Hollywood sues Real Networks to stop DVD copying

Hollywood studios sue to stop distribution of DVD-copying software
A legal fight erupted Tuesday over the ability of consumers to copy DVDs onto their computers, setting the stage for a new battle between Hollywood and a purveyor of technology that could alter how consumers watch movies at home.

The six major Hollywood movie studios sued Seattle-based RealNetworks, asking a federal court in Los Angeles to bar the digital media company from distributing new software that they say lets consumers copy movies illegally.

Netflix Adds Starz Play Movies to Instant Streaming Service
Online DVD rental service Netflix announced on Wednesday that it has signed a deal with Liberty Media's Starz Entertainment, that will bring movies from its Starz Play broadband subscription movie service to Netflix's instant online streaming service.

Warner Bros. To Release Films On Demand In South Korea Two Weeks Before DVD Release
Warner Bros. thinks it can reclaim some lost ground in the market by releasing films on demand two weeks before their DVD release. South Koreans are so accustomed to downloading films over peer-to-peer networks that it might be too little too late, but the studio is willing to give it a go before throwing in the towel it appears.

Slide to Introduce TV Clip-Sharing Feature
Slide, a publisher of social media applications that include photo slideshows and "FunSpace" and "Top Friends" on Facebook, plans tomorrow to introduce a new application that lets users embed clips of TV shows on social media sites, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company inked deals with Warner Bros., CBS, NBC, E! Entertainment and others for the clips, and will either sell its own ads against them or take a cut of revenue from ads run by content owners.

Vudu Takes High-Def Movies Higher
Startup Vudu this week will begin offering 65 feature movie titles in 1080p high-definition video format via its Internet-connected set-top, in a bid to peel home-theater aficionados from cable and satellite video-on-demand services.

ABC Family Teams with Lycos for Social TV
ABC Family recently teamed with Lycos to enable social TV services around the show, “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.” Fans of the show were able to go to abcfamily.com or secretlife.lycos.com to participate in “online viewing parties” where they could watch episodes of the show while chatting about it in real time. Viewers could also host their own private viewing parties through Lycos’s Watch & Interact platform, which allowed them to schedule private online screening rooms. The platform lets screening room hosts pause, rewind and fast- forward programs while discussing them with other participants.

‘SNL’ Palin Skits: Seen More on Web Than TV
More than half of the viewers for “Saturday Night Live’s” recent skits featuring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin watched the sketches on the Web as of Sept.29, according to a survey conducted by Solutions Research Group. About 51% of viewers who have seen at least one of the skits are watching on the Internet, indicating that viewing preferences for this type of content are shifting toward the computer. About 23% of all views came from YouTube, including video of other talk shows that showed clips of the skit, with 17% of views attributed to NBC.com and 4% to Hulu.com

Slide to distribute video on Facebook; Facebook to overtake MySpace in the US; Oasis launches new
Slide, maker of popular Facebook apps Top Friends, SuperPoke! and FunWall among others, has signed a deal with major media companies to distribute video content on Facebook, reports Reuters. Distribution partners include CBS Corp’s CBS Interactive (owner of this blog), Comcast Corp’s E! Entertainment channel, Time Warner Inc’s Warner Brothers, along with the News Corp and NBC Universal’s jointly-owned video site Hulu. To be rolled out on Thursday, users who install Slide’s FunSpace app will be able to share video clips and receive recommendations based on popularity.

After NBC Complaint, YouTube Pulls Obama Spot
Google-owned YouTube has pulled a Barack Obama ad from its site at the insistence of NBC, which charged that the spot infringed on its copyrighted content and that it did not give Obama's campaign permission to use the material.

The ad, titled "Bad News," is designed to get out the vote by appealing to voters and potential voters who do not want John McCain to win the election. At one point, NBC's Tom Brokaw and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann are shown--with Olbermann announcing that McCain has "won."

FiOS, U-Verse Tops In Customer Satisfaction: J.D. Power Survey
Verizon Communications Inc.'s FiOS and AT&T Inc.'s U-verse video services have jumped to the top of the regional customer satisfaction rankings, according to a J.D. Power survey, supplanting direct-broadcast satellite services as the traditional leaders and pushing incumbent cable providers further down the list.

Hackaround Puts Boxee on Apple TVs
Apple TV owners can now add the open-source media control platform Boxee to their set-top boxes

Netflix Bypasses Studios With Starz Deal
By licensing content from Starz, Netflix is getting first-run content a lot faster than by negotiating with the studios themselves

AOL Money & Finance To Feature Bloomberg TV Video
AOL Money & Finance will carry content from Bloomberg TV, making it the first major site other than Bloomberg.com to host videos from the 24/7 business and financial news network.