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Sony

Sony Thinks Blu-ray Will Sell Like DVDs by Year End 434

Posted by Zonk from the ambitious-planning dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Sony CEO Ryoji Chubachi knows something we don't. At a press conference, he announced Sony's plan to increase Blu-ray market share to 50% of all movie discs by the end of the year. 'DVD and BD currently account for about 80% and 20%, respectively, of global demand for movie discs, Chubachi indicated. The new BD devices to be offered by Sony include models integrating an HD LCD TV with BD recording functionality, Chubachi pointed out. Sony has relied mainly on the PlayStation 3 (PS3) to promote BD, and sales of the game console will increase along with the offering by top Hollywood studios of new BD movies, Chubachi noted. However, Sony will extend its BD promotion from the current focus on the PS3 and BD players/recorders to IT devices, Chubachi pointed out.'"
Music

Why the RIAA Really Hates Downloads 289

Posted by kdawson from the how-to-spell-irrelevant dept.
wtansill recommends the saga of Jeff Price, who traveled from successful small record label owner to successful Internet-era music distributor. His piece describes clearly what the major record labels used to be good for and why they are now good for nothing but getting in the way. "Allowing all music creators 'in' is both exciting and frightening. Some argue that we need subjective gatekeepers as filters. No matter which way you feel about it, there are a few indisputable facts -- control has been taken away from the 'four major labels' and the traditional media outlets. We, the 'masses,' now have access to create, distribute, discover, promote, share and listen to any music. Hopefully access to all of this new music will inspire us, make us think and open doors and minds to new experiences we choose, not what a corporation or media outlet decides we should want."
Microsoft

Microsoft Launches IT Superhero Comic 285

Posted by Zonk from the humor-doesn't-come-from-the-comic dept.
willdavid writes "Paul McDougall reports in InformationWeek on Microsoft's new online comic. The Heroes Happen Here comic strips are being created by Jordan Gorfinkel, a former DC Comics editor who helped revitalize the Batman series. 'Tech workers who in the middle of the night fix a downed server or take on a computer virus don't really have extraordinary powers. It just seems that way. But a new comic book has debuted in which IT pros literally are superheroes. The daily Web comic, called Heroes Happen Here, features tech savvy crime fighters like Lord Firewall, who "stands between chaos and order" and says things like "begone vermin!"'" And because it's never easy, in order to read the archives of the comic you're going to need to install Microsoft's Silverlight.
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Do you have to be smart to be rich? (pressesc.com) 3

Submitted by
amigoro
amigoro writes: "Do you have to be intelligent to be wealthy?

The answer is yes, according to a study which tracks a large group of young US baby boomers, but only if all other factors are held constant. But regression results suggest that statistically, there is really no distinguishable relationship between IQ scores and wealth."
United States

Submission + - Government: iPhone and US cell service is unfair (blorge.com)

Submitted by
fdmendez
fdmendez writes: "Lawmakers in Washington believe the Federal Government needs to regulate the cell service industry in order to create a better experience for consumers. Other countries provide examples for the US to follow.

Recently, Amp'd Mobile shut down leaving 175,000 customers suddenly out of cell service. Sprint canceled the accounts of about 1,000 customers last month for complaining too much. Verizon is always behind the rest of the world when it comes to phone selection and phone technology, and don't get me started on AT&T's reception and call quality. Basically, America isn't satisfied with its cell service.

The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Internet thinks it might be a bad idea for wireless companies to be regulated at the state utility level rather than the federal level."
Security

Submission + - New glitches in touch screens -- 40% failure rates (blorge.com)

Submitted by
destinyland
destinyland writes: "A new investigation by Dan Rather found 40% of voting machine touch screens from one parts supplier had to be returned as defective. It was only discovered after a new manager took over the manufacturing plant in "the shanty towns of Manilla." Even the $2.50-a-day workers were spotting parts defects, but their hurried managers would perform only one test — shaking the machine to see if anything rattled. A Florida elections specialist ultimately had to return 1800 touch screen voting machines as defective, because selecting the first box on a ballot would highlight the second box. But even after testing newer machines, he's not re-assured. "It seems like they'll work today, and tomorrow they might not work... They're just unreliable, in my opinion.""
Censorship

Submission + - AT&T proves Net Neutrality fears well founded

Submitted by
LinearBob
LinearBob writes: "The Chicago Tribune has an article describing in detail how AT&T censored a live concert by Pearl Jam. Here is a link to the Chicago Tribune article.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-th u_jam_0809aug09,1,6237615.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

The following was quoted from the Tribune article:

"A live Internet broadcast of Pearl Jam's performance at Chicago's Lollapalooza music festival Sunday went off without a hitch — until singer Eddie Vedder criticized President Bush.

Lyrics critical of the president didn't make it past editors of the show's Webcast, the band complained Wednesday on its Web site.

The performance, sponsored by AT&T Inc. and carried on AT&T's "Blue Room" site, omitted the lyrics "George Bush, leave this world alone" and "George Bush, find yourself another home" as part of a version of the song "Daughter," according to the Pearl Jam Web site.

An AT&T spokeswoman confirmed the omission Wednesday, saying that it had been a mistake made by someone working for the agency hired by AT&T to handle its Blue Room content.

"We don't have a policy in place to censor," said AT&T's Tiffany Nels. "We have a policy on excessive profanity. This was an honest mistake. There was no censorship intended."

Nels said that there is a delay of a few seconds between the performance and its streaming to the Web so that an editor can cut out profane language because the Web site is available to all ages and AT&T doesn't want foul language going out.

End quote

Perhaps there was no censorship intended, but censorship IS what AT&T did here. I find AT&T's explanation for the missing lyrics to be disingenuous at best. To me, this is a clear case of censorship, and is precisely why we need "Net Neutrality" now."
Censorship

Submission + - Porn to be blocked by Australian Goverment (news.com.au)

Submitted by wallior
wallior writes: In a bid to swing voters, John Howard is promising $189 million (AU) on 'cleaning up the internet'. Blocking pornography, removing terror sites and scouring MySpace and Facebook for online predators. Also included will be free internet blocking tools available for all families. The presentation was primarily aimed at Christian voters.

"...the federal Government will enter an unprecedented partnership with service providers to filter pornography at the source..."
Privacy

Submission + - Helping to clear a man's name by deleting it (wendymcelroy.com)

Submitted by
fima59
fima59 writes: "Apparently the fellow's job prospects are severely damaged by his name on the Web being connected to child porn — even a connection that clears him of guilt. Prospective employers do what has become customary: an online search on an applicant's name — and there he is. Hundreds and hundreds of times — I checked. And, so, the fellow has assumed the laborious task of contacting each online site and source that mentions his name. http://www.wendymcelroy.com/news.php?extend.931"
Censorship

Submission + - AT&T Censors webcast

Submitted by
mcgrew (sm62704)
mcgrew (sm62704) writes: "Several outlets, including the Chicago Tribune (ironically with Registration required), Salon (also rather obnoxious), The LA Times, the WSJ and others are reporting that Pearl Jam webcast its Lollapalooza music festival Sunday "without a hitch" as the Trib says, until lead singer Eddie Vedder slamed George Bush. The Tribune reports

The performance, sponsored by AT&T Inc. and carried on AT&T's "Blue Room" site, omitted the lyrics "George Bush, leave this world alone" and "George Bush, find yourself another home" as part of a version of the song "Daughter," according to the Pearl Jam Web site.
AT&T claimed it was a "mistake".

Slashdot readers will no doubt cry that it wasn't censorship at all, since it wasn't a government entity that did the censoring. But seeing as how the multinational corporations are the puppetmasters of "our" government through its method of financing elections, I'd say any censorship by any MNC is a defacto government censorship."
Books

Submission + - To Translate Harry Potter is a Crime (reuters.com)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: An article on Reuters informs that police arrested a teenager suspected of posting his own translation of the latest Harry Potter novel on the Internet weeks before the official French release. [...] "Concerned that such acts of counterfeiting are threats to basic authors' and creators' rights, (author J.K. Rowling and Gallimard) immediately agreed to support the investigation as it was launched," spokeswoman Marie Leroy-Lena said in a statement. "It is not a young person or a fan we are talking about here — these are organized networks that use young people,".
The Courts

Submission + - Chair of BU Computer Science Dept Fights RIAA

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "Two expert witnesses, one the Chairman of Boston University's Computer Science Department, have submitted declarations supporting the motion of a Boston University student trying to vacate the RIAA's ex parte discovery order in Arista v. Does 1-21. Prof. Bestavros stated that some of Linares's factual statements were "not possible" (pdf), while Jesse Stengel stated that some of Mr. Linares's contentions were "not true" (pdf). These declarations, attacking the underpinnings of the RIAA case set out in the declaration of Carlos Linares, were referred to in Arista v. Does 1-11, the Oklahoma case in which several Oklahoma State University students have attacked the order which had been granted ex parte permitting the RIAA to subpoena their names and addresses from the university. These filings come on the heels of rulings in New Mexico and Virginia denying the RIAA's ex parte discovery motions."

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