Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stoctrash who wrote (34178)	7/7/1998 3:19:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

Copy protection could slow the adoption of DVD-Recordables............................................ DVD-RAM's Success Not Yet Assured (07/07/98; 2:02 p.m. ET) By Junko Yoshida, EE Times While demand for DVD-ROM drives will soon kick into high gear, thanks to surging volumes of Intel's Pentium II and the debut of Microsoft's Windows 98, writable DVD-RAMs will grow more slowly than anticipated for both PC and consumer applications, according to Koji Hase, general manager of Toshiba's DVD division in Tokyo. The big issue is not the market's various incompatible rewritable formats, but rather applications, Hase said. The industry needs to identify irresistible applications for DVD-RAMs and then sell them to PC users, he said. Developers of stand-alone, rewritable digital versatile disc products for a consumer market "should probably rethink their old notion that DVD-RAM can be simply sold as a replacement for VHS," Hase said. "Up until two years ago, I think many of us genuinely believed in that scenario. But I'm telling my product development team now that it won't be that easy." The day the trusty old $200 VHS VCR disappears from the consumer market is still a long way off, he said. Second, the copy-protection issue could totally change home recording as we know it. "With DVD, I think the industry has opened Pandora's box," Hase observed. Through efforts of a cross-industry group like the Copy Protection Technical Working Group -- comprised of Hollywood studios, consumer electronics companies, and PC software and hardware vendors -- a series of much tighter copy-protection technologies is being developed. These include copy guard, encryption, authentication, and watermarking. Compared with CD-ROMs, from which virtually anything can be lifted, DVD will offer much better copy protection for owners of copyrighted materials. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "With DVD, I think the industry has opened Pandora's box." -- Koji Hase Toshiba -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hase, however, called such technologies a "double-edged sword." As the industry tightens up on copy protection, "the day is approaching fast when we could no longer receive any content worth watching or saving for free." In short, by the time DVD-RAM becomes a prevalent medium to record on at home, consumers won't enjoy the abundance of free, over-the-air movies they are seeing today. All the valuable digital content will come encrypted, at a price. more.............. techweb.com