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- CONNECTIONS Keynote: John Sculley, Dan Gittleman to cover convergence, home networks, broadband, digital content in digital homes (23MAR04) (Parks)
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For the CONNECTIONS Digital Home Conference to take place May 5-7, 2004, in Dallas, Texas, the news announcements states John Sculley and Dan Gittleman will "discuss how ... convergence is accelerated by several powerful trends (including affordable home networking, pervasive broadband adoption and the availability of compelling digital media content). While these trends enable a host of new converged media experiences, they also threaten to create chaos for consumers. To address the challenges, Sculley and Gittleman will offer a broad, achievable vision of a digital home that exploits these trends while converting complexity and differing approaches into seamless, interoperable simplicity for consumers." - TV Channels For Wireless Broadband: FCC wants to reassign unused TV channels to carry high-speed internet (21MAR04) (Tribune)
The Chicago Tribune reports, "Now the Federal Communications Commission wants to change the rules for using spectrum, saying that without new rules, consumers may never enjoy the rich competition to bring high-speed Internet access into their homes that customers of wireless phone service enjoy.... To make this happen, the FCC would like to reassign unused TV channels to carry high-speed Internet." The Chicago Tribune quotes National Association of Broadcasters vice president Dennis Wharton as stating, "Our concern is to make sure that service like radio and TV isn't threatened by additional interference that could be the result of the new plan." The Chicago Tribune cites Wharton as noting the previously unforeseen "interference with existing analog TV signals caused by digital TV transmissions" and that possibly similar interference could result in allowing unused TV channels to be used for high-speed internet. - Digital TV Switchover: FCC under pressure for hard date for DTV transition or could take until 2025 or longer for transition (23MAR04) (BTH)
Broadcast Engineering's Beyond The Headlines (BTH) reports, "Under the current law, the deadline for actual return of broadcast analog spectrum to the government comes when there's an 85 percent penetration of digital TV reception to America's homes. There have been estimates that this could take until about 2025 or longer, costing the taxpayers billions of dollars while broadcasters double dip in two sets of spectrum." - Buying Into Digital TV: Congressman Eliot Engel says speeding up DTV transition would result in high aficionado prices for DTV sets (23MAR04) (BTH)
Broadcast Engineering's Beyond The Headlines (BTH) reports, "Eliot Engel, a Democratic congressman from New York's 17th District, charged that any attempt to speed up achievement of the 85 percent DTV penetration statistic could 'require the poorest Americans to pay 'aficionado' prices for new TV sets or set-top boxes.' ... Engel said FCC chairman Powell's proposal ... to count television viewers who receive downconverted digital signals in analog format 'will create a disincentive for the American consumer to purchase digital televisions.' ... [Engel] argued that the move would result in low income and poor families having to spend more money just to continue to receive free, over-the-air television." - Controlling What Can Be Recorded: Comments by Public Knowledge & Consumers Union on proposed FCC broadcast flag regulation (PDF) (15MAR04) (PubKnow)
The comments filed by Public Knowledge and the Consumers Union with the FCC argues that if the proposed FCC "broadcast flag" regulations "had been in place in 1976, when the VCR was invented, [then] devices such as the VCR, the TiVo personal-video recorder, and Windows-based 'media PCs' would have been drastically hindered on their way to market -- if allowed at all." - Control Of Digital Content: Public Knowledge & Consumers Union's comments on proposed FCC regs on plug-and-play TV devices (PDF) (15MAR04) (PubKnow)
The comments filed by Public Knowledge and the Consumers Union with the FCC argues that the proposed FCC regulations for plug-and-play devices for digital television has as its real purpose "is to restore to content companies, to the extent possible, the degree of control over video they exercised prior to the invention of the videocassette recorder." - Digital Cable Ready: Plug-and-play digital cable-ready TV sets could force set-top boxes to become more advanced or be displaced (22MAR04) (BusWeek)
Business Week reports on the next generation of "plug-and-play" digital cable-ready TV sets "that essentially have the cable box built in" where the digital cable subscriber has to insert a conditional access card, given to the subscriber by the cable company, into a slot on the TV in order to receive digital cable TV service. "Cable companies like this just fine. They can imagine sending new subscribers an activation card in the mail, which of course is preferable to buying millions of set-top boxes and hiring people to install them.... For makers of set-top boxes, however, the story is different.... [and they] will have to adjust their strategies or wither.... To avoid a setback, set-top-box makers will have to diversify into advanced set-top boxes, cable cards, and even TVs.... These strategies, however, might protect set-top-box makers only temporarily. The cable industry and TV makers already are negotiating an agreement to build two-way communication into TVs -- essentially, functionality for ordering video on demand. This technology, which is expected to debut within 18 months, could displace advanced set-top boxes.... The threat to set-top-box makers won't fully materialize for another year or two.... [However, it's] unlikely that set-top boxes will disappear entirely, since customers who want the latest and greatest functionality will need one." Also, there will still be a lot of "old" TVs around that will need these boxes in order to receive digital cable. - TV-On-Demand: 'On Demand Preference Poll' finds 64% of TV viewers want on-demand around-the-clock availability of favorite TV shows (22MAR04) (MW)
The news announcement states, "According to the new national On Demand Preference Poll [conducted by Impulse Research Corp.], respondents ranked around-the-clock availability of favorite TV shows (64%) along with online banking (64%) as top items requiring instant gratification.... While the majority of people polled (92%) report tuning in too late to watch their favorite TV shows, only about half (54%) [based on CENTRIS surveys] are aware of a [tivo-type time-shifting PVR] service that would make missing out obsolete. Those who record or rent videos reported tape trouble too: More than half of those surveyed (55%) sometimes or often forget to record their favorite program, or record it wrong.... Of the total On Demand Preference Poll respondents, half (50%) reported their average home entertainment system includes four or more pieces of equipment and nearly half (46%) click on at least five different remote controls. When it comes to personal movie libraries, more than half (54%) confessed collections of more than 25 videos or DVDs.... [R]espondents crave a high-quality picture (77%), program availability (67%) and program variety (66%) in their home entertainment experience." - Telco Broadband VOD: eMOD Systems intros broadband video-on-demand for small-to-mid sized telephone companies (22MAR04) (MW)
The news announcement states, "eMOD Systems, Inc., announced ... its launching of their proprietary Broadband delivered Video On Demand solution. The 'Broadband VOD' system allows small to medium sized telephone companies to provide a video on demand movie service to their DSL customers. With broadband speeds as low as 400Kbps, customers can receive near DVD quality movies streamed to their TVs through digital set-top boxes. eMOD provides the VOD servers at the Telco head-end, the distribution software and the consumer set-top boxes. Content is compressed and encrypted at eMOD's secure facilities and downloaded to the servers through a secure internet pipe. The content is decrypted at the consumer's set-top box which plays the movie." - Color TV 50th Anniversary This Week: Brian Unger looks at TV's future in 2054 (22MAR04) (NPR) (WM Audio)
NPR's Brian Unger reports, "Looking back from 2054, Americans will wax nostalgic about the transition to high definition, wistfully recall the advent of plasma screens, express outrage about the high price of 3D-TV sets, and ask whose bright idea was it to combine 3D-TV with a coffee grinder and a cappuccino maker anyway? But the most often asked question about TV [in] 50 years from now will still be 'what's on'?" - Battle For The Living Room: Intel sees market for interactive TV but videogame companies say they will control entertainment hub (22MAR04) (NYTimes)
The New York Times cites WildTangent videogame publisher founder Alex St. John as indicating "... that personal computer makers are about to lose out to the video game industry, which is waiting on a new generation of game consoles that also aspire to be home digital media hubs." To this, the New York Times cites Intel executives as indicating "they felt there was a market for interactive television in the home." The New York Times also reports, "Sony executives are betting on a dramatic demographic and sociological shift from passive television watching to interactive game play. They cite a report by the Nielsen Media Research firm last September of an 8 percent decline in television viewing among males aged 18 to 34. The Sony executives assert that the young men may be playing video games instead." - Digital Home Center: PC in middle of digital home to manage digital media & be connected to TV, DVD, PVR, game console (19MAR04) (Yahoo.ExtremeTech)
ExtremeTech's Jason Cross is cited as indicating, "It's about the entire digital home, and how your PC will be the center of it. All our stuff will be wirelessly connected, from our PCs to our TVs and high-definition DVD players, video recorders, cell phones, and game consoles. You probably won't have to plug in your digital camera to get photos off it. Even the upcoming portable game machines will feature wireless connectivity. With the ability to push content all over the place without wires, the PC's role as the central place to manage all this digital 'stuff' will not diminish - it will grow stronger. We'll simply want to use our really powerful CPUs and high-resolution displays, together with far more intelligent and user-friendly software and operating systems, to organize and edit our media. Then we'll consume it, wirelessly, on a multitude of devices all over the home. The biggest challenges to all of this will continue to be security and compatibility, but with any luck, three years will give us enough time to work out these problems." - HDTV & Regular TV Sets: Wal-Mart to sell USDTV set-top under USDIGITAL brand as a HDTV tuner box in areas where USDTV not deployed (16MAR04) (PCMag)
PC Magazine reports, "In areas where USDTV hasn't been deployed, Wal-Mart will sell the set-top boxes under the USDIGITAL brand, and buyers can use them as ordinary HDTV tuners. If USDTV reaches the previously uncovered area and the set-top box owners choose to subscribe, they can do so without upgrading their box." - Combatting Against Illegal Movie Downloads: Hollywood anti-piracy campaign goes into high gear targeting insiders & camcorders (March2004) (InFocus)
In an extensive feature article about Hollywood's fight against illegal distribution of movies via the internet and via bootleg DVDs, In Focus Magazine reports that "industry experts estimate that 400,000 to 600,000 illegal downloads of films are made every day" and that "the MPAA estimates that over $3.5 billion in potential worldwide revenue is lost to piracy annually." Note that the "NATO" mentioned in the article is the National Association of Theatre Owners. - Fighting Digital Movie Piracy: Hollywood studio sleuths are evidence gatherers in fight against illegal distribution of movies (21MAR04) (Variety)
Variety reports that digital movie piracy "looks like an inside job" and that Hollywood movie studio "sleuths" are working "with [the] FBI to tackle thiefs" where Hollywood is "also the prime evidence gatherers for law-enforcement authorities" in tracking down the source of the illegal distribution. - Mel Gibson goes after post-production employees & Studio goes after an actor for alleged posting of movies on net (15MAR04) (Billboard.EntLawWkly)
Billboard's Entertainment Law Weekly cites Warner Bros. as alleging that Carmine Caridi and Russell Sprague used "screener" copies of "The Last Samurai" and "Mystic River" Oscar-nominated films "to produce and distribute copies of the films in VHS and DVD formats and posted digital files of the films on the Internet...." In other news reports, Carmine Caridi is reported to be an actor who is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences while Russell Sprague is reported to be an Illinois man whom Caridi has allegedly been sending his Oscar "screener" movie copies to. Billboard's Entertainment Law Weekly also reports that Mel Gibson's Icon Distribution company is alleging that employees of the Lightning Media post-production company "passed along copies of the movie 'The Passion of the Christ' to journalists, friends and [online] file-sharing services" including on the Morpheus and Kazaa P2P file-sharing services. Lesson to be learned from this news: Don't post your PVR video recordings on the net as well as stay away from and certainly keep your PVR video recordings away from Kazaa-type peer-to-pear file-sharing software on your PC. - FBI & Digital Movie Pirates: FBI charging a Los Angeles man for allegedly selling advance copies of Hollywood movie online (04MAR04) (Zap2it)
Zap2it reports that the FBI is charging William C. Philputt for "allegedly selling advance copies of the film ['Big Fish'] online" and where the movie was allegedly copied from "a disc sent to actress Hanna Hertelendy from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...."
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