Senators Soft-Pedal Anti-Infringement Bill

Senators on Wednesday proposed removing some of the more contentious provisions from their recently introduced anti-infringement bill, while technology groups and free-Internet advocates pressed for a hearing on the bill’s potential effects. The amendment to the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (bill number S. 3804) would remove a provision empowering the Justice Department to publish a blacklist of websites “dedicated to infringing activities” such as file-sharing, Fox News reports. But the U.S. Attorney general still would be able to ask a federal court to order Internet service providers to block customer access to such websites — even domain names registered outside the U.S. Senators had mulled putting the bill to a vote today, according to CNET. But that possibility only increased the pushback from technology groups such as the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), which state that the bill’s proposed measures should be examined in a Senate hearing. The bill “raises a host of global entanglements and serious questions that need to be evaluated thoroughly and carefully,” CEA said with 10 other interest groups in an open letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt., who co-sponsored the bill) and ranking Senate Judiciary Committee member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). “To do so, we believe a hearing on S. 3804, with testimony from impacted industries and user constituencies, should be held before any major legislative action is taken.” The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed meeting on the bill as the chamber adjourned today for the election, Fox reports.

More of Today’s News Headlines from CDSA

Fanboys’ Surprising Reactions to ‘Star Wars’ 3D (The Hollywood Reporter) Further Proof Apple TV Apps Are Coming (NewTeeVee) Sounds of History ‘At Great Risk,’ Say U.S. Researchers (BBC) Live Nation’s Azoff Responds To Diller Resignation (Billboard) Yahoo, RealNetworks Music License Fees Voided by Court (BusinessWeek)

Neustar, Sonic Team To Push ‘UltraViolet’

Rights management company Neustar says it is working with Sonic Solutions to help accelerate the launch of “UltraViolet,” the digital distribution platform now in development by the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) consortium. The two companies, both DECE members, are working on “rapid and cost-effective integration” of the Neustar-developed UltraViolet Digital Rights Locker with retailer storefront and locker access service functions to provide a turn-key launch solution for UltraViolet participants. Sonic’s RoxioNow digital supply chain platform (employed by retailers such as Best Buy) also will be compatible with the UltraViolet system. Press release here (via PR Newswire).

Nintendo: 3DS Will Arrive After Holidays

Nintendo’s next-generation handheld gaming system will miss this year’s holiday selling season, launching in the U.S. in March 2011, the company announced in Japan yesterday (via the Wall Street Journal). The device will first launch in Japan in late February at a price of roughly $300 — a figure that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says the company arrived at following the positive response to the 3DS at the game industry’s E3 convention earlier this year (via Industry Gamers). Speculation holds that Nintendo will debut the 3DS in the U.S. for $250 — a price in range with Apple’s iPod Touch, which the computer maker has increasingly been positioning as a handheld game device in its own right.

No Net Neutrality Compromise in Congress

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) says that with a House proposal on net neutrality failing to win bipartisan support, the legislation will not be going forward. While the representative, who chairs the House’s Energy and Commerce Committee, says that legislation may still be introduced after the November elections, he also urges the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reassert its regulatory authority over the Internet service providers. “If our efforts to find bipartisan consensus fail,” Waxman says, “the FCC should move forward under Title II” of the Communications Act, under which Congress confers authority to the FCC. “The bottom line is that we must protect the open Internet. If Congress can’t act, the FCC must,” Waxman says. But the FCC’s power to regulate broadband access has been questioned. As the Washington Post notes, a federal court held in April that the agency exceeded its authority when it censured Comcast for placing Internet access limits on some of its customers. More analysis on the issue at the Wrap.

Star Wars Movies Coming to 3D

Lucasfilm Ltd. Sept. 29 said it is converting the venerable Star Wars movie franchise to 3D, and will rerelease Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace in theaters in 2012.

Hulu Plus Coming To Roku Boxes

Streaming media set-top box maker Roku announced that the Hulu Plus channel will be available via subscription to all Roku customers later this fall. The company’s set-top players, though which owners can access streaming services from the likes of Netflix, Amazon, Pandora, and MLB.tv, start at $59. Hulu, whose owners include NBC Universal, Disney, and News Corp., charges $9.99 a month for HD streaming access to various TV series.

Research: Blu-ray Households Stand at 17%

Blu-ray penetration has doubled since July 2008, with 17% of all U.S. households owning at least one Blu-ray device in July 2010, according to research firm Centris. Using the most recent household data from the U.S. Census Bureau — in January 2010, the agency reported a total of 117 million households in the country — the Centris estimate would put Blu-ray in roughly 19.9 million homes. That number, in turn, would compare favorably with Netflix's total U.S. subscriber base of 15.0 million (reported through the second quarter of 2010). Equal proportions of households have a standalone Blu-ray player and a PlayStation 3 console (45% and 47% of Blu-ray households respectively), Centris says. The research firm also noted that while overall DVD purchases and rentals continue to lead Blu-ray, “each Blu-ray household rents and buys discs in greater numbers than DVD households.” An earlier published estimate from Centris had at least one Blu-ray player in 18.1% of U.S. households (representing 21.2 million homes, using U.S. Census Bureau data) through the second quarter of this year. In its Sept. 29 note, Centris cautions that Blu-ray’s continued adoption may be slowed “by the availability of several competing formats,” viz. digital distribution and video-on-demand. But the research firm estimates that 13% of Blu-ray homes have downloaded a movie in the past month, compared to 6% of DVD homes (via Home Media Magazine). Those movie downloads don’t necessarily come through Blu-ray players or PS3 consoles, however. Earlier this week, the NPD Group reported that just 2% of U.S. consumers age 13 or older downloaded content via a Blu-ray player or a digital video player (such as a Roku set-top box) over the past three months, while 6% connected to the Internet and downloaded content via a videogame console.

‘Slight Uptick’ For Holiday Season Sales?

Here’s a little holiday season hope for DVD and Blu-ray marketers: 4% of consumers say they are planning to spend more on the physical media formats this holiday season, according to Nielsen. That’s a slight uptick from 3% who said so in 2009, the research firm reports. For all retail, Nielsen forecasts a flat selling season, with spending stalled at $89 billion and total unit sales down 0.15%. Among retail channels, online outlets are primed to win the largest increase in sales share this holiday season, with 13% of consumers planning to spend more online.

More of Today’s News Headlines from CDSA

Research: US Virtual Goods Market to Surpass $2 Billion in 2011 (Business Wire) Facebook and Skype Readying Deep Integration Partnership (All Things Digital) Barry Diller Resigns as Live Nation Chairman (The Hollywood Reporter) RealNetworks Launches A New RealPlayer Focused On Mobile First (paidContent) ‘Avatar’ Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Bonus Features Surface (Blu-ray.com)

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