HD DVD hits a new low

[joeorc]

While the HD camp has had some success in its partnership with Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 videogame consoles and by offering lower-priced machines, the Blu-ray camp has gained the upper hand in Hollywood, with more studios backing its format. Blockbuster Inc. also recently said it would exclusively stock DVDs using the Blu-ray format.

The HD DVD camp has been lobbying the commission to draw attention to Blu-ray's tactics in the movie capital in a bid to force more studios to put their product on HD DVD, according to people familiar with the situation. One issue the Commission has raised with some studios is statements made at the Consumer Electronics Show in January in Las Vegas about the exclusivity of studios to Blu-ray, according to people familiar with the situation.

Blu-ray is supported by every major studio except NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, which is backing HD DVD exclusively. Five studios are exclusive to Blu-ray: Sony Pictures Entertainment, Walt Disney Co., News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and MGM, which is owned by a consortium including Sony. Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. are backing both. In its formal request to at least one studio, the commission has asked for documents related to any decision to release movies on Blu-ray exclusively and not HD DVD, as well as communications on both formats with certain individuals associated with Blu-ray.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article...f_main_tff_top

Microsoft putting to good use all of its lobbyiest money...


PATHETIC and an all time low even for Microsoft, hey here is a thought , why you are at it why don't you lobby against yourself MS With MS windows being in all of arround 90% of all OEM computers in the world why don't you also help the other's in their lobby against you yea. didn't think so
:lightsaber:

[JTK]

No surprise.

They know HD-DVD is a loser and is never going to win under normal circumstances so they're going to try for desperate tactics like these.

Hopefully the BDA folks have a strong lobby to counter this nonsense.

Fight fire with fire, I say.

[joeorc]

yea but they may not have to because the way the HD DVD promotional group does not "count the playstation 3" as a valid Blu-ray player.. its no wonder their promotional group would like nothing other than to get more studios to back the HD DVD format. because they just love to UNDERCUT the price for their players which keeps other production companies from makeing HD DVD drives.the HD DVD promotional group acts like that has nothing to do with it.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by joeorc

yea but they may not have to because the way the HD DVD promotional group does not "count the playstation 3" as a valid Blu-ray player.. its no wonder their promotional group would like nothing other than to get more studios to back the HD DVD format. because they just love to UNDERCUT the price for their players which keeps other production companies from makeing HD DVD drives.the HD DVD promotional group acts like that has nothing to do with it.

They can "act" all they want...most informed people can see for themselves what's going and know what the truth is.

Sales figures don't lie, either. They're practically giving away their hardware in wheelbarrows at this point and it's yielded them squat in return.

They're going to burn themselves out.

[joeorc]

Antitrust Activity in High-Def Format War?
The EU is concerned that deals struck by Hollywood studios with HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc backers involve anticompetitive activity.
Peter Sayer, IDG News Service
Tuesday, July 03, 2007 7:00 AM PDT
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The European Union's antitrust regulator has asked Hollywood studios to turn over information about their negotiations with the developers of high-definition DVD formats, giving them until the end of this week to respond.

The European Commission is concerned that exclusive deals struck by some studios with the backers of either the HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc formats may be a sign of anticompetitive activity in the industry.

HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc are competing for the attention of movie studios, which are increasingly releasing their films in high-definition format alongside the regular DVDs carrying standard-definition versions of the films.

The Commission began looking for evidence of a possible infringement of E.U. antitrust regulations on its own initiative: there have been no complaints from companies in the industry, said Audrey Lemonnier, press officer for the cabinet of European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes.

The Commission wrote to a number of major studios in the first half of June, asking them for information about their dealings with the technology developers, Lemonnier said Tuesday. She would not say which studios received the letters, or how many were sent. The studios have until Friday to respond, she said.

If the studios' answers give the Commission cause for doubt, it may launch a full investigation, she said.

Film studios Twentieth Century Fox and Walt Disney release their high-definition content exclusively on Blu-ray Disc, although another member of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), Warner Bros. Entertainment, has a foot in both camps: It also releases films on HD DVD. Blu-ray Disc also has the backing of Sony Corp., which uses a Blu-ray Disc player in its PlayStation 3 game console, and computer makers such as Apple Inc., Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.

HD DVD has won the backing of Universal Studios, which releases high-definition movies exclusively in HD DVD format, and Microsoft Corp., which uses it in its Xbox 360 game console.

Over a million Blu-ray Discs have been sold to date, and 70 percent of high-definition video discs sold in the first quarter were in the Blu-ray format, according to the BDA.

Anticompetitive activity can ultimately harm consumers, Lemonnier said. But consumers might prefer to see one format dominate the market, as VHS swept away videotape rival Betamax in an earlier battle over formats. As long as the two compete, and film studios choose one or the other, movie buffs are condemned to buy two players, or be unable to watch some films at home.

Representatives for Blu-ray Disc backer Sony and HD DVD supporter Toshiba Corp., and for the DVD Forum, which promotes the HD DVD format, all declined to comment on the Commission's action, saying that it was a matter for the Hollywood studios alone. The studios could not immediately be reached.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,13...y/article.html

Microsoft "if we cannot win than we ruin it" one only has to look toward comments like these.
an now a words of wisdom by bill gates-"There won't be anything we won't say to people to try and convince them that our way is the way to go.-- Bill Gates
http://packetstormsecurity.org/unix-...es.quotes.html

[joeorc]

just the wonderful tactics that microsoft employs. read on:

i do not know if you guy's have not seen any of this its from 1998 but it still even today look at the recent MICROSOFT Linux deals (xandros,Linspire,SuSe)

Halloween Document I (Version 1.17)
Open Source Software:
A (New?) Development Methodology
{ The body of the Halloween Document is an internal strategy memorandum on Microsoft's possible responses to the Linux/Open Source phenomenon.

(This annotated version has been renamed Halloween I; there's a sequel, Halloween II, which marks up a second memo more specifically addressing Linux.)

Microsoft has publicly acknowledged that this memorandum is authentic, but dismissed it as a mere engineering study that does not define Microsoft policy.

However, the list of collaborators mentioned at the end includes some people who are known to be key players at Microsoft, and the document reads as though the research effort had the cooperation of top management; it may even have been commissioned as a policy white paper for Bill Gates's attention (the author seems to have expected that Gates would read it).

Either way, it provides us with a very valuable look past Microsoft's dismissive marketing spin about Open Source at what the company is actually thinking -- which, as you'll see, is an odd combination of astuteness and institutional myopia.

Despite some speculation that this was an intentional leak, this seems quite unlikely. The document is too damning; portions could be considered evidence of anti-competitive practices for the DOJ lawsuit. Also, the author refused to confirm or deny when initially contacted, suggesting that Microsoft didn't have its story worked out in advance.

Since the author quoted my analyses of open-source community dynamics (The Cathedral and the Bazaar and Homesteading the Noosphere) extensively, it seems fair that I should respond on behalf of the community. :-)
Key Quotes:

Here are some notable quotes from the document, with hotlinks to where they are embedded. It's helpful to know that OSS is the author's abbreviation for Open Source Software. FUD, a characteristic Microsoft tactic, is explained here.

* OSS poses a direct, short-term revenue and platform threat to Microsoft, particularly in server space. Additionally, the intrinsic parallelism and free idea exchange in OSS has benefits that are not replicable with our current licensing model and therefore present a long term developer mindshare threat.

* Recent case studies (the Internet) provide very dramatic evidence ... that commercial quality can be achieved / exceeded by OSS projects.

* ...to understand how to compete against OSS, we must target a process rather than a company.

* OSS is long-term credible ... FUD tactics can not be used to combat it.

* Linux and other OSS advocates are making a progressively more credible argument that OSS software is at least as robust -- if not more -- than commercial alternatives. The Internet provides an ideal, high-visibility showcase for the OSS world.

* Linux has been deployed in mission critical, commercial environments with an excellent pool of public testimonials. ... Linux outperforms many other UNIXes ... Linux is on track to eventually own the x86 UNIX market ...

* Linux can win as long as services / protocols are commodities.

* OSS projects have been able to gain a foothold in many server applications because of the wide utility of highly commoditized, simple protocols. By extending these protocols and developing new protocols, we can deny OSS projects entry into the market.

* The ability of the OSS process to collect and harness the collective IQ of thousands of individuals across the Internet is simply amazing. More importantly, OSS evangelization scales with the size of the Internet much faster than our own evangelization efforts appear to scale.

http://www.catb.org/~esr/halloween/halloween1.html

[joeorc]

Halloween Document III (Version 1.6)
Microsoft's Reaction to the "Halloween Memorandum"

{Microsoft's famously adept spin doctors took some time to develop a response to the Halloween Documents. When first contacted in Monday, VinodV (the author of the original memoranda) said he could neither confirm nor deny their authenticity.

Pressed, Microsoft admitted the authenticity of Halloween I later on Monday -- perhaps because, as damning as it is, lying about it would have been even more dangerous while the U.S. Department of Justice's investigators are still pursuing antitrust action against the company.


http://www.catb.org/~esr/halloween/halloween3.html

this from 1998...fast forward TO NOW

WHATS THAT may 2007

Microsoft claims open source infringes 235 patents
15th May 2007
By Matthew Aslett
Microsoft has claimed that the Linux operating system and other open source software projects between them violate 235 of its patents, but has declined to elaborate further in case open source developers challenge their legitimacy.

http://www.cbronline.com/article_new...A-D3A1E6F61343

yup....still the same Microsoft...

[Sylin]

Did I miss something here? The original poster's article had NOTHING to do with Microsoft. It was an article about an EU anti-trust issue concerning tactics employed by Blu-ray to gain studio exclusivity.

I would agree THAT is a bit of a dirty trick, because Blu-ray could just as easily argue why Universal is exclusive to HD-DVD. It goes both ways. (Makes you wonder if Toshiba has some sort of dirt on NBC Universal.)

But jeez, people... lay off the anti-Microsoft rants already. As I've stated in another post, MS can't exactly support BD because Sony is their competitor in the console market. Also, I honestly don't think MS gives a care WHO wins the format war because they want to become a premier provider of IP-based content, not physical media.

[GasCat]

Originally Posted by ikcizokm

Did I miss something here? The original poster's article had NOTHING to do with Microsoft. It was an article about an EU anti-trust issue concerning tactics employed by Blu-ray to gain studio exclusivity.

I would agree THAT is a bit of a dirty trick, because Blu-ray could just as easily argue why Universal is exclusive to HD-DVD. It goes both ways. (Makes you wonder if Toshiba has some sort of dirt on NBC Universal.)

But jeez, people... lay off the anti-Microsoft rants already. As I've stated in another post, MS can't exactly support BD because Sony is their competitor in the console market. Also, I honestly don't think MS gives a care WHO wins the format war because they want to become a premier provider of IP-based content, not physical media.

I believe the OP is showing a pattern or tactic commonly employed by M$. Their lawyer teams are legendary. The millions of dollars in legal fees they pay each year are spent to confuse, harass, and intimidate their competition. I have no idea how much they spend on lobbying but I don't think it is far-fetched to believe they have friends in high places.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by ikcizokm

Also, I honestly don't think MS gives a care WHO wins the format war because they want to become a premier provider of IP-based content, not physical media.

You need to do some searches over at AVS. There is a host of MS people blasting anything BD and they have been doing so for some time now.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

You need to do some searches over at AVS. There is a host of MS people blasting anything BD and they have been doing so for some time now.

you bet i was showing a pattern on Microsoft tactics. like warning the consumer not to be suckered into buying HD DVD ..and this is just one of the reasons do not make any mistake this is no Microsoft bash. this is all about warning the consumer. because as far as Microsoft is concerned they want both HD DVD and Blu-Ray to FAIL.

if you like buying movies on a physical disc and you do not want that to be replaced by substandard DIGITAL downloads at 720p FOR REGRESSION for the sake of just proffit with no thought of QUALITY for the consumer. than by all means keep supporting HD DVD because its just an stop gap FORMAT for digital download's. SEEMING how its funny that TOSHIBA recently did this:

Toshiba exits film, DVD production; sells unit to Hakuhodo DY Media


Published : Mon, 16 Apr 2007 06:59
By : Agencies
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TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - Toshiba Corp said it has decided to exit the film and DVD production and distribution business with the sale of its subsidiary Toshiba Entertainment Inc.

Toshiba said it will sell its fully-owned subsidiary -- which was created in 2003 -- to Japanese firm Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Inc for an undisclosed sum to focus on its core electronics and energy

operations.

'In its future business in media content, Toshiba will concentrate resources on network technology, broadcasting and telecommunication technology, and digital media products that can create a synergy with fields where the company already has established strengths,' Toshiba said in a statement.

In December, Toshiba announced plans to sell its entire stake in Japanese label Toshiba EMI to British partner EMI Group, saying that music was no longer relevant to its business.

http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/16200756394.htm

following right along Microsofts and TOSHIBA's footsteps..So if you want physical media to go away keep backing HD DVD the dead end format



what they are doing to the consumer is just plain wrong....