Following in the footsteps of the iPhone 3GS Supreme, which cost an “Australian gold mining magnate” $3 million, comes the PlayStation 3 Supreme, a gold and diamond encrusted system that will cost you about £200,000.
Created by Stuart Hughes, the Supreme has 1600 grams of 22 carat gold and the disc loading entrance has 58 “superbly cut 0.5 carat diamonds” as well.
Stuart Hughes says they have three units available. Hey, at least its cheaper then the £299,995 Stuart Hughes Wii.
Result for: footsteps
Last week, the file-hosting giant Rapidshare lost a case to the German copyright society GEMA.
As part of the ruling, Rapidshare was told to “proactively filter” over 5000 tracks from GEMA’s catalog and make sure they are not distributed on their servers.
Rapidshare has announced this weekend that they will in fact be appealing the verdict.
GEMA created a software that can search web forums and extract links that infringe on GEMA’s copyrights. Rapidshare however, scoffs at the software, claiming it does not work.
“It’s questionable whether the application can deal with mechanisms to prevent the scraping of links, open encrypted files, accurately identify audio files or find links in forums that can’t be accessed by search engines.”
They of course are correct, as the software will not be able to identify mislabeled files, password protected RAR files, and more notably, files posted in private Warez forums.
Rapidshare CEO Bobby Chang also noted that GEMA is following in the footsteps of the RIAA, which will in turn alienate their own fans and customers.
“GEMA is trying to turn back time,” he concluded.
Result for: footsteps
Following in Fox’s footsteps, Disney has announced that it will become the second studio to release two different “classes” of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, a “premium” version, and a bare-bones rental version.
Starting in June with the movies Morning Light, Confessions of a Shopaholic and Jonas Brothers: The Concert Experience, the studio will offer the premium version with extras and other “value-added material” while also offering the cheaper stripped-down rental versions.
The move follows that of 20th Century Fox, however with some significant differences. Disney will offer the rental versions at a lower price point, whereas Fox offers both versions at the same price. Fox also controls what rental or retail outlets can buy, however Disney gives all companies the option to buy what they please.
The rental units will not be shrink wrapped and will have no promotional inserts inside either. For example, the Jonas Brothers premium DVD, with digital copy and bonus features, has a MSRP of $39.99 USD while the single disc rental version will have the movie only, and has an MSRP of $29.99 USD.
Retailers seemed to generally respect the decision. “That is all we care about,” added one executive. “Not only do you have the difference in price, but retailers can buy either version.”
Fox has been having issues with their decision recently, and is even considering dissolving their DVD class separation.
