Media Player Classic is going MP4: Gabest has resumed work on MPC and is currently adding MP4 support to the player, thus offering a "no additional filters and one executable without installation only" solution for MP4 playback.

Now you can safely use custom quantizer matrices in x264: while I was abroad, support for custom quantizer matrices was added to libavcodec and thus the latest ffdshow builds can now handle custom quantizer matrices.

What happens if you buy a Microsoft DRM protected piece of content and then install the latest updates updates for your operating system? Your songs/movies might just stop working. Likewise, if you swap out a piece of hardware, the same can happen to you. You can still solve the issue by backing up your licenses, resetting the DRM system and reimporting them, but there are content publishers that don't even allow the backup of your licenses. In other words, you're at the complete mercy of the DRM system. I'm afraid that I'm speaking to the choir by telling you this, but please make sure you tell your friends and families - it's not enough if a select few don't buy into DRM, it needs the masses that may not even consider such issues for the content publishers to realize they're headed in the wrong direction.

I apologize for the lack of news earlier this week. I had to go abroad on business, and the Accor hotel chain has the really bad habit to block call by call Internet, not offer broadband Internet in rooms and a public Internet station just isn't enough when you need POP, FTP and VPN. Somebody was supposed to take care of the news while I was unable to take care of them, but something must've gone wrong as I came back to things how I left them. Anyway, I have no more trips planned for this year and here's a quick recapitulation of what has happened during the last few days:

ProgDVB 4.62.1 has a reworked DirectShow architecture and includes updated modules to read TS streams and record PIDs and has a new module for Pinnacle cards.

MyTheatre 3.32 supports ATSC, supports DVD subtitle switching in live mode and supports the remote control of various TwinHan cards. In addition, there are some bugfixes as well.

SubRip 1.40 beta 3 supports negative timestamps, file offsets from .idx files and fixes a few bugs.

The latest Haali Media Splitter supports Ogg Theora.

With Warner's announcement to release movies in the BluRay format, the BluRay camp has apparently started to break out the Champaign as they're already claiming victory, despite the criticism their outrageous copy protection got from industry majors like Microsoft or intel.

While Nero 7 is still delayed as far as the company behind it is concerned, it's already on sale on sites like amazon. The new version doesn't seem to include ateme's high profile AVC encoder, but ateme is now offering that encoder in an integrated encoding suite.

The idea has been around for a while, but now Disney is getting serious about sending out encrypted screener DVDs and special players to play those discs in an effort to prevent screener copies leaking.

MeGUI 0.2.2.8 continues encoding if a chained job has quit with an error (so in case you set up multiple movies in automated or one click mode, an error in one movie won't stop all subsequent ones), only deactivates options not to be used in the x264 configuration (so you could e.g. set lossless mode and B-frames, then switch to simple profile, and when switching back to high profile both lossless mode and B-frames would once again become active) and supports the constant quality first pass just introduced to x264.

Then we have the media player ViPlay3 that just turned open source.

In another step of the further erosion of privacy laws under the pressure of the entertainment industry, Swedish ISP subscribers are now no longer protected by Swedish privacy laws when it comes to filesharing, and the Swedish anti piracy organization Antipiratbyrån has been excempted from keeping track of filesharers. However, so far ISPs have refused to play the game and won't give out subscriber data.

The latest build of the Haali Media Splitter supports primitive MP4 edit lists, has an improved Matroska muxer and supports tracksets.

Here's an interesting twist in the bird flu history: Taiwan is ignoring a major drug patent to produce their own bird flu drug to replenish their stock more quickly and cheaply than having to buy the patented drug. If only governments around the world would take just a snip of that courage when it comes to protect their people from unwarranted attacks on their rights by big business, say in matters of copy protection...

ProgDVB 4.61.1 fixes a couple of bugs.

Warner, formerly a strong proponent of HD DVD, has joined the Blu-Ray camp, following the lead by Paramount to release movies in both formats. On a historical sidenote, Warner was the staunchest supporter of the DVD format, when the MPAA tried to shove DRM down our throats for the first time in the form of the DIVX format. Paramount, initially a DVD supporter but turning out mostly DIVX releases, is widely rumored to have tipped the scales when they started dropping DIVX support in favor of DVD.

Do you still buy prerecorded VHS tapes? Probably not if you're visiting this site, but if you do, you'll have to look for a DVD player next year as the industry is planning to phase out VHS completely by 2006.

Speaking of phasing out, the US Senate has set the time of death of analogue television in the US: April 7th 2009. They also plan to auction off the frequencies currently used by analogue TV and use parts of those revenues for price reduction on settop boxes required for digital TV.

In yet another example on how Hollywood prefers to battle new revenue streams rather than to embrace them, popular DVD rental service Netflix has to postpone the launch of their online movie download service indefinitely because they cannot get any licenses from the movie studios.

The US Family Entertainment and Copyright Act (FECA - depending on how you pronounce that in German it sounds almost like one of the infamous four letter swearwords, which might be quite befitting if you read what's to come) has just gotten more teeth: Punishment for making a movie available for download before its theatrical release has been increased by 66%. Unchanged remains the maximum punishment if you get caught twice and have commercial motives: then it's 10 years in the slammer. In addition, during sentencing, it no longer matters if a movie you made available was actually downloaded. In other words: you can go down for just placing a movie file to the wrong folder, and you better not name your holiday videos something like amovie.DVDRip.XviD-somegroup.avi or you are out of luck. Thinking of Law & Order season 21 (that's in 2010 if the show stays on that long), they no longer won't be dealing with petty crimes like assault, armed robbery and the likes. Rather we'll have piracy in the first degree (25 to life), piracy in the second degree (10 - 25), attempted piracy (mislabeling of a file, 5 - 10), and consumption of unauthorized potentially "pirateous" information (visiting doom9.org, 2 - 5 years).

Then here's one close to my heart: if you're a user of my very own MeGUI, you might have noted that I'm writing jobs, profiles and settings as XML files. If this company holding two software patents on XML has its way, I'll have to come up with my own storage format, and hundreds of thousands of programs all over the world and web services will have to be rewritten or you'll end up having to pay licensing fees. Or, we could finally face the truth that software patents are no good.

Last but not least, while on my holidays I visited the UN and they have this huge copy of the human rights declaration on the wall. That got me thinking about what's currently going on in the EU with regards to storage of communication data. Once again (they last tried with the patent directive), the ministers would like to box the holy grail of big brother wannabes through, while parliament takes a more cautious approach, and those in charge of data protection across EU countries are shocked by this unwarranted attempt at invasion of piracy. So, let's turn to the universal declaration of human rights, article 12 which clearly rules out such an interference with our privacy. If policy/secret service/whatnot has reasonable cause to suspect me, they can go see a judge and if they have reasonable cause as defined in our laws, they'll get their warrant to snoop my Internet traffic/track my cellphone/raid my house. But until they do, they have no business keeping tabs on me. And before you put me in the whining liberal category consider this: unwarranted invasion of privacy was the norm in Nazi Germany, East Germany, the Soviet Union, Irak under Saddam, and still is in many countries today. So ask an affected citizen how it feels to not have any privacy and watch out what you say every step of the way. And in a smaller sense: if they start keeping tabs on every one of us, just imagine how long it takes for the certain organizations that do not like you to make use of your right to private copies to gain access to those huge databases and find out just who exactly visited websites like this one. Even though article 11 of the human rights declaration states that everybody is innocent until proven guilty, look at what it takes to get you into prison when it comes to presumed piracy, and suddenly a visit to this site turns into a felony. So bottom line, if you care about your rights to make a private copy and learn how to do so, you should care about governments keeping tabs on innocent people as well and get in touch with your EU representatives and make sure you tell them that you'd like to be considered innocent till proven guilty as well.

After a long time of no activity, there's a new DVD2SVCD. Version 1.2.3 build 1 can convert AVIs with an 1:1 aspect ratio, uses DGIndex instead of DVD2AVI, supports the latest QuEnc and its special matrices, the finalize tab changes according to the output type you select and a few bugs have been squashed as well.

DivX He-3 is a beta version of the next DivX version with enhanced support for SMP / HyperThreading / Dual Core chips, but it also contains speed improvements and bugfixes.

On the HD DVD front, Forrester joins the Blu-Ray camp by predicting their victory. However, one of the major Blu-Ray supporters in the PC business - HP - has asked the Blu-Ray Disc Association to dump the Java based interactivity feature for the Microsoft/Toshiba favored iHD technology present on HD DVDs, and to introduce a mandatory managed copy feature, meaning you can make copies of your movies for home entertainment networks. But before you break out the Champaign, managed copy goes far less than fair use, so here's a tip HP: Place no restrictions on copying whatsoever so people can use their old and new equipment and can watch their movies the way they want it, wherever they want it.

MeGUI 0.2.2.7 supports x264's 'level 2' RDO.

HDTV2DVD is a one in all HDTV to DVD conversion tool. It looks a lot like the now gone commercial SVCD2DVD, so it might not stay free forever, but right now it is..

ProgDVB 4.61 marks the first final release of the new architecture. It fixes many bugs from previous versions.

Anandtech reviewed Shuttle's latest PC offering, designed to fit into your hi-fi rack. If you're wondering what's the scoop for a DVD related site, it's the closing words. The reviewer goes to great lengths about what the device could've been and why it isn't. And guess what the major deterrents are called: DMCA, MPAA and RIAA. This just underlines that we've gotten completely off track. Technology is about facilitating our lives and make them more enriching, not about putting more and more limitations about what we can do and how we use the product we paid good money for. And it's not like MPAA and RIAA aren't entering the poor house any time soon, they are still reaping huge profits despite what they call "rampant piracy".

This is a controversial one: You might know that to broadcast any kind of electrical signal that goes beyond a certain strength (say it can travel more than to your next door neighbor), you need a government license for it, and those licenses are usually handed out a governmental agency in charge of the airwaves. In the US, the agency is called the FCC. Now the Free Software Foundation wants to abolish the FCC because they claim it's no longer needed. It sounds a little over the top, but if you give it some thought: we have Internet radio, we have some forms of Internet TV and most likely will get a lot more in the future. We can build small networks that span an apartment building using WLAN, build peer-to-peer networks wirelessly (say playing multiplayer games on a portable gaming console), and one not so far day, we'll have widespread mobile networks that no longer rely on fixed cell towers operated by large corporations. So perhaps it's a bit utopian right now, but I'm sure big business that has a lot to lose if this were to happen, is already secretly trembling just a bit.

Last but not least I have some more catching up to do: The music industry has scored a victory in Taiwan when they won a court case against the country's largest P2P provider Kuro for infringement of copyright.

And finally, mod chips have been ruled legal in Australia - for now. Unfortunately, the US Free Trade Agreement will shortly nill what Australian courts think is right and replace it with the US (or shall I say: the US copyright industry as I'm quite sure the American people unlikely to be very enthusiastic about laws that restrict the use of technology as any other people that now suffers under DMCA like legislation) version of it.

My apologies for the lack of news during the past week. I was on holidays and trying hard to stay away from any computing device more sophisticated than a cellphone. And getting sick 2 days before departure didn't help either. The news for today will cover the past few days but I hope with that we'll be all up-to-date again. Anyway, back to business..

DGMPGDec 1.4.6 beta1 fixes a rare indexing bug and a diagnostics issue in the d2v parser.

For those of you using DVD Rebuilder, here's a more up-to-date version of DGDecode to be used. Keep in mind that DVD Rebuilder does not work with any version of DGDecode, just this one and the one available in the installer / from the guide.

Then there's an ARccOS plugin for PgcEdit, which helps you create PSL2 files automatically so you can keep on using DVD Decrypter to rip ARccOS corrupted DVDs.

AviSynth 2.5.6 has new options in the DirectShowSource plugin, contains a number of new filters and options for existing filters, contains improvements in caching and a lot of bugfixes and optimizations. For a full list of changes, please visit the AviSynth homepage.

MKVToolNix 1.6.0 searches MPEG-4 (A)SP streams for pixel width/height values and uses them if the differ from those in the source container, supports header removal compression and fixes a few bugs.

x264 has also been updated a couple of times while I was gone. The most notable features that have been added are mixed references, adaptive quantization and video usability info flags.

berrinam has been so kind to take care of the mess I left with MeGUI while I was gone and fixed the problems in bitrate calculation, crashes when using 'don't encode audio' as well as aborting DGIndex jobs and opening the process window when running DGIndex. In addition, the 0.2.2.6a version allows loading of simple DGIndex jobs, supports x264 mixed references and adaptive quantization. If you're looking for the x264-only version, you can get it right here.

This is mostly for developers: bento4 is a portable class library for parsing and creating MP4 files.

HDTVtoMPEG2 1.11.53 fixes a long list of issues, has a feature to create new clips, discards 0 byte transport streams without warning and it saves contrast and brightness settings.

Muxman 0.16 has also been released to the paying public, giving hope that the 0.15 release will soon become freeware. The 0.16 version supports 8 audio and 32 subtitle streams in the GUI, allows the interruption of the muxing process, the GUI has been made more reactive while processing, video assets are now color coded in the multifile manager, the new compositor can take images, resize them and place them anywhere on a solid background and there's a new spreadsheet function which displays the project's contents. Furthermore, scenes can be created/deleted/renamed and their start time can be changes, VTS/domains/titles/language units/PGCs can be created and assigned to content, a default navigation can be created and all navigation can be removed, and finally, chapters and PGs can be added or removed at any PGC cell.

MyTheatre 3.31 allows you to set the preferred video and audio renderers and fixes a few bugs.

XviD is getting a GUI overhaul in anticipation of the 1.1 release.

Apple was also busy while I was gone, rolling out a new iPod with video capabilities. It is also capable of playing MPEG-4 AVC video, and Apple is even selling music videos and TV shows for download for $1.99 a pop. Now if they make that HD quality shows with no DRM, they might just make some money off me, but the iPod screen is definitely too small for my taste and I'm having a really hard time with the PSP, too. Naturally, the group of discontents is already forming with actors, writers and directors asking for a piece of the video iPod pie, and Japanese labels want to get their cut from the iPod's audio capabilities. So perhaps you're wondering as I am, if the labels/studios are really representing the whole industry as they claim, why is there so much dissent amongst them? And perhaps they should figure out their internal issues first before going after their clients with DRM, lawsuits and the likes.

Speaking of the PSP, Sony released yet another new firmware, adding video DRM support for wireless TV and support of DRM'ed content on memory sticks and the device has better WiFi security now. And Sony, where's that firmware to allow us the full use of the device's video capabilities? We definitely don't need more DRM, but unlocking the video player would be a sure seller.

Sticking with hardware, Plextor's PX760 burner will record DVDs at 18x and DVD+R DL at 10x, going higher than any specifications that exist for recordable media.

Then some news on the DMCA front: Finland just got their own version, despite having to pay levies on blank media since copyright law allows private copies.

The BSA seems to have picked up on that and is asking for an abolishment of levies. However, the organizations collecting levies are likely to put up a big fight over this. And while I'm not a fan of flat fees, I rather pay them and have a written right to make copies (regardless of any DRM, copy protection or other mechanism adopted to punish the paying customer), than pay less for media, and be legally forced to buy another copy if one gets damaged (I'm sure all parents reading this will not appreciate having to buy another copy of Snow White and Lion King every time their kids try to eat the movie they've just watched).

Then we have Bill Gates with a statement that will get the Blu-Ray camp up in arms: he told the Daily Princetonian that Blu-Ray's copy protection mechanisms are very anti-consumer. Right on Bill... But your own DRM isn't any better.

Finally, having just spent a week in a big city, making extensive use of public transport every day, I think you should be concerned just where current anti-terrorism efforts are heading, as your daily routine can just get you arrested for no good reason.

Apparently, the news about the HD DVD Video titles being Region Free was only a hoax since it was only the opinion of a single person and no official commitment. It would also have been unlogical for the movie studios to change their attitude since the system of Region Codes secures the profits of the regional headquarters (e.g. US, EMEA, Australia etc.). Thanks to koepi for pointing that out to me.

There's hope for better news on the way: Doom9 will return soon. :-)

Sorry for the lack of news during the past days but Doom9 is abroad and I'm busy with too many things at the same time and as a consequence, I shouldn't have taken over during his absence :-) I apologize for that, --Scipio. Anyway, here we go:

Nero 7 Premium has arrived. It features a new media manager called Nero Home that promises to combine TV and PC, compression to various profiles is supported (Mobile, Portable, Standard, Cinema and HDTV) support for Blu-Ray (it burns 25-50 GB discs).

On its Japan Conference 2005, the DVD forum revealed great news for movie fans who hate Region Codes: HD DVD Video titles will be Region Free as in the case of DVD Video.
Another news concerning HD DVD: Warner Brothers will probably both support Blu-Ray and HD DVD - and by that will make the same move that many other studios have already made.

SubtitleCreator 1.9.1 has been released - changelog.

The latest Haali Media Splitter contains major internal changes and comes with a Matroska muxer.

We've previously heard why Microsoft put its weight behind HD DVD, now here's intel's take. From the article: "... belief that the interests of consumers are being ignored.." Not that it's any news to you and me, but hopefully some people will wake up now. Needless to say that intel isn't saying this out of pure goodwill, they plan to capture a part of the future home entertainment market where devices are increasingly being interconnected. HD DVD apparently has a mandatory feature that allows you to make copies of your movies for portable devices and home theater devices in your home. I've never heard of this feature before, and I'm quite convinced it will be heavily DRM'ed nonetheless, but at least some companies are waking up to the fact that people are unwilling to pay multiple times to play the same content on different devices.

Wired ran an article two days ago on the RIAA's lawsuit campaign, entitled "RIAA Takes Shotgun to Traders". It sheds more light on the RIAA's sometimes shady lawsuit practices.

This may be something for the German music industry and their C&D partners in law: Sony BMG US has posted instructions on how you can copy their copy protected CDs regardless of the copy protection. So, does that mean the DMCA is void when it comes to making private copies? (which are completely legal according to the Copyright Act and the AHRA) As a reminder for those that don't remember, the major labels hired lawyers to C&D thousands of websites in Germany for mentioning tools that could allow people to make copies of their legitimately bought CDs, and linking to sites that offer such software. Unlike neighboring countries, a C&D letter comes with a hefty fee (which normally would be decimated if the person who got the bill decided to take their chance in court) to scare people into compliance in fear of even heftier fees when they go to court.

Last but not least, Nobel laureate in economics Joseph Stiglitz has written an interesting article on how today's stiff copyright and patent laws do more harm to our economy than good and squash the very thing they were meant to bring: innovation.

Last but not least, Microsoft may not bring another useless DVD format to the market after all, but this time I'll wait for a more reliable site for a link..

PgcEdit 0.6.1 has revamped main menus as well as GUI improvements, allows to create blank cells in any PGC and replace a title domain by an imported one, contains improvements in the trace mode, has an improved renumber GOTO feature and contains a bunch of bugfixes. The full list of changes is quite extensive so I can't list it all here.

ProgDVB 4.60 test has a new internal architecture but no changes in functionality at this time.

ImgBurn is the new tool by DVD Decrypter author Lightning_UK. It continues where DVD Decrypter left off as far as burning CDs and DVDs is concerned.

Microsoft's entry in the online music business may not happen after all. Negotiations between the major labels and Microsoft has broken down when no agreement over royalties could be reached.

This last one is for all Finnish readers: The Finnish parliament is about to introduce drastic changes in Finland's copyright law, to the benefit of media corporations and the detriment of paying customers. You can find more info the proposed copyright reform here, and there's an organized demonstration in Helsinki on Friday if you're interested.

VirtualDub 1.6.11 supports Direct3D .fx files for hardware assisted display, has keyboard shortcuts to go forward / backward by scene and a fixes a couple of bugs.

ShrinkTo5 1.7.1 fixes a few problems in the GUI and the trial version of the CD/DVD writer plugin.

Paramount, formerly firmly in the HD DVD camp, has announced to support both fledgeling high definition DVD formats.

Another of the 15'000 people that the RIAA sued so far is vowing to fight back and has sued the RIAA a whole bunch of things.

First it was the labels, now the artists and royalty collectors are complaining on how little they get from iTunes. So, with Apple not making any money, the RIAA and Co complaining they're not making enough money, where do those 99 cents per song go?

DVDFab Decrypter 2.9.5.2 beta 2 fixes a problem ripping Lords of Dogtown (an ARccOS title).

Auto Gordian Knot 2.20 remembers audio and subtitle selections, allows the use of the .credits hidden option even for AVI input and comes with updated translated tutorials.

Here they go again: this time Microsoft will give self-destructing DVDs a shot. Unlike previous attempts, Microsoft's discs will require new players, presumably because these movies will be DRM'ed. But like previous attempts, the disadvantages will remain the same.

Last but not least, the LA Times has an article on how movie theater attendance is down due to the quality of the movies, not P2P as the MPAA would like us to believe.

DGMPGDec 1.4.5 fixes a major bug in random access when multiple elementary streams were loaded.

YAMB 1.3.0 supports language flags, delays, can set a framerate, shows global info and track info when loading a file, can extract subtitles, contains some GUI improvements and fixes a few bugs.

ProjectX 0.90.1 solves all bugs found in the 0.90 pre release.

BatchCCEWS 0.9.1.6l shifts 3:2 pulldown settings of TFF content which should prevent out of order display of fields on some DVD players.

Sony is apparently fuming about the renewed flaw found in their PSP firmware, allowing people to downgrade the firmware of their portable gaming console to an earlier version that allows to turn third party code Sony doesn't want the device to run. You might wonder why I mention this here, but the PSP would make an excellent portable movie player, of Sony hadn't purposely crippled it so you cannot take full advantage of its video capabilities (it can play MPEG-4 AVC content) unless you buy the proprietary UMD movie discs that often retail for more than their DVD counterparts. Sony is working on a new (forced with new games - as in you can't play newer games unless you upgrade your console and lock third party applications out again) firmware, so here's a hint for the engineers, or the people hindering them from making this console truly great: Don't limit the video playback abilities of the PSP anymore. Allow all sensible framerates, and allow full resolution AVC (and ASP) content. An E-mail client and streaming is no reasonable alternative for unlocking the video capabilities.

And there's some more fuming in the Blu-Ray camp, of which Sony is a prominent member: here's their answer to Microsoft's arguments why they chose HD DVD over Blu-Ray.

War may soon break out between Apple and the music industry. The maker of the most popular legal music download store, still refuses to change the pricing model, so studios are now threatening to cut of iTune's music supply. PC Pro rightfully exposes the industry's arguments for what they are: plain wrong. How many people you know that buy an iPod to use iTunes and how many bought an iPod to play MP3s and eventually ended up buying a song from iTunes? And don't forget, the RIAA member studios make more money off a song - a lesser product than what's available on CD nonetheless - sold via iTunes than a song on a regular CD.

Do you think the industry should dictate what we do with stuff we buy? DRM and copy protection are just two facets of how they're trying to dictate how you use a product you lawfully purchased. Now, cellphone providers join the ranks of companies trying to use the DMCA to serve their own purposes rather than their customers, and they're suing companies providing SIM unlock services (under the DMCA obviously).

Last but not least, let's turn our attention to the current copyright debate in Canada. A study funded by the Canadian Record Industry claims that people using filesharing services are much more likely to cheat on exams and shoplift. I'm not Canadian, but once upon a time I've had a Napster account as well, but I got my Masters degree fair and square, I have no criminal record, not even a traffic ticket, and I believe the paper this study is printed on would be worth more if there was nothing printed on it. On the reasonable side of the discussion, a group of 19 law professors has taken a long look at the proposed changes in Canada's copyright laws and found gaping flaws in it that need to be addressed. They've also published a book, which can be freely downloaded, on the issues found.

Last month's news can be found here.