In the News

In the News

In the News

Verizon's new set-top boxes are still packaged with integrated security instead of removable CableCARDs, violating the FCC's July 1st deadline to make the switch to CableCARD. Verizon is betting that the FCC will grant them a waiver, as it has with six other companies.

Gartner analyst Patti Reali said the issue for Verizon is that the hybrid Motorola QIP set-top uses traditional cable quadrature-amplitude-modulation technology for linear TV channels, but uses Internet protocol to access video-on-demand and similar services. Therefore, she added, Verizon couldn't use an ordinary cable set-top with a CableCARD in its network without disabling at least some of its features.

However, Cable companies have been making these sorts of arguments for years. You can read all about it here, here, and here.

EU regulators have approved a new plan by NBC and News Corp. to build a web broadcasting service that rivals YouTube. The new service would broadcast clips from NBC, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, CNBC, Telemundo, and others.

EFF reports that Sony may soon ax it's music service, Sony Connect. The site, which sold Drm-encrypted music and a proprietary music format (ATRAC) could only be played on Sony music players. This, one week after EMI announced strong sales of its DRM-free songs.

A proposed amendment to DVD's copy protection license would ban all DVD backups and prevent users from playing back a DVD without the disk present in the drive. It would also ban 'virtual drives,' which could run an image of a DVD off a hard disk. The Copy Control Association (CCA) began pushing the amendment after it unsuccessfully sued the DVD Jukebox company Kaleidescape that stored electronic copies of movies for home use. Michael Malcolm, CEO of Kaleidescape, wrote to members of Congress that,

“The real purpose of this proposed amendment is to put Kaleidescape out of business by excluding the Kaleidescape System from the DVD playback devices authored by the CSS License Agreement…You should be aware before you vote on the proposed amendment that you expose yourself, your employer and the DVD CCA to serious and substantial antitrust liability if you vote for this amendment. Both state and federal laws outlaw anticompetitive conduct by businesses joining together to put a competitor out of business.”