Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Since June 2008, the Motion Picture Association of America (“MPAA”) has moved forward with a petition to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the right to use selectable output control (SOC).  This practice involves disabling the analog or digital portions of a video stream to the consumer.  The MPAA claims… Continue Reading »

RealNetworks has been fighting against the MPAA and the DVD Copy Control Association in court to prove that its RealDVD software is actually legal.  Real is saying that RealDVD does nothing wrong because while it does copy DVDs, it keeps the copy protection on the file that was on the… Continue Reading »

MPAA and RealNetwork court proceedings started this week in a copyright lawsuit against the RealNetworks software system that allows consumers to make digital backup copies of their DVDs.  Lawyers from the Motion Picture Association of America have won a petition to close the courtroom, but their testimony is to be… Continue Reading »

Back in September/October of last year, RealNetworks released a product called RealDVD.  It sold about 3,000 units before Real was promptly sued by the MPAA.  The MPAA wasn’t very happy with the idea of people being able to copy DVDs onto their computers and play them back without the actual… Continue Reading »

Looking for the next video format war?  It might be in the last place you want it: movie theaters.  Sony announced Thursday that has teamed up with Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount Pictures to promote the new Sony-developed digital projection setup.  This came only a day after five major studios… Continue Reading »

In a very RIAA-like move, the MPAA has sued RealNetworks for a program that they claim allows its users to steal DVDs.  The program is called RealDVD, which allows you to copy your DVD onto your computer or external hard drive for playback later.  However, Real says that RealDVD has… Continue Reading »

“The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.”  So says the warning on all movies released since early… Continue Reading »

In an attempt to be more proactive rather than simply reactive, the MPAA has recently approved the DreamStream system and its 2048-bit “military strength” anti-piracy encryption technology to protect content streamed to viewers online. First introduced to the MPAA in March of 2008 by Laura Tunberg, MGM’s former vice president… Continue Reading »

We recently saw the MPAA go after the now shut-down, but once popular torrent site, TorrentSpy. Now, the MPAA has gone after The Pirate Bay as well. The MPAA seems to be starting to crack down heavily on torrenting websites, so other such websites should be take note and be… Continue Reading »

Torrenting is used by many, and I’m sure everyone who torrents has used or at least heard of, TorrentSpy. The website has been closed down since March 24, 2008, and after the latest news its safe to say that it will remain down. Basically, their reason for shutting down is… Continue Reading »