Mp3tunes.com Files For Bankruptsy
Mp3tunes.com has filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District Of California.
The San Diego based company was founded by Michael Robertson in 2005 and offered cloud and music streaming services to its American members.
Mr. Robertson, who also co-founded mp3.com in 1997, blames litigation for the failure of the company in a May 1st, 2012 statement.
EMI has stated they would continue their lawsuit against the company, according to C-Net News.
No DVD Playback In Windows 8 ?
Windows 8 will no longer include DVD playback capabilities by default and this function will only be included in Windows 8 Pro and in upgrades to computers that are equipped with DVD drives.
Microsoft believes that most of their customers do not use their computers to view DVDs and that DVD playback will not be necessary because most individuals who view films on their computers now download or steam this content from online sources.
Computers that are equipped with DVD or Blu-ray drives will likely include third party software so most consumers will be unaffected by this issue.
Publishers Association Threatens Canada
A “coalition of international, regional and national publishers associations” has sent a letter to our government threatening retaliation for Bill C-11 with a WTO complaint.
Apparently they dislike several exemptions provided by the bill :
“As currently drafted, however, many provisions of C-11 may allow a broad group of public and private institutions and organizations to copy and distribute works under a vague and intentionally broad educational exception in ways that publishers and authors license, thereby promoting strife and litigation, and potentially violating all three elements of the three-step test.
Similar concerns also relate to the exceptions for non-commercial user generated content, the display exception and the tests and examination exception, the exception relating to publicly available material on the internet, and the inter-library loan exception.”
The International Publishers Association is comprised of about 60 international organizations from 50 nations and is based in Geneva.
New Listing Added
I’ve just added a rough listing for musical instruments, accessories and recording equipment to this blog and will be updating it as soon as possible.
It includes sources within and outside Canada.
Rogers Video Ends Renting Services
Rogers Video stores across Canada will no longer rent DVDs or Blu-ray discs tomorrow.
Starting this week this chain will offload their film stock at reduced prices leaving Canadian consumers with very limited options in regards to renting films.
Cable and satellite subscribers will continue being able to rent films on their digital boxes and Canadians with access to high speed connections have access to online film rental services like Cineplex, Cinemanow, iTunes, Netflix and Youtube. But it appears the mail services and kiosks are now the only viable options for people who do not have access to cable, satellite and high speed internet services.
Unfortunately the kiosk services offered by Zip and Best Buy are limited to major cities at the moment, though they will probably expand in response to the demand. And the cable, satellite and high speed internet options remain expensive.
The current rental fee for recent high definition releases on my digital cable service is $7.99. And if I were to rent these films online in 720p I would use an average of about 4 gigabytes worth of usage per film towards my usage limit.
I am hoping that the digital cable rental fee will be reduced in response to public demand. But at the moment I am also testing out The Movie Network and Moviepix as a cheaper alternative, though releases on The Movie Network still appear to be subjected to a considerable delay.
As it stands I appear to prefer Moviepix for the channel’s selection of classic films and will likely subscribe to this service until Bell’s Fibe TV service is introduced to my neighbourhood.
I will probably dabble in online film rentals, within strict limitations, and use Zip.ca‘s services as my main source for newer releases.
As previously reported on this blog, Zip will be expanding their kiosks. And I believe theater companies like Cineplex, Empire and AMC will eventually offer kiosk services in their locations in respond to the demand left by Roger Video‘s departure.
I am also hoping for a national expansion of the Best Buy branded kiosks to Best Buy and Mac’s locations through-out Canada.