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WaveXpress' "filtering" patent?!
DirecTV latest to unveil family package -- is this "weeding out programming" the same as the "filtering" terminology referenced in WaveXpress' patent?
Wed Jan 18, 2006 05:47 PM ET
(Adds EchoStar plans in 9th paragraph)
By Jeremy Pelofsky
WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , the biggest U.S. satellite television provider, on Wednesday became the latest to say it will offer a package of channels aimed at weeding out programming that might be inappropriate for children.
The biggest cable companies, including Comcast Corp. (CMCSA.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Time Warner Inc. (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , have announced packages designed to please families, lawmakers and regulators who are worried about sexual and profane material on television.
DirecTV's package will include more than 40 channels, including Viacom Inc.'s (VIA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Nickelodeon, Time Warner's CNN Headline News, The Weather Channel, and National Religious Broadcast Network, among others.
The package, to be available in mid-April, will cost $34.99 a month and include local broadcast channels, according to the company.
"We have answered the call from concerned parents and policymakers and have designed a programming package to meet the needs of DirecTV families," Dan Fawcett, executive vice president for programming at DirecTV, said in a statement.
The company had 14.93 million subscribers as of the end of the third quarter last year.
The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday plans to hold a hearing at which it will receive an update from the television industry on its efforts to assuage concerns about racy programming.
Executives from EchoStar, CBS Corp. (CBSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Comcast are expected to testify along with Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council, which has fought what it considers to be indecent content on television.
DirecTV satellite rival EchoStar Communications Corp. (DISH.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , which had 11.7 million customers at the end of the third quarter, plans to unveil its family package at the hearing, according to company spokesman Marc Lumpkin.
Bozell and consumer group Consumers Union said the offerings by the industry were not enough and they would continue to press for consumers to be able to pick and choose the channels they want, known as "a la carte" service.
Some cable companies and programmers have countered that such a system would cost more and derail niche channels that could attract casual viewers.
Instead, the providers have developed family-oriented packages as an alternative way to address indecency concerns.
"These are ideas that have been designed to fail; they will fail so the industry can say there's no demand for family programming," Bozell told reporters. "If you're going to have family tiers, families ought to be allowed to decide those tiers, not the cable industry."
He also called on the Senate to pass legislation which has languished since early 2005 to increase fines on television and radio broadcasters that violate rules limiting indecent content to late night hours when children are less likely to be listening.
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill to raise indecency fines to as much as $500,000 from the current $32,500.
DirecTV latest to unveil family package -- is this "weeding out programming" the same as the "filtering" terminology referenced in WaveXpress' patent?
Wed Jan 18, 2006 05:47 PM ET
(Adds EchoStar plans in 9th paragraph)
By Jeremy Pelofsky
WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , the biggest U.S. satellite television provider, on Wednesday became the latest to say it will offer a package of channels aimed at weeding out programming that might be inappropriate for children.
The biggest cable companies, including Comcast Corp. (CMCSA.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Time Warner Inc. (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , have announced packages designed to please families, lawmakers and regulators who are worried about sexual and profane material on television.
DirecTV's package will include more than 40 channels, including Viacom Inc.'s (VIA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Nickelodeon, Time Warner's CNN Headline News, The Weather Channel, and National Religious Broadcast Network, among others.
The package, to be available in mid-April, will cost $34.99 a month and include local broadcast channels, according to the company.
"We have answered the call from concerned parents and policymakers and have designed a programming package to meet the needs of DirecTV families," Dan Fawcett, executive vice president for programming at DirecTV, said in a statement.
The company had 14.93 million subscribers as of the end of the third quarter last year.
The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday plans to hold a hearing at which it will receive an update from the television industry on its efforts to assuage concerns about racy programming.
Executives from EchoStar, CBS Corp. (CBSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Comcast are expected to testify along with Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council, which has fought what it considers to be indecent content on television.
DirecTV satellite rival EchoStar Communications Corp. (DISH.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , which had 11.7 million customers at the end of the third quarter, plans to unveil its family package at the hearing, according to company spokesman Marc Lumpkin.
Bozell and consumer group Consumers Union said the offerings by the industry were not enough and they would continue to press for consumers to be able to pick and choose the channels they want, known as "a la carte" service.
Some cable companies and programmers have countered that such a system would cost more and derail niche channels that could attract casual viewers.
Instead, the providers have developed family-oriented packages as an alternative way to address indecency concerns.
"These are ideas that have been designed to fail; they will fail so the industry can say there's no demand for family programming," Bozell told reporters. "If you're going to have family tiers, families ought to be allowed to decide those tiers, not the cable industry."
He also called on the Senate to pass legislation which has languished since early 2005 to increase fines on television and radio broadcasters that violate rules limiting indecent content to late night hours when children are less likely to be listening.
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill to raise indecency fines to as much as $500,000 from the current $32,500.
y'all are idiots for putting up with this imprisonment and stupidity
GratziPrego: Snackman's a simple tyrant and, i EMPHASIZE simple. any wariance from the go-WAVX chant is deemed to be a threat to common decency -- Snackman would do well in china.
Sent By: Snackman Date: 1/9/2006 10:05:06 AM
It is also not nice to print someone's private message to you.
no prob, go-kite: no-news days give rise to talking about moot points -- these gov't contracts kick ass, as in, industry(ies) of any flavor will follow suit in order to maintain seamless compatibility with the gov't organizations they may deal with.
rock on SKS.
Leadership in Trusted Computing: though Wave is clearly not THE leader, in the sense that it's the gorilla OEMs who are THE leaders who are deploying the TPM infrastructure en masse... that said, i suggest that while Wave's in a Leadership role, a better characterization of Wave's position is one indicating that Wave's a LEADING BENEFICIARY of trusted computing... presuming of course that Wave's IP will garner in a big chunk of transactional revenues (as SKS's alluded to all aong)
conjecture keeps wind in the sails, while material contracts with explicitly stated revenue-related guarantees provide fuel to drive forward -- one thing is painfully clear: this "DD" board is extrapolating on conjecture, not fuel!
well put cpa: have you a target - $/sh or news based - at which you will take a position in WAVX?
the age-old quandry: will it cost me 3 or 4 times as much to buy in if/when news hits?
OT: Macrovision v. InterTrust
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060105/dcth058.html?.v=29
Press Release Source: Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C.
The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences Awards Macrovision Priority for Digital Rights Management Patent
Thursday January 5, 5:44 pm ET
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has entered a judgment of priority (first to invent) in favor of Macrovision Corporation (Nasdaq: MVSN - News) against InterTrust Technologies Corporation in Ginter v. Benson. The patent at issue involves digital rights management technology for the video, music and software industries, as designed by Macrovision's predecessor in interest.
Macrovision's lead counsel in the interference, Charles L. Gholz of Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C., said, "This interference involved important questions of attorney diligence, and we look forward to publication of the Board's opinion. Even more importantly, we are delighted that the Board has awarded priority to our client, thereby preventing InterTrust from obtaining its claims in interference."
According to Macrovision's General Counsel, Loren Hillberg, "Macrovision has been awarded and continues to prosecute patents for this digital rights technology in Europe and Japan. Developing digital rights management technologies is significant to the future of our company, and this proceeding further confirms our ability to exploit our technology around the world."
Assisting clients for more than 35 years, Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C., in Alexandria, Va., is one of the largest intellectual property specialty firms in the United States. The firm provides a full range of intellectual property services, including litigation matters in all courts. The firm also continues to have a significant trademark, copyright and patent interference practice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C.
greg, precisely: "The smaller the firm, the more important defensible IP becomes." -- w/o defensible IP, the IBMs of the digital world will not give away ongoing revenue streams just because a co. puts forth well-informed, intelligent material and proof-of-concept prototypes.
Don't get me wrong, the Dell and Intel's offerings of Wave software is encouraging... but, as SKS has acknowledged, it's transactional revenues that offer significant revenue opportunities and, to date, there's been no contract-based explanation of how Wave will collect transactional revenues
Weby, internet & dude_danny: precisely -- I don't know, technically, what protection Wave's portfolio of patents affords them, but it sure seems that the peter-meter and WaveXpress/Sarnoff patents are very closely related to what Viiv, MCEs and Apple are doing with regard to digital downloads. I guess we'll find out soon enough if the WinTelApple efforts have deceloped a process that circumvents Wave's IP.... under the NASDAQ delisting shadow, as well as yet to be addressed/resolved class action law suits, and no sign of anything propelling WAVX over a buck, it sure seems that the "belated" happy new year from the TVTonic folks is a pretty weak effort towards reassurance.
Hoping as always for WAVX redemption.... now, there's no basis for stealth behavour to the extent that the whole TCG-based industry is mobilizing directly into the alleged Wave-sweet-spot.
perfect khillo (i think): Google's effort essentially includes Wave's IP-based tech, albeit in a transparent-to Goosle sense in as much as Google relies "Intel's expertise in digital home interoperability specifications" and "Intel Viiv technology has been designed to make it simple for companies like Google to offer compelling new media platforms incorporating digital rights management and search technologies that work on open interoperability specifications."
This, of course presumes that Intel's Viiv incorporates Wave's IP-based tech... an explicit connection which I believe has not yet been made, however. That said, I feel more comfortable that Google's announcement may in fact incorporate Wave's IP to some extent (still doesn't address what relation may or may not exist between Xpress/TVTonic and Apple's initiatives).
Thanks much Khillo. Any thoughts from anyone else more familiar with the IP
Posted by: khillo
Date:1/7/2006 6:46:10 PM
Post #105996 of 105997
Intel, Google to bring video search technology to the living room
http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k6/jan/jan71.htm#top
MUMBAI: Intel and the world's most valuable media company Google have announced plans to work together in bringing Google Video to the new Intel Viiv technology platform.
This planned collaboration is intended to give consumers an easy way to search, manage, and consume the huge amount of video information available on the Internet from the comfort of their couch.
The technology involved makes it possible to combine the power of Google Video with Intel's expertise in digital home interoperability specifications, allowing Google Video users to consume video on their television and on portable devices wherever and whenever they choose.
Intel Viiv technology is designed to enhance and manage digital entertainment in the home. PCs based on the Intel Viiv technology platform will be able to support high-definition video, surround sound and many other exciting features for the consumer that demands more from their entertainment experience.
Google VP product mangement Susan Wojcicki says, "Google looks forward to working with Intel to bring Google Video to consumers who use the new Intel Viiv platform. Both companies believe open standards are critical to provide rapid growth in digital entertainment. Our goal is to work closely with Intel to make Google Video content available on new digital devices in the home."
Intel VP digital home group Kevin Corbett. says, "With the explosion of digital entertainment choices, consumers will need simple, easy ways to locate the content they want and easily play it when they want. Intel Viiv technology has been designed to make it simple for companies like Google to offer compelling new media platforms incorporating digital rights management and search technologies that work on open interoperability specifications. This combination would provide consumers with the best of Google search and Viiv simplicity enabling new TV experiences."
The introduction of Intel Viiv technology today marks an effort by Intel to enable a broad choice of entertainment and information from around the world so that consumers can more easily download, view, manage, store and enjoy their content anytime and on a variety of devices. Systems based on Intel Viiv technology are available today from various computer
Today's WSJournal, Google's TV-Downloads: may anyone suggest how this correlates with WaveXress/TVTonic?
I remember something about how Wave's related patents are premised upon some type of "filtering" regarding downloading and purchase of digital material, but it appears that the main issue with regard to Wave is -- if Google's initiative and Apple's initiatives (audio & video) are legally possible without licensing Wave's patent-protected "process", then it seems that WaveXress/TVTonic essentially marginalized and therefore of less value as part of Wave's offerings -- yes or no? Thanks in advance.
Google Moves Beyond the Web As It Sets TV-Downloads Deal
URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113658229655740083.html
By KEVIN J. DELANEY
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 7, 2006; Page A2
LAS VEGAS -- Google Inc. on Friday announced at the Consumer Electronics Show that it will soon launch a service for consumers to pay to download television shows and movies from CBS Corp., the National Basketball Association and other sources.
Consumers can download the video to their computers for a fee set by the content owner, and in some cases also view it on portable devices such as Apple Computer Inc.'s video-enabled iPod and Sony Corp.'s PSP. The video can be viewed multiple times, depending on parameters set by the content owner.
1 CES TRACKER
See a roundup of news2 from the Consumer Electronics Show, where next-generation gadgets are unveiled and high-tech executives offer their views of the future.Google's move comes amid initiatives by other TV and technology companies to distribute video over the Internet. It highlights the search company's ambitions to provide access to information beyond the Web, such as TV shows or the texts of books not previously online.
Using the new Google service (at video.google.com3), consumers will be able to view several CBS television shows, including "CSI" and "Survivor," for $1.99 an episode starting the day after they are broadcast. CBS has also made available over 300 episodes of classic shows such as "I Love Lucy" and "The Brady Bunch." The NBA will make all basketball games for the rest of the season available for download for $3.95 each starting the day after the game takes place.
"This content is actually underexploited," said Brenda Spoonemore, a senior vice president at the NBA. Before the Google Video service, she added, "there [was] no place to go to watch that triple overtime game from Monday." Media and entertainment companies have traditionally debated whether making video available online would cannibalize revenue from other distribution channels, such as reruns and DVDs.
Google said other companies selling video through the service include the U.K.'s ITN, the Getty Film Archives, Sony BMG, Fashion TV and independent film site GreenScene.com. The Mountain View, Calif., company intends to allow virtually any company and individual to also sell their video through its site.
Jennifer Feikin, director of Google Video, said its service would be distinct from some rivals in offering both high-end commercial video content and videos submitted by individuals. "It's not either or: high-value or user-submitted [video]," Ms. Feikin said. "It's all the content." Google first launched a video search service last year, but hadn't allowed users to buy videos or download videos, permitting them only to view free videos at the Google site.
The Google video download service won't initially contain ads placed by Google, but Ms. Feikin said Google was in discussions with content owners about possibly including ads later. Content owners can distribute video through Google on a nonexclusive basis, also selling it on other sites. They can choose among various options, including whether to protect the video from further copying by consumers. At least initially, only non-copy-protected videos will be able to be transferred to portable devices.
Semiconductor maker Intel Corp. separately said it was working with Google to help make videos from Google viewable through hardware using Intel's new Viiv technology, including on TV sets and portable devices.
At CES, Google also released a free bundle of software from Google and other software makers called Google Pack. Details of the video and Google Pack announcements had earlier been reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Google Pack includes previously available applications such as the open source Firefox Web browser, a version of Norton Anti-Virus software from Symantec Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc.'s Reader software. Google said the bundle of programs, which can be downloaded online, was designed to simplify the installation of basic applications for computers running the Windows XP operating system.
"We're making computers easier to use," said Google Vice President Marissa Mayer. Ms. Mayer said the impetus for Google Pack was the frustration of Google's two co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, with installing basic software on new personal computers they purchased. She said her recent personal experience with a new Apple laptop computer was that it was fast and painless to get up-and-running and that Google Pack is aimed at making the same experience easier on PCs.
Ms. Mayer said Google would consider adding other software to the Pack, potentially including the free OpenOffice productivity software that competes with Microsoft Corp.'s Office programs. She said Google Pack could also come preinstalled on new personal computers in the future. Google would have to forge agreements with computer makers for that to occur.
Google Pack's release comes as the company and Microsoft are battling for users for their online services, and see applications installed on users' computers directing them to those online services as powerful weapons. Google executives have been concerned that Microsoft will increasingly try to push consumers toward Microsoft's online services through its upcoming Vista operating system software and new version of its Web browser.
Write to Kevin J. Delaney at kevin.delaney@wsj.com4