E-Commerce News: Film

Defunct TorrentSpy Slammed With $110M Judgment in MPAA Suit

Thursday - May 8, 2008

A federal judge in Los Angeles has awarded the Motion Picture Association of America $110 million in compensation from Valence Media, operator of the now-defunct file-sharing Web site TorrentSpy. U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ordered Valence Media to pay $30,000 for each copyright infringement of nearly 3,700 movies and television programs that were downloaded. The MPAA took TorrentSpy to court in February 2006. The site shut down on March 24. [More...]

Cablevision Shells Out $500M for Sundance Channel

Wednesday - May 7, 2008

Cablevision Systems is buying the Sundance Channel, a cable network founded by Robert Redford, for $496 million, the New York-area cable TV company announced Wednesday. The Sundance Channel will become part of Cablevision's Rainbow Media programming division but will continue on as a distinct network. Rainbow also includes the independent movie channel IFC, AMC and WE tv. [More...]

'Rock Band' Helps Drum Up 33 Percent Profit Growth for Viacom

Friday - May 2, 2008

Entertainment conglomerate Viacom, riding a wave of success from a video game launch and a strong showing by its television enterprises, reported a 33 percent increase in first-quarter profit Friday. Viacom, which owns the Nickelodeon, MTV and BET networks as well as moviemaker Paramount, reported earnings of $270 million, or 42 cents per share, from January through March. [More...]

iTunes Movie Buyers Lose Wait

Thursday - May 1, 2008

In a move that will surely please iTunes-using movie lovers, the Apple iTunes store has announced it will make movies available for download on the same day they are released on DVD. Previously, users had to wait 30 days to find a title on iTunes -- presumably a Hollywood studio requirement designed to give DVDs a chance to sell and to protect the traditional -- and lucrative -- DVD market. [More...]

CinemaNow: The Phone Is the Box Office, Not the Theater

Tuesday - April 29, 2008

The online delivery of movies and TV content is encumbered by a tangle of digital rights management, copyright and technological issues. The cell phone's proper place in the whole landscape is one of many difficult questions the industry's trying to sort out. With its new offering, CinemaNow proposes that the cell phone work as a sort of portable box office. [More...]

Toshiba Profit Free-Falls on HD DVD Demise

Friday - April 25, 2008

Japan-based Toshiba reported a 95 percent drop in profit in the January-March fiscal fourth quarter, blaming its loss in the high-definition format war that pitted its HD DVD format against Sony's Blu-ray. Toshiba reported a profit of about $12 million for the quarter, compared with approximately $250 million a year earlier. [More...]

Blockbuster: This Is One Confused Company

Thursday - April 24, 2008

Well, Blockbuster has finally done it. After years of simply copying the Netflix business practices, it's definitely done something that Netflix is probably never going to do -- offer to buy Circuit City. I find Blockbuster's actions to be confusing and inconsistent. [More...]

Adobe Rolls Camera on New Digital Cinema Standard

Monday - April 14, 2008

Adobe on Monday announced what it hopes will become a new industry standard for digital cinema files, CinemaDNG, in Las Vegas at the National Association of Broadcasters Show. Defining an industry-wide open file format will streamline workflows and serve to ensure easy archiving and exchange for video editing professionals, according to Adobe. [More...]

Blockbuster's Circuit City Pitch Puzzles Pundits

Monday - April 14, 2008

In a surprise move that could reshape the consumer electronics and movie rental industries, Blockbuster went public Monday with an offer to pay as much as $1.3 billion to acquire Circuit City. Blockbuster announced that it made the offer to Circuit City directly on Feb. 17 but went public with it because the retailer had not responded to requested due diligence information, such as store sales trends and other data. [More...]

Blockbuster May Be Moving Into Set-Top Box Territory

Friday - April 11, 2008

Blockbuster is working on a new movie-streaming and/or downloading service, according to a news report. The reported device apparently would let its customers view movies from a television set-top box similar to the Apple TV or an Xbox 360, both of which can download rentable movies. [More...]

Sony Pushes Old Movies to Cell Phone Screens

Tuesday - April 1, 2008

Haven't seen "The Karate Kid" in a while? Soon, AT&T customers will be able to catch it on their mobile phones. On Monday, Sony Pictures Television said it is launching Pix, the first movie network for mobile TV in the U.S. The network, making use of Qualcomm's MediaFLO technology, will be available to subscribers of the AT&T Mobile TV service, which is scheduled for a May launch. [More...]

See More Articles in Film Section >>

Shortcuts