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Robert Tur is a journalist in Los Angeles who has participated in unusual actions such as rescuing individuals stranded in a hotel by flying a helicopter through winds as fast as 55 miles an hour.

When you have mettle like that, nothing should be able to scare you. Here is hoping that proves the case here.

Robert Tur is filing a lawsuit accusing YouTube of copyright infringement, claiming that they posted a video that he shot of the Los Angeles without his permission. Interestingly, this is not the first time that he has attacked companies due to copyright charges; he has also sued companies such as Reuters and CBS for the same reasons.

His distinction as the first journalist to challenge YouTube places him in a complex legal web that includes Viacom, NBC Universal, and Google. When this lawsuit became public, he was immediately joined in his efforts by NBC Universal and Viacom, who are expressing concern over the outcome of his lawsuit, as they have also filed motions against the company. This concern also stems against the notion that victory in this case would weaken copyright holders against YouTube.

Russell Frakman, speaking on behalf of NBC Universal and Viacom, made it clear that the result of this case “could have strong ramifications for owners and distributors of video content.”

In response to these actions, YouTube claims that it is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and believes that these actions simply miscontrue the Act’s interpretation. Kent Walker, the general counsel for Google, who has since purchased YouTube, said that “this provision simply balances the rights of copyright holders against the goals of protecting Internet communication.”

While the odds may appear stacked against Tur, he refuses to back down from this challenge, saying that “I am not an individual who cuts and runs; my heart is in the right place. This is about our livelihood, since we lose money if we can’t protect our property.”

For more information, Read [CNET News]

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Despite the recent turn of events, it turns out that Ken Kutaragi did have plans for the creation of additional members of the Playstation family, specifically a Playstation 4 and 5. Sadly, this vision was hampered by the Playstation 3’s blue violet laser shortage, which enabled him to “not talk about the next step.”

Since his arrival into Sony’s ranks, Ken had a keen interest in pushing technology; he was particularly excited about the potential of the PlayStation 3’s Cell processor. He hoped that the Cell processor would emerge in future PlayStation iterations and “merge into the network.” Essentially, he prophesied that Cell processors would combine with one another to result in amplified capabilities not possible individually.

There is a chance that this dream will not come to fruition, since he has made it clear that his future pursuits will be unconnected to Sony’s interests. Regardless, Kutagari’s impact is influential for gamers who have used Sony gaming systems for the two previous console generations.

Read [Gamespot] Read [EE Times.com]

Microsoft has just unveiled Silverlight, an application that is billed to “allow users to enjoy and create rich, interactive applications on-line.” It has released this product in two variations, a 1.0 beta version and a 1.1 alpha version. These models are superficially similar; the main difference is that the alpha version will allow individuals to create applications via .NET technologies.

Persons who download this application will receive a small sampling of applications, though not many stand out. A movie player is included that will allow the viewing of movie trailers such as Fantastic Four 2 and Pathfinder. Microsoft is clearly billing this application as a response to Flash media players, particularly Adobe Flash, its longevity is questioned due to the notion that it is not open source, an advantage shared by Adobe Flex.

For now, Silverlight has potential, yet it has a while to go to achieve acclaim.

Read [Microsoft]