Intel to cut Linux out of the content marketComment East Fork off keyBy Charlie Demerjian: Friday 15 July 2005, 10:01INTEL IS ABOUT TO CUT Linux out of the legitimate content market, and hand the keys to the future of digital media to Microsoft at your expense. Don't like it? Tough, you are screwed. The vehicle to do this is called East Fork, the upcoming and regrettable Intel digital media 'platform'. The funny part is that the scheme is already a failure, but it will hurt you as it thrashes before it dies. Be afraid, be very afraid.First, lets explore what East Fork (EF) is. It is basically a media server PC on steroids with a lot of interesting software. The downside is that it is aiming for you, not aimed at you. The first iteration, due out in Q1 2006, is based on a Smithfield dual core Pentium 4 with the Lakeport and ICH7-DH chipsets, a fairly plain combo. You also need a S-ATA HD with NCQ, and Intel HD Audio, but you can supplement that with anything else you need as long as it is on the board. You also need MS Media Center Edition 2006 (MCE 2006).This will be replaced shortly after launch with a version based on Yonah, more like late Q1 2006, but since the Smithfield one slipped so much, this one might be delayed as well. It replaces the chipsets with Calistoga and ICH7-DHM, not a big change, and the rest remains the same. How they are going to sell a 64 bit launch and a quarter later an 'upgrade' to a 32 bit version is beyond me, but it isn't my idea. The replacement of the 130W Smithfield by the 31W Yonah won't cause many loud complaints, and the exhaust temperature of your stereo cabinet might go down a few orders of magnitude.The concept is collectively called EF, and the one key to this all is something called the EF platform driver. It does a bunch of neato things, it will use all the horsepower the CPUs can throw at it, and a lot more. The first thing is that it will transcode content on the fly, and is officially stated as 'Transcodes content that's not supported by Digital Media Adaptor into a supported format'. Sounds cool, except the, and I mean the supported format right now is .WMV. It also can do the same for bandwidth, basically it transrates on the fly. No abject evil here, it is a good idea in every way.Secure premium content muddleThe problem is something called the Secure Premium Content Module (SPCM), and its reason for being is to decrypt MS DRM fast and 'securely'. It is an open question as to how this security benefits the user though. Anything other than Microsoft DRM is listed as 'possible' for SPCM, but as now, the list of additional supported DRM providers is zero. The transcoding will basically add DRM to anything that touches the box, preventing you from using any fair use rights, and preventing legal sharing. This strategy worked well enough to turn the mighty Sony into an also ran in the MP3 player market.There are also a few more goodies. One is called Energy Lake, an instant-on technology. It does what it says it does, press the button, and the beast springs to life in short order, think more toward the speed of a DVD player than a PC. This is a good thing for all involved, and hopefully will spread farther than the EF platform.Last up is the EF online zone, which is one of those portals where you are a captive, and can 'freely choose' to spend your money in the ways they want you to but only on the limited selections they offer. There will be 'exclusive content' for those who appropriately tithe, think the latest Brittney pablum for those with short attention spans. Don't expect anything that you can't find on the web for less, you are captive and you have large corporate profit margins to support.I say captive because although it will support other shells that are not MCE 2006, it will only support other shells, but not programs. This is not the same as being open in any way shape or form, you are locked in, period. That's not to say that there will not be choices. There have to be at least two providers in each country where it launches to provide the content, but the blessed ones are the only ones. Call me absurdly cynical if you like, but I expect there is a lot of money changing hands here, and it will come out of your pocket in the end.With the Intel GMA950 GPU, it will decode up to 720p and 1080i, but no guarantees on 1080p. If they allow you to use an Nvidia card, a 6600GT with PureVideo and the right drivers should make 1080p a distinct possibility. That should be 'good enough' for most uses.In Q1 2006, East Fork will launch in seven countries, the US, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and the PRC. Notably absent is the UK, but on the upside, it looks like their buses will be spared the indignity of the ad campaign. At least the iPod ones don't look all that bad.This advertising campaign is going to be huge, about one third of a billion US dollars. Remember the Centrino campaign? That is what you are in for, an inferior product that sells you out for more money. There will be EF devices, EF branded content and probably EF branded contraceptives to use while watching EF branded porn.Up the river without a paddleSo, that is what it is, how does it sell you up the river? The first part is DRM. Any DRM on a machine is simply a sign of failure. It signifies that the providers cannot, or will not provide you with a good product at a fair price. People are inherently averse to getting screwed, in the way that Intel is doing mind you, and if you try to screw people, they will avoid you. If you offer them something they actually want, they tend to readily open their wallets. This crushing DRM that is being foisted upon you is the surest sign that you don't want this product, and you will be paying too much for it. Don't like that? Bought legislators are hard at work making sure you will go to jail if you try to exercise your rights on the issue.Remember there was a time when something called fair use existed? Remember when you could rip a CD to your MP3 player to listen to in your car, or while out biking? That was and is called fair use. Breaking down the term, fair means equitable, and use means to use. Both are about to be stripped from you, but you get to pay for the privilege.Here's how it works. The record companies, and to a far lesser degree the movie studios, are rapacious greedy bastards that have a failing business model. No, really, look at the numbers, they are on a treadmill where they need bigger and bigger hits to support the 90 plus per cent of projects that don't make dollar one. Each time, they spend more and more money making the latest plastic knuckle dragger seem cool enough so you will part with your money.It is getting harder and harder to do, mainly because quality is declining so rapidly. So, rather than go for quality and content you want to buy, they are trying to make it so you have to buy, and crying to legislators that you are evil if you don't consume how they want, when they want, in the ways that they want. Pay per play has these cretins drooling.Add in the fact that they completely missed the boat for digital media, obstructed its growth at every possible turn, and sued their prime consumers when they didn't flock to sup-par offerings at super-par pricing, and you have a recipe for failure. This is exactly what the record companies are doing, failing, and it is richly deserved. Some adapted early, Go-Kart being a prime example, are doing the right thing for the right reasons. The vast majority are not.In their failing, they are passing laws left and right that make you a criminal for doing things that you were entitled to do up until it did not make several large corporations enough money. Don't like it? How many Congressmen do you own?Their excuse it that they won't enter a market without what they deem as adequate protection. Silly me, it seems that they define adequate protection as charging more for a download than a physical product that has actual costs to produce, ship, stock and sell. It is a flat out sham, and strangely, people are stupid enough to believe it, and buy the fact that the poor record companies will lose their shirts if they so much as dip a toe in the water without DRM. They can't come in without you giving up your fair use rights.That is a lie, they voluntarily left, and choose not to enter without you kneeling before them and giving up your civil liberties. It would be laughable if so many people didn't do just that. A good analogy was one I used on a person giving a speech about DRM a few months ago. I said imagine that during his speech, I walk up on stage with a baseball bat, and for no reason, start hitting him. Then, out of the goodness of my heart, I stop hitting him, does this suddenly make me a nice guy? The record companies are hitting you by not supporting the current prevailing formats, and are asking you to call them nice guys when they stop hitting you. I hope you are not that stupid.East Fork handlesBack to EF though, there are a lot of problems, and it mainly starts with exclusive support for Microsoft DRM. There is no other, and as of the last time I checked, there will not be. Intel refuse to comment on unannounced products, but others have told me there is nothing but Microsoft DRM.If you look at the history of the public, lets call them sheeple, they take what they are given, grin and bear it. Netscape, Real and others have all fallen victim to the Microsoft bundling machine, and even if EF has the option to include other forms, there will be none in the box to start.What do you think content providers will encode in, Microsoft or some other format that has a vastly higher probability of not being on the box? By Intel selling out to MS for co-advertising dollars, they basically hand all content over to MS controlled and MS licensed schemes. Not a problem if you are willing to pay MS for the privilege of using their codecs.How about if you are using a non-MS platform? You can always pay Microsoft for the privilege, and several Linux based devices do, but they charge you for it. They also have handcuffs placed on them as to what they can do after that. Forget 'free' as in beer, 'free' as in freedom just went away with a whimper, not a bang. Also, if you think Microsoft is cheap or altruistic, wait until they are a monopoly here too. History is a great guide.So, with this single coup, Intel is handing the keys of the digital media kingdom to MS, and content providers will follow like the sheep they are. In almost no time, Microsoft will be the default digital media codec, in the same way that people 'chose' the 'superior' IE and WMP programs. When the content follows, which it will, you are locked in.But you can always play it on another player, Linux will have something that can read it, right? Not legally in the US anyway, there are laws against circumventing protection mechanisms, and DRM is just that. Fair use and your rights are going to go away when EF comes to town.Linux is verbotenSo, Linux becomes a forbidden for those who want to watch a movie legally. Think this is by chance? Think it won't catch on? There is a $300 million plus ad campaign cooking to make sure you equate digital media with EF, and don't question that you are giving up all your rights to pay for the privilege. People are stupid, and by the time they catch on that the EF machine they bought is the main method that they are being screwed by, it will be too late and you won't be able to buy anything else. Trust me, this really is the plan.I have asked Intel several questions, and never really got a satisfactory answer to any of them, mainly because I don't think they can answer them honestly. The first one is, 'who is your customer for EF, is it the consumer or the record companies?' That is the round about way of saying, are you doing this for our benefit, or the content providers? When I asked it, I don't think they had considered it enough. Now, Intel's actions speak louder than words, and the answer is that it is not for our benefit.The second question is how does DRM benefit the consumer? Intel deflects this deftly if you ask it, you get an answer to the question 'why is your DRM version better than theirs?'. Intel replies that a single standard is better than multiple fragmentary standards. Intel won't point out that a single walled garden is no better than several, and in many ways can screw you just as much. If Intel had the guts to push a single free standard, free as in freedom not necessarily as in beer, then I would have no problem with it.The problem is that there is no theoretical, practical or implementation benefit of DRM for the consumer. It costs money to develop, costs money to implement, and adds hardware and complexity to a device. This all comes out of your pocket while it takes your rights away.Intel has apparently failed here, and sucked up to the money danglers at your expense. The 'solution' it is offering, EF, only takes your rights away when you write a cheque and so it is the wet dream of every media executive out there. MS is rubbing its hands with glee, it gets a chunk of everything played from 2006 on, and consumers have to just bend over and take it.If you don't like it, you can live without music, TV and movies, an increasingly appealing proposition to me. You cannot play things without tithing, that would be illegal, and probably you're even a thought crime citizen. The fact that the 'brains' at Intel and Microsoft could not come up with a scheme that makes them money in a way that you and I would want to buy is a shining badge of failure.Thanks a heap, IntelThis whole East Fork scheme is a failure from the start. It brings nothing positive to the table, costs you money, and rights. If you want to use Linux to view your legitimately purchased media, you will be a criminal. In fact, if you want to take your legitimately bought media with you on a road trip and don't feel the need to pay again for it - fair use, remember - you are also a criminal. Wonderful.Intel has handed the keys to the digital media kingdom to several convicted monopolists who have no care at all for their customers. The excuse Intel gives you if you ask is that they are producing tools, and only tools, their use is not up to Intel. The problem here is that Intel has given the said tools to some of the most rapacious people on earth. If you give the record companies a DRM scheme that goes from 1 (open) to 10 (unusably locked down), they will start at 14 and lobby Congress to mandate that it can be turned up higher by default.In closing, thanks Intel for selling us out. Thanks Microsoft, for being Microsoft. Thanks RIAA, MPAA and the other for being shining examples of unbridled greed. You and I, we were sold out, and when East Fork debuts in Q1 2006, there won't be much you can do about it, legally anyway. Enjoy the little freedom you have left.
Your new hardware is already brokenIt is a grand schemeBy Charlie Demerjian: Friday 05 August 2005, 08:41CURRENT LARGE COMPUTER VENDORS, monitor makers, graphics card people and most notably Microsoft are being way dodgy with their current offerings. Why? DRM (Digital Rights Management) of course.Anyone reading this knows my position on this topic, the weasels feel that they are not making enough money every time you view content. So, to make up for this, they are forcing you to pay more and ultimately stripping you of your rights through invasive DRM.The dodgy part comes with current offerings, they are broken under LongVista, all of them. The High-Bandwidth Digital Copy Protection (HDCP) or User Reaming to Maximize Profit (URMP pronounced 'your rump', quite fitting) means your current brand spanking new media centre PC, should you be dumb enough to buy one, will not work when Shorthorn comes out.Yes, if you want to watch overpriced media, you need URMP. If you don't have it, your shiny new $2000 media centers and gaming stations will put up a blank screen, or if you are eminently lucky, a fuzzy image. This is to protect 'them', not you, which is why HDCP is such a stealth-evil acronym, people don't ask who is being protected, the sheeple just spend.So, you are buying these machines, $1200 24-inch Dell monitors, $500 Nvidia GPUs, all exceedingly nice hardware BTW, and they are all broken. You are pissing your money away. Assume a three year lifespan for most hardware, probably more if you buy a pimped out SLi rig with a dual everything a a huge monitor. Sure, you are spending more than the cost of a decent car, but it really is a nice machine.Won't you be surprised that in a year or so, your slightly less new, but still blazingly fast machine is now a doorstop. You won't be able to legally play content, and there is no realistic upgrade path. There are boxes, adaptors and eSwizzle-sticks(TM) that will make things possibly work, but they will cost more than new hardware, and almost assuredly will have less functionality.So, where is the dodgy part? Well, they know this now, and are merrily taking your money on knowingly defective hardware. Anyone who thinks that ShortVista won't make up 85% plus of the OSes sold in the near future is crazy. With lengthening hardware life cycles, it is also fairly probable that a large number of the installations out there will be upgraded to this DRM infested nightmare.Hardware vendors are selling you this now, and it won't work in the future. They also know it won't work, because if it would, they would be shouting it from every rooftop. So, if you are in the market right now, you have two choices. You can get something that is broken, but that is hidden from you, or you can wait. If you wait, you get URMP tainted hardware that strips you of your rights, but you get to pay more.Basically, you are a pawn in a grand plot to funnel more money into the RIAA and MPAA member companies. Your rights? Fair play? All casualties. They know, and they are actively hiding it from you, yet you feed them more each time.
The Big Fat High-Def Interview How to screw everything up and still succeedBy Martin Lynch: Wednesday 05 April 2006, 10:31 THEM: We've finally cracked it and developed high density disc technology.Us: Hurray. Them: This will allow for amazing storage capacity and the creation of super high-resolution movies, twice as good as DVD and four times better than TV. Us: Double Hurray. Them: However, there are two competing disc formats. Us: Huh? Them: Yes. Blu Ray and HD DVD. Us: Why? Them: Er, because we're greedy.Us: Have you ever heard of VHS and Betamax? Them: Trust us, this is really different and won't divide the market or confuse customers. Us: Really? Them: Well, no. Us: Pardon? Them: Remember when we said that two formats wouldn't divide the market or confuse and pi** off customers? Us: Yes Them: We lied. It's divided the disc player market down the middle. Us: Ah crap. Anything else? Them: Erm.. Us: Out with it. Them: Hollywood studios have split into two camps, some supporting Blu Ray and the rest HD DVD, meaning your favourite movies will probably arrive on two different formats. Us: Ah crap. Them: Yeah sorry. We did have numerous opportunities to try and make both formats compatible but due to internal pressures, technical difficulties and launch schedules we were unable to accommodate such common sense. Us: In English please. Them: Couldn't see past the dollar signs, sorry. Listen, controlling the next generation format of high density disc that the whole world will use for storage and high-def movies is so much more attractive than controlling half the market and potentially losing the battle to the other format.Us: But what about us, the customers? Them: You'll get over it. Us: Grrr. Them: Look on the bright side, high-def movies are nearly here and some companies will make dual format players albeit they will cost more. Us: At least my high-resolution LCD panel is ready for the new moviesThem: Sure it is. Probably. Us: Probably? Them: Trust us. Us: You said that last time. What do you mean 'probably'? Them: Now don't get upset but there's a teeny weenie little piece of technology in the copyright protection system called Image Constraint Token (ICT). Us: Go on. Them: ICT is a digital flag within the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), which is the digital rights management (DRM) standard. You've probably heard about DRM, everyone loves it. Us: In English pleaseThem: It's to stop you scumbags err, we mean valued customers - pirating high def movies. Us: How does it work? Them: Well if you try an output the high-def movies from your player to your TV via unsecured component inputs, ICT cranks up and downgrades the image quality to that of DVD quality. Us: I'm not sure that's very fair. Them: Trust us, you have nothing to worry about. As long as you connect the disc player and your LCD TV using a HDMI cable you have nothing to worry about. Us: HDMI? Them: Yeah, the High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) it allows for high-def pictures and sound to be fired through a single cable and, it supports the DRM technology. Most new HDTVs have one. Us: Mine doesn't. Them: OhUs: What do you mean 'Oh'? Them: Well, that means you're screwed. Us: What? Them: Obviously some people with older LCD or plasma screens will be affected somewhat by thisUs: How many is 'some'? Them: Well, most of you actually. Us: So, let me get this straight. The majority of people that have invested in high-definition capable screens in recent years will be able to watch high-def movies, just not in high definition because their sets don't have HDMI inputs and ICT will downgrade the image quality? Them: Yes, that's it. Us: That's crazy. These are the people who will most likely get the whole HD ball rolling. Them: That is correct. Us: Does alienating the majority of potential customers usually work when you're trying to launch a new format? Them: It's not ideal but mainstream consumers are stupid. They'll cave in and buy another TV. Us: What? Them: Hold that thought, newsflash coming in. Apparently people not that stupid. Just really angry. It seems that the millions of people out there with older HDTVS are really riled up over this ICT thing. Revolt imminent. Us: So now what will you do? Them: Caving in seems like a viable option. So far Sony and a number of Hollywood studios have decided not to implement ICT on their movies. Universal has just ditched ICT too, although Warner is toughing it out. Us: Phew. Common sense at last. Them: Tactical withdrawal. Us: Pardon? Them: ICT is not gone, just put on ice. Us: Huh? Them: Well, if the world's consumers see that they can use their older HDTVs to view high-def movies, they will start buying players and movies like hotcakes. This gives the TV manufacturers a chance to ensure that all their new TVs have HDMI inputs. Within a year or two, sales of HDMI-equipped TVs will outnumber older HDTVs with no HDMI. Us: So? Them: Once that happens and those older TVs are outnumbered, we bring back ICT? Us: But that's not fair. That means all those early adopters with older HDTVs, who helped get your new technology off the ground will be screwed. Again. Them: Life sucksUs: Pardon? Them: We mean, trust us. It'll all be fine. Probably.
Microsoft Media Player shreds your rights Comment No more backups, or TivoBy Charlie Demerjian: Thursday 21 September 2006, 10:08 THINK DRM WAS bad already? Think I was joking when I said the plan was to start with barely tolerable incursions on your rights, then turn the thumbscrews? Welcome to Windows Media Player 11, and the rights get chipped away a lot more. Get used to the feeling, if you buy DRM infected media, you will only have this happen with increasing rapidity.One of the problems with WiMP11 is licensing and backing it up. If you buy media with DRM infections, you can't move the files from PC to PC, or at least you can't and have them play on the new box. If you want the grand privilege of moving that content, you need to get the approval of the content mafia, sign your life away, and use the tools they give you. If you want to do it in other ways, you are either a lawbreaker or following the advice of J Allard. Wait, same thing.So, in WiMP10, you just backed up your licenses, and stored them in a safe place. Buying DRM infections gets you a bunch of bits and a promise not to sue, but really nothing more. The content mafia will do anything in its power, from buying government to rootkitting you in order to protect those bits, and backing them up leaves a minor loophole while affording the user a whole lot of protection.Guess which one wins, minor loophole or major consumer rights? Yes, WiMP11 will no longer allow you the privilege of backing up your licenses, they are tied to a single device, and if you lose it, you are really SOL. Remember that feeling I mentioned earlier? This is nothing less than a civil rights coup, and most people are dumb enough to let it happen.Read the links, the entire page is scary as hell, but the licensing part takes the cake. "Windows Media Player 11 does not permit you to back up your media usage rights (previously known as licenses)", Wow, new terminology, old idea, you are a wallet with legs waiting to be raped. "The store might limit the number of times that you can restore your rights or limit the number of computers on which can use the songs or videos that you obtain from them. Some stores do not permit you to restore media usage rights at all." Translation, not our problem, and get bent, we got your cash.But it gets worse. If you rip your own CDs, WiMP11 will take your rights away too. If the 'Copy protect music' option is turned on, well, I can't top their 1984 wording. "If the file is a song you ripped from a CD with the Copy protect music option turned on, you might be able to restore your usage rights by playing the file. You will be prompted to connect to a Microsoft Web page that explains how to restore your rights a limited number of times." This says to me it will keep track of your ripping externally, and remove your rights whether or not you ask it to. Can you think of a reason you would need to connect to MS for permission to play the songs you ripped from you own CDs? How long do you think it will be before a service pack, masquerading as a 'critical security patch' takes away the optional part of the 'copy protection'? Now do you understand why they have been testing the waters on WiMP phoning home? Think their firewall will stop it even if you ask?Then when you go down on the page a bit, it goes on to show that it guts Tivo capabilities. After three days, it kills your recordings for you, how thoughtful of them. Going away for a week? Tough, your rights are inconvenient to their profits, so they have to go. "Recorded TV shows that are protected with media usage rights, such as some TV content recorded on premium channels, will not play back after 3 days when Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP is installed on Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. No known workaround to resolve this issue exists at this time." Workaround my *ss, this is wholesale rights removal by design.What WiMP11 represents is one of the biggest thefts of your rights that I can think of. MS planned this, pushed the various pieces slowly, and this is the first big hammer to drop. Your rights, the promises they made, and anything else that gets in the way of the content mafia making yet more money gets thrown out. Why? Greed. Your rights? History. You were dumb enough to let it happen, don't say I didn't warn you. ΅
FBI wants all your details ISPs must hang onto dataBy Nick Farrell: Thursday 19 October 2006, 07:27US ISPs have been told that they must record all their customers' online transactions so that the FBI can sift through them.According to Cnet, FBI boss Robert Mueller said that knowing the minutia of what Americans get up to online was the only way to protect them from terrorists and paedophiles.In a speech at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Boston Mueller said that terrorists coordinate their plans cloaked in the anonymity of the Internet, as did violent sexual predators prowling chat rooms. He failed to mention witches, but a few hundred years ago they might have got a mention too.Of course he doesn't have much in the way of law yet to back up his demands that ISPs store the data, but many believe that legislation is on its way.Current laws require data to be held for 90 days, but coppers have complained that by the time they get the snooping permits, ISPs have already deleted the data.
RIAA wants the Internet shut downInteresting argument of the dayBy Nick Farrell: Wednesday 29 November 2006, 08:38ONE OF THE lawyers involved in defending cases bought against people by the RIAA claims that if the music industry wins a crucial case, the Internet will have to be switched off.Speaking on the DefectiveByDesign anti-DRM campaign site, Ray Beckerman said the case of Electro vs. Barker has become very important for the web's future.Barker was being defended by Beckerman who made a motion to dismiss the case because the RIAA had forgot to provide any acts or dates or times of copyright infringement as the law normally requires.The RIAA argued that by merely making files available on the Internet Barker was making a copyright infringement.Beckerman said that it was a shocking argument because if it were accepted by the court it would probably shut down the entire Internet. If you send any file on the Net the RIAA will be allowed to suspect that you are in breach of copyright.What was more disturbing is that the RIAA called up its mates in Washington to back it up. Apparently the United States Government has put in motions supporting the RIAA. ΅
RIAA's price secrets probedDamned if it tells, damned if it doesn'tBy Nick Farrell: Friday 05 January 2007, 07:45A FILE SHARING court case is getting the RIAA deeper into hot water, this time over the matter of pricing.For ages the RIAA has been claiming in court that the amount of damages it needs from pirates is $750 per song.This figure is being challenged in the case of UMG v. Lindor where the RIAA is being told that it must come up with a more realistic figure and closer to the actual damages involved based around the wholesale price for a single.Observers have been wondering why the RIAA has been fighting to keep its wholesale pricing secret.Many assumed that it is because the figure is only 70 cents a single. However, according to Ars Technica, the reason might be a bit more important than the problem of file sharing.Any proposed order would force the labels to turn over contracts with their 12 largest customers. While most details would be kept confidential, the pricing information and volume would not.This would reveal to the world if any price shenanigans were going on between the RIAA members and could cause them more problems with regulators than it would like.Already investigations into industry pricing have revealed a Byzantine system of backscratching between record labels and distributors and the last thing the RIAA wants is to have details of this information made public.If Lindor wins then the most the RIAA would ever be able to charge a pirate in the US will be between $2.80 and $7.00 per song. However the RIAA might also find itself up in front of a Senate inquiry.More here. ΅
Microsoft purges Scroogle from MSN messengerSpeak not of things unvolishBy INQUIRER newsdesk: Tuesday 09 January 2007, 13:12AN INQUIRER READER says he doscovered that Microsoft's MSN Messenger won't let users send a message containing the word www.scroogle.org to anyone.If you try, he says, "the message just gets deleted and never reaches the other person - it still appears in the messages you've sent, though."We had a bash and, spookily enough, experienced the same thing.Scroogle is the website that lets you do Google searches without having everything you search for permanently recorded.As our reader notes, the phenomenon is notable "because Microsoft doesn't block messages containing pr0n websites, or known websites that distribute spyware/viruses, or even technically (as far as Americans are concerned) illegal ones like allofmp3.com. It doesn't even block Mac website.As our reader, John, says: "All Scroogle does is prevent grubby companies from permanently recording everything you look at on the internet..." Quite. ΅
Senate urged to stop spooks data-miningLaws need an updateBy Nick Farrell: Thursday 11 January 2007, 08:48US FEDERAL LAWS protecting privacy have fallen behind the technology used by government spooks to spy on citizens, a Senate hearing was told.Leslie Harris, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Privacy Act and other laws needed a make-over to deal with the Digital Age.According to Associated Press, she was concerned about how government departments were mining data to compile secret dossiers for clues to the identity of terrorists or criminals.The hearing is the first since the Democrats retook control of the Senate and is the beginning of a series on privacy-related debates. The Democrats are planning a Federal Data Mining Reporting Act which requires federal agencies to regularly inform Congress about their use of data mining. ΅
Popsters head for the charts without making a recordDownloaders tipped to hit top 40By INQUIRER newsdesk: Thursday 11 January 2007, 13:17ESSEX FAUX-ROCKERS Koopa may well become the first ever unsigned group to score a place in the UK top 40 chart, thanks to recent alterations in the chart rules to include digital single sales even if no CD version is available.The band's single "Blag, Steal and Borrow" - which is only available for download - looks like it could hit the top 40 this Sunday according to early sales figures, reports the BBC.Koopa seem pretty chuffed with the new chart rules: "It does give hope for genuine talent," said singer and bassist Joe Murphy. "You can release a song and if you've got the fanbase and people buy it, you'll get into the charts - it's great." He reckons that other unsigned bands will be taking advantage of the new rules too, which could redefine the way chart music is as a whole.The way most listeners are downloading the single is via their mobile phones, says the band's manager Gary Raymond. While most teens don't have a credit card to buy music online, they do have mobile phones, thus Koopa's solution: send a text in to a special number for £1.50 and the text-ee will be texted back with a code enabling them to download the song onto a computer.
Flash will kill Blu-ray and HD DVDYou can see this comingBy Theo Valich in Las Vegas: Sunday 14 January 2007, 07:13IN A RUN UP to the next generation console war between Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Bill Gates said that HD-DVD and Blu-ray are not important, since they represent the last generation of optical media anyway. While many people overlooked the statement, that's pretty much right on target.With all DRM tech integrated inside Windows Vista, HD-DVD and Blu-ray, companies are forgetting one small thing. Not all consumers are idiots, although many of the companies would like that. While Joe Sixpack may be the ideal guy to ditch around and tell him to spend his money on something he'll rarely use, that may be the case with $10, not with something that costs $1,000 or more.So, what technology is going to win the optical standards war? The answer is flash memory. If you're asking yourself why, the answer is fairly simple and that's ease of use, plus a continuously falling price and sky high capacity.Sandisk launched a device which could, single-handedly, whack all optical media in the next five to six years. The concept is fairly simple. You place the device between standard definition source without HD support, and a TV, and it will pull the content onto a flash card, so that you can play the video on your mobile gizmo.And this is only the beginning. We have talked to several industry analysts about the trends, and it seems that consumers are willing to sacrifice quality for mobility, as we see now in the notebook segment. Desktops are better, and they offer far greater performance and reliability, but notebooks sell like hot cakes. If Hollywood does not wake up and smell the coffee, it will be too late. And Charlie will be happy. ΅
