TheBunk - Slashdot User

HBO Exec Proposes DRM Name Change 544

Posted by Zonk on Thursday May 10 2007, @02:07PM
from the that's-all-that's-in-the-way dept.

surfingmarmot writes "An HBO executive has figured out the problem with DRM acceptance — it's the name. HBO's chief technology officer Bob Zitter now wants to refer to the technology as Digital Consumer Enablement. Because, you see, DRM actually helps consumers by getting more content into their hands. The company already has HD movies on demand ready to go, but is delaying them because of ownership concerns. Says Zitter, 'Digital Consumer Enablement would more accurately describe technology that allows consumers "to use content in ways they haven't before," such as enjoying TV shows and movies on portable video players like iPods. "I don't want to use the term DRM any longer," said Zitter, who added that content-protection technology could enable various new applications for cable operators.'"

Dreamhost removes access to sites with HD-DVD key

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 10 2007, @01:05PM

An anonymous reader writes "Dreamhost, a big hosting company is removing access to sites to sites with the HD-DVD key (spanish site hosted in DH) and request delete HD-DVD key above re-activate their(s) site(s), this is the email:

DreamHost Abuse/Security Team

Hello,

We have received complaint from the Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator (AACS LA) regarding a posting to your site at the following location:

It appears that on the page above you are publicizing their AACS processing key "clave en cuestión", which can be used to decrypt the Fair Use-encroaching digital rights management (DRM) software that their firm provides to content owners for use in HD-DVD players.

While we believe that the "cat is out of the bag" and that their AACS system is inherently flawed, the similarly flawed Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention rules technically makes this a violation of US copyright law. As such, we have had to remove access to the above site by renaming its parent directory. Once you can ensure that the above entry is no longer visible, you may re-enable it.

The AACS' legal counsel has provided an email address of csims AT proskauer DOT com for you to contact should you wish to do so.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Jeff,

The AACS fight versus bloggers is just started..."

Scientists offer new way to read online text

Submitted by on Thursday May 10 2007, @11:58AM

An anonymous reader writes "Scientists at a small startup called Walker Reading Technologies in Minnesota have determined that the human brain is not wired properly to read block text. They have found that our eyes view text as if they're peering through a straw. Not only does your brain see the text on the line you're reading, but it's also uploading superfluous information from the two lines above and the two lines below. This causes your brain to engage in a tug of war as it fights to filter and ignore the noise. The result is slower reading speeds and decreased comprehension. The company has developed a product that automatically re-formats text in a way that your brain can more easily comprehend. This article in VentureBeat — http://venturebeat.com/2007/05/10/live-ink-offers- better-way-to-read-text-online/#more-10459 — explains."

Comment: Re:homes of intimidated users (Score 1) 347

by TheBunk on Wednesday January 31 2007, @10:39AM (#17828016) Attached to: Why "Yahoo" Is The #1 Search Term On Google

It depends on the website. They must have the appropriate records set up in the dns (can't remember if they're A, PTR, or CNAME records).

Basically they set up a blank record that then points to their www record. So that typing in (blank.)domain.com will just forward to www.domain.com. It's most websites will do this because it's easier to say and otherwise not worry about the www. part.

If that empty record is not set up, though, the empty host won't technically exist. There may be some registrar's that will do this automatically for you, I'm not sure. It's been a while since I messed around with any dns records.