E-Commerce News: Multimedia

Wednesday - July 1, 2009

Just three years after launching in a fanfare of publicity, Joost, which provides professionally made TV on the Web, is shifting directions. It will now provide white label online video platforms to media companies and distributors. Joost is closing down its offices in the Netherlands, retaining offices in the U.S. and the UK. Joost on Tuesday said it will provide the market with a cost-effective, end-to-end solution for media companies to publish videos under their own brands. It also said it is winding down operations in its development center in Leiden, Netherlands. [More...]

YouTube Opens Digital J-School for Amateur Reporters

Tuesday - June 30, 2009

How do you conduct a great interview? For Katie Couric, it all starts with being a gracious host. "I think the more comfortable you make someone feel, the better interview you'll get," she says. "I know in terms of body language I always try to be very warm and welcoming. It's really critical to put someone at ease." [More...]

Pirate Bay Decides to Join the Navy

Tuesday - June 30, 2009

He may still have an eye patch, a peg leg and a funny hat, but is a pirate still a pirate if he writes you a check before plundering your ship? How long would Robin Hood keep his band of merry men intact if they took from the rich -- and charged the poor a redistribution fee for access to those riches? [More...]

Wikipedia and the Kidnapped Reporter: Censor or Savior?

Tuesday - June 30, 2009

For seven months, New York Times reporter David Rohde was held by Taliban kidnappers. During his captivity, both his newspaper and Wikipedia kept quiet about his plight. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales reportedly agreed to a request from The New York Times to delete all references to the kidnapping on Rohde's Wikipedia entry. [More...]

Will PlayStation Play the Cellphone Game?

Monday - June 29, 2009

If you're working your thumbs into a carpal-tunnel frenzy on your Sony PlayStation Portable, navigating the blood and gore of the company's successful gaming franchise "God of War," do you really want to interrupt the mayhem to take a phone call from Mom? Sony may soon get an answer to that question. [More...]

Building a Better 'Bot: Behind the Scenes With the Transformers

Saturday - June 27, 2009

Giant alien robots don't actually exist. So the dozens featured in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" had to be built from the ground up. That effort took hundreds of artists, thousands of hours and even caused one computer to explode. "We lost some machinery," visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar said with a smile. "The thing just kind of gave up." [More...]

Comcast, Time Warner Push 'TV Everywhere' - for a Price

Wednesday - June 24, 2009

The cable industry's new rallying cry may indeed be "TV Everywhere," as announced Wednesday by Comcast and Time Warner executives. However, TV arguably is already everywhere -- on the Web, on your smartphone, on your Xbox 360. Perhaps what Brian Roberts and Jeff Bewkes really meant to announce was "Pay TV Everywhere." [More...]

The Music Industry's $2 Million Can of Worms

Sunday - June 21, 2009

The $1.92 million verdict against a Minnesota woman accused of sharing 24 songs over the Internet could ratchet up the pressure on other defendants to settle with the recording industry -- if the big fine can withstand an appeal. "Normally in our American legal system, we say the punishment should fit the crime," said Ken Port, director of the Intellectual Property Institute. [More...]

RIAA Beats Minnesota Mom to the Tune of $1.92 Million

Friday - June 19, 2009

Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the Minnesota mom who has been at the center of the RIAA's legal battle against music piracy, has been found liable for illegal file-sharing in the retrial of Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset. She now faces a $1.92 million penalty, or $80,000 for each of 24 songs she made available online through the Kazaa file-sharing network. [More...]

Hasbro Gets Medieval on D&D Fans for Posting Handbook Online

Thursday - June 18, 2009

Dungeons & Dragons & lawyers, oh my -- eight people face accusations they illegally posted the pioneering role-playing game's newest handbook for download on the Internet. Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, is seeking unspecified damages in three copyright infringement lawsuits naming a total of eight defendants in U.S. District Court in Seattle. [More...]

'Star Defense' Brings New Dimension to Classic Strategy Game

Thursday - June 18, 2009

Just about every "tower defense"-style game ever made can be described like this: You've got a base you need to protect. Wave after wave of bad guys keep on attacking it, running down a long and winding path before, I don't know, running face-first into the front door, or something. Point is, when they reach the gate, they do damage, and it's your job to strategically set up a bunch of defensive towers along that path. [More...]

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