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The article focuses on efforts to stop video piracy in the U.S. In an attempt to stop music pirates, Sony BMG had added "extended copy protection" software to around 50 of its music releases--about 5 million CDs in total. Over the next few months, and with much fanfare, movie fans will be introduced to a new format--the blue-laser disc. Called renewable copy protection, it is designed to deal pirates and hackers a death blow. For the first time, Hollywood studios will be able to update the copy protection in the disc player in your living room, with no need for an Internet connection or phone line. Yet some think the technology is doomed to lose the fight against illegal copying. INSET: Story of the blues.

The article highlights the landscape of the video industry, emphasizing the dominant role of Television (TV) despite the complexity introduced by streaming, Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD), Advertising Video on Demand (AVOD), and Free Ad-Supported Streaming (FAST). It addresses the challenges and opportunities in the advertising market, discussing topics such as the shift towards hybrid models, the enduring popularity of long-form videos, and the continued significance of TV screens.

Reports on an escalating war over new DVD technology between Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp.. and Sony Corp. A heated discussion between Microsoft's William H. Gates III and Sony's Howard Stringer; How Sony's Blu-ray technology should outlast Toshiba's HD DVD; Blu-ray's disk capacity and protection of movie copyrights compared to HD DVD's limited capacity and easy pirating ability; Major movie industry studios who support Sony. INSET: Blu-ray vs. HD DVD.

Discusses Warren Lieberfarb, "father of the DVD". Potential Lieberfarb saw in the DVD industry; Lieberfarb's former job as chief of Warner Home Video; How DVDs have transformed Hollywood; Controversy surrounding his termination; Next-generation DVDs and other future technologies Lieberfarb is involved with.

Computer professional Andrew Bunner was one of several hundred persons who posted a computer program known as DeCSS on the Internet in the fall of 1999. DeCSS enables users to bypass the Content Scramble System (CSS) used to protect digital video disc (DVD) movies. Two months later, DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) charged Bunner and 520 others with trade secret misappropriation, claiming the defendants posted DeCSS on the Internet, knowing or having reason to know that it embodied or was substantially derived from trade secrets stolen by Jon Johansen, a Norwegian teenager, who, they claimed, reverse engineered CSS secrets in violation of an anti-reverse engineering clause of a DVD player shrinkwrap license. Bunner's main defense was that DeCSS was First Amendment-protected "speech" that he and others were entitled to republish. In January, 2000, a California judge issued a preliminary injunction forbidding Bunner from posting DeCSS on the Internet or otherwise disclosing CSS secrets. The California Court of Appeal, assumed that DVD CCA had shown a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of the trade secret claim, but agreed with Bunner that DeCSS in source code form was First Amendment-protected speech and that the preliminary injunction was an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech.

This article offers update on TiVo as of March 2001. TiVo calls its product the personalized video recording (PVR), a technology and service that enables viewers to watch what they want, when they want, not to mention skip the commercials. Ever since TiVo hit the U.S. market, consumer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The response from television and advertising executives has been more wary. Presently, however, TiVo finds itself in an uncertain situation. On one hand, the company is the leader in PVR, having won its highly publicized battle with rival ReplayTV, which stopped selling to the consumer market in the fall of 2000. On the other hand, Wall Street refuses to share the enthusiasm. After reaching a high of $72 three months following the company's September 1999 initial public offering, the stock came crashing down by 94 percent and now trades at $4 a share. Moreover, TiVo probably would not turn a profit for at least three more years. And although TiVo boasts 153,000 subscribers, that falls far below previous expectations. INSET: My Life With TiVo.

This article presents information on the booming adult-video business. However, with the new U.S. President and incoming Attorney General there is a bit of consciousness among the people connected with the trade. It is informed that an estimated 25,000 video outlets across the nation stock adult material and that more than 10,000 new adult-video titles are released each year; last year there were 711 million rentals of hard-core sex films. Porn is a dollar 10 billion industry-- dollar 4 billion of that in explicit video sales-that even has links to corporate parents like General Motors and AT&T.

Features a new wave of electronic gadgets sweeping the Japanese markets as of 1996. Target markets; Product design and specifications; Description of enhancements to the digital video disk and digital still camera.

The article discusses the potential applications of video disc technology as of July 1980, and how such could change many industries. It states that video discs are a more efficient form of data storage than magnetic tapes or discs and microfilm, and will likely replace those technologies, as video discs can store more images and sounds. Their applications in education will reportedly allow students to control their own pace in learning, allow computers to access more information on one disc than on 25 magnetic tapes, and store more information.

The article discusses how 35-year-old college dropout John Ledford founded ADV Films, America's leading licensor and distributor of Japanese animation, known as anime, with 400 DVD titles slotted for this year. In late July ADV added another revenue source: the Anime Network, a 24/7 ad-supported cable channel that plans to be in a million households by year's end. All this grew out of a teenage passion for videogames. Unsatisfied with available systems, Ledford founded Gametronics in 1990 and began importing the newest gear from Japan and selling it out of his bedroom. He'd pay $150 for, say, Nintendo's Super Famicom or Sega's Mega Drive, then sell them for $1,500. He imported the games, too, which he marked up 100%. Street Fighter proved his bestseller. Ledford was inspired by a different kind of green, and in 1992 began licensing anime films to distribute on video in the States, starting with Devil Hunter Yohko. Based on a bestselling videogame, it chronicles the adventures of a doe-eyed teenage girl trained by her loony grandma to become the 107th in a line of demon fighters-along the lines of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but with more blood and skimpier outfits. Having launched ADV with buddy Matthew Greenfield, Ledford contacted Toho, the Japanese production company best known for its Godzilla flicks. The vagaries of Japanese copyright laws require that licensing deals be done on a picture-by-picture basis. For exclusive distribution rights to the world outside Japan, ADV pays $1 million to $2.6 million for an anime series and $500,000 to $5 million for a feature film. Remastering the sound costs another $10,000 to $20,000 per half-hour. That's done at ADV's Houston production center-featuring eight soundproof studios with mission-control-style consoles to upgrade soundtracks. Cablevision offers Anime Network on demand for $7 a month, while Comcast subscribers can see some 25 different anime films on a pay-per-view basis.

After a crash course in the dynamics of a dying industry, Sony Music boss Andrew Lack, the TV news veteran brought in 15 months ago to revive its ailing $5.3 billion-a-year record business, is ready to propose the unthinkable. He wants to start charging MTV for music videos. The pay-for-play scheme is one of several big moves Lack is plotting. Lack also wants to plow money into new acts--Beyonc& eacute; suddenly is his biggest overnight star, and he has just signed a rejuvenated Prince--and cut back on Sony's stable of aging, high-priced talent, saving millions by bashing a few giant egos. But the Sony music chief first must pull off the biggest merger in industry history, with Bertelsmann's BMG. In December he signed a binding agreement that would give the combo control of 25% of the worldwide $30 billion-a-year music business, making it second only to Vivendi's Universal Music Group (with 26%). Three months into the job Lack laid off 1,000 employees--10% of the work force-and cut $100 million in annual expenses. By the end of last year he had engineered the BMG deal, hoping to spruce up Sony's so-so artist lineup with such hot acts as the hip-hop group Outkast. The short-term results are positive. In the third quarter of 2003 Sony's music revenue rose 6% from a year ago to $1.7 billion, and income before interest, taxes, minority interests and nonrecurring items jumped 62% to $283 million. INSET: Try Before You Buy.

Different technologies have made shopping for televisions more interesting. Old tube-type sets are still popular: Even this year, they will make up 97 percent of television sales. But four varieties of sleeker and more expensive flat-screen models are vying to take over. Two trends have turned television shopping into a treat for some and a daunting exercise for everyone else. High-definition television is being broadcast in most markets and will soon reach cable subscribers. That generally means signing up for satellite television or climbing on the roof and installing an antenna. By early next year, though, cable companies have said they'll deliver up to five channels of video to their 100 biggest markets in glorious high definition with rich, surround-sound audio. The cable boxes won't handle signals which are sent over the air. For this reason you're limited to the channels your cable company negotiates to carry. Hollywood blocks most of the best movies because of worries that Internet bandits will illegally share the high-quality, digital broadcasts.

This article identifies various technological innovations in the field of video recording as of March 2001. Digital video is putting sophisticated moviemaking tools, including nearly professional-quality digital video cameras and powerful computers with high-end video editing software, into the hands of consumers at matinee prices. This means that people with a passion for storytelling can already make their own broadcast-quality movies and documentaries at home. Digital video has captured the imaginations of such established filmmakers. Digital video submissions to Sundance film festival in February 2001 were up more than 25% and included many filmless films made with the equipment that consumers can buy at the local electronics store. Like Final Draft, Movie Magic has a voice synthesis feature that reads dialogue aloud, although some screenwriters tell that they find voice synthesis to be creepy.

The article offers information on producing of High dynamic range (HDR) fand how it used by video producers and technologists of video production industry. The article outlines the functionality and techniques of HDR including the use of color palette for HDR display, targeting over the top content (OTT) and shooting of video for HDR production.

The article offers tips for acquiring videocassette recorders (VCRs) in the U.S. It notes that one can purchase VCRs at considerable affordable prices because a recession affects the electronics industry. It further states that other video stores allow customers to rent good movies including pornographic films. Moreover, it is mentioned that customers can choose from many brands of VCRs in the market such as VHS and Betamax.

The article informs that videotape rental is one of the fastest-growing and the most fragmented industries in the U.S. More than half of U.S. television households now have at least one VCR. The rental market for tapes is around $5 billion a year. There are now over 25,000 video rental stores, mostly small storefront entrepreneurs. Each store stocks a minimum of 6,500 different titles--with multiple copies, some 10,000 tapes in all. All stay open from 10 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. More explosive growth is almost assured.

The article looks at the performance of the U.S. leisure industry in 1980. Topics discussed include the increase in sales of tape recorders over record players, retailers offsetting the loss in record sales with blank cassettes and video accessories and results of a CBS Records study which showed the loss in annual sales of the record industry to home taping on blank cassettes. Also provided is a list showing the management performance of leisure companies in terms of profitability and growth. INSET: Too old to rock 'n' roll?.

The article focuses on the decision social media company Facebook and video sharing company YouTube not to enter the race for subscription video. Topics discussed include the decision of the companies to advertise platforms that dominate the market, YouTube's content strategy centered around music specials and live concerts, learning and educational series, and personalities, and the Facebook Watch for episodic content.

The article reports on the concerns expressed by some business critics in the U.S. in November 1970 regarding the future of the video cartridge industry in the country. According to them, the scheme might fail due to the lack of equipment and programming, incomplete marketing strategy and expensive costs. However, it notes that despite of these negative feedback, there are still optimistic projections that the industry will earn one billion dollars by 1980.