Investigative Reporter
Below are clips from stories I wrote while working as an investigative reporter for G2 News.
Recently, my reporting on peer-to-peer technology was cited in a Supreme Court document in the 2004 MGM v Grokster case.
DVRs Could Devour Infomercial Slots
March 25, 2002
Anyone who's ever heard of the George Foreman Grill knows about infomercials. [more]
Easier DRM from Audible
March 25, 2002
Digital rights management (DRM) technology is often cursed as too cumbersome and confusing for consumers. The way a lot of DRM solutions work seems more appropriate to B2B transactions than B2C. EMI VP of new media Ted Cohen claims consumers will continue to demand CDs over digital media until DRM becomes more humane. [more]
Video Content Owners Not Doomed To Repeat MP3 History, Divx Maker Says
April 15, 2002
Divx, a video compression format made by DivxNetworks, has been labeled the MP3 of video and in some ways the moniker fits. Despite Microsoft's bundling advantage with its Windows Media format, most movies available for free on Napster-like P2P file swapping services like StreamCast Networks are encoded in Divx. Many of the flicks are illegal copies of copyrighted movies, but some are legitimate freebies or promos. And Divx' portal site, www.divx.com, has a bunch of free, legal content as well.[more]
Napster's Swan Song
June 10, 2002
Like Garbo in "Camille", music swapping service Napster Inc is reclining on its deathbed waiting for its inevitable, yet tragic, demise after the company filed for bankruptcy on Monday. The company was crushed in a two-year war of attrition that not only shut it down, but more importantly ended what could have been one of the most significant investigations into the record labels' business practices to ever enter a court. [more]
MPEG LA Relaxes MPEG-4 Royalty Rates
July 22, 2002
MPEG LA, a Denver company that acts as an IP clearing house for MPEG-2, MPEG-4, IEEE 1394 and other multimedia standards, has re-jiggered its MPEG-4 royalties schedule after being harshly criticized by copyright owners and software developers. [more]
Forget the Digital Media Hub Microsoft Says
October 21, 2002
Microsoft has "backed away from the digital hub" strategy, according to Keith Laepple, director, technical evangelism for the company's Windows eHome Division. [more]
New Audio Format Could Be a Windows Media Killer
October 21, 2002
Coding Technologies Sweden, the first company to cut an MP3 decoding chip, has set up shop on the West Coast of the US ready to wage war with its neighbors, the Microsoft empire and RealNetworks. While both Microsoft and Real have relentlessly pursued numerous deals with chipmakers and hardware makers to get their compression formats supported in non-PC products such as DVD players and car stereos, Coding Technologies has gotten its compression technology picked as the standard audio format for MPEG-4 - the one deal that really counts. [more]
Intellectual Property Doomsday Device Inches Toward Completion
November 4, 2002
Freenet, an open source Java-based P2P project, claims that society "cannot guarantee freedom of speech and enforce copyright law." When copyright owners hear about the future Freenet has in mind, they reflexively jab the speed dial button for their lawyer's office - just to make sure it works. Earlier this week, the Freenet project released version 0.5.0.3 of the project, marking the first Freenet release in months. [more]