-
-
Amazon and Wal-Mart unwittingly team up against DRM
Consumers rejoice!
Two of the largest retailers both online and offline are unwittingly teaming up next year to battle DRM. And Wal-Mart's message to the labels appears to be: drop DRM if you want to make more money.
Now if only we can convince everyone to switch away from MP3 to the much superior OGG. Consumers rejoice! ... more -
IBM patent could pause your DVD movie for "a word from our sponsors"
Imagine this scenario. You've just received the latest Hollywood blockbuster in the mail from the DVD rental service of your choice. You've popped the popcorn, poured a tall glass of your favorite beverage, and settled back to watch the film on your flatscreen TV. 15 minutes or so into the movieright as the action is building to a crescendothe movie fades to a commercial. For the next minute, you're forced to watch the commercial as the fast-forward button has suddenly stopped working. The unhappy experience is repeated two or three more times before the movie ends. The only way to avoid the interruption is to pay another buck or two to the company you rented from.
That's the scenario envisioned in a patent application filed by IBM (and dug up by Zatz Not Funny!). When DVDs are inserted for playback, the disc would check to see if the viewer had purchased the ad-free version or the (presumably) lower-priced version with unskippable commercials. If it's the latter, the disc player would phone home to an online service to download commercials or play ads embedded on the discs themselves. Imagine this scenario. You've just received the latest Hollywood blockbuster in the mail from the DVD rental service of your choi... more -
Western Digital bills its new RE2-GP drive as the "greenest" ever
Western Digital is billing its new RE2-GP hard drive as the greenest high capacity drive on the market. How does one make a hard drive "green," and what's the payoff? We take a quick look, and end up green with envy.
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?... Western Digital is billing its new RE2-GP hard drive as the greenest high capacity drive on the market. How does one make a hard drive... more -
WiFi and autism: a quick debunking
Late Wednesday, as most people in the US were focusing on the next day's holiday festivities, Engadget picked up on a potentially unnerving press release entitled "Link Between Wireless Technology and Autism Unveiled in New Scientific Report." Given the increasing prevalence of WiFi use, a clear link between this technology and autism should give many of us pause. But a closer examination of the press release should raise enough red flags that the announcement should be viewed with extreme skepticism. Late Wednesday, as most people in the US were focusing on the next day's holiday festivities, Engadget picked up on a potentially... more
-
US intelligence official: You get privacy when your definition matches ours
Benjamin Franklin long ago warned against rhetoric that demands trading individual rights for corporate security. Asking Americans to greenlight extensive, unchecked electronic surveillance by changing their very definition of privacy is a prime example of such rhetoric. Benjamin Franklin long ago warned against rhetoric that demands trading individual rights for corporate security. Asking Americans to ... more
-
Battle over PATRIOT Act appeal brews as critical testimony is gagged
The government has appealed a September federal court ruling that struck down the National Security Letter (NSL) provision of the PATRIOT Act. The NSL provision, which can be used without probable cause or judicial oversight, gives the FBI the ability to secretly demand access to the private records of libraries, Internet service providers, and other organizations. National Security Letters also impose gag restrictions on recipients, which forbid them from disclosing that they have received the letter. The government has appealed a September federal court ruling that struck down the National Security Letter (NSL) provision of the PATR... more
-
Miro talks trash, takes aim at Joost with its over 2,000 channels
The makers of Miro, the open-source video player and television platform, have stepped up and challenged the big guys behind Joost. Citing Joost as the competition "with the most hype," Miro has posted a list of features and how they compare between the two platforms. The point of this chart is clearly to bring more viewers over to the charity-backed Miro"I think we'll have more users than they do by January," wrote Miro's Nicholas Reville on the company blogand the list paints the player in a very favorable light. But what are the differences between these two, and can they truly be compared? With Cory Doctorow over at BoingBoing touting the benefits of Miro, we thought it would be a good time to find out.
Related Stories
* Joost looking to get into live TV, will begin tests in 2008
* Joost finally sheds invite-only status, opens up to the public
* Joost signs on CNN, other programming in advance of official launch The makers of Miro, the open-source video player and television platform, have stepped up and challenged the big guys behind Joost. Ci... more
-
related topics
Ars Technica
Contributors (8)
Ars Technica
