Go Speed Racer Spoof, Go!
Speed Racer is the big movie this weekend (though it will supposedly be stomped by an Iron foot). And if you’re a Speed freak there’s a spoof over on AtomFilms (where I used to work) that is a dead-on parody called Race Speedster.
It runs a little long, and the subject matter is a over the top (crystal meth anyone?), but the voice acting and stiff animation are brilliant.
And if that gets you in the mood for the real thing, Hulu is running the classic animated series right now (video after the jump).
Chinese P2P Streaming Platform PPLive Sued for Copyright Infringement
The popular Chinese P2P TV platform PPLive has been sued for copyright infringement by entertainment company Beijing Shidai Yingyin International Entertainment Co., ChinaTechNews.com reports, seeking compensation of 330,000 Chinese yuan ($47,000). This is the first time PPLive has been sued, but it’s part of a larger backlash against Chinese P2P platforms.
PPLive is hugely popular in China. The service reportedly had 85 million users in October, and it currently offers access to several hundred streaming video channels as well as hundreds of on-demand shows. Most of those are Chinese programming, but PPLive also broadcasts sports events from around the world, including NBA and European soccer games — a feature that has made the service popular with sports fans overseas as well.
Blinkx Benefits from Rumors, Says It’s Not Being Bought
Shares of Blinkx rose as much as 53 percent today on the London Stock Exchange following speculation it might be bought by Google or News Corp. Blinkx, however, released a statement saying it was “not aware of any external bids or bid-related reason for the [share] movement.”
The stock eventually closed at 31.5 pence, up 26 percent. It had already seen an unusual jump on Thursday following speculation it might list on NASDAQ.
Vid-Biz: Circuit City, Upfronts, Bebo
Circuit City Opens Up to Blockbuster; rental chain and Carl Ichann allowed to conduct due diligence on the company, Ichann may fund buyout. (paidContent) (previous coverage)
TV Nets Upfront Ad Sales Forecast to Be Down this Year; poor economy, writers’ strike and lower ratings are forecast to translate into a drop in ad buying of between 2 and 14 percent. (TVWeek)
Bebo Delivers One Billion Videos per Month; social network provides open platform so publishers can use their own player. (Beet.TV) (previous coverage)
ESPN360.co to Serve up Women’s Tennis; site will stream more than 70 matches from 11 events. (Multichannel News)
Facebook Launches American Gladiators Application; users can play games based on the show’s challenges. (The Hollywood Reporter)
SNL Gets Political; sketch comedy show creates political mini-sites featuring videos from the current and past seasons. (NBC.com)
This Week’s Net Neutrality Cheat Sheet
It’s Friday. The weekend everyone’s been working for is here. The last thing you want to read about is proposed Net Neutrality legislation making its way through Congress. But there were two developments on that front this week that you should at least be aware of, so to make it easier for you, we created this handy-dandy chart.
| Bill Title | Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008 (H.R. 5353) | Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (H.R. 5994) |
| Sponsor | Rep. Edward Markey (D.-Mass) | Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Rep. Zoe Lofgen (R-Ca.) |
| Tactic | Authorize the FCC to monitor broadband network operators. | Uses antitrust laws to keep broadband network operators in line. |
| Concerns | House committee split along party lines. Republicans fear FCC will over-regulate. | Antitrust suits can be drawn out and expensive. |
Essay: Can We Stop with the Video CE Hardware Already?
Silicon Valley is littered with the carcasses of set-top boxes that were going to revolutionize entertainment. Rather than learning from this grim history, however, some kind of failure torch is being passed from one generation of dying-out hardware makers to a new breed angling to take a prize that just isn’t there.
MovieBeam is emblematic of both the failures of video CE’s hardware past, and the futility of its future. After floundering for years, being bought and subsequently killed by Movie Gallery, MovieBeam is now in the process of being sold to Dar Capital for $2.25 million. Is that a bargain or a big waste of time and money?
We’re guessing the latter. The only companies who have shown any success in getting consumers to adopt set-top box hardware for video content on a massive scale are the cable and satellite companies (OK, the telcos are making strong headway, too).
And it’s not like a bunch of no-names have tried.
Move: Online Profits Approaching TV Levels
We sometimes worry if we write about Move Networks too much. But it’s an interesting startup with real technology making an increasingly significant impact on how people are entertained. And hey, when the CEO stops by your office and spews out a bunch of numbers with dollar signs attached to them, you gotta write it up.
According to Move CEO John Edwards,
- Move customers are seeing CPMs of $35 up; $70 CPMs for better networks and even up to $100
A year ago it cost at least 18 cents to transmit a gig; Move got it down to $0.10 six months ago — so it’s starting to approach the point where you can make the same money showing something on TV as showing it online
Pauly Shore Goes After Polygamists
Pauly Shore rose to fame in the 90s through a combination of stoner antics on MTV and various catchphrases (he was the weeee-zuhl). But it’s been a long time since Encino Man, and Shore is now taking to the web for a documentary-type series called Pauly Shore’s America on Ripe TV.
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“It’s not a joke. Not some spoof, know what I mean?” Shore insisted in an interview with NewTeeVee on Thursday. “I’m interested in the news. The news to me is funny. I mean the things that happen in the news aren’t funny, but to me comedy comes out of tragedy.”
One of the more recent tragedies in the new was that of the infamous Texas polygamist sect. His quest to interview members inside the group are chronicled over five episodes being released over the coming weeks.
Cool Tools: Make a YouTube Timeline
Check out TimeTube, a mashup from San Francisco startup Dipity, which makes an interactive timeline out of any YouTube keyword. Videos are embedded directly into the timeline on the dates they were added. I’m a little unclear on what garners more emphasis within the timeline– it doesn’t appear to be number of views. Anyways, then you can grab whatever you make and embed it directly in your blog.
Would have been great to have this for our Rickroll timeline last month!
Rossellini Gets Freaky in Green Porno
If you ever wondered how dragonflies mate, let Isabella Rossellini demonstrate in her online series Green Porno, which went live this week.
Each episode shows Rossellini dressed in a different lo-fi (yet elaborate) bug costume to show how they have sex. It’s not freaky because it’s about animals doin’ it, but because the straightforward, clinical manner in which Rossellini speaks, combined with her pronunciation, makes words like “vagina” and “penis” haunting. Especially since she’s dressed like a giant fly mounting another fly.
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