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Addendum to Movie Industry DVD Chipmaker suits
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2004 16:18 -0400
___ Dave Farber +1 412 726 9889 ...... Forwarded Message ....... From: Tim Onosko <tim () onosko com> To: dave () farber net Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2004 14:46:21 -0500 Subj: Addendum to Movie Industry DVD Chipmaker suits Dear Dave Farber. I just thought I'd add this because of the coincidental timing, coming only a day after the MPAA lawsuits. http://www.iodata.com/usa/news/releases.php?newsID=30&tot=25&ts=4&tsc=21 Hardware maker I-O Data, which sells primarily to Japan and Asia, just announced a new DVD player based on a chip set by Sigma Designs, one of the two chip companies the MPAA brought lawsuits against, yesterday. There's some irony, here, since this new player essentially allows Microsoft to create its own High-Definition (up to 1080P) DVDs that can be played back on this player and players compatible with it. Of course, there is a standards battle about to get underway with one camp of Japanese manufacturers (led by Sony and Matsushita) supporting so-called Blu-Ray discs for digital High-Def programming, with another (Toshiba, JVC) proposing another type. At the same time, Microsoft is trying to get its own codec, Windows Media Video 9, approved as one of the "official" video compression systems for the new DVD. Microsoft has hired Warren Lieberfarb, the acknowledge "father" of the DVD (while at Warner) as their industry consultant, and are speed-dating the film business to get a foothold. Meanwhile, players like this (licensed by Microsoft) will allow them to make their own High-Definition movie discs directly, bypassing the standards fights and conventional industry alliances. In fact, Microsoft has already promoted several such movie discs in the last six months, no doubt with more on the way. We live in a world of paradoxes and contradictions. ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- Addendum to Movie Industry DVD Chipmaker suits Dave Farber (Aug 25)