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Supreme Court to Hear File-Sharing Appeal on Tuesday

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 28, 2005 - 8:29am.
Washington -- The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments tomorrow in MGM Studios v. Grokster, the landmark file-sharing case that will likely determine once and for all whether developers of file-sharing software like Grokster, Morpheus and Kazaa can be held liable for copyright infringement committed by file-swappers. The major record labels and movie studios filed the appeal after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in August 2004 that the companies that produce such software are not liable, citing in its decision the 1984 Supreme Court "Betamax" precedent that legalized sales of the VCR in light of their "substantial non-infringing uses." Those backing the entertainment companies include the U.S. Solicitor General's office and the Christian Coalition, while the American Civil Liberties Union and Consumer Electronics Association have sided with the file-sharing firms; groups of artists have voiced opinions on both sides of the issue. Dot-com billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has also announced that he will finance Grokster's defense of the lawsuit, after being approached by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others. "If Grokster loses, technological innovation might not die, but it will have such a significant price tag associated with it, it will be the domain of the big corporations only," Cuban wrote in his blog on Sunday. The Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling in the case in June.
tags: Law | File-Sharing | Supreme Court |

Judge Orders Halt to PlayStation Sales Over Vibrating Controller Patents

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 28, 2005 - 8:27am.
San Jose, Calif. -- Sony Computer Entertainment has been ordered by a federal judge to halt sales of its PlayStation video game consoles, and pay force feedback technology developer Immersion $90.7 million in damages in a patent infringement judgment. Sony's appeal of the ruling will temporarily maintain sales of the original PlayStation, PlayStation 2, two game controllers and 47 software titles that were found to be infringing as a result of the suit from San Jose, Calif.-based Immersion. The judge's ruling follows a California jury's similar finding last year that awarded $82 million to Immersion, whose technology causes video game controllers to vibrate in sync with a game's action. "The Court-ordered permanent injunction to stop the shipment and sale of infringing products in the U.S. is an important indicator of the strength of our case and the potential risks involved in this litigation," said Immersion CEO Victor Viegas. Microsoft settled a similar patent dispute with Immersion in 2003, paying $26 million to license the company's haptic technology for use in its PC and Xbox controllers and games.
tags: Judge | Halt | PlayStation Sales | Controller Patents |

Canadian Copyright Law Proposals Would Make File-Sharing Illegal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 28, 2005 - 8:23am.
Toronto -- Canada's relatively permissive copyright laws may soon be tightened if the country joins 50 other nations in ratifying two treaties from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Canadian Press reported. Unlike in the U.S. and parts of Europe, in Canada it is not currently illegal to upload songs or movies onto peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. The two WIPO treaties would change Canadian copyright law to outlaw unauthorized file-sharing, and also make it a crime to circumvent copyright protections on CDs -- much like the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act. "Clearly, once we get implementation [of the treaties] there'll be no doubt . . . it'll be illegal to engage in unauthorized file-sharing," Graham Henderson, head of the Canadian Recording Industry Association, told Canadian Press. The amendments to Canadian copyright laws have been approved in pre-committee meetings by all political parties, and will be introduced in Canada's House of Commons later this spring.
tags: File-Sharing | Illegal | Canadian Copyright Law |

Blockbuster Abandons Bid to Acquire Rival Rental Chain Hollywood Video

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 28, 2005 - 8:20am.
Dallas -- Video rental giant Blockbuster has ended its bid to acquire Hollywood Entertainment, the nation's second-largest rental chain, in part due to anti-trust concerns raised by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Blockbuster had offered about $985 million for Hollywood, which officially rejected Blockbuster's bid in favor of a rival $900 million offer from Movie Gallery, the nation's third-largest rental chain. "Among those things that played prominently for us were Hollywood's recent public filings and the unlikely resolution of our request for regulatory clearance on an acceptable timetable. Given the current circumstances, in our judgment it is not in Blockbuster's best interest to continue to pursue the acquisition," said Blockbuster chairman and CEO John Antioco.
tags: Bid | Blockbuster | Hollywood Video | Rival Rental Chain |

Report: HDTV to Reach 52 Million Global Households by 2009

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 28, 2005 - 8:17am.
Scottsdale, Ariz. -- High-definition television (HDTV) is currently in 10 million homes worldwide, and is projected to reach 15.5 million by the end of the year before expanding to 52 million households by 2009, according to a report from Arizona-based market research firm In-Stat. The report found there are currently 4 million U.S. HDTV households, up from 1.6 million in March 2004. However, HDTV is currently only widely available in five countries: the U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea. "The need for more HDTV content, continuing the education of the public about the benefits of HDTV, and widening the geographic availability of HDTV services" are the main market challenges slowing the global expansion of HDTV, said In-Stat analyst Mike Paxton. The report also found that 76% of U.S. consumers surveyed said they had watched HDTV programming on an HDTV set -- although many said this viewing was done at a retail store demonstration.
tags: HDTV | Reports | Global Households |

Clear Channel to Broadcast In-Studio Performances on Radio Station Websites

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 28, 2005 - 8:14am.
San Antonio -- Clear Channel, the nation's largest owner of radio stations, announced on Monday that it will launch a weekly in-studio performance series to be offered on-demand from Clear Channel radio station websites. Production on the "Stripped" video series will begin next month, featuring artists from the pop, adult contemporary, urban, country and rock formats including Rob Thomas, John Legend, Gavin DeGraw and Jesse McCartney. Each performance will feature five songs, including a new single and one cover song. Clear Channel said it will extensively promote the "Stripped" series both on-air and online, adding that its 1,000 radio station websites attracted a combined 7.5 million unique visitors in the month of February, according to comScore Media Metrix.
tags: Clear Channel | In-Studio Performances | Radio Station Websites |

Report: Video Game Enthusiasts Spend $700 a Year on Games

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 28, 2005 - 8:12am.
Brisbane, Calif. -- An online survey of video and computer game enthusiasts found that gamers spend an average of $700 a year on gaming, and play games an average of 20 hours a week. Conducted by online video game news and services provider IGN Entertainment, the survey of 5,000 gamers -- 90% of whom were male -- found that respondents spent an average of $341 on console titles; $233 on PC games; and $140 on video game accessories per year. The survey also found that over 50% of respondents rent video game titles, with 60% of these saying they eventually purchase the title they rented. For information on which games to purchase, those surveyed said editorial game reviews are the most influential source, followed by review scores, word-of-mouth and game demos; 25% said they are most heavily influenced by what video game reviewers have to say.
tags: Games | Reports | Video Game | Enthusiasts |