It seems record label Sony-BMG have once again put their foot in their mouth over Digital Rights Management.

Not content with stealth installs of their rootkit DRM software that leaves users' PCs vulnerable, they now hope to make it illegal to rip a CD. Yes, that’s right, the CD you paid for and own is not yours to transfer to your PC or iPod to enjoy on the move. Oh no, that would be stealing according to Sony-BMG chief laywer Jennifer Pariser.

As tech.co.uk report, Pariser was giving evidence in a US legal case involving Capitol Records v. Jammie Thomas where she stated: "When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song. [Making a copy of a purchased song is just] a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy'."

I’m sure the accountants at Sony-BMG are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of consumers having to pay again for a digital version of what we already own. Well, much as I'd hate to disappoint poor Ms Pariser and her accountant friends, there’s this small thing called the digital age that they might have noticed. The very concept of digital content is its versatility, flexibility and portability that allows us to enjoy it where, when and how we like. I would not buy music that only played in my car for example. Equally I would not buy a book or magazine I can only read in my house.

As a developer I can see the need to protect intellectual property from unauthorised exploitation or theft. However, this could have been achieved by a workable system of DRM, with appropriate licensing of portable copies for consumers who simply want to enjoy what they’ve paid for. The sad truth is that record labels where late to the digital party so now they’re screaming and stamping their feet in the corner when things don't go their way.

What the whole thing serves to highlight is the desperate need for new legislation to protect the rights of the consumer. In the US ‘fair use’ legislation has in the past been held up in defense of backup copies of digital media, but in the UK our legislation is woefully archaic. Wary of impeding private enterprise and seemingly unsure in technological matters, the UK government has failed to produce anything meaningful to address copyright in the digital age. With the Internet and new technologies driving the growth of portable, on-demand content this issue is too important to be left in the hands of big business. Sony-BMG will just have to forgive me if I don’t throw out my iPod just yet.

Nick Welch

It's my birthday tomorrow. Usually a time of joy.

It is apparently a trend that's been around for a while. On your birthday you buy everyone in the office cakes.

But if Signals go global I'll need to re-mortgage my house!

Alastair

Sky One is to start showing sports.

Not really news, I guess. The players are all Professional (they receive a wage) and there is an official league, run like an American Pro league; The league owns the teams and finds all of the sponsorship needed to run. They also offer huge amounts of prize money to the winners.

All very normal unless you take into account which sports they are: Project Gotham Racing 3, FIFA Soccer 07, Dead or Alive 4 and Counter Strike Source.

Yes, all those hours in a dark room playing games may have finally paid off! Not only are computer games bigger than Hollywood (and have been for some time) but you can get paid to play them!

Pro Gaming is about to become big. Are you the next virtual Beckham?

Alastair

Check out this awesome Flash demo using the Papervision components for Flash CS3.

Its a 3d rotating image gallery!

http://www.airtightinteractive.com/projects/tiltviewer/app/

Richard

A new web based technology that uses a program to stop spam is now saving our classic books.

This recent article on the BBC news site got me thinking; What will technology, that we take for granted today, be used for in the future? How can we use current technology in new ways that they were never intended for?

Will the telephone somehow solve poverty? Will chewing gum be used to clean the streets? Any thoughts welcome!

Alastair

It seems social networking online is becoming more and more like the real world.

I found this article about IBM employees planning a virtual protest:

Check it out here

Is this the future? Is this Web 3.0?

Alastair

There are days it all goes wrong: PC's have a habbit of knowing when you're on a deadline and suddenly start running slow, every queue at the supermarket is 40 miles long, the sandwhich shop have run out of sandwhiches... you know those kind of days.

But, thanks to the internet, it's possible to find people out there who deal with real problems, day in day out, as part of their work. Next time you have a bad day, think of these guys...

http://randomreality.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2004/5/1/45188.html

http://maypeacebewithyou.blogspot.com/2007/07/perspectives.html

Alastair

Watch any Hollywood thriller and technology is nearly always portrayed as the tool of Big Brother.

Whether it's films like The Bourne Ultimatum, Enemy of the State, or the recent Die Hard 4, network technologies are largely used as a means to repress and control the general public.

In real life then it's refreshing to find social networking site Facebook being used as a tool for democratic protest.

As the BBC reported today an online protest by students on Facebook has forced HSBC bank into a u-turn over its plans to scrap interest-free overdrafts for students.

Faced with an organised online boycott by thousands of students the bank withdrew the measure, with NUS president Wes Streeting acknowledging the impact of the Facebook protest on the decision.

Detractors of Facebook have long been scaremongering over privacy concerns about sharing your thoughts and information online with large numbers of people. What's far more interesting though is the very potential to do just this on more important issues, helping people collaborate in a way that would not otherwise be possible.

With traditional media channels increasingly homogenised, and modern politics less-and-less a viable means of representation for some of us, its great to see the web still affords a democratic outlet as a way to get your voice heard.

Nick Welch

It seems Adobe is jumping on the High-Definition bandwagon with their announcement of support for High Definition video via Flash over the Internet.

The new update to Flash Player 9 provides support for the H.264 codec for high-definition video content, as well as improved audio support.

So what does this mean for video over the web? The logical answer here is full-screen streaming video content of unprecedented quality, high-quality movie trailers and rich-media interactive experiences combined with IPTV. As developers this means we’ll have more powerful tools for reaching new markets and wider audiences.

Sadly for many of us in the UK I feel this won’t be the case just yet, whether you're a developer or a consumer. I’m a bit of an AV-obsessive so hate to be cynical, but I can’t see any of the above happening unless UK ISPs change their position on bandwidth and how heavily their customers use the internet.

The internet holds great promise as a delivery platform for television content. Satellite giant Sky have been making inroads towards video-on-demand services over broadband, and the BBC, Tiscali and BT have launched their own IPTV services in the form of BBC iPlayer, Tiscali TV and BT-Vision. With increasing convergence between the web and traditional broadcasting new opportunities exist for interactivity such as that offered by the Flash platform. The success of sites such as YouTube shows that the problem isn't one of demand.

Unfortunately, the majority of ISPs still seem hopelessly unrealistic about how much bandwidth their customers need. Speed-throttling and usage limits abound with most ISPs under the PR-friendly guise of ‘Traffic-Shaping’ or ‘Fair-Use’ policies. Limits notwithstanding, non-cable customers using ADSL are at the mercy of aging infrastructure that reduces potential speeds. 

Technology blog Gizmodo has been one of many to chronicle the huge disparity between the speeds ISPs advertise as possible and those their customers can actually get, following a report by Which? Online.

Clearly, as with most good things in life, bandwidth is not infinite. The logistical and financial burden falls on the ISPs to administrate the network and ensure everyone gets their share. However this flipside of the coin is notoriously absent in the advertising of so-called ‘unlimited’ and ‘high-speed’ broadband services.

The BBC’s launch of its iPlayer IPTV offering, recently fell foul of ISPs due to customers using increasing amounts of bandwidth to use the service. Hardly suprisingly news given that many ISPs are positioning themselves as providers of IPTV themselves.

Sadly then, without higher prices for customers and ISPs investing more heavily in their infrastructure we’re unlikely to see the kind of broadband speeds enjoyed by America, Korea and Japan; though more realistic advertising from ISPs would be a nice start.

So where does this leave our streaming, high-def, all-singing all-dancing web video experience in the UK? Sadly, as with many quintessentially British experiences, most likely at the back of the queue waiting in line for its turn.

Nick Welch

Imagine not having any software actually installed on your PC, imagine all your applications running online directly from the software vendors. This is the direction that many software developers are heading and it's said that in 10 years time this will be the norm.

Adobe, Microsoft, Google and many other big names are all developing online versions of software applications, some free, some Beta trials and some just for fun. Imaging software and business apps seem to be the popular favourite at the moment but i'm sure this will extend into 3d and video before too long.

I can see a number of positives and negatives, though the more I think about it the more it seems to make sense for everyone.

The Pro's (as I see them)
- Your software is usable from any computer around the world.
- Your software is updated by the software vendor so is always up-to-date.
- No software installations to fill up your hard disk.
- The software vendors see what you are doing and how you use the software, so can improve the software and remove unused features.
- If your system dies you don't lose your software installations.
- Reduces software piracy as software can't be copied.

The Con's (as I see them)
- Your work files are vulnerable to an online attack ?
- The software vendors see what you are doing and how you use the software.
- If you lose internet access or can't get internet access you can't work!
- If your software account gets hacked/stolen by another user they get your software.
- Imagine renewing countless software subscriptions each year.

For me it's already happening, albeit in the PC Gaming context, my treasured Half Life CD is now an online licence enabling me to play my registered games from any PC around the world via a Steam account, I think that's a big leap forward.

Richard