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What is this world coming to, when there is a CD counterfeit bust in my sleepy New York? According to the Putnam Courier newspaper, a narcotics investigator observed a van driving with its headlamps turned off. The vehicle was stopped and its driver did not possess a driver's license, but they had lots of discs in their back seat! After the incident was reported to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), it was confirmed the merchandise was unauthorized. Investigators searched the vehicle and discovered 1,000 counterfeit CDs and DVDs inside along with more than $2,000 in cash and sales receipt copies.

While strides have been made in terms of disc piracy, it never really ends, particularly outside of the U.S. With so much peer to peer sharing, one would think music CD and DVD counterfeiting would be gone. Not the case, but the good news is that pirate seizures are up. “There are a lot of different ways people are trying to get innovative with how to best crack down on different types of piracy and devoting a lot of resources to customs and border protection," said RIAA spokesperson Cara Duckworth. "We really worked hard with Congress so that customs does have the resources to be aware of whatever pirated content comes into the U.S."

Artists are thinking outside the box as well. In the last couple of weeks, a couple of music artists rushed their new CDs to market, some analysts say to thwart piracy. The Raconteurs’ Consolers of The Lonely (Warner Brothers), released March 25, became available in every format at the same time with no promotion before the release. The album was mastered and completed in the first week of March. It was then taken immediately to a vinyl pressing plant, then to a CD pressing plant. Then preparations to sell it digitally began next. Industry analysts say the move may thwart piracy. I’m not really sure how successful the ploy was, because Apple reportedly messed it up when someone decided the album should have its own exclusive (but brief) iTunes presale.

I’ve been trying to get comment from the label or the band about the marketing ploys effect on piracy, but all I found on the band’s MySpace page was a quote that said, “In the event that the record leaks, we didn’t want this method of release to be seen as a reaction to such a leak. It’s not. The actual worst thing about a leak is the usual poor sound quality, akin to watching a movie on a wristwatch instead of in a theater. Which for the album’s creators is a bit of a letdown, but again, it is completely up to the listener.” No mention of piracy.

Gnarls Barkely also released their album, The Odd Couple (Atlantic), a week ahead of schedule. The band says nothing about piracy on their MySpace site, just that they felt the timing was right. Nine Inch Nails had done something similar with Ghosts I-IV. Following a mysterious news update on their website titled “2 weeks,” the band released a 36-track instrumental album March 2. This previously unmentioned album was made available in several different formats, including a free nine-track download, a five-dollar full-album digital download, a $10 CD set with immediate album download, a $75 deluxe edition set, and a limited run of 2,500 ultra-deluxe packages. These ultra-deluxe packages, priced at $300 each, sold out within three days. Ghosts I-IV was officially released April 8.

The RIAA doesn’t get much involved a lot of the marketing aspects of the record business, so Duckworth could not comment on whether these different methods of releases actually worked in terms of increasing sales overall. But she admits that pre-release piracy is a big problem and that it has had an enormous, harmful impact, so labels are experimenting with all sorts of different programs to see what works and what does not.

Software disc piracy is being targeted in a new way. Eight lawsuits have been filed by The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) this month against sellers of pirated Adobe software on eBay. This move follows the round of lawsuits filed in February. Source say that much more than half of the software being offer on eBay is illegal. They are aiming to stop that with all sorts of ways potential unsuspecting customers can spot illegal content as well.

While I was looking at piracy statistics, I wondered how the book industry is dealing with it all. From what I could tell, there are no specific numbers on CD book piracy. Whether the book publishing industry is paying close enough attention to piracy is a bone of contention, some authors say. The Society of Authors, a UK organization representing more than 8,500 authors, gave Ben Hoyle of Times Online an interview. Tracy Chevalier (Girl With A Pearl Earring), chairperson of the Society of Authors says the publishing industry is failing to adopt to the digital age and is allowing book sales to be lost. “There’s a lot of ‘wait and see what the technology brings,’ but the trouble is if you wait and see too long then it’s gone. That’s what happened to the music industry,” she said. The internet is full of unlicensed free digital copies of chapters and recipes for cookbooks, and sometimes even the whole book. Chevalier said, "Book piracy will ultimately drive authors to stop writing unless this is brought under control.”

Michele Cobb, president of the Audio Publishers Associations (APA)--which represents the audiobook industry--is not as concerned as Chevalier. Audio book sales are still on the rise. “Our issues as an industry are not the same as it is for music," she said. "A music file is much smaller. Audio books can be from 22-40 hours worth of material. So, for CDs and downloadable, you are dealing with much bigger pieces of data. Pirating a book that is 20 CDs is much different than pirating a Britney Spears CD. Even if you are uploading CDs to the internet, you are still dealing with a lot of CDs, so we don’t see quite the level of piracy experienced with a song or a music disc.”

Cobb said studies on digital rights management are being done because “we know that downladable is important to our market, and we want to make material accessible although we are, of course, concerned with people breaking laws.”

Random House Audio Publishing Group no longer requires retail partners use DRM when selling audiobooks via digital download. After a test last Fall with eMusic.com, Random House concluded this move will allow for healthy competition among retailers targeting the iPod consumer without posing any substantive increase in risk of piracy. The company does quantify this policy by saying they can maintain DRM restrictions for those authors who feel it is necessary.

During the emusic.com test, Random House watermarked all of the files and then hired a piracy watchdog service to monitor and report back if any of the Random House titles appeared on the major filesharing networks. A mix of popular titles were tracked. While many copies of audiobook files were found available for free, none of them originated from the eMusic test, but rather from copied CDs or from files whose DRM was hacked. The result was no one single of instance of the eMusic watermarked titles being distributed illegally.

Random House says that the MP3 distribution approach will allow them not only to sell through existing partners, but also to foster new audio sales through any CD retailer with a website. Cobb says, “With DRM-free materials this year, this is going to be a pivotal point to determine what happens.”

Summarizing the state of piracy in the music and audiobook industries is difficult. So much is going on worldwide, it is not likely that piracy will ever be completely controlled, because as strides are made in one region, matters get worse elsewhere. And as disc piracy strides are made, internet piracy gains momentum, and mobile phones are likely to complicate the issue further.

The RIAA’s Duckworth admits it is a never-ending issue, but also looks at the glass half full rather than half empty. “In terms of our enforcement efforts, I think that we are very realistic in that we know there is always going to be new technology and some new way that people can get music illegally, so we have focused our efforts on where we think we can make the most difference. We can try to drive the legal marketplace by focusing where we think are the most acute problems.”

Debbie Galante Block (debgalante at aol.com) is a freelance writer based in Mahopac, N.Y.

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The Authoritative Blu-ray Disc (BD) FAQ: Updates

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NetBlender Introduces Technology that Connects iPhones to Blu-ray Disc Content

NetBlender today announced a new Blu-ray Disc technology that allows iPhones and iPod Touch devices to interact with content on a Blu-ray disc. Called "BD Touch", the technology leverages the network connection built into Blu-ray players and the WiFi connection on the iPhone to create two-way communication between the devices. Video, audio, text, and player commands can be transferred via the connection.

"Having spent the past decade building interactive video products we are thrilled to bring together two of the most interactive consumer products ever created with BD Touch," said John Harrington, NetBlender CEO. "We began R&D on integrating the two devices right after I experienced the iPhone Multi-Touch interface for the first time."

BD Touch connects the 10 foot experience of the large screen home theater with the mobile experience offered by the iPhone. The sophisticated UI of the iPhone enables unprecedented user interaction when compared to any other handheld device. BD Touch applications can take advantage of the iPhone's geo location features, 3D sensors and QWERTY keyboard. BD Touch features will work on any BD Live-enabled Blu-ray Disc player such as the PlayStation 3.

Search and e-commerce possibilities related to movie content abound when two-way communication between the iPhone and the content being displayed on a Blu-ray player is enabled. Other implementations of BD Touch will include:
* Pushing digital copies of movies to an iPhone from the Blu-ray disc menu.
* Automatically cataloguing a viewer's Blu-ray disc collection and providing movie suggestions
* Displaying trivia and extra information about a movie in sync with the movie's playback
* Turning existing Blu-ray discs into games that use the iPhone as the game controller

"BD Touch is another great example of NetBlender's thought leadership in the professional Blu-ray authoring market," said Jeff Hastings, President and GM Corel Digital Media. "We are pleased that NetBlender's DoStudio, which incorporates Corel's PureHD Multiplexing technology, is continuing to expand the creative possibilities for next generation media professionals."

"By releasing the BD Touch SDK to the iPhone developer community we're excited to see creative possibilities for Blu-ray interactivity flourish," said Denny Breitenfeld, NetBlender CTO. "The BD Touch framework is built into our Blu-ray disc authoring solution, DoStudio, so Blu-ray authorers at every level of the industry will be able to take advantage of these exciting new applications on their discs with point and click ease."

The BD Touch SDK provides a complete specification for sending and receiving data between a BD Touch compatible Blu-Ray disc and an iPhone/iPod Touch. Using the SDK, developers can create free or commercial applications on a Mac just like they do now for iPhone applications. The SDK is open to the public and BD Touch applications can be distributed in the same manner as other iPhone applications according to Apple Corp.'s EULA.

Information about BD Touch and the BD Touch SDK can be found at http://www.netblender.com.

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Microboards Hits the High Notes, All-New Publishing Software and More

Get a sneak peak at next-generation publishing software. Microboards is a leader and innovator in the industry, and NAB attendees will not be disappointed with their first viewing of Microboards' new publisher software. Featuring the industry's easiest job setup with powerful recording, reporting and recovery features, it incorporates all the features users have been asking for. "This software is the culmination of years of marketplace experience and thousands of hours of research and design" says John Westrum, Microboards CTO. "The software will be included on all of Microboards product lines and is specifically designed to span the entire Microboards product portfolio and wide range of users- from those who are recently beginning to use the technology in our entry-level GX systems, all the way up to our power-users in the flagship MX series."

Some of the unique features include the job setup interface, which combines a tabbed-style wizard for step-by-step disc creation with a final dashboard-style preview screen. Advanced users can choose to jump right to the preview and access job editing tools for label design, recording files, disc quantities, and other copy job settings. "The wizard is there for a novice user - but the power user can bypass the wizard and make all their selections right on the preview screen" says Aaron Pratt, Microboards' Director of Marketing. "The software provides easy access to more advanced features as the user's demand for more advanced control of the disc publishing process increases."

Every detail of the software was carefully planned, utilizing best practices in software design to ensure that controls were intuitive in their placement and labeling, and ensuring that job parameters were clear through strong feedback, such as in label previews and settings. User shortcuts range from the ability to drag and drop files for recording and printing to automatically starting jobs by dropping entire job files onto the job queue.

In addition to the intuitive interface, the software has been designed with rich advanced features. Whether a user needs to copy and print batches of discs with varying content, erase rewritable discs, store and burn disc images, or just change the priority of a job they are submitting, each feature is easy to find and use. In addition, the software's ability to communicate with hardware and recover from irregular statuses, coupled with clear feedback and logging to aid users in diagnosing and correcting issues is a leap ahead of competitive desktop systems.

"In short, we are significantly enhancing the software experience for all users of Microboards disc publishers", says Pratt. "And we do it without taking away the powerful features that advanced users expect from a Microboards product."

Blu-ray Support
Microboards is also demonstrating disc publishers with the ability to record and print Blu-ray discs. Microboards, an early supporter of the Blu-ray format, announced their first copier product at NAB two years ago. "At NAB last year, our Blu-ray tower copiers were a huge hit, and we've continued to see steady adoption of the format. We anticipate even stronger increases in demand with the recent emergence of BD as the winner in the format contest" says Westrum. At that time, Westrum predicted the need for an automated printer/publisher for Blu-ray, when he indicated that Microboards already had plans in place to "create future versions of our automated products that support Blu-Ray as well". The 4X recording technology enables recording of a full Blu-ray disc in under 23 minutes, half the time of the 2X publishers on the market today.

MX Publishers and PF-Pro Autoprinter
Microboards is also showing their latest line of disc printers and publishers at NAB. The one- and two- drive MX publisher series and the PF-Pro Autoprinter boast incredibly high speed, high resolution printing, and separate C, M, Y, and Black high capacity ink cartridges - and the lowest possible cost-per-disc, coming in at just pennies for a typical print. All three systems feature 100-disc input and output capacity and Microboards' enhanced automation for reliable loading and unloading of discs.

"Microboards' users purchase our products for their reputation for performance," said Westrum. "The MX publishers set a new standard for throughput, in both speed and operating cost." One set of ink cartridges can produce over 1,500 discs. Disc designs utilizing light text-only coverage could have a cost-per-disc as low as 2 cents.

Stop and see all of this and more at NAB Booth SL 7706.

www.microboards.com

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Four New Software Enhancements in Primera Booth at NAB 2008

Primera Technology, Inc., the world's leading developer and manufacturer of CD, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc duplication and printing equipment, today announced it will be showing four significant new software enhancements at NAB 2008 in booth SL6823 along with their full line of CD, DVD, and Blu-ray disc duplicators and printers.

The new software enhancements are as follows:

1. PTPublisher 1.2. This new version of Primera's award-winning PTPublisher software is not only the easiest to use burn and print software for automated disc production, but it is now also one of the most advanced, adding a multitude of new features. PTPublisher 1.2 upgrades are available now at no charge to registered users here.

New features in version 1.2 include the following:

Multiple Robot Support – attach up to three robots, in any combination, to a single PC and run them independently of each other

2-Byte Languages – including Japanese, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified) and Korean

Bin selection – allows different media types in right and left input bins

Burn using one drive or both drives (BravoPro/DP-PRO and XRP)

Improved logging

Copy disc feature using host computer's drive

2. PTPublisher NE (Network Edition). PTPublisher NE (Network Edition) software allows many users in an office to share a single Primera disc publisher. It comes with an unlimited number of client licenses for just US$599 (MSRP) – about half the price of competing network software. Visit www.primera.com for more information.

3. Discribe v6.0 for Mac. Primera sells more Mac-compatible disc publishers and disc printers than any other company in the world. The importance of this market to Primera is reflected in an all-new version of the company's Mac burn-and-print software called Discribe v6.0. The program has been completely rewritten from the ground up in universal binary code for optimal performance on all current Mac platforms and with a new interface that is more intuitive and easier to use. Discribe v.6.0 now also supports Blu-ray drives and is Leopard compatible. For Primera units purchased before September 1, 2007, a special, limited-time upgrade price of just $149 for Bravo SE, Bravo II and Bravo XR and $225 for BravoPro and XRP is available. Primera units purchased after September 1, 2007 qualify for a free upgrade. For more information or to order, click here.

4. PTRip. Primera will demonstrate for the first time at NAB its new PTRip software. PTRip gives users of Primera's Bravo-Series Disc Publishers the ability to automatically upload their personal music CDs into iTunes(TM) or Windows® Media Player using their disc publishers' built-in CD/DVD drives and robotics.

The program is simple to use and requires just three steps:
1. Place CDs into a Bravo-Series Disc Publisher's input bin,
2. Launch PTRip,
3. Click "Load to iTunes" or "Load to Windows Media Player."

PTRip is available to registered users at no charge for a limited time. Go to www.primera.com/PTRip to register and download the program.

"It's been a year of software development at Primera," said Mark D. Strobel, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Primera. "We are thrilled to be sharing our software enhancements and our new line of Blu-ray products with everyone at NAB 2008. Many, if not most, of our valued customers can benefit from all of these upgrades and new software products."

www.primera.com

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Technicolor Brings Image Enhancement Artistry to High-Def Encoding Work

Digital Vision, the premier supplier of picture enhancement systems for film and television post-production, announced that Los Angeles-based Technicolor Creative Services has purchased four DVNR 2k image processing systems for use in high-definition DVD compression and authoring work. The systems, equipped with AGR4 ME and ALS options, enable Technicolor to manage film grain and video noise and correct for the artifacting that often occurs when encoding images for high-resolution formats such as Blu-Ray.

The DVNR 2k systems are installed in Technicolor’s Burbank DVD facility. They’re being used to pre-process images for new titles that Technicolor’s clients release in HD, and to enhance images in existing titles for re-release in higher-resolution formats.

Chuck Null, VP of Technology for Technicolor DVD, said, “We’ve worked with DVNR systems for years, and with the DVNR 2k we can now offer image processing services in the HD realm. What’s great about the DVNR is the tie-in to timecode from the video source. We can frame accurately go through and make enhancements to the video. With some systems you just blanket the entire film. The DVNR has applications that are individually controllable – aperture, noise reduction, filtering – and we use all of those together. Our team has experience with the DVNR and deep understanding of image processing. It’s more of an art than a mechanical process.”

Digital Vision President and COO Simon Cuff said, “Directors, cinematographers, colourists and digital artists work hard to develop, create and maintain the look of their films and shows. When the production gets distributed it has to be encoded, and that is where the hard work can get undone. We’ve developed the DVNR 2K to ensure that realtime automatic pre-processing can preserve and even enhance the viewing experience and ensure that the creative intent is delivered to the audience without compromise.”

www.digitalvision.se

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Blockbuster Rolls Out Blu-ray Format Across U.S. & Canada

Beginning this week, in addition to the standard DVDs lining its shelves, Blockbuster Inc. will be offering customers something extra -- Blu-ray movies, for rent and sale in all of its corporate stores in the U.S., as well as in Canada, and select domestic franchise locations. Blockbuster made news last July with its announcement that the company was making Blu-ray available in 1,700 of its stores. Now, less than a year later, the company is positioning itself to become the customer's Blu-ray headquarters for rental and retail product with this national launch.

To highlight the availability of Blu-ray in its stores, Blockbuster is installing Blu-ray kiosks in the center of its stores. Featuring a 42-inch high-definition TV with movies playing via a PLAYSTATION(R)3 (PS3(TM)) console, the Blu-ray kiosks will enable customers to experience the movie-viewing advantages of high-definition technology while also driving home the point that PS3 consoles double as Blu-ray players.

As for Blockbuster's by-mail service, in addition to the wide selection of Blu-ray titles it carries online, this week Blockbuster began offering online subscribers a Blu-ray preference setting so they can automatically indicate that they want to receive all available movies in the high-definition format.

"Blockbuster was the first national retailer to accurately recognize and react to consumers' preference for this format when we added Blu-ray discs to a large percentage of our stores last summer," said David Podeschi, Blockbuster Senior Vice President, Merchandising, Distribution and Logistics. "Now, with this national rollout, we believe Blockbuster is perfectly positioned to drive consumer adoption of this next generation DVD format and to become the customer's headquarters when it comes to renting or buying Blu-ray movies, whether in-store or online."

Podeschi continued, "Our mission at Blockbuster is to provide consumers with convenient access to media entertainment -- whether that's with Blu-ray or standard DVDs, retail or rental, through our stores, by mail and through new technologies."

www.blockbuster.com

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DTS-HD Master Audio Now Available for Playstation3 Computer Entertainment System

DTS, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTSI), a digital audio technology company dedicated to delivering the ultimate entertainment experience, has announced that its DTS-HD Master Audio™ technology is now available for the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system. DTS-HD Master Audio is capable of delivering audio that is bit-for-bit identical to the studio master at super high variable bit rates (up to 24.5 Mbps on Blu-ray™ Discs). This bit stream is so fast and the transfer rate so high that it can deliver 7.1 audio channel, 96k/24-bit sound identical to the original studio master. DTS’ single-bit-stream codec design enables supremely efficient content programming and consumer playback. The new PS3 with DTS-HD Master Audio will be available by simply downloading the upcoming firmware upgrade on April 15th, 2008.

“We are extremely pleased that Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) is adding the full spectrum premium DTS-HD Master Audio codec into the PS3 so that more than 10 million owners of one of the best selling computer entertainment systems can have the best sounding, most efficient and flexible audio technology available as well,” said Brian Towne, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Division at DTS. “DTS-HD Master Audio is fast becoming the must-have feature for high definition entertainment enthusiasts.”

"PS3 was designed to enable delivery of new and improved technologies like DTS-HD Master Audio," said Teiji Yutaka, Senior Vice President, Software Platform Development, SCE. "So we are delighted to be able to offer this capability to PS3 users."

www.dts.com

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AnyDVD HD supports "Proactive Renewal"

The Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator, LLC ("AACS LA") has again started one of its "proactive renewals". Thus leaving many owners of new high-definition media (Blu-Ray, HD-DVD) in the dark if they cannot update their software or hardware players. This new version of the protection system will be available on new discs released in late April, like both Region B BD titles Alien vs. Predator 2: Requiem and Alvin and the Chipmunks.

In response to that decision SlySoft once again updated its system to support those new discs and many that are about to be released in the next few months. All licensed customers of the product "AnyDVD HD" can update to the new version 6.4.1.1 free of charge.

Fernando Cabezas, team member of the SlySoft disc compatibility task force said: "This again is a great feature for our customers. Only a few days before the official release of new titles we already can say, you can continue to watch your favorite movies on your favorite equipment. Not only the equipment the industry forces you to use."

Regarding to the drop of HD-DVD support of Cyberlink's new software release PowerDVD 8 he continued: "It's a shame that only a few weeks after the drop of the HD-DVD format some major software players drop the playback of all purchased media too. This new method of forcing customers to buy their already owned media again is a taste of what DRM is able to.

Changelog AnyDVD (HD) 6.4.1.1 2008 04 10

New (Blu-ray): Added support for AACS MKBv7! (used on new titles to be released end of April)

New (Blu-ray): Complete region lock removal from Blu-ray disc, including discs which contain signed Java code!

New (Blu-ray): Added dialog to ask for disc region on insertion.

New (Blu-ray): Automatic option remembers previous region settings per disc

New (DVD): Support for protection on Reservation Road, US

New (DVD): Many improvements to AI scanner and AnyDVD ripper

Fix (Blu-ray): BD+ removal did not work with some discs.

Fix (DVD): Problems with some discs

Some minor fixes and improvements

Updated languages

www.slysoft.com

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GEAR Software Releases GEAR Video 9 with DivX Ultra New Software Features Simple Video Editing and DVD Authoring

GEAR® Software, a leading developer of multimedia software tools, today released GEAR Video 9.0, a consumer video editing and DVD authoring package. GEAR Video 9.0 offers home users a simple software tool for creating memorable Video DVDs.GEAR Video 9.0 features DVD and DivX® format choices, along with media editing and authoring features to make stunning presentations on DVD. With GEAR Video 9.0, making menus and title pages using thumbnails with user selected backgrounds is a snap. The software also helps users create custom slide shows with transition effects using video clips and digital stills. GEAR Video 9.0 also provides a powerful video editor that can be used for cuts, merges and transition effects.

"GEAR Video 9.0 is primarily designed to meet the needs of home video makers," said Michael Szabo, Manager of e-commerce for GEAR Software. "Customers asked us to make something that was straight-forward and wouldn't require hours and hours to make a nice DVD of home movies. We think that GEAR Video 9.0 does that. The software makes it easy to share your home movies and photos with friends and family. Using DVD-Video or DivX, GEAR's authoring capabilities can make photo slideshows with background music and animated transitions."

A variety of help tools and tutorials are available at gearsoftware.com. GEAR Video 9.0 is available for 30-day trial here.

Pricing and Availability
GEAR Video 9 will support Microsoft® Windows® XP, and Windows Vista. It is available through GEAR Resellers and the GEAR Store. The estimated street price for GEAR Video 9.0 is US$79.99. For more information about upgrade policies, pricing, and GEAR Video 9 software features, click here.

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