Kent Pribbernow
07-16-2004, 04:00 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/07/14/media.dvd.sharing.reut/index.html' target='_blank'>http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/07/14/media.dvd.sharing.reut/index.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"A group of media and technology companies including Microsoft Corp. and Walt Disney Co. have agreed in principle to allow consumers to make legal backup copies of next-generation video discs and share their content on portable devices."</i><br /><br />Obviously an example of tilting at windmills, this group of media and technology heavy-weights is forced to face the that content is now a flexible medium in today's world. Media is no longer static and stationary, it is moving and dynamic. People transfer their music and video to various devices, whether for backup purposes or for playback on portable devices. No one younger than the age of 30 just buys a CD to playback in a dedicated CD player anymore. They rip the digital bits off the CD and copy it to some form of portable device. <br /><br />And the same will become increasingly true with DVD movies as well. Microsoft in particular has a vested interest in seeing this agreement take shape as it soon expects to launch its much hyped Portable Media Center platform. Without the ability to "legally" enable consumers to rip DVD movies and copy the content to Portable Media Centers, well...the game is afoot.