I came across an interesting site in my referers today - Kung Fu Grippe. I particularly like this quote in response to the entertainment industry's attempts to lock down digital content:

"In retrospect, do you think Disney would turn back the clock on their videocassette sales over the last 15 years (6 of the top 10 this week)? Considering less than a decade earlier they were on the leading edge of the anti-VCR movement, it's a chunk of history worth keeping in the front of your mind.

Movie-makers hated TV, TV producers hated VCRs, and now, presumably all three wish they weren't losing one kind of marketshare or another to PVRs. Adjust, already."

I also love that this post is categorized under "the man." Damn, I wish I'd thought of that as a category name!

ReplayTV Not Required to Spy on Consumers Says Judge

"In an eight-page ruling, the judge in the case threw out the order (Order on Parties' Motions for Review of Magistrate Judge's Discovery Order of April 26, 2002 [PDF]). Although a number of arguments had been raised opposing the order (such as violation of privacy), the judge based her decision on procedural grounds, holding that it was impermissible to 'require defendants to create new data which does not now exist. A party cannot be compelled to create, or cause to be created, new documents solely for their production.' " [LawMeme]

Denise pointed to Declan pointing to a story in the Washington Post on this, too, although I haven't been able to find it online yet. Declan does provide an excerpt from it:

"U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper acknowledged those concerns,  although she overturned the order on the basis that it 'impermissibly' requires Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sonicblue to create data that doesn't currently exist.

Sonicblue 'would be required to undertake a major software development  effort, incur substantial expense, and spend approximately four months' to gather the required information, Cooper wrote in an eight-page order. She  said the plaintiffs could get the same information through a survey."

So the judge overturned the order, but said the company could still gather data in a different way.

Addendum: cnet has picked up the story now, too, and they note the introduction of the latest in the ReplayTV line of DVRs:

"Separately, Sonicblue on Monday unveiled its ReplayTV 4500 series, the next generation of its 4000 series devices. The new version adds modem support for standard phone lines, new software and pricing between $449.99 and $1,749.99. The 4500 is designed to boost the product's appeal to mainstream consumers and retailers. It will be available shortly at retailers such as Good Guys, Amazon.com, The Wiz and Tweeter."

I'm pretty sure we'll be buying a third ReplayTV (probably the 80-hour version) during the summer, so I'm glad Sonicblue went back and added modem support for phone lines, although I could just attach it to our existing network. It's too bad the 4500 series doesn't have two tuners so you can record one show while watching another. Then you could steal twice as many commercials from Jamie Kellner!

Preferred Movie Formats

"I attended an 'event' today that included a dealer in, shall we say, videos of questionable origin. The titles included all the ones you might expect: Fellowship of the Ring, Attack of the Clones, Spider-Man, etc. I was actually tempted by a couple of things, but decided that I would probably turn around and buy the authorized versions when they are available just for the packaging and extras. But I also noticed something interesting: this particular individual had copies of all the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD. With the rise of the DVD, and George Lucas proudly proclaiming they will not be able in that format until 2005, I thought it was interesting to see a market has developed for content that has been available for years but in a format that is not." [LibraryPlanet.com]

Emphasis above is mine. Applies to MP3s, too.