TV Networks, Online Video Services Sign Copyright Pact
The parent companies of the four largest US broadcast networks plus cable content giant Viacom joined with MySpace, Microsoft, and online video providers Veoh and Dailymotion in signing a standards and practices document they hope will become the "Television Code" of online copyright protection.
The document calls upon all services for user-generated content (UGC) to implement appropriate mechanisms to identify and filter out unlicensed content from upload streams, by the end of this year - which is only ten weeks away.
Xbox 360 Top Console in September
Sales of the Xbox 360 nearly doubled in September in the United States thanks to Halo 3, while the Nintendo Wii continues to post impressive sales numbers.
Research firm NPD said that Microsoft sold about 528,000 Xbox 360 consoles during the month of September, up 91 percent from the previous month. Much of this success could be pinned on sales of Halo 3, which sold 3.3 million copies during the month.
Google Profit Surges 46 Percent
Google surprised Wall Street Thursday, reporting higher than expected revenue and profits due to increased market share and cost-cutting measures.
For the third quarter, the company reported revenues of $4.23 billion and a profit of $1.07 billion, or about $3.38 per diluted share. This was better than Wall Street estimates of revenue of $4.13 billion and profits of $3.22 per share.
RIAA Sends 411 Letters to 19 Universities
RIAA continued its effort to end piracy at college campuses with a new round of 'pre-litigation' letters aimed at using the threat of a suit to settle cases out of court.
Letters were sent to the following schools: Drexel, Indiana, Northern Illinois, Occidental College, SUNY Morrisville, Texas Christian University, Tufts, the University of Alabama, UC Berkeley, University of Delaware, University of Georgia, University of Iowa, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, University of New Hampshire, University of New Mexico, University of South Florida, USC, and Vanderbilt.
Senate Accord with President Could Mean Immunity for Telcos
The number of political parties doing business in Congress was nearly called into question today, as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D - Vt.) railed against Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman - and fellow Democrat - Jay Rockefeller (D - W.V.) for, according to The Hill this afternoon, "caving" to the wishes of the President. Sen. Leahy's comments come following the announcement that Republican and Democratic senators including Rockefeller had reached an agreement with Mr. Bush late last night on substitute language for amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
As senators announced this morning following a White House meeting, a bipartisan agreement would amend the Senate's version of the RESTORE Bill. One new provision would grant telecommunications companies immunity from prosecution by individuals who believe their personal data may have been inadvertently turned over to US government officials, in the course of federal investigations. During a press conference on Wednesday, the President stated he would veto any FISA legislation that omitted such a provision.
Social Sites May Find Monetization Difficult
A new study by Parks Associates indicates that attempts at monetizing social networking sites may backfire, leaving providers with few options to generate revenue from their users.
The findings may also reflect a broader issue among service-based websites where consumers are increasingly turning away from fee-based services in favor of free ad-supported ones.
Sony Drops Prices, Confirms 40GB PS3
Sony confirmed the speculation Thursday, officially announcing a 40GB PS3 model for the United States, which will be available for $399 USD on November 2. The 40GB model already made its debut in Europe and Japan. In addition, the company made a surprise price drop on its 80GB model, which will now run $499 USD.
The price cuts come as retailers prepare to gear up for the holiday season, and as supplies for Sony's discontinued $499 60GB PS3 dry up. The 40GB PS3 has no backwards compatibility with PlayStation 2 games, while the 80GB model has "limited" support. Sony has bundled Spider-Man 3 in Blu-ray format with the 40GB PS3.
New 'Daily Show' Site Launches with 13,000 Clips
Comedy Central has launched a new Web site in beta for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, giving the program its own destination and making available 13,000 video clips. Although full-length episodes will not be viewable, users can search for and view specific segments free of charge.
The effort is a sign that media giants like Viacom, which owns Comedy Central, are finally embracing the Web as a means for distributing content. Because clips dating back to The Daily Show's debut in 1999 will be available to watch, the company expects to attract even those who religiously watch Jon Stewart on TV. Viacom has placed 5-second ads before each video to offset the site's costs.
Congressman: FTC May Have Inaccurate View of P2P Dangers
In a letter issued yesterday to US Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman took issue with the findings of an FTC staff report issued last July, suggesting that P2P file-sharing use may only be as dangerous as any other form of Internet activity.
Rep. Waxman cited testimony in a committee hearing last July in which Chairwoman Majoras took part, which provided evidence that secret government documents found their way - along with the mixed bag of other questionable material that makes the rounds - into the hands of private citizens through P2P networks.
Cheap Wi-Fi for Nokia Handsets
Beginning today, Boingo Wireless is offering Wi-Fi for select Nokia mobile devices. The Boingo Mobile application is available for the N95, N80, and N80 Internet Edition smartphones. It can also be downloaded from mobile.boingo.com for select Wi-Fi enabled Nokia S-60 based devices.
"Millions of Nokia customers worldwide can use Boingo Mobile to effortlessly connect to Boingo's hotspot network, allowing them to enjoy bandwidth-intensive applications at blazing-fast speeds," said Boingo president and CEO Dave Hagan.
Western Search Engines Redirected in China
Without reason, Western search engines in China are now being redirected to Chinese search site Baidu.
Various reports indicate that YouTube, Yahoo, Google, and Windows Live Search are all being redirected to Baidu, in a possible move to block out news of the Dalai Lama's receipt of the Congressional Gold Medal.
Microsoft Launches Popfly on Silverlight
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Thursday detailed his company's progress on Web 2.0, saying the company had launched Popfly and the extension of several other Live Services.
"This is an incredible time for developers, designers, advertisers, marketers and consumers to plug into and take advantage of the opportunities to experience and grow businesses on the Web," Ballmer said in a keynote at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.
New Zealand Actor Wins Rejection of Amazon 'One-Click' Patent
In a symbolic victory for advocates of patent reform, a part-time motion-capture actor who has appeared - albeit masked by CGI animation - in the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films, has succeeded in striking down Amazon's patent claim of having invented the single-click purchase procedure.
Auckland, New Zealand resident Peter Calveley petitioned the US Patent and Trademark Office back in November 2005 to re-examine the 26 claims made by Amazon in what had been called, "Method and System for Placing a Purchase Order Via a Communications Network." By the following February, by soliciting private donations through his blog, Calveley had raised the nearly $2,500 necessary to fund the full re-examination. In May, his case was under way.
Microsoft Joins Free 411 Scene
MySpace Opens Site Up to Developers
MySpace plans to open up its platform in the coming months, following similar moves by competitor Facebook in an effort to continue growing the site's user base.
Whereas current methods already allow developers to build separate applications that can then be placed on profile pages via HTML code, the new offering allows tighter integration with MySpace and its various features.
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