Filter looks at the day's top technology news through snapshots and analysis of what the world's media outlets are covering. Washingtonpost.com's new Mon.-Fri. feature is penned by technology reporter Cynthia L. Webb. If a technology story breaks, a company falters or triumphs, or there's a new trend in technology, Filter wants you to know about it.
Meanwhile, the RIAA's partners in Europe are preparing a new wave of lawsuits against suspected music pirates. "The IFPI, an international recording industry group, said that it was preparing to file civil lawsuits against 24 file-sharers in Denmark this week and said 'several hundred' more cases were planned in the coming months. The organization also warned that online music pirates in France, Sweden and Britain could soon find themselves targets for prosecution," The International Herald Tribune reported. More details from The Scotsman: "When asked what likelihood that Britain and the other named countries will be actively targeted, IFPI chief executive Jay Berman said: 'It's inevitable.' Japan, the world's second-biggest music market, is also expected to be prominent in any new legal crackdown, as sales there have also suffered because of music piracy, Mr Berman said. To date, the music industry has sued 2947 people in the United States and has announced more than 230 suits in Denmark, Germany, Italy and Canada."
• The International Herald Tribune: Music Piracy Suits In Europe • The Scotsman: Lawsuits In Crackdown On Internet Song Piracy
It Takes Broadband
Song swapping takes a fast Internet connection (or a lot of patience if you're using dial-up) -- and the number of broadband connections is on the rise. "High-speed Internet use grew 42% last year as some 8.3 million homes and businesses signed up for broadband service, the Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday," Reuters reported, noting that cable Internet access is the most popular high-speed form.
• Reuters via USA Today: FCC: Broadband Internet Use Up 42% In 2003
Uh-Oh TiVo
Digital satellite company DirecTV Group sold its stake, about 4 percent, in TiVo Inc., the maker of the TV set digital recording devices. "DirecTV now markets TiVo's digital-video-recorder product as part of its satellite-TV service, in a vitally important partnership for TiVo. While TiVo was a pioneer of DVR technology, its market lead has been eroded during the past couple of years as cable-TV operators and DirecTV's main satellite competitor, EchoStar Communications Corp., have started offering alternative versions of DVR technology. DVRs store television programming on a hard disk, allowing viewers to freeze live TV and otherwise shift schedules," The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Los Angeles Times noted how investors reacted -- and it's not good news for TiVo. "TiVo Inc., the Silicon Valley darling famous for its time-shifting television service, saw its stock drop 14% on Tuesday after satellite television provider DirecTV Group Inc. said it had sold its 4% stake in the company. DirecTV has been a major source of TiVo subscribers, providing nearly 75% of its new customers in the last quarter, according to TiVo regulatory filings. And the sale of the stock it owned -- less than a week after DirecTV Vice Chairman Eddy Hartenstein resigned from TiVo's board of directors -- made investors nervous."
• The Wall Street Journal: DirecTV Sells 4% Stake in TiVo; Concern Over Relationship Rises (Subscription required)
• The Los Angeles Times: In Hit To TiVo, DirecTV Sells Its 4% Stake (Registration required)
But look what's happening on TiVo today anyway. The New York Times reported that the company "plans to announce a new set of Internet-based services today that will further blur the line between programming delivered over traditional cable and satellite channels and content from the Internet. It is just one of a growing group of large and small companies that are looking at high-speed Internet to deliver video content to the living room," the paper reported. "The new TiVo technology, which will become a standard feature in its video recorders, will allow users to download movies and music from the Internet to the hard drive on their video recorder. Although the current TiVo service allows users to watch broadcast, cable or satellite programs at any time, the new technology will make it possible for them to mix content from the Internet with those programs."
• The New York Times: New Service by TiVo Will Build Bridges From Internet to the TV (Registration required)
There are so many genes for drug companies and researchers to target due to the slew of information netted by the Human Genome Project, that better technology is needed to help search and sort the genes, according to The San Francisco Chronicle, which picked up remarks from some panelists at the BIO 2004 biotech convention in San Francisco. The conference ends today. "We are now drowning in targets," said Toni Schuh, chief executive of San Diego-based Sequenom Inc. And Nicholas Dracopoli of Bristol-Myers Squibb said: "I think our optimism has led us ahead of what the technology could deliver," he said. The paper said companies "now focusing greater resources on a more limited number of gene targets, he said. They're also hedging their bets by balancing their efforts between newly discovered genes and better-known disease mechanisms."
• The San Francisco Chronicle: Biotech Summit In San Francisco
Meanwhile, police yesterday arrested more than 100 protestors staging protests against the conference after rush-hour traffic was blocked and bottles were thrown, The San Francisco Chronicle said. "The activists are concerned that corporations are being improperly awarded patents for plants, microorganisms, animals and human genes, and that some fledgling biotechnology-based solutions are being rushed to market before they're ready. Many of the protesters in San Francisco this week are particularly worried about genetically modified food and insist that such products be labeled," the paper said.
• The San Francisco Chronicle: Protestors Held • The San Jose Mercury News: Protesters Make Statement In S.F. (Registration required)
Filter is designed for hard-core techies, news junkies and technology professionals alike. Have suggestions, cool links or interesting tales to share? Send your tips and feedback to cindyDOTwebbATwashingtonpost.com. (Yes, those spammers have been having a lot of fun with my e-mail address lately.)
