News written by Rich Fiscus (August, 2010)

US video rental giant Blockbuster just announced the Onkyo BD-SP808 Blu-ray player, set to ship to retailers in September, features a client for their online video service, Blockbuster On Demand.

Blockbuster On Demand is already supported on a handful of players from Phillips, Samsung & Toshiba, as well as a range of other devices including TiVo DVRs and the Archos 605 portable media player. There is also a client for Windows.

Unlike the Netflix Watch Instantly service, which offers unlimited viewing of mostly catalog titles and TV shows, Blockbuster On Demand rents and sells individual titles, including many new releases.

Blockbuster is favored with support from movie studios in the form of earlier access to new releases because this is sees as a tool to keep Netflix and Redbox from dominating the home video landscape. But Blockbuster's failure to compete with either company has led them to bankruptcy.

Blockbuster's plans for success in the on demand rental space may also be in trouble if rumors about Apple expanding their iTunes rental operation are true.

Surprising no one, Microsoft has filed an appeal of their loss in the i4i patent case. They were found to be infringing a patent on formatting documents using a separate XML file with markup instructions.

They use this technology in Word's DOCx file format.

In papers filed late last week, Microsoft lawyers claim lower courts are using an incorrect standard for the proof of prior art required to invalidate i4i's patent on a 'Method and system for manipulating the architecture and the content of a document separately from each other.'

Microsoft claims that because patent examiners failed to properly research prior art (existing use of the technology), it shouldn't be considered valid without 'clear and convincing' evidence to the contrary. Instead, they say, the lower standard, 'preponderance of the evidence,' is appropriate.

This is key to the company's defense, they say, because the proof of prior art, in the form of source code written by an i4i developer prior to joining the company, has been destroyed. In fact it was written for a program called S4, which the i4i developer worked on for his previous employer.

This makes it nearly impossible for Microsoft to come up with evidence which would meet a 'clear and convincing evidence' standard, which is similar to 'beyond a reasonable doubt,' used for criminal cases. 'Preponderance of the evidence,' on the other hand, would only require Microsoft to prove that the older product probably (more than 50% likely) invalidates the patent.

Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, has begun a campaign of patent infringement lawsuits against companies ranging from YouTube and Facebook to eBay and Office Depot.

Allen's patents were originally granted to his company, Interval Media, which shut down in 2006. The company w

"We recognize that innovation has a value, and patents are the way to protect that," said a spokesman for Allen. When asked about the notable absence of Microsoft and Amazon from the suit,

Social networking juggernaut Facebook is suing a new website called Teachbook, which is designed to help teachers, administrators & parents share classroom resources with each other.

The suit alleges, "Misappropriating the distinctive BOOK portion of Facebook's trademark, Defendant has created its own competing online networking community in a blatant attempt to become Facebook "for Teachers.""

Facebook's lawyers are claiming that using the name Teachbook is intended to (and would) confuse people into believing the site is associated with Facebook.

While there's certainly truth to the claim that the use of "book" in Teachbook's name is intended to let people know it's a social networking site, it doesn't automatically follow that people will assume an affilliation with Facebook.

In fact it seems like an equally valid argument that the average person would assume the name implies Teachbook is an alternative to Facebook, and therefore not affiliated.

There certainly don't seem to be any similarities between the logos or actual websites.

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Gmail users in the US can now use the Voice & Video Chat service to make phone calls. The new service is accessed directly through Gmail's Chat interface.

If you have a Google Voice account, the associated phone number will be used for outbound calls. You can also forward calls from Google Voice to Google Voice & Video Chat.

The included call screening feature even allows Google Voice users to listen to callers as they leave messages.

Currently calls to US numbers are free, while there is a charge for calling internationally which varies depending on the country.

The long awaited Netflix Watch Instantly client for the iPhone and iPod Touch has finally arrived.

Netflix announced the availability of their free iPhone app in the iTunes App Store today. It requires iOS 3.13 or later.

The Watch Instantly service already allowed Netflix subscribers to stream video directly to devices including computers, Blu-ray players, HDTVs & game consoles. An iPad app has also been available since April of this year when the device launched.

A client for Android devices is also in development.

"We're excited that our members can now carry Netflix around in their pockets and instantly watch movies and TV shows streamed from Netflix right to their iPhone or iPod touch" said Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings.

According to RIAA President Cary Sherman, the DMCA doesn't work for the content industry because it doesn't make service providers responsible for policing copyright infringement.

In statements made as part of a panel discussion at an event hosted by the Technology Policy Institute, Sherman said, "the DMCA isn't working for content people at all."

He went on to explain, "You basically cannot monitor all the infringements on the internet," later adding, "everybody has to do something about piracy."

This line of reasoning is nothing new for the RIAA, but it remains as flawed as ever. It requires that you accept a number of assumptions which simply don't hold up to any real scrutiny.

The most obvious is that there's any way to stop piracy. It's easy to say somebody has to do it, but there's no evidence anyone actually can.

According to the Sherman the solution is for everyone from ISPs on up to do get involved. But this creates some significant legal problems.

How does an ISP monitor the content of on their network without violating federal wiretapping law?

And that's without considering that figuring out whether fair use is involved requires human intervention, which would automatically disqualify the provider from DMCA safe harbor protection.

EMI Music has just purchased Digital Stores Limited, a company which provides online stores for artists including The Beatles, Queen & Oasis.

The acquisition is a logical one for EMI, which is in need of revenue streams outside of physical and online music sales. Although the business has been improving since the 2007 purchase by private equity firm Terra Firma, they still lost more than 600 million euros last year.

It also dovetails nicely with the recent trend of labels signing artists to 360 deals. These deals give the label a cut of everything from merchandise to tour revenue, and are becoming an increasingly important part of the modern music business.

Owning a company like Digital Stores also has a lot of potential for selling services to artists not otherwise affilliated with EMI. Both artists on other major labels and those who wouldn't be signing with any major become potential revenue sources.

If they manage it well, this could be a key part of EMI's transformation from a traditional label to an all around music marketing and artist services company. Of course any of the major labels could have done that already.

According to the annual financial report for EMI, smallest of the Big 4 record labels, the company lost 624 million euros (just over $800 million using today's conversion rates) in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010.

The report is prepared each year by EMI's owner, Terra Firma owned Maltby Capital, a Terra Firma owned company which purchased EMI in 2007.

Maltby Capital Chairman Stephen Alexander began the report by addressing developments in recent months suggesting Citigroup, the principal lender in Terra Firma's acquisition of EMI, might take over the company due to an alleged breach of lending terms.

Alexander wrote, "despite the issues around the financing structure and the related public speculation, both divisions of EMI have shown marked progress in their underlying performance during the course of the last twelve months."

This translates into losing less money than the previous year, which saw a loss of more than 1.7 billion euros. He also admitted having no actual first hand knowledge of the legal proceedings between Citigroup and Terra Firma.

There is a glimmer of hope for the future if they can survive long enough. EMI's goal, it says, is becoming "a comprehensive rights management company that can take full advantage of global opportunities in all markets for music to the maximum benefit of its artists and songwriters."

It looks like Hulu, the streaming video service owned by NBC Universal, News Corp & Disney is preparing to become a publicly traded company. The New York Times is reporting unnamed sources indicated an IPO (Initial Public Offering) could happen as early as this fall.

Assuming they can convince potential investors their new subscription service, Hulu Plus, can be profitable, there's still another hurdle to overcome. Hulu's management, led by ex-Amazon.com executive Jason Kilar, have been proponents of getting Hulu playing on every screen possible. But some of Kilar's better decisions have been undermined by Hulu's owners.

It's quite possible the insider information given to Times reporters was intended to see how potential investors respond. An IPO may wait if their reaction isn't positive.

But assuming they do go public eventually, Kilar and his team will need less oversight from Hulu's content providers. Those providers have been resistant to the idea of Hulu's free (ad supported) content making its way to TV screens through devices like media center PCs and game consoles.

Netflix has announced yet another licensing agreement for their Watch Instantly streaming video service. The deal with cable EPIX will give them streaming rights to movies from Paramount, MGM & Lionsgate.

EPIX is owned by Studio 3 Partners, which in turn is jointly owned by Paramount, MGM & Lionsgate. They offer a premium cable channel and VOD service featuring new releases and a selection of catalog titles from the three studios.

Movies currently offered on EPIX include Iron Man, Star Trek, Saw VI & the entire Indiana Jones series, as well as classics like The Godfather & the original version of The Thomas Crown Affair.

Right now EPIX is only available from a handful of smaller cable companies plus Verizon FiOS & Dish Network. Offering their movies through Netflix

EPIX subscribers who also have internet service from their TV provider already get access to EpixHD.com, where they can stream all the titles available through the premium cable channel in 720p, as well as some titles not available through the TV offering. Dish Network customers get access to the same content through DishOnline.

Wikipedia lawyer Mike Godwin recently sent a letter to FBI Deputy Director David Larson rejecting a demand that the community authored online encyclopedia remove an image of the FBI seal from their article on the agency.

You may already know of Mike Godwin from the many internet references to Godwin's Law, which states, "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."

Responding to an earlier letter from Deputy Director Larson, Godwin took him to task for using "creative editing" of US law as proof of authority over use of the seal.

The portion of the US Code in question, 18 USC Section 701, makes it a crime to manufacture, sell or possess a badge, identification card or other insignia used to denote an official representative of a US government agency.

Godwin noted that the statutory language, "badge, identification card, or other insignia" was altered to simply read, "insignia" in Larson's letter.

He went on to explain, "You will note that the phrase “or other” precedes the word “insignia”, both of which follow the enumerated items “badges” and “identification cards.” This constrains the definition of insignia to those objects which are similar in nature to badges and identification cards. This definition comports with case law interpreting 701."

DivX has announced that Skyworth Group, a Chinese electronics company, will introduce DivX Certified digital TVs this year.

DivX certified DTVs are capable of playing MPEG-4 video, either from USB devices or streamed across a network if the TV has the necessary interface. They can also decode video encoded with a variety of other MPEG-4 tools.

According to a joint press release from the two companies, eventually Skyworth will be selling HDTVs with DivX Plus HD Certification, which among other things means support for Matroska (MKV) files.

The first DivX Certified TVs from Skyworth should be available throughout Oceania in August, and introduced soon after in Europe, Africa & the Middle East.

No date for the introduction of DivX HD Ultra Certified models has been announced.

Starting today, kiosks from Redbox will be offering Blu-ray discs for rental in addition to DVDs.

The discs, which will rent for $1.50 (plus tax) per night compared to $1.00 for DVDs, will initially only be available at a little more than half of their locations. As with DVDs, they can be returned to any Redbox kiosk.

The company expects to be stocking Blu-ray discs in all of their kiosks before the end of the year.

The initial selection of Blu-ray discs includes The Book of Eli, Bounty Hunter, Brooklyn's Finest & Green Zone.

With approximately 23,000 locations, Redbox is the leading operator of DVD rental kiosks in the US.

Record label representatives have been caught issuing DMCA takedown notices for Radiohead's In Rainbows album despite apparently not having any legal standing to do so.

Radiohead released In Rainbows online in 2007 after severing their relationship with EMI. It was initially offered online, with downloaders allowed to choose their own price - even if they chose to pay nothing.

The DMCA's takedown provision allows rights holders or their agents to have infringing content taken down by service providers. But the rights in question would have to be for digital distribution.

A few months after it's initial online release, the band made a distribution deal with a RIAA member, ATO Records, which doesn't seem to include any digital distribution (ie download) rights.

In fact it appears that Warner/Chappell Music, a publishing company owned by Warner Music Group, is contracted to be Radiohead's representative in digital licensing. Although public details of the arrangement are somewhat vague, Last.fm lists the company as the label for In Rainbows.