Has Blu-Ray’s Moment Arrived?
Have you made the jump to Blu-Ray? The next generation disc format, the “successor” to DVD, has now been on the market for three years, promising High Definition visuals and improved audio quality, along with networked capabilities for increased viewer interactivity. The initial launch was rather lackluster, hampered as it was by initial competition from [...]
10 Years of DeCSS and Xvid
Many recent articles on file-trading and the P2P community have noted that the Napster phenomenon occurred ten years ago, marking a decade of joy for down-loaders and despair for the big content companies. Less noticed is that 2009 is also the tenth anniversary of another bit of crucial P2P technology, the DeCSS decrypting tool. Publicly [...]
Finland Wants to Criminalize Talking About DRM Circumvention
Is it criminal to even talk about CSS contained in a DVD? Apparently, with respect to circumvention, that’s what Finland wants to do through a controversial court case. As a result, the case is moving to the EU court of Human rights.
At issue is a Finnish EU copyright directive which came into force [...]
New Nintendo Wii ISO Backup Loader Reopens Videogame Backup Debates
With the release of a new tool that allows people to play backed up copies of games available on Nintendo Wii, some are suggesting that this is really little more than a gateway to piracy.
There is word recently on TehSkeen that a software tool has been developed for the Nintendo Wii that allows gamers to [...]
Warrantless Search and Seizures for Piracy Pushed by Irish Justice Minister
Should the Irish police be burdened with getting a warrant whenever there is a suspicion of piracy? According to Dermot Ahern, the Irish Justice minister, the answer appears to be “no” as he pushes for tougher anti-piracy laws.
It may be a first in Europe. There is a new effort to combat piracy (it [...]
China’s Online Gaming Industry Performance Puts Alleged Piracy Effects in Question
For those who have heard about China being a hotbed for piracy a million times by anti-piracy organizations, there’s an interesting report on just how the actual online video game industry is actually doing.
It’s almost a cliché all on it’s own. China is a major hotbed for piracy. Of course, a number of [...]
India Report – There’s Not Enough Pirate Courts Here
Sometimes, there is the odd report coming from Asia about a massive piracy bust with reportedly millions of CDs and DVDs being confiscated, but the aftermath of a major raid sometimes goes unnoticed.
There’s an interesting report from The times of India where there is a problem – there’s not enough piracy courts to deal with [...]
France Poised to Change Blank Media Levy Calculating System
Burning a CD or a DVD may be an extraordinary convenience for many, but the very way royalties are calculated before being collected in France may change – and it won’t be based on alleged piracy.
There are a number of countries that have implemented a blank media levy on portable media. The idea, when [...]
Thai Police Busts Bootleg Operation
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has announced (PDF) that 25,000 DVDs were confiscated and 5 arrests were made in a Bangkok bust.
The Motion Picture Association were congratulating police recently after the success of “Operation Blackout” recently. The bust happened in the Banmor area of Bangkok. They say that while they did make 5 [...]
DVDs outsell music for first time, says Virgin
Virgin Megastores defied the gloom in the entertainment market over Christmas, pushing its underlying sales ahead by 4.6% in the four weeks to December 30 and increasing its market share.
Its performance bucked the trend in the market which prompted pre-Christmas profit warnings from rivals HMV and Woolworths. Virgin said the figures exclude online sales, which [...]
