As Blu-ray continues to grow in popularity, more and more people are considering the purchase of a BD-ROM drive. To date the biggest obstacle for many consumers has been the price, which until the last few months has consistently been over $100 for even a reader.
Earlier this year Lite-On introduced the iHOS104 BD-ROM drive. At around $60 for the OEM version and $70 for the retail model it’s currently the least expensive Blu-ray reader you can buy.
We decided to pick up an OEM unit and try it out.
Result for: obstacle
The RIAA is no stranger to outlandish legal arguments in P2P copyright infringement cases. This isn’t particularly surprising given that they’ve very successfully avoided arguing most of them in court, preferring instead to use the obstacle of expensive litigation to frighten defendants into settling. But sometimes a judge gets the chanceto shine a light on their creative readings of thelaw. In one such case a federal judge has denied the RIAA’s claim for damages on the grounds that they must first prove their losses.
It seems like an obvious enough point. For example, it’s a long established tenet of contract law that you can’t sue for losses over a deal you might have made with someone. And if someone steals physical merchandise you can’t get restitution from a list of what you think was probably stolen. But music, movie, and software conglomerates have always characterized every free download of a copyrighted work as a lost sale.
In a decision related to the criminal copyright case against Daniel Dove, Chief United States District Judge James P Jones noted “The downloaders in this case could have purchased songs over the Internet, rented movies, borrowed DVDs from the local library, or purchased CDs or DVDs at the full purchase price. But the victims have not made any attempt to assess how many Elite Torrents downloaders would have used these various alternatives or no alternative at
all.”
He was referring to requests from both the RIAA and movie studio Lionsgate Entertainment in which each asked for restitution based on some interesting calculations. Judge Jones agreed that the RIAA “provides proof that 183 sound recording albums were transferred through Dove’s server a combined total of 17,281 times” but questioned the claim that “member companies suffered economic loss in the amount of $124,768.82.” Among other problems he pointed out “RIAA only proves that the first 20 albums are held by record labels that are RIAA members; there is no such proof as to the remaining 163 albums.”
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Result for: obstacle
We have reviewed three netbook models from some of the largest netbook - and laptop - manufacturers in the world. Among the three models we received are the Asus Eee PC 901, Acer Aspire One 110 and MSI Wind U100. You can read other two reviews via the links below and the wrap-up from here. The tests did not cover all the aspects of computing and only scratch the surface of the three devices. Still, if you are interested in buying a netbook at some point, maybe these reviews can point you in the right direction.
*Asus Eee PC 901
*Acer Aspire One 110
*MSI Wind U100
Hands-on
Asus was the first one to hit the jackpot with ultra-small and cheap laptops. They first released a couple of Eee PC models, and following their success the company built a production line and brand around Eee PCs. We tested the Windows version of the white Asus Eee PC 901 with 12GB SSD. It isn’t quite the cheapest of them but with under $500 (or £300) on the price tag it can’t be considered expensive either. The box contained a set of manuals, a black sleeve case and a handy AC adapter (the smallest of the three netbooks).
Asus Eee PC 901 in a simple packaging
Technical specifications
Asus Eee PC 901
-1,6GHz Intel Atom
-1GB DDR2
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