News aggregator
EA: Origin is doing very well
Electronic Arts reported its quarterly earnings on Friday and it appears that their new digital distribution platform Origin is doing very well.
The platform has 9.3 million registered users, almost 25 percent of large rival Steam, which was established well before Origins launched in May.
To date, Origin has generated "over $100 million in non-GAAP revenue since launch," read the report.
Into the future, Origin has signed 11 more publishers, including Trion, CD Projekt Red, Paradox Interactive and Robot Entertainment, so revenue and subscriber base should increase exponentially.
Finally, the upcoming blockbuster Mass Effect 3 will have an Origin requirement, meaning you can't activate the game without signing into Origin. Steam will not be getting the game.
The platform has 9.3 million registered users, almost 25 percent of large rival Steam, which was established well before Origins launched in May.
To date, Origin has generated "over $100 million in non-GAAP revenue since launch," read the report.
Into the future, Origin has signed 11 more publishers, including Trion, CD Projekt Red, Paradox Interactive and Robot Entertainment, so revenue and subscriber base should increase exponentially.
Finally, the upcoming blockbuster Mass Effect 3 will have an Origin requirement, meaning you can't activate the game without signing into Origin. Steam will not be getting the game.
Categories: Music News
iTunes Match is replacing your rap songs with censored versions
As reported earlier this week by Cultofmac, iTunes Match is either unintentionally (or intentionally) converting some explicit rap songs to their more benevolent censored versions.
iTunes Match is Apple's $25/year service that converts your entire library to "iTunes quality" and then stores the library in the cloud.
A few of the artists that appear to get censored more than others are Kanye West, N.E.R.D and Eminem.
Apple has responded to word of the "glitch" and says it is working on it: "Apple is currently investigating the issue and working on a fix."
iTunes Match is Apple's $25/year service that converts your entire library to "iTunes quality" and then stores the library in the cloud.
A few of the artists that appear to get censored more than others are Kanye West, N.E.R.D and Eminem.
Apple has responded to word of the "glitch" and says it is working on it: "Apple is currently investigating the issue and working on a fix."
Categories: Music News
Gamer dies in Internet cafe, no one notices all day
A gamer in Taiwan passed away at an Internet cafe last week, and no one noticed for a full 9 hours.
Chen Rong-yu, who was 23, suffered and died from a heart attack after playing League of Legends for almost 24 straight hours.
The gamer, playing in the cafe in New Taipei City, died but stayed in the same position, with his hands outstretched and on the keyboard. Rong-yu was known to take naps in his chair, so no one seemed to notice. There were 30 other people playing around him but no one noticed until rigor mortis had begun to set in. At that point, a waitress realized what had happened and called the police.
Rong-yu had a history of a bad heart, and initial tests say he died of a heart attack "brought on by low temperatures, fatigue and lack of movement," says the Mail.
Chen Rong-yu, who was 23, suffered and died from a heart attack after playing League of Legends for almost 24 straight hours.
The gamer, playing in the cafe in New Taipei City, died but stayed in the same position, with his hands outstretched and on the keyboard. Rong-yu was known to take naps in his chair, so no one seemed to notice. There were 30 other people playing around him but no one noticed until rigor mortis had begun to set in. At that point, a waitress realized what had happened and called the police.
Rong-yu had a history of a bad heart, and initial tests say he died of a heart attack "brought on by low temperatures, fatigue and lack of movement," says the Mail.
Categories: Music News
PS Vita sales remain slow
According to the latest figures from Media Create, Sony PS Vita sales remain extremely slow, but the company doesn't seem to be bothered by it.
In fact, Sony CFO Masaru Kato had this to say on the matter: "As far as the sell-through, three weeks have passed and sell-through is 500,000. This was announced on the 10th of January. So as a start, I think we had a very good start.
Including software and hardware, we are carrying out the sales promotions and we do it to boost the sales, and we do not think we have any problems."
Current lifetime sales are at just 535,000 units in Japan, with only 18,942 sold last week.
The console heads to the U.S. and Europe on February 22nd.
In fact, Sony CFO Masaru Kato had this to say on the matter: "As far as the sell-through, three weeks have passed and sell-through is 500,000. This was announced on the 10th of January. So as a start, I think we had a very good start.
Including software and hardware, we are carrying out the sales promotions and we do it to boost the sales, and we do not think we have any problems."
Current lifetime sales are at just 535,000 units in Japan, with only 18,942 sold last week.
The console heads to the U.S. and Europe on February 22nd.
Categories: Music News
Watch out, on Tuesday you won't be able to play some of your retail Ubisoft games
Starting on Tuesday, gaming developer Ubisoft will begin to move its data from one third-party server farm to a new farm, thus killing the ability of some legitimate gamers to play their purchased games.
As AfterDawn has reported repeatedly, Ubisoft is one of a couple of companies who employs an "always-connected" DRM, which means you must always be connected to the Internet to play their games.
While online play will be down for mostly all Ubisoft games until the migration is done, games with the DRM like "the Mac OS X version of the original Assassin's Creed, however, will be completely unplayable, as will the OSX version of Splinter Cell: Conviction and the PC versions of Might and Magic: Heroes VI and Tom Clancy's HAWX 2," says Joystiq.
Yes, that means even the single player versions of the games will be unplayable. Pirates will be able to play the games, however.
There is no accurate timetable for the migration.
As AfterDawn has reported repeatedly, Ubisoft is one of a couple of companies who employs an "always-connected" DRM, which means you must always be connected to the Internet to play their games.
While online play will be down for mostly all Ubisoft games until the migration is done, games with the DRM like "the Mac OS X version of the original Assassin's Creed, however, will be completely unplayable, as will the OSX version of Splinter Cell: Conviction and the PC versions of Might and Magic: Heroes VI and Tom Clancy's HAWX 2," says Joystiq.
Yes, that means even the single player versions of the games will be unplayable. Pirates will be able to play the games, however.
There is no accurate timetable for the migration.
Categories: Music News
Leaked video suggests a unified Windows for desktops, tablets and phones
Although the Windows Phone platform unquestionably represented a quantum leap forward in Microsoft mobile technology, underneath its slick interface and app support beats the heart of an outdated OS.
While iOS was developed from OS X and Android from Linux, Windows Phone 7 was built from an already dated platform called Windows CE. Starting with an existing mobile OS allowed Microsoft to develop Windows Phone into a finished product very quickly, but a lot of work would have been required to make it suitable for a modern tablet.
Last year Microsoft began detailing their plans for the touchscreen tablet market. While their vision does include Windows Phone's Metro interface, it is built on their next generation desktop OS. Windows 8 is essentially the culmination of work began at least a decade ago to redesign Windows for servers. The goal was to divide the OS into many separate parts which could be selectively installed.
The same changes which make it possible to minimize Windows' footprint on a server also proved useful in optimizing Windows for tablets. Combined with the touchscreen friendly Metro UI and new strategies to keep hardware in an idle state whenever possible, they make it possible for Microsoft to finally create a modern mobile OS.
According to Evan Blass at Pocketnow, that same technology will also be finding its way into Windows Phone 8. He says the information comes from a video Microsoft made for Nokia, their favored Windows Phone partner. Joe Belfiore of the Windows Phone team reportedly lists "kernel, networking stacks, security, and multimedia support" as areas where Windows 8 components will be adopted, or perhaps adapted, in Windows Phone 8.
This certainly seems like a logical move, perhaps the only sensible one, if Microsoft wants to compete with the iOS and Android ecosystems where the distinction between phone and tablet apps is largely non-existent. However, based on Blass' recounting of the Microsoft presentation, it appears there will be a somewhat wider gap between Windows Phone and Windows 8 than between tablets and phones running iOS or Android.
He says Belfiore indicated developers would be able to "reuse -- by far -- most of their code" when porting apps from Windows to Windows Phone. Perhaps that's an indication Windows Phone 8 is on a parallel development track, instead of being based directly on Windows 8. Or maybe it just means some Windows 8 components will be available for tablets, but left out of Windows Phone.
In fact, there would seem to be some merit to the latter approach for Microsoft. Unlike the iPad, which is successful largely because of its similarity with the iPhone, a Windows 8 tablet will likely succeed (or fail) based on how it compares to a Windows desktop. Features which may be essential for a Windows tablet could simply be bloat on a Windows smartphone.
While iOS was developed from OS X and Android from Linux, Windows Phone 7 was built from an already dated platform called Windows CE. Starting with an existing mobile OS allowed Microsoft to develop Windows Phone into a finished product very quickly, but a lot of work would have been required to make it suitable for a modern tablet.
Last year Microsoft began detailing their plans for the touchscreen tablet market. While their vision does include Windows Phone's Metro interface, it is built on their next generation desktop OS. Windows 8 is essentially the culmination of work began at least a decade ago to redesign Windows for servers. The goal was to divide the OS into many separate parts which could be selectively installed.
The same changes which make it possible to minimize Windows' footprint on a server also proved useful in optimizing Windows for tablets. Combined with the touchscreen friendly Metro UI and new strategies to keep hardware in an idle state whenever possible, they make it possible for Microsoft to finally create a modern mobile OS.
According to Evan Blass at Pocketnow, that same technology will also be finding its way into Windows Phone 8. He says the information comes from a video Microsoft made for Nokia, their favored Windows Phone partner. Joe Belfiore of the Windows Phone team reportedly lists "kernel, networking stacks, security, and multimedia support" as areas where Windows 8 components will be adopted, or perhaps adapted, in Windows Phone 8.
This certainly seems like a logical move, perhaps the only sensible one, if Microsoft wants to compete with the iOS and Android ecosystems where the distinction between phone and tablet apps is largely non-existent. However, based on Blass' recounting of the Microsoft presentation, it appears there will be a somewhat wider gap between Windows Phone and Windows 8 than between tablets and phones running iOS or Android.
He says Belfiore indicated developers would be able to "reuse -- by far -- most of their code" when porting apps from Windows to Windows Phone. Perhaps that's an indication Windows Phone 8 is on a parallel development track, instead of being based directly on Windows 8. Or maybe it just means some Windows 8 components will be available for tablets, but left out of Windows Phone.
In fact, there would seem to be some merit to the latter approach for Microsoft. Unlike the iPad, which is successful largely because of its similarity with the iPhone, a Windows 8 tablet will likely succeed (or fail) based on how it compares to a Windows desktop. Features which may be essential for a Windows tablet could simply be bloat on a Windows smartphone.
Categories: Music News
Could 2012 be ZTE's year to become a smartphone powerhouse?
IDC has released their annual report on the mobile phone market. As expected, Nokia and Samsung came out the overall leaders, with Apple finishing the year in third place.
While Apple moved fewer than a third as many units as Samsung, and a quarter that of Nokia, as the only vendor in the top five who exclusively makes smartphones, their showing was quite impressive. By contrast, Nokia's ability to retain the top spot, despite a sharp decline in Symbian smartphone sales, demonstrates just how dominant they remain in the feature phone market.
But perhaps the most impressive company last year was ZTE. The Chinese phone manufacturer maintained the fifth position, moving more than 66 million handsets and narrowing the gap with fourth place LG Electronics. While LG's sales plummeted more than 18 million units last year, ZTE improved by nearly 16 million handsets. ZTE's 17.1 million unit performance in the last quarter of the year was nearly a match for LG's 17.7 million.
(Data courtesy of IDC)
Of course, there is an important distinction between ZTE and the rest of the top companies. While Nokia, Samsung, and LG are all major players in the low end feature phone market, they also sell high end, high profit smartphones. Likewise, the iPhone's substantial margin is probably the envy of every other phone vendor.
ZTE's smartphones, on the other hand, are low end units. Continuing along this path could be problematic in the long term because it significantly limits margins. They hope to change that in 2012. Last December LTE USA CEO Lixin Cheng told the Wall Street Journal his company is planning to make a play for the high end smartphone market in the US.
Cheng didn't offer any specifics about the phones ZTE could be introducing in the US, but did suggest their plan was to offer phones comparable, feature wise, to the iPhone. "By 2015, we expect the U.S. to be the largest market for handsets for ZTE," he said.
While Apple moved fewer than a third as many units as Samsung, and a quarter that of Nokia, as the only vendor in the top five who exclusively makes smartphones, their showing was quite impressive. By contrast, Nokia's ability to retain the top spot, despite a sharp decline in Symbian smartphone sales, demonstrates just how dominant they remain in the feature phone market.
But perhaps the most impressive company last year was ZTE. The Chinese phone manufacturer maintained the fifth position, moving more than 66 million handsets and narrowing the gap with fourth place LG Electronics. While LG's sales plummeted more than 18 million units last year, ZTE improved by nearly 16 million handsets. ZTE's 17.1 million unit performance in the last quarter of the year was nearly a match for LG's 17.7 million.
(Data courtesy of IDC)
Of course, there is an important distinction between ZTE and the rest of the top companies. While Nokia, Samsung, and LG are all major players in the low end feature phone market, they also sell high end, high profit smartphones. Likewise, the iPhone's substantial margin is probably the envy of every other phone vendor.
ZTE's smartphones, on the other hand, are low end units. Continuing along this path could be problematic in the long term because it significantly limits margins. They hope to change that in 2012. Last December LTE USA CEO Lixin Cheng told the Wall Street Journal his company is planning to make a play for the high end smartphone market in the US.
Cheng didn't offer any specifics about the phones ZTE could be introducing in the US, but did suggest their plan was to offer phones comparable, feature wise, to the iPhone. "By 2015, we expect the U.S. to be the largest market for handsets for ZTE," he said.
Categories: Music News
Is ACTA a foregone conclusion or will it meet SOPA's fate?
With all the furor over SOPA and PIPA in recent months, the signing of the ACTA trade agreement last October by the US, Japan, and a handful of other countries has largely been ignored.
The Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement resulted from efforts by the entertainment industry to mandate copyright law via international agreement. It was written in secret, with the input of movie and recording industry lobbyists, but with the general public provided information only via leaks from various parties to the negotiations.
According to US President Obama, ACTA isn't actually a treaty, and therefore requires no ratification by the US Senate. In the EU, the process of approving ACTA is now in full swing. Thanks in part to the significant publicity generated by SOPA and PIPA protests, officials from several EU governments are coming under fire for supporting ACTA.
Last month representatives from all but five of the EU's 27 member states signed ACTA. The holdouts were Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia, Cyprus and Slovakia. This resulted in thousands of Polish citizens taking to the streets in protest. The next day AP published a picture of more than 20 Polish legislators staging their own protest by covering their faces with Guy Fawkes masks.
Poland isn't the only place where the public is pushing back against ACTA either. As ambassador to Japan, where all ACTA signings have taken place, Helena Drnovšek Zorko signed the treaty on behalf of Slovenia. She was so inundated with questions about the signing that she felt compelled to publicly apologize for her involvement.
When her comments received serious attention outside Slovenia, she also provided an English translation of her statement, which is definitely worth reading in full. She took responsibility for failing to live up to her responsibility as a Slovenian citizen, and expressed regret at her own failure to question ACTA's legitimacy:
I signed ACTA out of civic carelessness, because I did not pay enough attention. Quite simply, I did not clearly connect the agreement I had been instructed to sign with the agreement that, according to my own civic conviction, limits and withholds the freedom of engagement on the largest and most significant network in human history, and thus limits particularly the future of our children. I allowed myself a period of civic complacency, for a short time I unplugged myself from media reports from Slovenia, I took a break from Avaaz and its inflation of petitions, quite simply I allowed myself a rest. In my defence, I want to add that I very much needed this rest and that I am still having trouble gaining enough energy for the upcoming dragon year. At the same time, I am tackling a workload that increased, not lessened, with the advent of the current year. All in line with a motto that has become familiar to us all, likely not only diplomats: less for more. Less money and fewer people for more work. And then you overlook the significance of what you are signing. And you wake up the following morning with the weight of the unbearable lightness of some signature.
First I apologised to my children. Then I tried to reply to those acquaintances and strangers who expressed their surprise and horror. Because there are more and more of them, I am responding to them publicly. I want to apologise because I carried out my official duty, but not my civic duty. I don?t know how many options I had with regard to not signing, but I could have tried. I did not. I missed an opportunity to fight for the right of conscientious objection on the part of us bureaucrats.
But this was more than an apology for failing her countrymen. She also sought to shine a light on the politicians who were responsible for ACTA negotiations, and ultimately made the decision to sign it, after which they remained silent as the blame fell to her.
There has been a demonization of ?some sneak?, that is me, who in far-off Tokyo secretly signed something on her own initiative. This was heard in the Slovenian parliament and in the Slovenian media, and it is spreading on the web. It is dangerous particularly because it conceals the responsibility of those who had the power to decide, and did in fact decide, that Slovenia would be a signatory of ACTA. This was decided by the Slovenian government and by the parliamentary committee for EU matters, and before that, Slovenia was for quite some time involved in coordinating the agreement. All this was done with too little transparency, judging by the outraged responses that have appeared following the signing. Back then, the Slovenian media did not demonise this decision to the same extent as they now demonise my signature. This I consider very dangerous for the continuous (non-)development of democracy in Slovenia. At the same time, this means that I was not the only one whose attention slipped, that we, as Slovenian citizens, neglected our civic duty. And that there may be a little known party in the Slovenian political space that missed an excellent opportunity to gain votes in the recently concluded electoral struggle.
Finally, she urged the public to participate in a protest tomorrow in Slovenia's capital city of Ljubljana, writing:
Let my example be a cautionary tale of how swiftly we can make mistakes if we allow ourselves to slip. And if nothing else, we then sleep very badly.
Worldwide debate over ACTA
Unlike SOPA and PIPA, the fate of ACTA does not rest solely in the hands of the US. Citizens of other countries, largely marginalized in the annual debates over US antipiracy legislation, find themselves in a very different position with respect to ACTA. While two successive US presidents have effectively managed to exercise sole authority over ACTA in the US, opponents elsewhere appear unwilling to accept ACTA without a fight.
There is a growing movement to stage a unified day of protest against ACTA a week from tomorrow, on February 11. You can find extensive information about planned protests in various countries on the website of Access, a group working to promote Internet freedom. They are compiling a list of events, primarily being organized in EU member states.
A related protest is being planned in Canada, whose government signed ACTA last October. However, no protests are listed in other countries whose leaders signed that day. Of particular note is the apparent lack of activity in the US and Japan, whose governments' were the driving force in the secret ACTA negotiations. There is also no indication of a well organized movement in Australia or New Zealand.
On a more official level, Dutch MEP Marietje Schaake reached out to the Reddit community prior to last month's European signing event with details about parliamentary opposition to ACTA. Besides urging EU residents to contact their own MEPs, she announced plans to hold a hearing in April where concerns about ACTA will be heard, and said it will be webcast for public consumption. She even offered additional information on the hearing via her official email address - marietje.schaake-office@europarl.europa.eu.
In the US, Senator Ron Wyden has been challenging President Obama's authority to sign ACTA as an executive agreement, noting that intellectual property law is delegated to Congress in the US Constitution. When his general request to the White House was answered in vague terms by the USTR, who dodged the question of subject matter authority entirely, Wyden sent another request directly to the US State Department asking for a detailed opinion about what international obligations ACTA imposes.
There is also an active petition on the White House's We The People page which details the constitutional question and asks President Obama to submit ACTA to the Senate for ratification as a treaty. A White House response to a pair of anti-SOPA/PIPA petitions last month was the first sign of opposition to some of the worst provisions in those bills.
Educating yourself about ACTA
If you would like to learn more about ACTA, you can download the full text (in PDF form) from the European Commission's website in every EU language.
A legal analysis of ACTA's legal ramifications was produced last year by European Parliament's Legal Service, it was handled just as secretively as the treaty's negotiations. A request from the non-profit Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) requesting the text of that analysis was denied, and FFII's complaint that such secrecy violates EU law ignored.
What has been released is a "fact-sheet" from the European Commission (link to PDF) expressing support for ACTA. However, a French Internet freedom advocacy group called La Quadrature du Net has published a rebuttal which argues just the opposite. You can find the full text of that document below.
Debunking the EU Commission's "fact-sheet" on ACTA
var docstoc_docid="111911876";var docstoc_title="Debunking_the_EU_Commissions_fact-sheet_on_ACTA";var docstoc_urltitle="Debunking_the_EU_Commissions_fact-sheet_on_ACTA";
In the US, there is a little more analysis available, although it dates back to a previous ACTA draft. It was perfomed by the Congressional Research Service. Although CRS refused to release it to the public in any form, Senator Wyden did make a redacted copy available, which you can also read for yourself, along with his questions for the State Department.
The CRS letter is primarily instructive for understanding the open ended nature of ACTA, making it ripe for abuse by entertainment industry lobbyists looking to ensure the only changes to copyright law are stronger enforcement. By locking the US into a particular regime of IP laws, ACTA is designed to erect hurdles to the public taking back any IP protection granted in the past.
CRS Analysis of October, 2010 ACTA draft - redactedvar docstoc_docid="111914082";var docstoc_title="CRS Analysis of October, 2010 ACTA draft - redacted";var docstoc_urltitle="CRS Analysis of October, 2010 ACTA draft - redacted";
Senator Ron Wyden Asks State Department To Explain ACTA In The Context Of International Lawvar docstoc_docid="111914669";var docstoc_title="Senator Ron Wyden Asks State Department To Explain ACTA In The Context Of International Law";var docstoc_urltitle="Senator Ron Wyden Asks State Department To Explain ACTA In The Context Of International Law";
At this point, protests against ACTA appear to have had little effect on national governments. Of course, the same could be said for SOPA and PIPA protests at the beginning of January. Less than a month later both bills are stuck in legislative limbo.
While it remains to be seen if the same sort of organized effort will be mounted against ACTA, world leaders would be foolish to ignore the momentum those protests seem to have generated or the capabilities of web communities to mobilize people in large numbers.
The Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement resulted from efforts by the entertainment industry to mandate copyright law via international agreement. It was written in secret, with the input of movie and recording industry lobbyists, but with the general public provided information only via leaks from various parties to the negotiations.
According to US President Obama, ACTA isn't actually a treaty, and therefore requires no ratification by the US Senate. In the EU, the process of approving ACTA is now in full swing. Thanks in part to the significant publicity generated by SOPA and PIPA protests, officials from several EU governments are coming under fire for supporting ACTA.
Last month representatives from all but five of the EU's 27 member states signed ACTA. The holdouts were Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia, Cyprus and Slovakia. This resulted in thousands of Polish citizens taking to the streets in protest. The next day AP published a picture of more than 20 Polish legislators staging their own protest by covering their faces with Guy Fawkes masks.
Poland isn't the only place where the public is pushing back against ACTA either. As ambassador to Japan, where all ACTA signings have taken place, Helena Drnovšek Zorko signed the treaty on behalf of Slovenia. She was so inundated with questions about the signing that she felt compelled to publicly apologize for her involvement.
When her comments received serious attention outside Slovenia, she also provided an English translation of her statement, which is definitely worth reading in full. She took responsibility for failing to live up to her responsibility as a Slovenian citizen, and expressed regret at her own failure to question ACTA's legitimacy:
I signed ACTA out of civic carelessness, because I did not pay enough attention. Quite simply, I did not clearly connect the agreement I had been instructed to sign with the agreement that, according to my own civic conviction, limits and withholds the freedom of engagement on the largest and most significant network in human history, and thus limits particularly the future of our children. I allowed myself a period of civic complacency, for a short time I unplugged myself from media reports from Slovenia, I took a break from Avaaz and its inflation of petitions, quite simply I allowed myself a rest. In my defence, I want to add that I very much needed this rest and that I am still having trouble gaining enough energy for the upcoming dragon year. At the same time, I am tackling a workload that increased, not lessened, with the advent of the current year. All in line with a motto that has become familiar to us all, likely not only diplomats: less for more. Less money and fewer people for more work. And then you overlook the significance of what you are signing. And you wake up the following morning with the weight of the unbearable lightness of some signature.
First I apologised to my children. Then I tried to reply to those acquaintances and strangers who expressed their surprise and horror. Because there are more and more of them, I am responding to them publicly. I want to apologise because I carried out my official duty, but not my civic duty. I don?t know how many options I had with regard to not signing, but I could have tried. I did not. I missed an opportunity to fight for the right of conscientious objection on the part of us bureaucrats.
But this was more than an apology for failing her countrymen. She also sought to shine a light on the politicians who were responsible for ACTA negotiations, and ultimately made the decision to sign it, after which they remained silent as the blame fell to her.
There has been a demonization of ?some sneak?, that is me, who in far-off Tokyo secretly signed something on her own initiative. This was heard in the Slovenian parliament and in the Slovenian media, and it is spreading on the web. It is dangerous particularly because it conceals the responsibility of those who had the power to decide, and did in fact decide, that Slovenia would be a signatory of ACTA. This was decided by the Slovenian government and by the parliamentary committee for EU matters, and before that, Slovenia was for quite some time involved in coordinating the agreement. All this was done with too little transparency, judging by the outraged responses that have appeared following the signing. Back then, the Slovenian media did not demonise this decision to the same extent as they now demonise my signature. This I consider very dangerous for the continuous (non-)development of democracy in Slovenia. At the same time, this means that I was not the only one whose attention slipped, that we, as Slovenian citizens, neglected our civic duty. And that there may be a little known party in the Slovenian political space that missed an excellent opportunity to gain votes in the recently concluded electoral struggle.
Finally, she urged the public to participate in a protest tomorrow in Slovenia's capital city of Ljubljana, writing:
Let my example be a cautionary tale of how swiftly we can make mistakes if we allow ourselves to slip. And if nothing else, we then sleep very badly.
Worldwide debate over ACTA
Unlike SOPA and PIPA, the fate of ACTA does not rest solely in the hands of the US. Citizens of other countries, largely marginalized in the annual debates over US antipiracy legislation, find themselves in a very different position with respect to ACTA. While two successive US presidents have effectively managed to exercise sole authority over ACTA in the US, opponents elsewhere appear unwilling to accept ACTA without a fight.
There is a growing movement to stage a unified day of protest against ACTA a week from tomorrow, on February 11. You can find extensive information about planned protests in various countries on the website of Access, a group working to promote Internet freedom. They are compiling a list of events, primarily being organized in EU member states.
A related protest is being planned in Canada, whose government signed ACTA last October. However, no protests are listed in other countries whose leaders signed that day. Of particular note is the apparent lack of activity in the US and Japan, whose governments' were the driving force in the secret ACTA negotiations. There is also no indication of a well organized movement in Australia or New Zealand.
On a more official level, Dutch MEP Marietje Schaake reached out to the Reddit community prior to last month's European signing event with details about parliamentary opposition to ACTA. Besides urging EU residents to contact their own MEPs, she announced plans to hold a hearing in April where concerns about ACTA will be heard, and said it will be webcast for public consumption. She even offered additional information on the hearing via her official email address - marietje.schaake-office@europarl.europa.eu.
In the US, Senator Ron Wyden has been challenging President Obama's authority to sign ACTA as an executive agreement, noting that intellectual property law is delegated to Congress in the US Constitution. When his general request to the White House was answered in vague terms by the USTR, who dodged the question of subject matter authority entirely, Wyden sent another request directly to the US State Department asking for a detailed opinion about what international obligations ACTA imposes.
There is also an active petition on the White House's We The People page which details the constitutional question and asks President Obama to submit ACTA to the Senate for ratification as a treaty. A White House response to a pair of anti-SOPA/PIPA petitions last month was the first sign of opposition to some of the worst provisions in those bills.
Educating yourself about ACTA
If you would like to learn more about ACTA, you can download the full text (in PDF form) from the European Commission's website in every EU language.
A legal analysis of ACTA's legal ramifications was produced last year by European Parliament's Legal Service, it was handled just as secretively as the treaty's negotiations. A request from the non-profit Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) requesting the text of that analysis was denied, and FFII's complaint that such secrecy violates EU law ignored.
What has been released is a "fact-sheet" from the European Commission (link to PDF) expressing support for ACTA. However, a French Internet freedom advocacy group called La Quadrature du Net has published a rebuttal which argues just the opposite. You can find the full text of that document below.
Debunking the EU Commission's "fact-sheet" on ACTA
var docstoc_docid="111911876";var docstoc_title="Debunking_the_EU_Commissions_fact-sheet_on_ACTA";var docstoc_urltitle="Debunking_the_EU_Commissions_fact-sheet_on_ACTA";
In the US, there is a little more analysis available, although it dates back to a previous ACTA draft. It was perfomed by the Congressional Research Service. Although CRS refused to release it to the public in any form, Senator Wyden did make a redacted copy available, which you can also read for yourself, along with his questions for the State Department.
The CRS letter is primarily instructive for understanding the open ended nature of ACTA, making it ripe for abuse by entertainment industry lobbyists looking to ensure the only changes to copyright law are stronger enforcement. By locking the US into a particular regime of IP laws, ACTA is designed to erect hurdles to the public taking back any IP protection granted in the past.
CRS Analysis of October, 2010 ACTA draft - redactedvar docstoc_docid="111914082";var docstoc_title="CRS Analysis of October, 2010 ACTA draft - redacted";var docstoc_urltitle="CRS Analysis of October, 2010 ACTA draft - redacted";
Senator Ron Wyden Asks State Department To Explain ACTA In The Context Of International Lawvar docstoc_docid="111914669";var docstoc_title="Senator Ron Wyden Asks State Department To Explain ACTA In The Context Of International Law";var docstoc_urltitle="Senator Ron Wyden Asks State Department To Explain ACTA In The Context Of International Law";
At this point, protests against ACTA appear to have had little effect on national governments. Of course, the same could be said for SOPA and PIPA protests at the beginning of January. Less than a month later both bills are stuck in legislative limbo.
While it remains to be seen if the same sort of organized effort will be mounted against ACTA, world leaders would be foolish to ignore the momentum those protests seem to have generated or the capabilities of web communities to mobilize people in large numbers.
Categories: Music News
Ice Cream Sandwich now on 1 percent of Android devices
According to the latest figures, Ice Cream Sandwich is now on 1 percent of Android devices.
The software update, Google's largest yet for the mobile operating system, was released in December alongside the launch of the Galaxy Nexus.
While adoption is slow, it is important to note that the OS is seeing much faster growth than its tablet predecessor, Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Also, there are very few devices that have the update, most notably the aforementioned Nexus and the Transformer Prime tablet.
Gingerbread (2.3) remains atop the list at 58.6 percent, followed by Froyo (2.2) at 27.8 percent.
Honeycomb has 3.4 percent share and the very old Eclair (2.1) still has 7.6 percent share. 1.6 percent of users still have Android 1.5 or 1.6, which were released in 2009.
The software update, Google's largest yet for the mobile operating system, was released in December alongside the launch of the Galaxy Nexus.
While adoption is slow, it is important to note that the OS is seeing much faster growth than its tablet predecessor, Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Also, there are very few devices that have the update, most notably the aforementioned Nexus and the Transformer Prime tablet.
Gingerbread (2.3) remains atop the list at 58.6 percent, followed by Froyo (2.2) at 27.8 percent.
Honeycomb has 3.4 percent share and the very old Eclair (2.1) still has 7.6 percent share. 1.6 percent of users still have Android 1.5 or 1.6, which were released in 2009.
Categories: Music News
Feds take down FirstRow sports streaming
In an effort to shut down illegal sports streaming sites before the Super Bowl on Sunday, American prosecutors have taken down 16 popular sites including FirstRowTV.
Thousands of users use the sites to watch NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and Fifa streams, not to mention pay-per-view events like UFC or boxing.
One man, 28-year-old Yonjo Quiroa of Michigan, has been arrested and charged with being the operator behind 9 of the sites. Authorities say Quiroa made over $13,000 profit from the sites through advertisements.
The list of the sites taken down is: firstrow.tv, firstrowsports.com, firstrowsports.net, firstrowsports.tv, hq-streams.tv, robplay.tv, soccertvlive.net, sports95.com, sports95.net, sports95.org, sportswwe.net, sportswwe.tv, sportswwe.com, xonesports.tv, youwwe.com and youwwe.net.
Last year, days before the Super Bowl, as well, U.S. authorities took down 10 similar sites. As with all piracy-based activities, if you take down one, many more will just pop up to take its place, as is expected after the demise of firstrow.
Thousands of users use the sites to watch NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and Fifa streams, not to mention pay-per-view events like UFC or boxing.
One man, 28-year-old Yonjo Quiroa of Michigan, has been arrested and charged with being the operator behind 9 of the sites. Authorities say Quiroa made over $13,000 profit from the sites through advertisements.
The list of the sites taken down is: firstrow.tv, firstrowsports.com, firstrowsports.net, firstrowsports.tv, hq-streams.tv, robplay.tv, soccertvlive.net, sports95.com, sports95.net, sports95.org, sportswwe.net, sportswwe.tv, sportswwe.com, xonesports.tv, youwwe.com and youwwe.net.
Last year, days before the Super Bowl, as well, U.S. authorities took down 10 similar sites. As with all piracy-based activities, if you take down one, many more will just pop up to take its place, as is expected after the demise of firstrow.
Categories: Music News
VeriSign was hacked repeatedly in 2010
VeriSign, the registry for the .com and.net top-level domains, has admitted today it was hacked repeatedly in 2010.
More surprisingly, top-level managers were not notified about the data breaches until 2011, added the company in its statement.
Says the company in their recent 10-Q SEC filing: "In 2010, VeriSign faced several successful attacks against its corporate network in which access was gained to information on a small portion of our computers and servers."
It is unclear what data was compromised or lost.
VeriSign also noted that "given the nature of such attacks, we cannot assure that our remedial actions will be sufficient to thwart future attacks or prevent the future loss of information."
More surprisingly, top-level managers were not notified about the data breaches until 2011, added the company in its statement.
Says the company in their recent 10-Q SEC filing: "In 2010, VeriSign faced several successful attacks against its corporate network in which access was gained to information on a small portion of our computers and servers."
It is unclear what data was compromised or lost.
VeriSign also noted that "given the nature of such attacks, we cannot assure that our remedial actions will be sufficient to thwart future attacks or prevent the future loss of information."
Categories: Music News
Facebook's graffiti artist is now incredibly rich
David Choe, a graffiti artist who was hired by Sean Parker to paint the walls of Facebook's headquarters, is about to be worth $200 million.
Choe was given thousands of shares as payment for his work in 2005, even though he reportedly called the site "ridiculous and pointless." Choe will be one of 1200 employees, advisers and investors that will become millionaires or billionaires when the social network goes public in April.
The social network will raise $5 billion in its IPO, with a value of almost $100 billion, far and away the largest public offering, ever.
Founder Mark Zuckerberg will see the biggest payday, with his 28 percent share of the company. Depending on the final value of the company, Zuckerberg will be worth somewhere in the $25-30 billion range.
Despite their years of lawsuits and complaints against Facebook, the Winklevoss twins will see a large windfall as well, thanks to their 1.2 million shares received in an early settlement with Mark Zuckerberg.
Choe was given thousands of shares as payment for his work in 2005, even though he reportedly called the site "ridiculous and pointless." Choe will be one of 1200 employees, advisers and investors that will become millionaires or billionaires when the social network goes public in April.
The social network will raise $5 billion in its IPO, with a value of almost $100 billion, far and away the largest public offering, ever.
Founder Mark Zuckerberg will see the biggest payday, with his 28 percent share of the company. Depending on the final value of the company, Zuckerberg will be worth somewhere in the $25-30 billion range.
Despite their years of lawsuits and complaints against Facebook, the Winklevoss twins will see a large windfall as well, thanks to their 1.2 million shares received in an early settlement with Mark Zuckerberg.
Categories: Music News
HuffPo launches their own streaming video network
The Huffington Post has announced today that it will be launching its own online video streaming network.
The news comes one year after the company was acquired by AOL for over $300 million.
Launching in "the summer," the HuffPost Streaming Network will have 12 hours a day of original programming, with the plan to expand that to 16 hours a day by the end of 2013.
Says founder Arianna Huffington: "The HuffPost Streaming Network will go live on every platform -- computer, smartphone, tablet, Over-the-Top TV -- with the goal of creating the most social video experience anywhere. The network will be built around segments spotlighting the biggest, hottest, most engaging stories HuffPost is covering at any given moment."
In 2011, the Huffington Post saw record traffic, at 36.2 million unique monthly visitors.
The news comes one year after the company was acquired by AOL for over $300 million.
Launching in "the summer," the HuffPost Streaming Network will have 12 hours a day of original programming, with the plan to expand that to 16 hours a day by the end of 2013.
Says founder Arianna Huffington: "The HuffPost Streaming Network will go live on every platform -- computer, smartphone, tablet, Over-the-Top TV -- with the goal of creating the most social video experience anywhere. The network will be built around segments spotlighting the biggest, hottest, most engaging stories HuffPost is covering at any given moment."
In 2011, the Huffington Post saw record traffic, at 36.2 million unique monthly visitors.
Categories: Music News
Ray William Johnson is a YouTube millionaire
According to the Wall Street Journal, Ray William Johnson may be the first YouTube millionaire that isn't already a famous musician.
Under the name RayWJ, the 30-year-old now has 1.5 billion views of his videos on YouTube, and is expected to be bringing in about $1 million per year from YouTube's ad revenue share and from sales of his merchandise.
Johnson is famous for ranting about other videos (somewhat like the shows "The Soup" or "Tosh.0") and for bringing in famous comedians to guest star in videos. The viral star's twice-weekly show averages around 10 million views per week.
Because of his popularity, RayWJ is a YouTube partner that makes somewhere between $3000 and $9000 per every 2 million views.
For now, Johnson still calls his videos a "hobby."
Check some of his video's here: RayWJ
Under the name RayWJ, the 30-year-old now has 1.5 billion views of his videos on YouTube, and is expected to be bringing in about $1 million per year from YouTube's ad revenue share and from sales of his merchandise.
Johnson is famous for ranting about other videos (somewhat like the shows "The Soup" or "Tosh.0") and for bringing in famous comedians to guest star in videos. The viral star's twice-weekly show averages around 10 million views per week.
Because of his popularity, RayWJ is a YouTube partner that makes somewhere between $3000 and $9000 per every 2 million views.
For now, Johnson still calls his videos a "hobby."
Check some of his video's here: RayWJ
Categories: Music News
Rumor: iPad 3 launching next month
According to one report, the upcoming iPad 3 will launch very early March for release at the end of the month.
Additionally, the same report says Apple is planning a separate "unusual media event" for next week, with an unknown reason. Loop Insight, on the other hand, has since refuted the claim on the media event. For now, it will remain strictly speculation.
The iPad 3 is expected to be slighter thicker than previous models in order to have an high-resolution Retina Display at 2048x1536.
Furthermore, the device will house a larger battery that could add an extra 5 hours of battery life. Finally, the most anticipated update is the quad-core A6 processor and the ability to connect to AT&T and Verizon 4G LTE.
Additionally, the same report says Apple is planning a separate "unusual media event" for next week, with an unknown reason. Loop Insight, on the other hand, has since refuted the claim on the media event. For now, it will remain strictly speculation.
The iPad 3 is expected to be slighter thicker than previous models in order to have an high-resolution Retina Display at 2048x1536.
Furthermore, the device will house a larger battery that could add an extra 5 hours of battery life. Finally, the most anticipated update is the quad-core A6 processor and the ability to connect to AT&T and Verizon 4G LTE.
Categories: Music News
$35 Raspberry Pi turned into media center
A custom version of the XMBC media center has made its way to the $35 version of the Raspberry Pi computer.
The Raspberry Pi, a mini-computer created by UK programmers, is expected to be available very soon, after a year of tweaking and development. What makes the computer so impressive (besides its price tag) is the fact that it can play 1080p HD video with no issues. The devices are intended to promote the teaching of basic computer science in schools or at home. The company is looking to promote the Python programming language, alongside Basic and C among others.
For $35 you get a 3.3-inch wide board with a 700 MHz ARM11, 256MB RAM, HDMI-out, SD card slot, a USB port, ethernet, audio jack and Broadcom VideoCore IV GPU.
Raspbmc is available here, along with active discussion with its developers: Raspbmc.com
Using the custom software, the system will play music, videos, pictures, stream files, connect to AirPlay and much more including the eventual ability to turn the device into a DVR.
The Raspberry Pi, a mini-computer created by UK programmers, is expected to be available very soon, after a year of tweaking and development. What makes the computer so impressive (besides its price tag) is the fact that it can play 1080p HD video with no issues. The devices are intended to promote the teaching of basic computer science in schools or at home. The company is looking to promote the Python programming language, alongside Basic and C among others.
For $35 you get a 3.3-inch wide board with a 700 MHz ARM11, 256MB RAM, HDMI-out, SD card slot, a USB port, ethernet, audio jack and Broadcom VideoCore IV GPU.
Raspbmc is available here, along with active discussion with its developers: Raspbmc.com
Using the custom software, the system will play music, videos, pictures, stream files, connect to AirPlay and much more including the eventual ability to turn the device into a DVR.
Categories: Music News
Sony posts another massive loss
No wonder they just replaced the CEO.
Just a day after appointing Kaz Hirai as the new CEO of the company, Sony has posted an operating loss of $1.2 billion. The loss was larger than expected.
Sony saw the loss on $23.4 billion in revenue for the year, which was down 17 percent to fiscal 2010.
For the entire fiscal year, Sony is now projecting a loss of $2.9 billion, over double its forecast from last year.
During the quarter, Sony had to take a large loss "primarily due to an impairment loss on the shares of S-LCD, which were sold in January 2012, and the recording of a valuation allowance on deferred tax assets at Sony Ericsson."
To make matters worse, Sony cut its forecast on PS3 sales to 14 million from 15 million and digital camera sales from 23 million to 21 million.
Just a day after appointing Kaz Hirai as the new CEO of the company, Sony has posted an operating loss of $1.2 billion. The loss was larger than expected.
Sony saw the loss on $23.4 billion in revenue for the year, which was down 17 percent to fiscal 2010.
For the entire fiscal year, Sony is now projecting a loss of $2.9 billion, over double its forecast from last year.
During the quarter, Sony had to take a large loss "primarily due to an impairment loss on the shares of S-LCD, which were sold in January 2012, and the recording of a valuation allowance on deferred tax assets at Sony Ericsson."
To make matters worse, Sony cut its forecast on PS3 sales to 14 million from 15 million and digital camera sales from 23 million to 21 million.
Categories: Music News
French judge says free Google maps are anticompetitive and illegal
Google has been ordered to pay 500,000 euros in damages for offering Google Maps free of charge in France.
Bottin Cartographes sued Google, alleging they were offering Google Maps for free to push competitors out of the market. Once their competition is gone, Bottin claims, Google plans to begin charging for the service. Despite the fact their allegation seems to run counter to Google's standard business model of using free services to generate ad revenue, a French judge agreed.
Google has vowed to appeal the ruling, which even Bottin's lawyer called "a decision without precedent," according to a report from AFP. In addition to the damage award, Google was ordered to pay a 15,000 euro fine.
Google has been criticized around the world by companies in various sectors for allegedly abusing their dominance in search to give their own services an unfair advantage. However, this seems significantly different from the standard complaints because of the wild claim that Google plans to begin charging users once they eliminate the competition.
It's hard to overstate the importance of that point. Depending on who you ask, favored treatment for Google services could be characterized as competitive or anticompetitive. Undercutting competitors for the sole purpose of putting them out of business is a very different matter.
Bottin Cartographes sued Google, alleging they were offering Google Maps for free to push competitors out of the market. Once their competition is gone, Bottin claims, Google plans to begin charging for the service. Despite the fact their allegation seems to run counter to Google's standard business model of using free services to generate ad revenue, a French judge agreed.
Google has vowed to appeal the ruling, which even Bottin's lawyer called "a decision without precedent," according to a report from AFP. In addition to the damage award, Google was ordered to pay a 15,000 euro fine.
Google has been criticized around the world by companies in various sectors for allegedly abusing their dominance in search to give their own services an unfair advantage. However, this seems significantly different from the standard complaints because of the wild claim that Google plans to begin charging users once they eliminate the competition.
It's hard to overstate the importance of that point. Depending on who you ask, favored treatment for Google services could be characterized as competitive or anticompetitive. Undercutting competitors for the sole purpose of putting them out of business is a very different matter.
Categories: Music News
Samsung wins initial battle to avoid German ban of Galaxy Tab 10.1N
Although Samsung is still barred from selling the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany, the newer Galaxy Tab 10.1N will remain available for now.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1N was designed to work around the ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 which was ordered last year, and upheld by a higher court late last month. However, Apple has also filed a lawsuit over the 10.1N, alleging infringement of a patent on displaying lists and documents on a mobile touchscreen device.
Despite Samsung's initial victory in keeping the Galaxy Tab 10.1N on the market, German patent expert Florian Mueller, of the FOSS Patents blog, suggests Apple may have a solid case if they appeal. "It's relatively surprising that the Munich court doubted the validity of that patent," wrote Mueller. "Judge Lucy Koh in California deemed that patent both valid and infringed."
He went on to explain:
This is a patent that a court can easily understand, as opposed to one raising complicated technical issues (which is what many patents related to wireless telecommunications standards do). Only patents that a court can easily evaluate lend themselves to preliminary injunction bids. Preliminary injunctions are granted at the end of fast-track proceedings, in Germany frequently within days of the filing of a complaint. Courts don't have time to go into intricate patent claims within that framework. But such patents are also at a particularly high risk of being invalid, or of being considered likely to be invalid, which is what apparently happened here.
According to Bloomberg, who first broke the story of Apple's defeat, the judge said, "Samsung has shown that it is more likely than not that the patent will be revoked because of a technology that was already on the market before the intellectual property had been filed for protection."
Out of all the patents Apple has sued Android vendors over, this one may the most significant. In Meuller's words, it is "Apple's favorite make-Android-awkward patent." Even a single injunction based on this patent could force major changes to Android's UI.
By contrast, Apple's German lawsuit over the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 revolve primarily around the size and shape of the device. Outside Germany those claims have failed to convince judges to ban Samsung tablets. More importantly, even if Apple succeeds, it should be much easier for manufacturers to bypass them with design changes which don't fundamentally alter the user experience.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1N was designed to work around the ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 which was ordered last year, and upheld by a higher court late last month. However, Apple has also filed a lawsuit over the 10.1N, alleging infringement of a patent on displaying lists and documents on a mobile touchscreen device.
Despite Samsung's initial victory in keeping the Galaxy Tab 10.1N on the market, German patent expert Florian Mueller, of the FOSS Patents blog, suggests Apple may have a solid case if they appeal. "It's relatively surprising that the Munich court doubted the validity of that patent," wrote Mueller. "Judge Lucy Koh in California deemed that patent both valid and infringed."
He went on to explain:
This is a patent that a court can easily understand, as opposed to one raising complicated technical issues (which is what many patents related to wireless telecommunications standards do). Only patents that a court can easily evaluate lend themselves to preliminary injunction bids. Preliminary injunctions are granted at the end of fast-track proceedings, in Germany frequently within days of the filing of a complaint. Courts don't have time to go into intricate patent claims within that framework. But such patents are also at a particularly high risk of being invalid, or of being considered likely to be invalid, which is what apparently happened here.
According to Bloomberg, who first broke the story of Apple's defeat, the judge said, "Samsung has shown that it is more likely than not that the patent will be revoked because of a technology that was already on the market before the intellectual property had been filed for protection."
Out of all the patents Apple has sued Android vendors over, this one may the most significant. In Meuller's words, it is "Apple's favorite make-Android-awkward patent." Even a single injunction based on this patent could force major changes to Android's UI.
By contrast, Apple's German lawsuit over the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 revolve primarily around the size and shape of the device. Outside Germany those claims have failed to convince judges to ban Samsung tablets. More importantly, even if Apple succeeds, it should be much easier for manufacturers to bypass them with design changes which don't fundamentally alter the user experience.
Categories: Music News
New guide for using MultiAVCHD for Blu-ray authoring and backup
Have you been looking for a way to make Blu-ray (BDMV) or AVCHD discs from your home videos or TV captures? Do you have Blu-ray discs you want to backup, but want to strip out titles or audio streams to make them fit on a single layer BD-R?
If the answer to either question is yes, you might want to take a look at MultiAVCHD, and our recently added guide can help you get started. MultiAVCHD is a free (donationware) program which uses a number of free programs, including Avisynth, FFDShow, and TSMuxer, to create BDMV or AVCHD discs.
Currently our MultiAVCHD guide is far from complete. Instead of creating a guide covering everything it can do, we decided to start with the basics and ask you what else we should include. Since being published last month, we have already expanded the guide once. We would be happy to let you know what else we can add for you.
MultiAVCHD Quick Start
The first section of Create AVCHD and Blu-ray Discs With MultiAVCHD, is a Quick Start guide. It covers installing MultiAVCHD and the necessary helper applications, setting some basic options, and creating a new disc using your own videos. These could be videos you've captured with a DVR or computer TV tuner or videos from a digital camera or smartphone.
It explains the basics of importing videos, adding chapters, and resizing for Blu-ray compliance. There are also instructions for using MultiAVCHD's basic menu options, such as customizing the text and title selection graphics. Finally, there is important information about deciding whether to author your disc in the BDMV format used for commercial Blu-ray releases or the AVCHD format developed initially for camcorders.
Reauthoring Blu-ray discs
Following that, we also have a guide for reauthoring existing Blu-ray discs to remove unwanted content. Most releases are typically authored to take up as much of the space available on a dual layer Blu-ray disc as possible. In some cases you will find that elminating promotional content like trailers and extra features, combined with eliminating audio and subtitle streams from the main feature, can reduce the size enough to fit it on a single layer BD-R disc.
Or maybe you have a series disc with several episodes per disc. Rather than paying extra for dual layer BD-Rs to make backups, you can split the episodes across multiple single layer discs while still retaining the menus. The purpose of this guide section is learning how to edit the contents of a disc without altering the video in any way.
But MultiAVCHD can do a lot more. The guide, as it stands now, doesn't get into detail about advanced menu options or the many re-encoding and resizing options. If you want to see more, or just want to tell us what you think about the existing guide sections, visit our forum to give us your input.
You can find the discussion in a sticky thread in the Blu-ray ripping forum. Or just click here. All requests, comments, and criticism is welcome.
If the answer to either question is yes, you might want to take a look at MultiAVCHD, and our recently added guide can help you get started. MultiAVCHD is a free (donationware) program which uses a number of free programs, including Avisynth, FFDShow, and TSMuxer, to create BDMV or AVCHD discs.
Currently our MultiAVCHD guide is far from complete. Instead of creating a guide covering everything it can do, we decided to start with the basics and ask you what else we should include. Since being published last month, we have already expanded the guide once. We would be happy to let you know what else we can add for you.
MultiAVCHD Quick Start
The first section of Create AVCHD and Blu-ray Discs With MultiAVCHD, is a Quick Start guide. It covers installing MultiAVCHD and the necessary helper applications, setting some basic options, and creating a new disc using your own videos. These could be videos you've captured with a DVR or computer TV tuner or videos from a digital camera or smartphone.
It explains the basics of importing videos, adding chapters, and resizing for Blu-ray compliance. There are also instructions for using MultiAVCHD's basic menu options, such as customizing the text and title selection graphics. Finally, there is important information about deciding whether to author your disc in the BDMV format used for commercial Blu-ray releases or the AVCHD format developed initially for camcorders.
Reauthoring Blu-ray discs
Following that, we also have a guide for reauthoring existing Blu-ray discs to remove unwanted content. Most releases are typically authored to take up as much of the space available on a dual layer Blu-ray disc as possible. In some cases you will find that elminating promotional content like trailers and extra features, combined with eliminating audio and subtitle streams from the main feature, can reduce the size enough to fit it on a single layer BD-R disc.
Or maybe you have a series disc with several episodes per disc. Rather than paying extra for dual layer BD-Rs to make backups, you can split the episodes across multiple single layer discs while still retaining the menus. The purpose of this guide section is learning how to edit the contents of a disc without altering the video in any way.
But MultiAVCHD can do a lot more. The guide, as it stands now, doesn't get into detail about advanced menu options or the many re-encoding and resizing options. If you want to see more, or just want to tell us what you think about the existing guide sections, visit our forum to give us your input.
You can find the discussion in a sticky thread in the Blu-ray ripping forum. Or just click here. All requests, comments, and criticism is welcome.
Categories: Music News
