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Buy 1 get 1 free HD DVD’s at Amazon

Amazon.com is at it again, this time with a buy 1 get 1 free offer for HD DVD titles. As of this posting, 78 titles are included in the promotion and the full list of available B1G1 free titles can be viewed here.

The details on this promotion are listed as:

“Select any two titles from the list below and get one of them free. The promotional discount will be applied at checkout to the title of lesser cost. You will see a credit in your shopping cart. Limit two of each title per customer. Quantities are limited; order now before we run out.”

Other HD DVD deals

Other HD DVD deals currently running on Amazon include the Bourne trilogy on HD DVD for only $49.99 and 10 free HD DVD’s with the purchase of a player. Free ’super saver shipping’ on all orders over $25.

RIAA suggests MP3 copies are “unauthorized”

It appears the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has reversed their previous argument made in MGM v. Grokster where the iPod was a legitimate use of copied music. According to the RIAA supplemental brief in Atlantic v. Howell, the RIAA lawyers are claiming, “Once Defendant converted Plaintiffs’ recording into the compressed .mp3 format and they are in his shared folder, they are no longer the authorized copies distributed by Plaintiffs.”

This is very different that the previous argument against Grokster claiming, “The record companies, my clients, have said, for some time now, and it’s been on their Website for some time now, that it’s perfectly lawful to take a CD that you’ve purchased, upload it onto your computer, put it onto your iPod. There is a very, very significant lawful commercial use for that device, going forward.”

The Defendant has no legal counsel, making his defense against high-paid lawyers like the familiar David v. Goliath. If the RIAA gets their way, who would be spared from legal action?

Disney to add support for D-Box

D-Box Technologies offers a niche product for the home theater enthusiast - a motion actuator for seating. This is a unique product unlike all the “bass actuators” you see out there. D-Box doesn’t just shake your chair, it lifts, drops and shifts your chair much like the theaters you find at an amusement park. Movement is programmed with D-Box Motion Code for each specific movie and the data is part of the DVD’s soundtrack giving each film a unique experience.



Considering only a select bunch of movies even use D-Box technology, it seems like quite an investment to gain an arbitrarily greater theatrical benefit. This may be changing now that Disney has signed up to support D-Box Motion Code on upcoming titles. Fox and Lions Gate have already been releasing DVDs and Blu-ray Discs with D-Box enabled soundtracks, but then only on select titles. Disney will bring Game Plan and The Rock to Blu-ray on 22nd January 2008.

Whether you care about moving recliners or not, it seems like D-Box is looking to significantly grow their niche. They’re already working with gaming companies to bring a more “simulation” feel to games. Sounds fun … for a while I guess.

Michael Bay at it again

Of all the unlikely news-makers in the “format war,” Michael Bay sure nows how to stir the pot. Months back when Paramount and Dreamworks announced they were going HD DVD exclusive, Bay posted on his website that he thought the decision “sucked” and even questioned making Transformers 2 because of it. He retracted the first comment and said he was angry and posted after having a few drinks.

Now he has posted again saying, “Microsoft wants both formats to fail so they can be heroes and make the world move to digital downloads. That is the dirty secret no one is talking about.” This rumor isn’t new to the format war observers, it has been made before. He goes on to say, “Microsoft is handing out $100 million dollar checks to studios just embrace the HD DVD and not the leading, and superior Blu Ray [sic]. They want confusion in the market until they perfect the digital downloads. Time will tell and you will see the truth.”

I don’t imagine the post will stay up much longer - just like the first post was taken down. Bay seems to want to connect to his fans, but he really ought to let his publicists post for him. And then maybe he should just stop posting drunk.

The format war titans

It seems like the fanboys on both sides of the format war have someone on their side that uses their public platform to spread propaganda. For some supporters, they’re embarrassing, for other’s they’re emboldening. I am talking of two men in particular: Bill Hunt and Rob Enderle.

Why are these two men so polarizing? They both have positions in the industries involved with a broad reach across many media types and they’re both often quoted as sources. So who are they? What credentials do they have? Since my last table effort was so amazingly accomplished, I figure I’ll make another one just for the hell of it. Note: this should be taken as both educational and entertaining.

Names:	Bill Hunt	Rob Enderle
Party:	Blu-ray Disc	HD DVD
History:	Started The Digital Bits in 1997 to help promote the DVD format	Former Senior Research Fellow for Forrester Research and the Giga Information Group, left (amidst scandal) to start Enderle Group, an independent analysis firm
Accomplishments:	Helped rally consumers against the Divx format leading to its defeat. Pushed consumer education and adoption of anamorphic DVDs. Pressured studios to support anamorphic DVDs. Insulted HD DVD community by supporting Blu-ray and advocating against HD DVD	Predicted the death of Apple more times than any analyst since 1995. Predicted the death of Bluetooth in 2005. Called Linux supporters “criminals.” Supported SCO Group in SCO v. IBM. Insulted Blu-ray community by declaring Blu-ray should have never existed and likening Blu-ray to “Sony’s Iraq.”
Shill:	Sony sponsored a party celebrating 10 years of The Digital Bits as well as Home Theater Forum	Employed on Toshiba Advisory Council (yet fails to disclose this in his articles)
Arguments:	Blu-ray has more industry support than HD DVD. Blu-ray has more potential. HD DVD is preventing Blu-ray from becoming the standard.	Sony is losing lots of money on Blu-ray. HD DVD is cheaper. Blu-ray is preventing HD DVD from being the standard.
Reactions:	Dozens of HD DVD supports stop reading The Digital Bits. Bill is called myriad colorful names. HD DVD fanboys claim he should die and his family should die.	It’s hard to tell what he’s got from his HD DVD support because hate for him goes back to the ’90s. Of course there isn’t anyone I’ve ever seen a name appear with “idiot”, “moron” and “douche” next to their name more than Enderle.

I’m not posting this to ridicule anyone, I just want to point out that smart people have different opinions. If you disagree with me, I suggest you take a look at political and economic theory over the last several thousand years. It seems we’re all so quick to attack a person instead of their ideas. It must be easier to call someone an idiot than to explain why you think this. Both of these guys have made some rather rough comments about others, but that doesn’t mean we should just attack people.

It seems like in this age of “you,” everyone wants their opinion heard. That’s fine, opinions are good. Some people have more public pulpits for their opinion, and that’s the case with Hunt and Enderle, but we also have to respect other people’s opinions. If your opinion is that Hunt is a douche, that’s fair but it doesn’t add anything to the discussion about HD DVD and Blu-ray.