The hacked firmware 2.F8 for the NEC3500A burner allows single layer bitsetting and removes the rip-lock. Just as a reminder: you'll lose your warranty when flashing your drive with a hacked firmware.

DVD2SVCD v1.2.2 build 3 has been released. Since v1.2.2 build 2, DVD2SVCD supports Nic's QuEnc, so now DVD2SVCD can be run with freeware programs only if you want to. :) Other changes and fixes can be found in the forum.

DVD Decrypter 3.5.0.0 is out. Proper support for DL media and Book Type / Bit setting for BenQ, LG, LITE-ON, Nu Tech/QSI and Ricoh drives are just two of many improvements in this version.

ZoomPlayer 4.03 final has been released and contains a few important fixes.

The Taiwanese CMC Magnetics has obtained DVD+R DL certification from Philips and is the first (and only) disc maker from Taiwan to have such a certification. Shipping of DVD+R DL discs is expected to begin in September.
And another good message for DVD hardware buyers: Due to price drops of components such as pick-up heads and chipsets, Taiwan OEM prices for 16x DVD burners have slipped by over 10%.

Apple has won HP as a partner for selling their iPODs. The iPOD+hp can be pre-ordered at HP's webshop, the estimated ship date is 9/15/04.

A few days ago, the RIAA has sued 896 users of diverse P2P platforms in order to show that recent court decisions in favor of P2P systems don't affect their policy of going after copyright infringers. It's doubtful if these measures will deter many of the millions of file-sharers, though... especially if fighting piracy more and more involves fighting privacy.

BenQ has released a free firmware upgrade for its DW1600A Double Layer DVD burner. The 1600A -> 1620A flash (scroll to the bottom of the page) enables DVD-R writing and makes the drive capable of 16X±R and 4X±RW writing.

Electronic manufacturers and internet providers have teamed up to propose a "Don't Induce Act" to counter the Induce Act proposed by the recording and movie industries. With this new proposition, manufacturers and ISPs aim to keep music players such as the iPod legal and to narrow the definition of software that can be used to infringe copyright.

In an effort to fight large scale file sharing, the US Department of Justice goes after P2P traders. In this case the suspects are to believed to have shared quite an amount of data (at least 100GB per individual) and were supposedly members in a group called The Underground Network.
However, we still have to see a real study showing the connection between file swappers and declining sales music/movie sales. In contrary, a Harvard study concluded that P2P networks have almost no effect on these sales.

The ASUS DRW-1604P is a 16x DVD±R/W recorder with the usual speeds of 4x for DVD±RW and the new 4x tag for DVD+R9 double layer discs. Since the drive can read (not write though) DVD-RAM which most drives can't, it seems to be a Pioneer 108 clone which shares most of the speed specs.

AlwaysOn Network has an interesting article on "junk research". The case reviewed is a recent survey conducted by Online Testing Exchange (OTX) and distributed by the MPAA. In its summary of the survey, the MPAA claims that "about one in four Internet users have downloaded a movie." Among other points, the MPAA omitted the information that the survey didn't specify which kind of films the survey questions referred to — so downloading a trailer or some short video-message would be enough for the MPAA to count you as a "pirate." Read the article and you'll get to know the other striking flaws of this so-called "survey" and how most mass media just echoed this junk research without examination.

And last but not least, do you want to know what it's like to be sued for copyright infringement? Then read how a man was robbed his privacy during an RIAA suit. If you want to read the full article, click here.

DVDx 2.3 has been released.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in case of Grokster that P2P software makers are not liable for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement. Furthermore, it declared that changing copyright legislation according to the wishes of industry majors could harm innovation. In its decision the court found that decentralized P2P networks cannot be controlled by software makers and since there are many ways of legal usage of P2P tools, the court rejected the record labels' appeal against an earlier ruling. I can only say: well said and done!

Mainconcept has updated their H.264 encoder preview. It now supports both the baseline as well as the main profile, includes QPel motion estimation, the motion search range and amount of reference frames is no longer limited (except for the profile), the GOP structure can be configured, interlaced encoding is supported, B-frames have been added and CABAC bitstream encoding has been added as well.

ZoomPlayer 4.02 final has been released and it mainly fixes bugs.

We're not quite there yet, but that's a step in the right direction: in an attack on Apple, Real is now offering a wide selection of online music for $0.49 a song and $4.99 an album - those are prices I consider reasonable for online music - that is without DRM.

When finally we started seeing more flatscreen displays having a DVI input (that's digital - and the most important reason to get a digital display - if you feed a digital display via analogue, you'll already lose part of the image quality surplus a flat screen can offer over a regular CRT display), EU tax policy is on the best way back to display stone age. They now consider PC displays with a DVI input to be consumer electronic devices rather than IT devices, which means a 14% tax bump - even though those displays can't handle the encryption the entertainment industry has defined for digital connectors (and which DVD players having a DVI output must support). So much for DVI becoming the standard way to connect TFT displays - now Joe Average will once again buy a crappy TFT display that only has an analogue input, and DVI inputs will once again be limited to high end devices. Well done...

I've been mentioning SP2 and its firewall before. Flexbeta ran a more thorough check than I did, and came to an even more devastating conclusion: for incoming connections the firewall is fine, but there's no protection whatsoever against outgoing connections. So Microsoft can still silently transmit data from your PC, and so can any other software. So while you'll be protected against SQL Slammer, Sasser and Co, forget about all those email viruses having their own SMTP engine and spyware applications.

AutoGK 1.52 supports half-D1 resolution DVDs and Win95/98/ME again (you do not want the latter, they're very bad multimedia operating systems), supports Windows 2003 and Longhorn alphas and has a better uninstaller.

BatchUpdateIFO 0.9.0.3 has been compiled (and works) on WinXP SP2, has an ini setting to not copy the cell times from the authored IFO, when the file copy option is on and updating the IFO file fails, no files will be updated and there are some other minor fixes.

Looking for an alternative AAC encoder? A Taiwanese university has released version 1.0 of their AAC encoder called NCTU-AAC. They claim it's both faster and sounds better than established AAC encoders from Ahead and Apple.

With all the IP industry indoctrination coming the way of young kids in school, the American Library Association has launched their own copyright awareness program. In contrast to RIAA/MPAA/BSA, they actually mention important (and much hated by the beforementioned 3 organizations) concepts like fair use and try to be balanced. And even the EFF is working on a program, but is lacking the funds so far.

As if we needed it, Microsoft has just provided another example why we're better off without a DMCA. Using the DMCA, they've forced a P2P site to take down the full service pack 2 (if you're wondering how this is possible in a P2P environment, BitTorrent needs small torrent files that serve as a starting point for a download, if you can't get that file, you can't download anything - and those files are usually found on websites, so if you remove them, there's no sharing anymore). How distributing a piece of free piece of software can infringe copyright or circumvent copy protection mechanism is beyond me though.

If you have a Technotrend based DVB card and are using Windows XP, upgrading to the latest drivers will help prevent problems with SP2 and contains improvements in the Astra multi transponder function.

Last but not least, in the battle for the format after DVD, JVC has managed to develop a system to create BD-ROM master discs (which are used to create stampers which in turn are used to produce pre-recorded discs) for the same price as their DVD counterparts. BluRay is considered to be more expensive by neutral forces and the HD DVD camp, because production requires lower error tolerances which translates into higher cost. The BluRay camp is trying to develop production mechanisms like the one just announced, that would make it possible to bring the production cost of BluRay discs down to levels known from DVD. HD DVD on the other hand can use pretty much the same production equipment, which at this point means disc producers often look favorably towards HD DVD as they do not have to make large investments since they'll be able to reuse existing (and proven to be reliable) equipment.

Ahead has once again updated their Nero6 packages. Amongst the chances if a new version of the DVD transcoder Recode. The new version 2.1 is faster and offers a higher quality than its predecessors.

August seems to be the month for 16x DVD burners. Now Sony has joined the pack with their DRU710A. There are no surprises in the specs, and unlike some of the competing models, DVD+R DL at 4x is not supported.

And then there's a new player in the H.264 codec maker: Chinese software maker pegasus info has released a demo of their DVD -> H.264 software.

Finally, the forum has been brought back alive. Enjoy.

The Blu-ray Disc Association has released version 1.0 of their read only specs for pre-recorded content (movies) BD-ROM players are supposed to ship in late 2005. So far, the allowed video codecs have not been specified.

For once, there's some good DMCA news: the Internet Archive has been granted a DMCA exemption so they can archive computer software. But wait, don't we already have the right to make backups so nobody would need an additional exemption?

First it was the music industry, then the movie industry, now the software industry joins the children indoctrination wave: First they'll be able to vote on what becomes the business software alliance's (BSA) mascot - a "copyright-crusading" ferret that's supposed to teach kids about cyber ethics. Later, the animal will appear in a comic book that's supposed to educate kids about the importance of protecting and respecting copyrighted works. But at least the BSA is a tad bit more honest about it: weasels are known to be slick and tricky. So you better watch out for this particular weasel. And perhaps we should have our own furry animal to fight to good fight for consumer rights.

Last but not least, another chance for Apple to bring out the big guns: MPAA public enemy number 1, Jon Johansen has released JustePort, a software which removes the restrictions on music broadcasting from the AirPort Express wireless access point.

ZoomPlayer 4.02 RC3 has an improved TCP/IP interface, removes the reserved keys keyboard editor restrictions and contains some bugfixes.

Things are moving fast in the DVD burner market: While 16x burners are just beginning to hit the stores, disc makers like Taiwanese CMC believe that by the 4th quarter of this year, 16x discs will already be a mainstream product - today you'll be hard pressed to find any 16x rated discs.

If you've always believed being tracked by cameras, locator devices, DRM, etc. is only disadvantageous to those that have something to hide, check out BBC radio's analysis on protecting privacy - for those who prefer to read, here's the transcript. Of course, it's also a good read / listen to those who are already skeptical of our governments and corporations asking for more and more rights to invade our privacy.

Last but not least, here's a download link for WinXP SP2. Imho a must install if you use Windows XP. And that despite the firewall not really being what I'd expect it to be.. in fact I've found that some program installers that require access to the Internet are automatically permitted to connect. I suspect that's because the firewall has some built-in rules, like allowing port 80 (I did not have to authorize Mozilla Firefox) and some others to pass without authorization. But if you don't have to authorize every program, that also means that spyware simply needs to use a free-for-all port to connect outside. And after all a firewall is just as important to keep unwanted traffic from getting to your PC, as to prevent applications from connection outside without your authorization.

After a long waiting period, new ffdshow alpha builds have hit sourceforge. I've added the latest one, ffdshow-20040808 for download. The August builds contains a simplistic audio stream switcher, better tooltips and an XMMS cristality filter.

Yet another example of what movie and film industry are all about: This time it's Disney in a statement on the subject of protection mechanisms for digital radio. The mouse company states that the FCC "should also consider whether to extend that mechanism to all music distribution platforms, including satellite digital audio radio service, the Internet and broadcast radio services". In other words, slap DRM on any PC software designed to record audio.

A small SP2 update: I've successfully installed a slipstreamed version of WinXP over the weekend. But I have to ask: Bill, I haven't had a floppy for 5 years, why on earth can I still not load mass storage drivers (as required for SATA harddisks for instance) from a device other than a floppy? I have ZIP discs, CD/DVD, USB memory sticks, USB HDs, CF, SD and a whole bunch of other memory cards, but they are all equally useless in face of Windows' last millennium approach to loading drivers prior to installation. When will Microsoft join us in the 21st century?

The forum is still down!

Now Pioneer isn't the only company making DVD burners that can burn DVD-Rs at 16x: BenQ's DW1620 burner can be upgraded to burn DVD-Rs at 16x instead of 8x as units that went on sale in June. The upgraded unit is about to go on sale using the same model number, and so while there's been no official word on an upgraded firmware yet, they might just want to set a price on the upgrade before releasing it. After all, BenQ is THE company when it comes to selling firmware upgrades.

Sony's next gen console, the PlayStation 3, will use BluRay discs. Considering that Sony is one of the main proponents of BluRay, that's not surprising, but it could turn out to be a nasty surprise for potential buyers if Hollywood adopts the DVD Forum backed HD DVD for movies instead.

First, they went after US schookids, but now the indoctrination wave has swapped over to Europe: The UK will be the first country in Europe where they put "copyright education" on the menu. How could we ever live without the all important "MPAA/RIAA good, P2P bad" lesson? I suppose we should send all adults back to school for a little indoctrination lesson as well, just to make sure ;)

It used to be Apple complaining about Microsoft's stronghold on the PC market. Now things have changed: In the DRM market, Apple is THE major player, and has adopted strong-arm tactics against software that allow iTunes users to use their legally purchased songs outside the DRM corset. They are also looking into stopping companies like Real why try to make their DRM system compatible with Apple's FairPlay DRM system. Next stop: other companies suing Apple because they're unwilling to license FairPlay to any 3rd party online music stores. Although I have little hope that the upcoming DRM battles will hurt the majority of the players to a point where they adopt a more consumer focused stance, here's a thought: Without DRM, every song could be played on every player, and every store could sell music that can be played on every player (assuming the player understands the music format of course). Now that would be consumer friendly, would it not?

DVD+ say hi to DRM: As if the firmware integrated mechanism to prevent copying of CSS protected discs wasn't enough, brace yourself for the Video Content Protection System (VCPS). By the name you can already guess that they're up to no good. VCPS is supposed to work together with the broadcast flag on digital TV, encrypting content using a 128bit AES encryption, so that you can no longer do what you're entitled to by copyright law with content you record (like play it on whichever device you want, bring it to your PC to edit, etc.). Note that VCPS is not the only system to go along with the broadcast flag. Companies like Thomson, Microsoft, Sony and RealNetworks have their own systems, and while they vow that those systems go hand in hand, I say let the future show us just how well those systems go together. TiVo will get its own protection system, which allows users to share recorded content with up to 10 other TiVo units attached to the same account. Yet, you still can't give a recording to your neighbor - so this isn't really much better. However, the news.com article on the subject serves once again as a clear indicator of what the movie industry is really about: The MPAA said while TiVo's protection system was promising, it does not provide copyright holder with sufficient ability to control how their works are shared. So even if you're attached to the same account, there's no sufficient control! Now you can go back as far as this site has existed, read my DMCA articles and you find that control is a reoccurring theme. The MPAA, as well as RIAA and BSA want to control what we watch, when we watch it, how we watch it, how many times, where, with whom, etc. and they want some money for each time we watch it.

Last but not least, Service Pack 2 for Windows XP has been released. It should hit the usual download places (WindowsUpdate, and the download pages @ Microsoft), shortly and it's already available to MSDN subscribers. I strongly advice every XP user to apply this service patch. While it certainly is no solution for all the security problems that plague Microsoft's OS, it helps to improve security a bit and that's always a good thing. Now we'll see how long it takes until the next buffer overflow exploit is found ;) And before your next Windows reinstall, why don't you slipstream the service pack and create a Windows CD that already contains all the patches, thus greatly speeding up the installation?

Please do not email me about the forum. As announced yesterday it's down and no quick fix is in sight.

So RIAA, MPAA and Co. not only have federal politicians in their pockets: Over 40 state attorney generals have warned major P2P operators about enforcement actions should they not start to take "concrete and meaningful steps" to prevent illegal activity on their networks.

And an update on the FTA situation: apparently, the opposition will only back the FTA, if two amendments, that the acting majority is unlikely to approve of, will be attached to the bill. Will that be enough to stop a treaty that is bad for the large majority of Australians from being signed?

Auto GK 1.51 uses a higher quality resizing algorithm for > 1 CD rips, has slightly tuned quality parameters and no longer runs the analyzation step on the entire source, as v 1.50 did.

While there's still almost no supply of dual layer media, manufacturers are slowly joining the ranks of dual layer makers. The latest is imation. Their dual layer discs will be available in Q4 - no price was indicated so far.

Also, you might have noticed and please do not send any emails about it: the forum is currently down due to database problems. It is being looked into, but the guy that usually takes care of this is on holidays, so it could take a while.

DVBViewer 2.2 has a new filter independent preview, adjustable size for subtitles, pressing pause during recording automatically activates timeshift, the channel scanner is no longer hardware independent, there is a graphical EPG timeline, pan&scan can be configured using +/- buttons and there are a lot of fixes as well.

Farewell to 321 Studios. The maker of DVDXCopy and the infamous "free software with a guide" package has ceased business operations effective immediately. 321 was probably the most controversial company in DVD rippers circles - selling that DVD rip package that was made of freeware tools upset many of us, and those grudges never were forgotten. They also hired aware Derrow, effectively putting a stop at IfoEdit development just when it started to get really interesting. But it was also the first company to try and really fight MPAA and consorts in court. Sadly, without hundreds of millions in their war chest, they were unable to fight that fight till the end.

Last but not least, people down under are on a good way to get screwed big time by the USA - Australia Free Trade agreement. Not only the ruling liberal party/national party coalition supports the agreement, that not only brings DMCA like laws to Australia, but also the same outrageous patent regime known from the US, but even the opposition supports the agreement. How about calling this one the "Copyright holders get whatever they want" agreement?

QuEnc 0.53 properly replaces the notch matrix and contains some minor tweaks.

AutoGK 1.50 supports DivX 5.2, the comp test for short sources has been improved, there's a hidden file option to use the sharp matrix for <= 1 CD rips and another one to use ITU style resizing (ugh), the demuxing timeout has been increased to 40 minutes and some bugs have been fixed.

CloneDVD 2.4.2.7 now allows chapter trimming even if preview is disabled, supports 6x and 12x burning speeds, supports dual layer DVD and miniDVD output and contains a lot of small improvements and fixes.

While encoding is still limited to the Windows platform, On2, makers of the VPx series of codecs, have created a Java based player for VPx content, thus making it possible to watch VPx content on non Windows platforms. Though the name implies it's meant for streaming, I was unable to determine if it's limited to streaming content or if it could also be used to play VPx content locally.

A DivX capable DVD player from industry majors like Panasonic, Toshiba, JVC, Pioneer or Thomson? According to DivXNetworks, pretty much all the major consumer electronics players will have DivX compatible DVD players in stores by Christmas. The only exception is Sony (but then again they're also trying to run their own show when it comes to audio) who has not joined up so far. Let's hope by then we have some chipsets that are MPEG-4 ASP Level5 compatible - now some downsized version of it. Also, DivX DRM seems to loom closer and closer - with the approval of the MPAA we might see another try at DIVX, as the DRM system needs Internet access the first time a protected work is to be played. Well, I prefer my MPEG-4 codec without DRM, thank you. Fortunately, we not only have a lot of alternatives, but even two open source ones.

A few more details have emerged about upcoming HD DVD players: It seems that indeed the three codecs (MPEG2, MPEG-4 AVC (AKA H.264) and VC9 (AKA WMV9)) have been approved, and that players should retail for less than $1000 when they finally make an appearance. But if I recall correctly, the first DVD players were even cheaper. Also, we should hear something about the copy protection system (I think that's what we're all least interested in to see in any format ;).

Last but not least, another example of copyright law turned bad - even against the wishes of the guy who created the music in the first place: The makers of a widely publicized song parody have been sued by the record company holding the rights to the original music piece. The songwriter is no longer with us, but while he was alive, made statements that go completely against what the record company is now trying. That gives "over my dead body" a whole new meaning, don't you think? The article also goes on to show how TV stations, owned by companies that also own movie studios and that are actively promoting outrageous legislation like the Induce Act, could potentially be held liable in this case as well.

Last but not least, the much anticipated game Doom3 has started showing up on P2P networks (and in scene channels). The game, due to be released today (us poor Euros have to wait a bit longer though), has apparently been successfully stripped of its copy protection, just like all the games prior to it. Why is that newsworthy? It isn't, except that I feel somebody ought to say that copy protection for games is basically screwing the paying customer. I don't play a lot of games, but when I do, I have pretty much always bought the game - there were even instances when I paid up after having started playing a not to kosher version of the game because I felt the programmers deserved to be compensated. But if I then get a game that is packaged in a way that you're bound to get your CDs scratched, that the game company does not send me a replacement CD even though it's their packaging that caused my CD to be scratched (I'm extremely anal when it comes to handling any kind of discs), and they tell me I'm breaking the law if I go ahead and make use of my legally granted right to make a backup, then I really am getting screwed over. And why do I need to have the CD in my drive if the whole game content is already residing on my HD? And why does my drive make strange noises when the game starts up and the copy protection kicks in, so that I fear for the well-being of my drive? Let's face it, the guy with the pirated copy is better of. His drives stay undamaged, if he scratches the disc he can buy a new one from the .cue/.bin he has safely stored away, there's no need to have any CDs around. Bottom line, the pirated copy of a game means a lot less hassle than the original. What's wrong with that picture?

Last month's news can be found here.