COPYCENSE

“The first HD DVD players and discs have gone on sale in the U.S. The release marks the start of the format wars between the Toshiba-led HD DVD and the Sony-led Blu-ray systems. The first Blu-ray discs are expected in late May, while the first players will be available in June.

“Next-generation formats are able to store much more high-quality data, especially important for high-definition video. Both technologies use a blue laser to write information. It has a shorter wavelength so more data can be stored. A Blu-ray disc will eventually be able to store 50GB of high-quality data, while Toshiba’s HD DVD will hold 30GB. A standard DVD holds just under 5GB.

“Toshiba, with NEC, Sanyo and others, is pushing HD DVD; while backers of Sony’s Blu-ray discs include Samsung, Dell and Apple. But the format war, which has been likened to the Betamax-VHS fight in the 1980s, may ultimately be won in the games console market.”

BBC News. Next-Generation DVD Battle Begins. April 19, 2006.

See also:

The Guardian. Has Hollywood Gone Overboard on Piracy? April 13, 2006

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“In its lawsuits against P2P users, the RIAA wants to argue two things. First, it wants to argue that illegal downloaders are infringing on the copyright owners’ exclusive right to reproduce their copyrighted work. As the very word “copyright” suggests, the rightsholders’ exclusive right to make copies of a work is at the very heart of copyright law, and the EFF in fact concurs with the RIAA on this issue, holding that P2P downloading is technically copyright infringement from a legal standpoint.

“More controversially, though, the RIAA would like to argue that those who upload copyrighted works onto P2P networks are infringing on rightsholders’ exclusive right to distribute copies of the work to the public. This argument that a digital transmission of a work that results in a copy on the other end equals distribution is where things start to get really, really interesting.”

Ars Technica. The RIAA vs. the EFF: Who Will Redefine Copyright for the Digital Age. April 18, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“On May 4, the French Senate will debate a copyright bill that is widely expected to have a chilling effect on the development and distribution of open-source software for digital rights management (DRM) or P-to-P (peer-to-peer) file sharing. That’s because the bill’s provisions include a penalty of up to three years in prison and a fine of €300,000 (US$363,171) for publishing, distributing or promoting software in France that is ‘manifestly intended” for the unauthorized distribution of copyright works.’

“The developers of the open-source multimedia player VLC, which can read DRM-protected DVDs, consider themselves targeted. But the legal uncertainty over the term ‘manifestly intended’ makes the bill’s coverage so broad that it could even cover the open-source Web server Apache, which hosts over 60 percent of Web sites, opponents of the bill say. Open-source projects are thought to be more vulnerable than commercial operations because they typically have few resources at their disposal to defend legal actions.

Peter Sayer. French Could Outlaw Open Source DRM, Peer-to-Peer. InfoWorld. April 14, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“Rootkits, used by hackers to hide malicious software, are on the rise and becoming more complex, according to security company McAfee.

“In the first quarter, the number of rootkits seen by McAfee’s Avert Labs grew by 700 percent, compared with the same period last year, the company said Monday. Its research into ‘stealth techniques’ also covered cloaking technology bundled with commercial programs, such as Sony BMG’s antipiracy tool, and with potentially unwanted software such as adware.

“While the use of such techniques to hide activity on computers has been around since 1986, their number and complexity have accelerated over the last three years, according to a McAfee report released Monday (Click here for PDF). In the first quarter alone, the Avert Labs found more than 827 stealth techniques. That contrasts with about 70 found in the same period in 2005 and with approximately 769 for the whole of that year.”

Dawn Kawamoto. Rootkit Numbers Rocketing Up, McAfee Says. News.com. April 17, 2006.

See also:

McAfee. Rootkits 1 of 3: The Growing Threat. (.pdf) April 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“Burst.com has filed a countersuit against Apple Computer claiming that the iTunes software, the iPod and the Quicktime streaming software all infringe on patents held by Burst.com, Burst announced Monday.

“After being approached by Burst.com in late 2004, Apple had filed for a declaratory judgment in January that it isn’t infringing on Burst’s patents, but Burst is going ahead with its lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in San Francisco. Burst is asking for royalties as well as an injunction, it said in a press release.

“Burst has developed software that helps companies speed up the delivery of audio and video files over a network. The company was involved in a similar patent infringement dispute with Microsoft last year that ended with a $60 million settlement and a Microsoft license to the Burst technology.”

Tom Krazit. Burst.com Sues Apple for Patent Infringement. News.com. April 17, 2006.

See also:

Burst.com. Burst.com Files Patent Infringement Suit against Apple Computer; Announces Expansion of Legal Team. (Press release.) April 17, 2006.

Peter Burrows. Underdog Or Patent Troll? BusinessWeek Online. April 24, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.