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Item of Interest

Google Lawyer Says ACTA Is ‘Cultural Imperialism’

Google Lawyer Says ACTA Is ‘Cultural Imperialism’ http://bit.ly/alKDzV

And, indeed, it is a form of cultural imperialism, in that it seeks to export certain aspects of US copyright law around the globe… while critically leaving out the consumer protections and necessary exceptions. I wonder if the USTR, who is negotiating the agreement on behalf of the US will put up Keller’s words on their website next to the entertainment industry letters in support of ACTA that it’s put on the USTR website? Or, does the USTR only listen to Hollywood on this particular topic?

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Item of Interest

Steve Jobs Is A Genius Control Freak

Steve Jobs Is A Genius Control Freak http://bit.ly/btB0ew No surprise but explanation of why it’s paying off.

A lot of it has to do with securing and maintaining power over various mobile ecosystem players. And here’s how Apple does that – technically, strategically, and psychologically.

Discussion of the advantages of the tight control over ecosystem – such as the ability to be nimble with processors (changing family or custom versions of ARM built only for Apple); keeping small enough to not have a monopoly (by any definition) to abuse; and more.

Like it or not, but the closed system, Apple-knows-best approach does seem to be working for Apple even if the Open Source, Open Internet folk aren’t so keen.

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Item of Interest

Jeremy Silver on “The Pirate Thing”

Jeremy Silver on “The Pirate Thing” http://bit.ly/daQo7e “There is a shift in attitude of mind required.”

Jeremy Silver is the chair of the Featured Artist Coalition and not exactly a disinterested party. The whole article is worth a close read:

There is a shift in attitude of mind required. We have to look at a world in which the reproduction right and the control of it are progressively eroded. Given the woefully low level of economic development of alternative methods of funding content, we are fortunate that the rate of erosion is slower than it might have been. Whether the impending new legislation in the UK will slow that erosion any more, I somehow doubt. And unfortunately I believe the cost of that legislation to civil liberties and freedom of speech will be much greater than the likely cultural and economic benefit it strives to achieve.

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Item of Interest

CBS plans to offer HTML5 video in the Fall

CBS plans to offer HTML5 videos in Fall season http://bit.ly/bsYxR1 As well as existing Flash versions

Another brick in the wall.

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Item of Interest

Studios-with their aging business models-get to break our TVs!

Studios-with their aging business models, get to break TVs as well. http://bit.ly/dqAjpq

This is a really, really bad decision by the FCC. There is no reason Studios and networks get to break out TVs by disabling outputs, just to support their outdated and unchanging business models.  They fought for the Broadcast Flag many times over the last decade and I’m incredibly disappointed that the current administration gave it to them.

A truly bad decision. Studios and Networks need to adapt their business models – which they appear to be incapable of – or simply die a natural death. The sooner the better.

Here’s Bob Pisano, President and Interim CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America lying:

“This action is an important victory for consumers who will now have far greater access to see recent high-definition movies in their homes,”

There is nothing that is good for the consumer.  There have been already many releases in this “impossible” window. It’s just bad business decisions and a complicit (bad) Government.

Still it could have been worse had the Studios got what they really wanted. At least there are these restrictions:

Cable companies won’t be able to shut off analog signals on TVs and video recorders any time they want, only when a subscriber has purchased one of the early-run, on-demand movies.

Cable and satellite companies also have to stop blocking the analog signals when the movies are released on DVD.

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Distribution Item of Interest

What iPads did to Chuck Hollis’ Family

What iPads did to Chuck hollis’ Family http://bit.ly/c48YsP Exactly what i imagine normal people will do with iPads. I am not normal 😉

This is interesting, if you consider this anecdotal evidence with Charlie Stross’ “The Real Reason Steve Jobs Hates Flash” (don’t worry, it’s way more significant than the current battleground – read the full story, it is important)

Seems to me that Jobs is betting that the cloud-oriented (based?) life on an iPad will be the next generation of computing; and the anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that maybe it’s a fairly safe bet.

i still don’t know how I’d use it but maybe, if it could give me anywhere, anytime access to whatever “other” computer I might have – like a MacBook Pro – then I think there would be times when this would be an attractive alternative to my main computer. But still, how couldn’t I do this on my iPhone? (If I had one.)

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Apple Distribution Media Consumption Video Technology

What is it with Flash?

I’ve just been reading my daily round of news, and there’s still more on the whole “Flash v HTML5” or “Flash v H.264” thing and I’m just arrogant enough to believe I can contribute something here.

Flash is an interactive player that produces a consistent result across browsers and platforms. That’s why publishers like it. But most Flash use is at a very basic level: a simple video player. That is also why early QuickTime interactive programmers liked to use Flash (yes, as a QT media type) for controls and text as QT text did not display consistently across platform.

Flash is a player and not a codec or file format. The current iteration of the Flash player plays:

  • the original “Flash video” format, which is sequential JPG files, up to 15,000 a movie
  • Sorenson Spark, the first real video codec for Flash; based on the very ancient H.263 videoconferencing codec it did not produce good video quality.
  • On2 VP6, a good, high quality codec now owned by Google with their purchase of On2. Still not a bad choice for Flash playback if you need to use an alpha channel for real-time compositing in Flash.
  • H.264 in MP4 or MOV (with limitations) format. Licensed from Main Concept (now owned by DivX).

Note that those same H.264/MP4 files can be played on Apple’s iDevices using the built-in player; or using the <video> tag supported by HTML5 in Safari or Chrome (and IE9 coming sometime).

Flash as a simple video player is probably dead in the water. Flash for complex interactivity and rich media experiences probably will continue for a while, at least until there are better authoring environments for the more complex interactivity provided in “HTML5”.

That brings me to HTML5, which is not a simple player but a revision of the whole HTML tags supported by browsers, that allow native video playback by the browser without plug-in (the <video> tag); local storage (similar to Google’s temporary Gears offering, now replaced by HTML5 support) and a whole bunch of other goodies. Add to this CSS for complex display (and I mean complex – mapping video to 3D objects in the browser, for example); Javascript for interactivity and connectivity to remote servers/databases; and SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) for creating graphic elements in a browser (useful for interface elements in rich media).

Javascript used to be very slow and not even comparable to the speed of interactivity possible in Flash, but over the last three years all Javascript interpreters have become massively faster, making complex software possible in the browser. (Check out Apple’s implementation of iPhoto-like tools in their Gallery – online version.)

Summing up: HTLM5/CSS/Javascript is already very powerful. Check out Ajaxian for examples on what is already being done. For simple video playback, Flash is probably not the best choice. MPEG-4 H.264 video AAC audio probably is the best choice. For rich interactivity targeted at anything Apple, build it with HTML5/CSS/Javascript – it’s the only choice. It is also a powerful one: Apple’s iTunes Albums are essentially HTM5-based mini-sites; iAds are all HTM5/CSS/Javascript based and not lacking in rich interactivity or experience.

If you’re building a rich media application to connect with a web backend targeting mostly desktop computers, then Flash could still be the best choice.

For building Apps for iPhone, iPad: use the Xcode tools Apple provides free. While Adobe might be complaining to the Feds looking for “anti-trust” sympathy, they won’t get it as Apple is nowhere near dominant in any market, which has to be proven before taking up the point as to whether or not they have abused a monopoly position. Apple are not the dominant smartphone manufacturer; nor dominant MP3 player, nor dominant Tablet manufacturer. (Ok, they probably are dominant in MP3 players and Tablets but they are not, by definition, a monopoly, and Apple will work very hard to ensure they never are.)

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Item of Interest

Good article on the low cost of H.264 licensing.

Good article on H.264 patent licensing costs that should put to rest any lingering concerns: http://bit.ly/bdpzDk

Essentially: stop worrying about it and continue being creative.

The biggest fear I’ve heard expressed from opponents of the H.264 standard and advocates of competing standards is cost. But are those fears justified? I’ve taken a closer look at the legal and technical documents involved, and I’m convinced that those fears are vastly overblown. As I explain below, the cost per user is literally pennies, and there’s already a cap in place that guarantees the rates won’t rise more than 10% in the future. (As a side note, I completely understand and sympathize with the objections that some people have to software patents in general. But here in the real world, those patents exist and are routinely enforced in courts, at great cost to the participants.)

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Item of Interest

Unbundling channels to programs or apps.

Unbundling channels to programs or apps. http://bit.ly/9mLUxV Inveitable consequnce of unbundling trend of the Internet. Louderbeck is always a good read.

The internet is all about unbundling. Newspapers and magazines have been unbundled – why pay for the whole thing, when you can just read the articles you want online for free? Music has been unbundled – why buy a CD with 11 crappy songs for 15 bucks when you can just buy the good one for 99 cents?  Even TV shows are unbundling.  Why suffer through the whole show when you can just catch Letterman’s top 10 list at CBS.com, or the funny bits ofSaturday Night Live on Hulu or YouTube?

Cable TV is next. Why should I pay $75 or more for 500 live channels when I only watch around 15 regularly? That works out to around $5 a channel, a month, by the way, a princely sum that only ESPN, HBO and Showtime meet or exceed from cable ops – and ultimately customers.  But I pay for those 500 channels via affiliate fees, meaning I support ESPN, Comedy, Disney and Nickelodeon – which I’m happy to pay for – along with Hallmark, FoxNews, Animal Planet, and 482 others I couldn’t care less about.

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Item of Interest

Songwriters Guild Claims The Internet makes it impossible to create content

Songwriters Guild Claims The Internet Makes It Impossible To Create Content http://bit.ly/b3fBlq From the too-stupid-to-breath department! Seriously.

Quoting discredited reports – discredited by none other than the US Govt. General Accounting Office – and flying in the face of a booming music industry, fueled by the ability to build audiences over the Internet, these guys basically want welfare for songwriters and no business model to ever change, or cause an income drop.

Sheesh!

Of course, the SGA, and its boss, Rick Carnes, are sort of famous for their over-the-top ridiculous claims that were debunked ages ago, but Carnes never seems to let up. In Carnes’ world, the gov’t owes songwriters a living, and the fact that the market has changed is of no concern to him, because he doesn’t want to change, and the government should do everything possible to stop such market changes. Carnes/SGA also have also said that “network neutrality” means more piracy, that songwriters cannot write without copyright and, my favorite, that no technological change should ever be allowed to decrease royalties for songwriters.