Archive for February 2005
Gamer’s Relationship with Hollywood: Unpredictable
"A few years ago, Warner Brothers sold the video game rights to its film series ‘The Matrix,’ a heady science-fiction trilogy starring Keanu Reeves, for $10 million, according to industry reports.
"So when it came time for Warner Brothers to sell the game rights to ‘Constantine,’ the new fantasy movie also starring Keanu Reeves, the studio might have expected a similar windfall. Instead, the rights went to a small developer, Bits Studios, for less than a million dollars.
"The difference between the two deals is just one example of how unpredictable – and at times unprofitable – the game publishers’ relationship with Hollywood has become. Five years ago, the studios looked at video game royalties as a growing source of revenue as well as a source of promotion, while game makers saw movies as a way to stand out on store shelves."
Robert Levine. Story Line Is Changing for Game Makers and Their Movie Deals. The New York Times. Feb. 21, 2005.
(Editor�s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archive.)
SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.
The Erosion of Culture
"Should the Girl Scouts have to fork over a fee to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers every time its young members want to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to one another? Should the organizers of athletic events have to seek permission from the United States Olympic Committee to use the word ‘Olympics’ in the titles of their events?
"Anyone who responds with an emphatic, ‘Well, of course not,’ will find a frustrating sort of pleasure in Brand Name Bullies ($25, 2005, John Wiley & Sons), by activist David Bollier.
"As the title suggests, the book is an intense critique of the U.S. copyright and trademark system and the corporations that use it as a weapon against competitors and anyone else who might threaten them. Bollier argues that the court’s willingness to let corporations get away with such bullying is increasingly eroding our ‘cultural commons’ — the collection of images, stories, sounds and other creative expressions that, due to their significance and prevalence, no longer belong to any single person or company."
Amit Asaravala. Are Bullies After Our Culture?. Wired News. Feb. 16, 2005.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
Podcasting: A New Voice in Media
"From a chenille-slipcovered sofa in the basement of their friend Dave’s mom’s house at the edge of a snow-covered field, Brad and Other Brad, sock-footed pioneers in the latest technology revolution, are recording ‘Why Fish,’ their weekly show.
"Clutching a microphone and leaning over a laptop on the coffee table, they praise the beauty of the Red River, now frozen on the edge of town, and plug an upcoming interview with a top-ranked professional walleye fisherman. Then they sign off.
"Their show, mostly ad-libbed, is a podcast, a kind of recording that, thanks to a technology barely six months old, anyone can make on a computer and then post to a Web site, where it can be downloaded to an iPod or any MP3 player to be played at the listener’s leisure.
"Since August, when Adam Curry, a former MTV video jockey, and David Winer, an early Web log writer, developed the podcasting technology, 3,075 podcasts have sprung up around the world, according to a Web site, Ipodder.org, that offers downloads of podcasting software."
Kate Zernike. Tired of TiVo? Beyond Blogs? Podcasts Are Here. The New York Times. Feb. 19, 2005.
Editor’s note: SNTReport.com has been tracking podcasting technology since its inception. Selected previous stories are available here, here, and here.
(Editor�s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archive.)
SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.
10 Copyright Myths Explained
"An attempt to answer common myths about copyright seen on the net and cover issues related to copyright and USENET/Internet publication.
"Note that this is an essay about copyright myths. It assumes you know at least what copyright is — basically the legal exclusive right of the author of a creative work to control the copying of that work. If you didn’t know that, check out my own brief introduction to copyright for more information."
Brad Templeton. 10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained. Templeton.com. No date.
SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.
AOL Updates Winamp Copy-Prevention Features
"America Online is disabling a feature of its popular music software that had been used to evade copy-prevention features of digital music services, the company said Friday.
"The company’s Winamp software was identified by bloggers this week as part of a process that transformed copy-protected music downloads into songs that could be burned by the thousand to CD. The tool had potentially affected any subscription service that used Microsoft’s media format, including Napster, Virgin Music and even America Online’s own music subscription plan.
"AOL programmers are taking a series of steps to prevent its software from being used in this way, a representative said."
John Borland. AOL Blocks Music-Copying Feature. News.com. Feb. 17, 2005.
See also:
John Borland. Napster Hack Leads to Free Downloads. News.com. Feb. 15, 2005.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
Patent Infringement Suit Over Color Orange
"As a noun, it is the bane of rhyming poets. As a fruit, it is a widely enjoyed source of vitamin C. But as a color, orange could one day become the legal property of Orange, the British mobile phone company.
"Orange said yesterday evening that it would sue easyMobile, a wireless start-up founded by the entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who also founded the easyJet discount airline. Orange wants to keep easyMobile from ever using its signature color in advertisements.
"The crux of the argument is that ads for Orange prominently feature its namesake color. Its shade of orange is similar to the one used by all the easyGroup brands, and to the one that easyMobile plans to use in advertisements of its own."
Heather Timmons. In a British Mobile Phone Suit, the Color of Money Is Orange. The New York Times. Feb. 19, 2005.
(Editor�s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archive.)
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
EFF Creates Endangered Gizmos List
"Endangered animals lists are familiar to those who care about nature, but now technology has its own list of gadget ‘species’ under threat of extinction.
"High on the endangered list is the file-sharing network, Morpheus, which is about to fight for survival in court.
"The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) list highlights what it says is the grip industry holds over gadgets."
No author. Gizmos Under Threat of Extinction. BBC News. Feb. 18, 2005.
See also:
Electronic Frontier Foundation. Endangered Gizmos List.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
COPYCENSE 