Yesterday we reported that China Unicom had made a large purchase of 5 million iPhone 3GS units, but today the carrier is denying the reports, calling the rumors “definitely not true.”
China Unicom’s spokesman Yi Difei added that “talks between us and Apple have been going on for some time”, but no deal has been made as of yet, as some hurdles have not been cleared.
Apple spokeswoman in beijing Tiffany Yang also added that there was still no official word on the iPhone’s launch in China.
We will keep you updated.
Result for: hurdle
Sonic Solutions has announced that will begin selling USB drives loaded with movies that are available through their CinemaNow service, at retail price, beginning later this year.
The drives will each hold one film, and will come from the CinemaNow library, which offers over 10,000 films from all the major studios.
The movies can be played right from the drive or through many of the CinemaNow integrated devices. The content is yours forever once you buy it.
“Delivering content on USB drives is the latest example of how Roxio CinemaNow is enabling access to digital Hollywood hits across the broadest possible range of devices,” Dave Habiger, president and CEO at Sonic, added, via VB. “Teaming with industry leaders such as Widevine is allowing us to overcome the technical hurdles of digital rights management and platform optimization behind the scenes, so all the consumer experiences are convenient, hassle-free entertainment viewing.”
The drives will be sold independently at retail or bundled with phones or other devices.
Result for: hurdle
RealNetworks has asked a Federal judge for permission to add an antitrust complaint against the MPAA to their existing lawsuit against the the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD-CCA). The suit began as a preemptive strike to establish that their DVD copying software, RealDVD, doesn’t violate their license with the DVD-CCA.
Although the MPAA isn’t directly involved in the licensing of DVD decryption technology, there can be no question they are behind the very existence of CSS encryption, which makes it illegal to rip DVDs in the US.
In their filing, RealNetworks lawyers wrote “The CSS agreement is being used to extend a legally granted monopoly over content into separate markets – to prevent competition from technologies that would allow a copy of content for fair use purposes. But the making of a copy of a studio DVD is authorized fair use under the Copyright Act.”
The biggest hurdle to most fair use arguments is the very nature of fair use. It is not, as many people believe, a right given to the public.
In reality it’s a set of exceptions to the exclusive rights granted copyright holders by law. It’s a subtle, but very important, distinction.
The problem is largely one of vague wording in the fair use clause of US copyright law. Except for the few cases where specific uses are mentioned, judges are compelled to assume it can’t contradict other laws, including the DMCA’s anti-circumvention language.
In other words the DMCA must be interpreted in a way that allows copyright holders to nullify fair use. Ultimately the real question to decide this case will be whether the studios are using their monopoly on movie distribution to stifle legal innovation.
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