Advanced Television

CA/DRM

Studios back Sony multi-DRM content format

As Sony Pictures presents it, the tentatively named Open Market will involve a neutral third party that will manage device registrations such as TVs, PCs and portable devices, which will then allow users to play their movie rentals or purchases on all their registered devices. The so-called domain provider will let consumers purchase devices freely […]

August 28, 2008

EchoStar: Piracy v Privacy

EchoStar has claimed that the receiver can be modified to pirate its satellite TV programming.The foundation said EchoStar’s demand would violate user privacy and leave innocent purchasers vulnerable to bogus legal threats. “Innocent customers should not be dragged into federal litigation just because they bought a product that other, less scrupulous purchasers may be hacking […]

August 21, 2008

NDS goes private with News Corp and Permira

News Corp is effectively selling around half its stake in the business to Permira as part of a complex deal. News Corp currently owns 72 per cent of NDS’s equity, controlling 96 per cent of the voting rights. Under the terms of the deal, which values NDS’s equity at $63 a share, News Corp will […]

August 18, 2008

SafeNet secures CCTV online Olympics

CCTV.com has been recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the only official internet/mobile broadcaster of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, and therefore owns exclusive rights to the broadcast of all audio and video content via online and mobile distribution channels across Mainland China and Macau. CCTV has committed to protect the intellectual property […]

August 12, 2008

China fights Olympic piracy

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, China's Internet and broadcast content regulator, has ordered all Web sites to respect CCTV's broadcast rights, online and offline. CCTV, also China's top broadcaster and domestic licensee for the 2008 Olympics, has partnerships to provide online and mobile content to 160 Web sites, in China and the […]

August 8, 2008

NDS reports fiscal year, goes private

The group reported revenues of $850.1 million, an increase of 20 per cent over the previous year, while operating income rose 21.8 per cent by the same comparison to reach $195.4 million. The number of active devices protected by NDS conditional access technology hit 90.3 million at the end of last June, whilst there were […]

August 8, 2008

NBC, Fox file sue Redlasso

The lawsuit, comes two months after the television networks complained in a letter to the closely held website that it violated copyright laws by running unauthorised clips and full-length programs. After receiving the letter, the lawsuit charges, “Redlasso, in fact, did not stop reproducing, publicly performing or publicly displaying the network’s programming and content.” Redlasso […]

July 28, 2008

UK crackdown on illegal downloads

The ISPs though have rejected demands from the music industry to cut people’s connections if they ignore repeated warnings. An estimated 6.5 million Britons were involved in illicit music downloads over last 12 months, a trend estimated to cost the music industry up to £1 billion in the next five years. The firms have also […]

July 25, 2008