Content

Content in its shift to become digital

Broadcast Flag “Crossed The Line”, FCC told by US Appeals Court
A US appeals panel has challenged new federal rules which require certain video devices to incorporate technology designed to prevent copying digital television programs and distributing them over the Internet.
US Appeals Judge Harry T Edwards delivered a slap across the wrists of the Federal Communications Commission by saying that that it had “crossed the line” with its requirements for anti-piracy technology in next-generation television devices.
The anti-piracy technology, known as the broadcast flag, will be required after July 1st for televisions equipped to receive new digital signals. Many personal computers and VCR-type recording devices will also be affected.
The broadcast flag would permit entertainment companies to designate, or flag, programs to prevent viewers from copying shows or distributing them over the Internet.
Two of the three judges on the District of Columbia Circuit panel said the FCC had not received permission from Congress to undertake such a sweeping regulation, and questioned the FCC’s authority to impose regulations affecting television broadcasts after such programs are delivered into households.
“You’re out there in the whole world, regulating. Are washing machines next?” fumed Judge Harry Edwards. Judge David Sentelle was equally unimpressed: “You can’t regulate washing machines. You can’t rule the world.”
The groups challenging the FCC’s broadcast flag regulation include the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, the Medical Library Association, Public Knowledge and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
They argue that the FCC has over-stepped its authority, that Congress should be responsible for making copyright law, and that librarians’ ability to make “fair use” of digital broadcasts will be unreasonably curtailed.
Although the judges’ comments are encouraging for opponents of the Broadcast Flag, doubts have been cast whether their opponents have the legal standing to challenge the rule in court.
Either way, we can expect to wait a few months before the court issues a ruling. In the meantime, activist groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation continue to offer consumers the means to get around the restrictions with their “HD PVR Cookbook,”.
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Federal Communications Commission
23 February, 2005
AllOfMP3 Face Heat from Russian Copyright Cops
Russian prosecutors are considering filing criminal charges against a Web site that offers cheap music downloads, the music industry’s global trade group has said.
The computer crimes unit of the Moscow City Police has submitted the results of its investigation into Allofmp3.com to the Moscow City Prosecutor’s office on February 8, according to the London-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
Allofmp3.com and its principals are alleged to be involved in large-scale copyright infringement by offering music for sale without authorisation from rights holders in Russia and internationally.
The prosecutor has 30 days to decide whether to proceed with a criminal prosecution.
Unlike the market-leading iTunes online music store, Allofmp3.com offers music in the popular MP3 format without troubling itself with pesky digital rights management, leaving users free to copying and share files to their heart’s content.
Songs are offered on the Web site for a mere 5 cents each, compared with 99 cents from most services in the United States, and the site offers music from groups like the Beatles who are famous for refusing to allow their songs to be sold online.
However, the site claims on its Web site that it’s doing nothing illegal because they pay a fee to a copyright group that represents songwriters, the Russian Organisation for Multimedia and Digital Systems.
The Russian music market is ranked 12th in the world and was worth US$326.2 million in 2003.
In most countries, payments must also be made to artists and record labels, but Allofmp3 says it is exempt because of what it describes as a “loophole” in Russian law.
Igor Pozhitkov, Regional Director, IFPI Moscow says: “We have consistently said that Allofmp3.com is not licensed to distribute our members’ repertoire in Russia or anywhere else. We are pleased that the police are bringing this important case to the attention of the prosecutor. We very much hope and expect that the prosecutor will proceed with this case, which involves the sale and digital distribution of copyrighted music without the consent or authorisation of the rights holders.”
Allofmp3.com has apparently declined to comment.
This latest copyright wrangle is symptomatic of the global tangle of music rights, which are licensed differently in every country.
Such confusion – and the continuing availability of free MP3 files from file sharing networks continues to hinder the global roll-out of legitimate online music stores like iTunes and Napster.
Allofmp3.com
22 February, 2005
GZ-MC500: 3-CCD Hard-Drive Camcorder from JVC Everio
The diminutive JVC GZ-MC500 comes with three 1/4.5-inch CCD that records high-quality MPEG-2 video onto CompactFlash microdrives, with a 4 gig card, capable of storing up to an hour of “DVD-quality” video.
The GZ-MC500 is slightly larger than the previous two Everio models, and the increased size makes it easier for users to access advanced features such as a focus ring, manual shutter speed control, manual aperture control, real time histogram display, auto bracketing and manual white balance control.
There’s also the usual Program AE dial on the side of the unit, offering a range of exposure options including Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Twilight, Sports, Snow, Portrait, and Auto/Manual modes.
In keeping with its prosumer aspirations, the camera features a rotating grip and is kitted out with a matt black finish of a fairly rugged construction, although the small LCD screen (1.8 in) and weird omission of a microphone input may deter prospective customers.
The camcorder’s zoom is a bit weedy as well, measuring in at only 10x optical zoom (8x for stills).
The Everio offers four recording quality levels for the MPEG-2 video, with the highest quality setting providing 60 minutes of video recording time on a 4 gig card, with the lowest quality setting stretching it out to pixellated-tastic 300 minutes (JVC says that models with six or eight gigabyte hard disks will be available later in the year).
JVC includes the PowerProducer DVD authoring software with the GZ-MC500 so users can export their video to different medium/formats.
For capturing high quality still images, new camcorder sports an interpolation technique called “pixel-shift” which JVC claims is capable of doubling the amount of information horizontally and vertically via “prism optics and filterless 3-CCD pixel shift technology”.
Translated into a language approaching English, this means that the camera is able to produce thumping great 5-megapixel with a resolution of 2560 x 1920 pixels still shots. This is second only to Samsung’s latest Duocam camcorder.
With consumers warming to hard disk based recorders, this compact combination of camcorder and camera, could prove enticing to enthusiasts keen to start fiddling about with all those exposure options and consumers looking for auto-everything recorder.
The JVC Everio GZ-MC500 will be available in March for $1,799.95 (£950, €1,400)
JVC
CCD
22 February, 2005
TheyWorkForYou.com Improves. Keep Closer Tabs on MP’s Performance
Politicians, eh? Despite electing the slippery blighters, it can be next to impossible to work out what they’re doing – or not doing – on your behalf.
Thanks to the wonderful folks at theyworkforyou.com, you’ve been able to check up on their activities and find out if your local Member of Parliament has been delivering on their promises or skiving off down the pub.
To find out what your MP has been up to, simply type in your postcode and you’ll be presented with a detailed homepage for your local MP.
From here you can check on their performance data (how often they reply to faxes, Parliamentary attendance records, voting record etc), read their latest wafflings in the House, peruse their declared ‘member interests’ and even have a look at their expense claims.
But the meat’n’potatoes of the site is their online, searchable database of Hansard (in case you didn’t know, Hansard is the Parliamentary publication which records every mumbled utterance of MPs in the House of Commons). This lets you access and search everything said in Parliament since 2001. Not only that, but you can place your comment against each of the phrase uttered.
Since its June 2004 launch, the site’s feature list is constantly updated. One of the recently additions is to have the system alert you, via email, whenever your MP speaks – driving the information to you, rather than you having to check the site.
You can also now search through all your MPs speeches and be notified whenever an issue of interest to you is raised in the house. And if you don’t like what they’re saying, you can use an online form to mail your MP a piece of your mind. Fantastic stuff!
The not-for-profit site was launched last June and is maintained by twenty or so volunteers who have declared their belief that it should be really easy for people to keep tabs on their elected MP, and to be able to comment on what goes on in Parliament.
Their mission statement explains:
“For all its faults and foibles, our democracy is a profound gift from previous generations. Yet most people don’t know the name of their MP, nor their constituency, let alone what their MP does or says in their name.
br> We aim to help bridge this growing democratic disconnect, in the belief that there is little wrong with Parliament that a healthy mixture of transparency and public engagement won’t fix. Hence this website.”
The team have an impeccable background, developing and running some of our favourite Web sites: PublicWhip.org.uk, FaxYourMP.com, PepysDiary.com, Haddock.org, Byliner.com, B3Ta, DowningStreetSays.com, MySociety,
They were also responsible for the highly-accessible ‘re-versionings’ of the National Rail Timetable and the Odeon Cinema websites (the latter was sadly taken offline as a result of legal threats by the Odeon).
Although there’s no denying that the digitisation of music and films is a more sexy subject for some, this site is a great example of how technology can be used to really make a difference and make the democratic process more accountable.
Please use it!
TheyWorkForYou.com
22 February, 2005
HomeChoice Floats Advert Targeting on IP VOD
Video Networks Ltd (VNL) has announced a range of enhancements to the TV functionality of its HomeChoice service, claimed to improve the overall customer experience.
The enhancements include ‘On-demand intros’ which lets advertisers place brand stings, messages, cross promotions or advertisements automatically before any on-demand programme.
These on-demand intros are designed to look like the trailers and cross promotions that are shown before the start of a movie in a cinema.
HomeChoice will soon be showing targeted trailers at the beginning of purchased films together with parental advice where appropriate. The trailers will be for films of similar genres or suitability for the audience.
Targeted advertising or sponsorship may also be included, with viewers being able to link from these on-demand intros into other video-on-demand content related to the brand being advertised.
The benefit for consumers is that because the programme itself is on-demand, they wouldn’t miss any viewing time by responding to these adverts.
Also announced is the ability to press a button on the HomeChoice remote control and receive an email containing details of programmes, products or services promoted on screen.
HomeChoice are yet to implement the feature, but have suggested that the technology could be used to include a URL taking you to a specific part of a company’s Web site, a PDF brochure for a car advertisement or a printable coupon allowing money off a specific product that has been promoted.
Dean Hawkins, Chief Operating Officer, Video Networks Ltd said: “Video Networks has already announced plans to launch The Ad Chart following an extremely successful pilot with Lowe Partners and these latest developments reinforce our commitment to creating alternative advertising opportunities on our platform. We will continue to build on these enhancements to build a comprehensive advertising strategy during 2005.”
Video Networks have also introduced the ability to broadcast short, channel specific, targeted messages that can start the moment the viewer tunes in – these could include messages promoting upgrade promos on channels.
Our first reaction when we read today’s announcement was not a good one: do hapless consumers really want even more adverts/promos/jingly-jangly PR assaults thrust at them every time they go near their video box?
Happily, we rang them up and learnt that viewers can skip the ads. Phew.
Video Networks Ltd
21 February, 2005
Like Music from Philips Offers Intelligent, Mood Based Music Sequencing
In an increasingly crowded marketplace, heavily dominated by iPod products, rival MP3 manufacturers are constantly foraging around to unearth new Unique Selling Points.
After Apple scored another direct hit with the iPod shuffle – a simple player offering randomised MP3 playback – the boffins at Philips were dispatched to their techie bunker and told not to come out until they’d come up with something Very Special Indeed.
And it seems that they might have come up trumps, with the new Philips HDD093 and HDD095 models.
Although they may not look too revolutionary, sporting the usual feature set (small form factor, 3GB drives, ten hours of battery life, MP3/WMA playback, greyscale and colour screens) the killer stroke comes with an intriguing new feature regaling under the deceptively simple name of ‘Like Music’.
This smarty-pants widget has the ability to ‘thread’ songs based on common attributes, including genre, tempo, and overall mood.
So, if you’re swinging your pants to some crazy punk music, engaging the ‘Like Music’ feature should get your MP3 player to intelligently serve you up 20 more tracks that it thinks sounds similar to what you’re currently listening to.
And it doesn’t just serve up any old stuff either – apparently, the player uses 40 metrics to locate tracks with a familiar beat, instrument line-up, and tempo, so you shouldn’t find a Kylie track wedged between Green Day and the Pistols.
Although we’ve yet to be sent a player to test for ourselves (excuse us while we deliver a loud cough in the direction of Philips), this looks like a really compelling feature, and one that could give Philips an edge over their rivals.
After all, with MP3 players increasingly being stuffed full of thousands of tracks which are often mislabelled or just lumped together in over-flowing folders, mood-based sequencing could prove to be the best way to keep the party going.
The players will debut in the late summer for around £200. Drunk MP3 DJs will love them.
iPod shuffle
Philips
Photo credit: Engadget.
21 February, 2005
Voice-controlled EPG on your TV from Opera
Punching endless buttons and shouting at your video recorder could become a thing of the past thanks to Opera Software’s new voice-enabled Electronic Program Guide (EPG) for home media.
The perfect complement for Homer Simpsons everywhere, the new EPG means that couch potatoes won’t even have to exert themselves to pick up the remote – instead they can simply bark commands at the home media unit and crack open another beer.
Traditionally, navigating through the labyrinth menus and sub menus of videos and DVD players was on a par with aligning the damper sprockets on a nuclear fission engine, involving a multitude of remote controls and key combinations.
The new Opera software (self-declared as ‘the future of human-computer interaction’, but we think they’re getting a bit carried away there) helps make navigating complex data structures easy by using simple voice commands.
Opera will also be rolling out a new voice-enabled edition of the Opera browser for PCs.
The voice-enabled EPG is written in XHTML+Voice or X+V multimodal programming language with initial targets aimed at enterprise customers and developers. You can see a demonstration of X+V multimodal speech applications at www.ibm.com/pvc/multimodal.
This release forms part of a project to raise awareness in the consumer electronics sector of the benefits of voice-enabled Web technologies
We like the idea of being able to bellow at the TV, although we have to wonder how effective the voice commands may be after a skinfull on a Saturday night.
Perhaps you can also program in slurred versions of the commands for full weekend compatibility?
Opera
21 February, 2005
Burglar Caught on WebCam Jailed
A 19-year-burglar is now enjoying an eleven month stretch at Her Majesty’s Pleasure after he was photographed burgling a house by the owner’s Webcam.
Software engineer Duncan Grisby, 30, set up the movement-activated surveillance system following a previous burglary three years before.
The Webcam was set to start filming once it registered motion, with images of the hapless burglar being safely transferred from the computer to a remote server.
The Webcam captured every movement of Benjamin Park, 19, including a handy close-up when he stared straight in the Webcam before going on to steal the computer and other equipment worth £3,719 ($7,000, Euro 5,300).
When 30-year-old Mr Grisby returned from holiday this month, the pictures were handed over to police, who instantly recognised Park, a very naughty boy already on bail for an attempted burglary in Ely.
Police tracked down Park, who was already boasting 33 previous convictions for theft, to a block of flats in Cambridge, where he was arrested as he tried to leg it from the long arm of the law.
Travers Chalk, the chairman of the Cambridge bench, sentenced Park to 11 months in prison after he admitted the offences. “You have a record which is awful, dreadful,” the magistrate told him.
Understandably, Mr Grisby wasn’t too chuffed with what he felt was a lenient sentence for a serial burglar, saying, “It is a rather pathetic sentence to hand someone like that, a career burglar.”
Although photographs of the burglar in action have been published by the police, one piece of footage that hasn’t been available was the look on Park’s face when Det Sgt Al Page, who leads the Cambridge burglary squad, showed him the Webcam shots.
Burglar snared by computer Webcam (more pics)
18 February, 2005
Envisional Report:: UK Biggest Downloaders of Copied TV Shows
We may not win many things these days, but when it comes to downloading pirated television, us Brits can puff out our chests and proudly declare, “we’re number one!”
The UK has emerged as the world’s biggest market for downloading pirated television, driven by tech-savvy fans unwilling to wait for popular U.S. shows such as ’24’ and ‘Desperate Housewives.’
Britain’s status as the big cheeses, head honchos and numero unos of TV downloading was revealed on Thursday in a study by UK technology consultancy Envisional.
The report could pose problems for UK broadcaster BSkyB, which is counting on high-profile US shows such as the new “24” series to draw new subscribers and entice advertisers to its satellite TV service.
According to Envisional’s report, devilish Brit downloaders account for nearly one fifth of TV downloads through file-sharing networks such as BitTorrent and eDonkey. In second and third place were Australia and the United States.
“Because there’s such a demand for US TV, the UK is going to be the main downloader,” said Envisional research consultant David Price.
The downloading frenzy has been driven by the consumer-annoying practice of releasing popular US TV shows such as “The West Wing,” “The Sopranos” and “Friends” months after they’ve been seen by our American cousins.
Broadband-connected UK fans keen to get the latest fix of these shows have – not surprisingly – elected to download the programs instead, with episodes of popular shows like ’24’ showing up on the popular file-trading network BitTorrent minutes after airing in the United States.
According to Envisional, a typical ’24’ episode is downloaded by about 100,000 users, with “The Simpsons,” “The OC” and a host of sci-fi programs including “Stargate SG-1” and “Enterprise” also being firm favourites with the UK pirates.
Other TV networks airing large amounts of US shows are monitoring the growing popularity of online TV downloads, although insiders feel that the level of technical knowledge required will keep it a minority interest.
For now.
Of course, in the US, Hollywood is already putting in the boot, with the Motion Picture Association of America dishing out lawsuits like they were going out of fashion.
Several sites providing links to movie and TV download sites have already been closed down, with LokiTorrent being a major scalp last week.
The broadcast industry’s failure to learn from online music sharing means that without a legitimate TV download service, consumers will continue to use file swapping sites while lawyers get fatter.
Envisional
Motion Picture Association of America
BSkyB
18 February, 2005
Sony PSP UMD Movie Pricing Announced
Kids today, eh? Spoilt rotten they are.
When I were a lad, an ‘entertainment system’ would take the form of a wobbly cassette player or perhaps a racy CD/radio combination for the well-heeled, but these young ‘uns today are positively spoilt for choice.
Not only can they loll around in their messy bedrooms all day and play state-of-the-art video games and music CDs on their PlayStation Portables, but now the little blighters can watch the latest movie releases too, courtesy of Sony’s proprietary Universal Media Disc (UMD) format.
Within weeks, weary parents around the country will soon be nagged into submission by persistent teenagers demanding the $28.95 (£15.30, Euro 21) to buy the cult classic, ‘The House of Flying Daggers’, scheduled for release on 19th April, 2005.
New films published on UMD will share a simultaneous release date as US/Region 1 DVD releases, with a price of $28.95 (£15.30, Euro 21) or thereabouts with a lower price of $19.95 (£10.50, Euro 15) for films that have already been released.
Accordingly, the other four previously announced UMD titles – Hellboy, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, XXX and Once Upon A Time In Mexico – will all retail for $19.95 when they go on sale on 19th April.
Following the initial flurry of releases in April, Sony plans to annoy parents further with the release of new titles at monthly intervals thereafter.
As a special bonus, the first million PlayStation Portables sold in the US following its 24th March release will also come with a UMD movie copy of Spider-Man 2.
Although the pricing appears attractive to the target audience, it’s the same price as regular DVD and some may feel that they’d be better off buying something with greater compatibility.
PlayStation Portables
18 February, 2005