HomeWeekly News Roundup (22 June 2008)
Got quite a few things lined up today, so won’t spend the usual 30 minutes sitting in front of the computer thinking up of a good introduction (yes, it takes me *that* long!). The best I could come up with when time is that critical is: Hello World
(programmers will know what “Hello World” means, but don’t worry, it’s not supposed to be meaningful or funny)
Let’s start with copyright news. Did I mention I was short of time today? Virgin Media, an ISP in the UK, will now spy on its users to detect potential piracy and protect music industry profits. What else will they spy on, you have to wonder. Across the channel, France is also threatening to crackdown on Internet Piracy, and plans to set up a new agency to also spy on user’s downloading habits. Big Brother in action here, but I’m sure someone is already spying on your Internet habits for the fight against terrorism or other viable excuses. But maybe none of this is needed, as the MPAA claims that no evidence should ever be required to sue someone for piracy. Because the MPAA is always right, you see, and they never ever make any mistakes, you see, and people who downloaded a movie should get a $150,000 fine without the MPAA having to proof anything, you see.
Rarely do I put good news in this section, but there are in fact two pieces of good news this week. First is Microsoft’s reversal of a decision which say their MSN music store bought DRM’d files become unplayable because validation servers were shut down. Microsoft will now keep these servers up until 2011, which should give people plenty of time to find a way to crack the DRM. Good news for PC fans, as the PC version of BioShock will have its controversial and troublesome DRM removed. Sales stats show that games with lots of copy protection does not necessarily sell better than games without copy protection. Just like with music. This is mainly because most forms of copy protection can be easily broken, and also games without copy protection garners greater community support for buying the game (“Sins of a Solar Empire”, is one example). Both types of games will get pirated anyway.
But is piracy really a bad thing? Not according to piracy-evangelists, Sony, who finally admits that piracy has helped them sell lots of PSPs. I think most companies know that piracy helps just as much as it hinders, and without it, products often fail. Think PCs, DVDs, PlayStations, Nintendo DS and how easy it is to get pirated content on these platforms, and think of the competitors that failed and how hard it was to get pirated content on those platforms, and you begin to see a pattern. Also coming out of Japan and related to Sony, as well as the next section of this news update, Japan plans to put a piracy tax on Blu-ray disc recorders and blank discs. Yes, I’m sure doing this will greatly help reduce the high cost of Blu-ray recording, and I’m sure it will help Blu-ray catch up and replace DVD’s lead in this area.
Onto HD news now, and I must really stress on the fact that I have to leave very soon. Lots of positive news for Blu-ray, or is that positive spin, I don’t really know anymore. Studio presidents are claiming, or hoping, that Blu-ray sales will reach $1 Billion dollars in 2008. DVDs sell this much every two months, by the way. Blu-ray take-up is faster than DVD’s at the same time in the development phase, but only European figures are available or quoted, which makes me suspicious. Plus, this is only significant if Blu-ray follows the same pattern of growth as DVD, which I highly doubt since DVD saw an explosion of mass consumer uptake (after a rather quiet start), and I doubt Blu-ray will see something similar, since it’s not a revolutionary format, merely an evolution one. And it appears I’m not the only one that thinks that, as a research study comes up with pretty much the same prediction: that Blu-ray’s win over HD DVD may be hollow. 
The study makes several very valid points, including a lot based on similar formats in the past and their performances, plus future distribution methods for movies which will slowly destroy the optical disc as the most preferred method. Video-On-Demand and truly interactive TV, is something that I think will take on both the notion of the traditional TV broadcast, as well as the necessity to buy and keep lots of movies for “on demand” viewing. When I read the next article’s headline, I thought that they were trying to say the same thing too, but I was wrong. The article with headline Interactive TV: Blu-ray’s Worst Enemy was actually about the Profile 2.0 features for Blu-ray (Internet connectivity), and how this is causing problems for studios when creating discs that need to be compatible with players that do not support Profile 2.0. A problem that could have easily been avoided though, simply by having one mandatory profile that supports everything, much like DVDs.
And finally in gaming, sorry, but I really have to go now as people are waiting for me. But before I go, I will tell you about how the PS3 will beat the PS2 in hardware sold, as least according to Sony (a lot of “according to Sony” in this edition). It’s going to take a while, or something unexpected to occur, before it happens though (127 million versus 13 million, is the current score). But an in-game XMB (finally!) and “Trophies” (Xbox 360’s Achievements copied) will certainly help the PS3 sell more units, when these additions arrive in the next major firmware update. 
Wii Fit, following the fine example set by Wii Sports early on, is causing millions of dollars of collateral damage when people play. The Wii really does help the economy in more than one way, doesn’t it? How many windows, doors, coffee tables, LCD screens, desk lamps and other such things has the Wii caused to be replaced, and hence, improve the economy? Wii-insurance might be the next big thing, you know.
Ok, I really have to do now. I’m sorry I’m in such a hurry today, but you know how things are. Oh wait, Star Trek: TNG is on TV now … it’s a season 3 episode I haven’t seen in a long time … might just sit down and watch for a bit, I’ll call and tell people that I’m going to be a bit late. Checks TV guide. Voyager, DS9 and Enterprise on next? A Star Trek marathon? Awesome! Maybe I will have to cancel my plans, since how often does a Star Trek marathon happen anyway (twice a month, at most!).
I’m such a geek …