FocuSoft Tech Blog |
- New York attorney general files antitrust lawsuit against Intel
- More on Google music search
- Does more broadband mean more piracy?
- Shaun White makes the jump from Olympic half-pipe to virtual slopes
| New York attorney general files antitrust lawsuit against Intel Posted: 04 Nov 2009 09:00 AM PST
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Wednesday filed an antitrust lawsuit against Intel Corp., the world's largest chipmaker, alleging that the company engaged in “a worldwide, systematic campaign of illegal conduct” in order to further its business and stifle competitors. "Rather than compete fairly, Intel used bribery and coercion to
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| Posted: 03 Nov 2009 07:00 PM PST
With that in mind, Google is rolling out the first upgrade to music search today: semi-exclusive content. I say “semi” because the content is actually being made available by Lala and MySpace and can be found by going to those sites directly. Anyway, the booty includes new material and free MP3s available for a limited time only. Among the artists contributing MP3s are Phoenix, Tim McGraw and Mos Def; exclusive tracks will be available from Snoop Dogg, Kings of Leon, Lady Gaga and Linkin Park. It's not clear whether this will be a regular feature or just a gimmick to get people to try out the new search feature. But if artists and labels really want to draw people into the experiences provided by services such as Lala and MySpace Music, they'll need to keep the freebies and/or extra features coming. Otherwise, what's to keep Google users from clicking on the links from YouTube in lieu of the ones at the top of the page? – Jon Healey Healey writes editorials for The Times' Opinion Manufacturing Division. Follow him on Twitter: @jcahealey Original post:
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| Does more broadband mean more piracy? Posted: 03 Nov 2009 04:20 PM PST
Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, laid out the case against filters … … at a commission workshop in September. Among other things, Sohn said: Copyright filtering will also alter the behavior of data networks on a fundamental level, slowing down traffic, impeding the operation of high-latency applications and compromising the privacy of all Internet users. In so doing, copyright filters will discourage investment in the Internet ecosystem, prevent innovators from developing exciting new applications, dissuade users from fully utilizing their broadband connections and raise the cost of access for consumers — all the while undermining some of the most important goals of the National Broadband Plan. Late last week the Motion Picture Assn. of America responded (get the .pdf here) by calling on the FCC to “encourage” ISPs to adopt technological barriers against illegal copying. It also urged the FCC to push Congress to do the same. Blocking the unauthorized bits won't slow down the Net, the MPAA claimed — on the contrary, it will free up bandwidth for legal uses: Given that a substantial amount of Internet traffic today is comprised of infringing material, it is apparent that unless checked, the tidal wave of unlawful online content will overwhelm the Internet and degrade the consumer experience. Connections rendered sluggish by the transmission of vast amounts of stolen content will only thwart broadband development and discourage consumer confidence in the Internet experience, directly undermining the Commission's, Congress' and the Administration's goals. Furthermore, ceding half or more of the available bandwidth to thieves will result in huge sums of government and private money being wasted on network expansion. On the other hand, innovative technologies and bandwidth management tools, if permitted and encouraged to develop, can lead to sophisticated new methods that can combat theft, ensure that bandwidth is utilized efficiently, provide a smooth and safe online experience for consumers, and protect the enormous public and private investment in our nation's broadband networks. I concede the MPAA's point about the volume of unauthorized content flowing through the Net, but I wonder how ISPs could effectively police encrypted transmissions. I also am troubled by the entertainment industry's enthusiasm for “graduated response” (also known as “three strikes“) policies. That's not because it's a bad idea to tell people they've been detected downloading “Astro Boy” and that they need to stop violating the law — no, that's a great idea. The problem is, it's not possible to know who's sitting at the computer downloading “Bruno.” In fact, it may not be possible to know which computer is doing the downloading. The only thing that ISPs may be able to detect with reasonable certainty is whose account is being used for that purpose. Before ISPs impose a penalty, they should have to prove that the customer whose account is targeted really was at fault. Then there's the question of how the filters would be triggered. How much copyrighted material would be enough to block a transmission? How would fair uses be accommodated? What about uses that copyright holders don't like, but have yet to be found illegal by any court (the Slingbox comes to mind)? Verizon, AT&T and the major cable operators all have to negotiate with the studios for the programming that powers their pay TV services so that they're motivated to work with Hollywood on the piracy issue. Yet their own engineers have noted how hard it would be to examine all the traffic flowing over their networks, as the studios seem to desire. That may explain why ISPs haven't jumped on the filtering bandwagon despite years of supplication from the entertainment industry. Well, that plus the fear that their customers would rebel if they knew their broadband provider was examining all the bits they were uploading and downloading. Clearly, these are tough issues. And the better way to resolve them, I think, is to let ISPs and content providers negotiate an approach that's consistent with the FCC's forthcoming Net neutrality rules, rather than shoehorning them into the plan for making broadband services available to more people. Those rules wouldn't stop ISPs from interfering with copyright infringements or other illegal acts, but they would discourage broad-brush approaches that impede legal transmissions alongside unauthorized ones. – Jon Healey Healey writes editorials for The Times' Opinion Manufacturing Division. Follow him on Twitter: @jcahealey Here is the original:
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| Shaun White makes the jump from Olympic half-pipe to virtual slopes Posted: 03 Nov 2009 05:00 AM PST
Shaun White shows off his new game for the Nintendo Wii. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times. Shaun White used to battle with his older brother Jesse for control over the family’s PlayStation game console while the two grew up near San Diego. Now, at 23, the Olympic snowboarder gets to star in his own video game, Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage, set to hit shelves on Sunday. Developed by Ubisoft Entertainment, the game is a sequel to White’s first title, which sold more than 3 million copies since its release last November. White may not be a household name, but neither was Tony Hawk when he came out with his first video game 10 years ago, Tony Hawk Pro Skater. Now some fans know Hawk more through his virtual stunts than his actual work on the ramps. Could the same be true for White someday? White spoke to us about how he got his start in snowboarding, And, for old school reader types, here’s an edited transcript of the conversation: How did a kid from Carlsbad, Calif., grow up to be a snowboarder? I ended up going to Big Bear skiing with my family. When my brother Didn't you want to surf instead? My dad got me a huge board when I was little. He loves to surf. He suited me up and sent me out on this huge wave. I went under, and when I came out and the board hit me in the face. So I said, I never wanted to do this again. I stayed away until I was 13. One of your sponsors, Red Bull, last February built you a private half-pipe in Silverton, Colo., called Project X. Is that going to appear in the game? It actually is. There's a special… … Red Bull level where that half-pipe turns up. It's a fun way to bring in something I've actually done in real life into the game. It's cool to actually have people see footage of that, and now players can ride it. What's special about it was that it was so high up on the mountain. How involved were you in developing the game with Ubisoft? Ubisoft sent me updates of the game for my comments. It's hard because I can't actually tell the programmers how to program. But I was able to help out when they were designing the game in the beginning. We talked about whether we wanted it to be an adventure game, whether you get to be yourself or someone else. The other thing I do is I read through the scripts. There's a lot of stereotype snowboard lingo that we don't actually say. What do you want players to get out of the game? The goal of the game is to get someone who never goes snowboarding to get the feel for what it's actually like to ride. If you play the game, you get the same point of view I get when I ride. When you add the balance board, it definitely enhances that. Feeling because you're able to lean and turn. I also think it's rad to be able to go in the game and do things I can't do in real life. How does the new game, Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage, top the previous one? The first game was based on a road trip with your friends. This one is bigger. You get to go all over the world. Do you play any video games in your free time? I play Mario Kart. When I was 12 years old, I was hanging out with 23-year-olds. I was into cartoons and Pokemon, and they're all talking about girls. It was a strange way to grow up. Games have always a big part of my life. I was that kid freaking out over his new Nintendo. Now I have the Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3. You have to imagine being stuck in a mountain — you're snowed in and you can't even leave the hotel. So I spent a lot of time playing games. You're also an accomplished professional skateboarder. Are the skills in those two sports similar? They're What do you think of Tony Hawk's new game, Ride? I haven't played it, but I'm excited to see what it's like. He's sort of my neighbor because he lives one freeway exit away. He's got his own skate park at his house. I sometimes go there and mess around. Who's your hero? I'm not sure. But I know who I want to be. Who? My dog. He just lies around and gets petted all day. He's been in two Target commercials. His name is Rambo. He's a French bulldog. We have a T-shirts at Target with Rambo on it, and it's the third-best-selling shirt. I see kids wear my dog on their shirts now. It's amazing. – Alex Pham Follow my random thoughts on games, gear and technology on Twitter @AlexPham. Here is the original:
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