Disney says yes to DVD price probe

Disney is the first film studio to agree to the European Commission enquiry into DVD prices. As we reported yesterday, the EC is concerned that European DVD prices are artificially high and that regional coding is stopping Europeans from buying cheaper DVDs abroad. Disney isn't the largest of the studios targeted by the EC. ...more

Comment: How much worse does broadband have to get?

Detect, if you will, the pattern in the following statistics:51,000 people were so dissatisfied with their broadband service last year that they complained to telecoms regulator Ofcom. Which?'s latest broadband survey recommends just three ISPs compared with last year's eight, leading the watchdog to declare 'satisfaction with broadband suppliers is in sharp decline'. Only 73 per cent of PC Pro readers would recommend their ISP to somebody else, one of the lowest satisfaction ratings across our 12 award categories. ...more

Free online research endangers not-for-profit publishers

The Royal Society has warned against making scientific research available freely on the Web, claiming that it could harm debate. The 345-year-old UK science academy fears that a move to Internet publishing proposed by Research Councils UK (RCUK) could lead to the closure of not-for-profit publishers that have sustained the exchange of knowledge since the first peer-reviewed scientific journals were circulated in the 17th century. 'At least a third of all journals are published by not-for-profit organisations,' it said in a statement. ...more

Macrovision backs calls for Apple to license iTunes DRM

The CEO of copy protection-specialist Macrovision has joined the clamour of voices calling for Apple to license its FairPlay DRM technology. In an open letter on the Macrovision website, Fred Amoroso thanks Steve Jobs, his opposite number at Apple, for 'offering his provocative perspective on the role of digital rights management', before setting out four key points that arise from Jobs' call for the major record companies to drop their insistence on DRM for music downloads. He starts by saying that the DRM debate should encompass all content provision, not just music. ...more

Sony reveals its hand

We take a tour of Sony's UK labs for first looks at this year's products from the consumer electronics giant. In the glass-roofed atrium of Sony's HQ today, deep in darkest Surrey, we got our first eyeful of Sony's army of products poised to march on the high street this summer. Cli? handhelds The advance party to the rank and file of brushed metal hordes has to be Sony's new Cli? handhelds - the T series. ...more