last Waltz, Resident Evil Apocalypse and XXX. In addition, the first Blu-ray titles from Warner Home Video are expected to arrive in stores around the same time.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, a popular fantasy role-playing game co-published by Take-Two Interactive Software & Bethesda Softworks has had its rating changed due to a mod that makes female characters appear topless and also for "excessive gore". The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) changed the rating from "teen" to "mature", which brands it only suitable for players aged 17 and over. This is the second time that a modification has resulted in a game developed or published by Take-Two receiving a tougher rating.

The board also said that the detail and intensity of the blood and gore was understated by Bethesda in its initial application. "We don't expect there to be a financial impact," Take-Two spokesman Jim Ankner said. Most copies of this game sold were for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, whereas the mod is just for the PC version of the game. It was created by a third party to edit an art file in the PC version according to the ESRB.

Take-Two and Bethesda said in April that shipments of Oblivion were over 1.7m worldwide. Shares in Take-Two dipped less than 1 percent in extended trading after the rating board's announcement, then rebounded to $16.33, slightly above its Nasdaq close of $16.31.

Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia and ATI Technologies Inc. announced today a long-term strategic relationship to bring enhanced mobile multimedia experiences to Nokia customers. Both companies will work closely together to drive high quality multimedia experiences such as music playback, 3D gaming, mobile TV, video and more for Nokia mobile device users worldwide. With the interest in multimedia devices skyrocketing and phones themselves becoming more powerful, Nokia wants to ensure it will stay on top.

"Working with ATI underscores the commitment that Nokia has in providing unparalleled mobile multimedia experiences to consumers," said Ilkka Raiskinen, Senior Vice President, Multimedia Experiences, Nokia. "With the mobile device now at the center of people's lives, we want people to have access to fantastic mobile content when and where they want. We are announcing our collaboration with ATI now, so that developers have the next 12 to 18 months to be innovative and create world class mobile multimedia experiences."

ATI and Nokia are working to drive the complexity out of multimedia development by promoting open standards and providing integrated hardware, software and tools. In this way, developers need only create content once for consumers to enjoy on a range of devices. Specifically, ATI aims to provide a dedicated tools chain and software development kit (SDK) for developers in the fall of 2006. ATI and Nokia will also hold a series of joint workshops in the second half of this year to showcase the environment to key developers.

Apple Computer Inc. has managed to force the four major record labels, Warner Music, Universal, EMI and Sony BMG to accept that the single price for all tracks in the iTunes store is staying for now. The labels had hoped to use contract re-negotiations to introduce variable pricing to iTunes, which would see newer and more popular songs priced higher and less popular and older songs priced lower. Steve Jobs has commented in the past that the success of iTunes is proof that the single price for each track works.

Jobs believes that upping the price of music downloads will simply send customers back to another option; downloading music for free. He publicly said that maybe labels are getting too greedy. iTunes has sold 1 billion tracks now, with around 80% of all paid downloads being made through the service. Apple's share of the download price is isn't much, but iTunes drives sales of Apple's iPod music player.

"We're pleased to continue offering iTunes customers music at 99 cents per song from a library of over 3 million songs," a statement from Apple read. It isn't clear how long the contracts will last but it has been suggested that the labels would opt for short-term renewals and hope to try and convince Apple again soon. They could also hope that Apple's competitors become more successful and begin to bite into Apple's current share of the market.

U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has snuck the dreaded and condemned "broadcast flag" into a bill on Net Neutrality. It is worth mentioning that the same guy previously rejected Broadcast Flags for radio. The broadcast flag clause would allow "the FCC to establish a broadcast flag to allow TV stations to protect digital content from Internet piracy." Previous attempts to bring about the Broadcast Flag have been highly criticised, and for good reason.

In effect, it would allow broadcasters to veto any features of digital televisions and downstream devices. So the FCC acting on behalf of these broadcasters could dictate the design of video recorders, optical drives, network interfaces, hard disks, computers and operating systems all in the name of preventing piracy. This would ultimately give Hollywood studios control over technology and ensure that technological innovation does not affect their business model.

One alarming element of the broadcast flag proposal is how it prohibits the use of free and open source software in digital TV applications (including PC operating systems, video drivers, etc). This is because tech companies would be required to build devices to be robust, to resist the attempts of their owners to modify them.

Consumer friendly French DRM legislation has been spoiled in committee, sending consumer groups up in arms. The legislation had originally included provisions that would have forced tech companies to make their Digital Rights Management technology interoperable (meaning copy protected music sold online should be playable on any MP3 player for example). This would have struck hard at Apple's iTunes and iPod combination, which has helped Apple dominate the music download and MP3 player markets.

Apple completely refuses to license its FairPlay digital rights management system to any other company, and why would it? Music bought from iTunes can only be played on an iPod or some Motorola phones, and music from other online music stores don't work on an iPod (if they are protected with Windows Media DRM for example). So it's a perfect combination and keeps millions of dollars flowing toward the company.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a trade group representing some of the world's biggest record companies, has targeted pirates in 12 cities who sell counterfeit CDs and DVDs on the street. The cities include Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Chicago; Dallas; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami; New York; Philadelphia; Providence; San Diego and San Francisco. "We tried to narrow down the areas where we're going to focus, where we find the most piracy," said Brad Buckles of the RIAA.

The RIAA says it lost $1 billion in sales last year, of which about $300m has been credited to underground sales of illegally copied discs. The trade group said that over five million illegal discs were seized by Police last year and more than 3,300 arrests were made. In an FBI raid on a local music store outside Detroit in November, over 100 recording drives, 10,000 counterfeit CDs and 1,400 counterfeit DVDs were found.

The store had been selling new release music CDs for $5 each. About 95% of CDs seized contain Latin or Urban music tracks. The RIAA said that illegal Latin CDs are often produced not by cheap CD recorders, but by high quality commercial press equipment, making it very hard for consumers or even retailers to identify it as counterfeit. As a result, these CDs are commonly found being sold at full retail price in music stores.

Loudeye Corporation has stuck a deal with Muze to sell the company its U.S.-based Web and mobile digital music operations for a sum of $11m. Muze will now have control over Loudeye's mobile and web digital music commerce services, its encoding operations, music sound samples services and hosting and Internet radio services. The gold however could lie in inheriting rights to a catalog of content from four major music labels and some independent labels.

Loudeye said that its decision to sell its US operations won't affect its efforts globally. "We are focused on achieving significant growth in our digital media store services globally," says Loudeye President and CEO Mike Brochu. "The market for digital music downloads, including mobile, is expanding at a fast pace, and we are well positioned in key markets to capitalize on this growth."

This transaction is a further step in Loudeye's plan announced in February 2006 to focus on its key revenue generating customers, while substantially reducing Loudeye's cost structure. This transaction better positions Loudeye to capitalize on growth opportunities in rapidly evolving digital media markets, including mobile, and to accelerate innovation on Loudeye's OD2 service offering, which Loudeye offers globally.

Allman Brothers and Cheap Trick, two veteran bands signed to the record label giant Sony Music, have sued that label today for failing to pay sufficient royalties for digital downloads from services like iTunes and Napster. The digital download business is growing at increasing speeds, with Apple's iTunes having sold over 1 billion downloads to customers. However, some artists are very unhappy with what they receive for the sale of their work from the world's largest record companies.

"Sony Music is presently engaged in a widespread attempt to underpay its recording artists," attorney Brian Caplan said in a statement. "With the technological advancements in the music industry, where many people download songs to their iPods and other portable devices, it is essential that artists receive the royalty income to which they are entitled." Specifically, out of every 70c Sony is making per download on iTunes, the artists are only receiving a minuscule 4.5c.

The complaint challenges this rate, saying that artists are entitled to a payment around 30c instead. It all boils down to whether a digital download can be considered comparable to a CD sale, which the labels believe it is, but the artists believe it is more on par with licensing music tracks for motion pictures. According to Bob Kohn, founder of indie digital-music store eMusic and now CEO of royalty processing service RoyaltyShare, contracts signed by artists in the past five years should clearly stipulate how digital downloads are treated.

Having announced just weeks ago that it was working on a 200GB Blu-ray disc, the TDK Corporation has managed to produce it. However, instead of the disc having 8 data layers (25GB each) which you would expect, it has 6 layers. To achieve this, TDK has come up with a way to increase the layer's data capacities to 33GB each (a rise of 32%). The original report on the production of the 200GB BD disc comes from Japanese-language site Techon (which is subscription only).

To report gave some details about how the 200GB disc has been produced. The recording medium used is "bismuth peroxide", which forms bubbles of air when heated sufficiently with a laser light. Since the reflection of the light from these bubbles is different than it's surrounding materials, it can be used to store digital information like CD and DVD pits do.

While it's terrific that a 200GB disc has been produced, this achievement is not without its problems. The density of the bubbles is different than that of a standard Blu-ray disc and there are several other technical issues, so whether or not Blu-ray hardware could even read these discs is unclear.