Episode 686

Veronica's back, and we do spend quite a bit of time talking about DRM, patent law, the 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction winners and other tech topics. However we finished on someting of a low note regarding fiber.
__TOC__
==Stories Covered==
Verizon wins ‘open access’ licenses in FCC auction.
Dish Network to offer mobile TV service?
BitTorrent to Comcast: Let’s be friends.
PC game developer has radical message: Ignore the pirates.
Gibson turns volume up to 11 with new ‘Guitar Hero’ lawsuit.
LinkedIn’s business directory goes live.
Apple pushes Safari on Windows via iTunes updater.
BluRay’s BD+ DRM broken.
Sony charges fifty bucks for a crapware-free system.
MacBook Air USB hacks.
Newscast from a robot-dominated future — Onion video.
==Voice Mail==
* Jason Cincinnati quit whining about digital rentals.
* Anon Beatles licensing theory.
==E-mail==
===LOST Live===
Hey I’m a bit behind here, but you do know that if you get an HD antenna ($20 bucks at Best Buy) you can get LOST live in HD….no need for cable. It’s how we do it at my house-my roommies and I pretty much only watch LOST and sports live, so we haven’t had cable for months. Just saying….
--Frank J. M. L., Esq.
===Losing money on PS3===
A few podcasts ago you stated on your show the Sony is losing a lot of money on every PS3 they sell. While that was the case when they first sold them, they lost about $300 per unit, it is no longer true. True to Sony’s business plan, they have been able to reduce the cost on the PS3 using newer 65nm architecture and other improvements. Each unit costs about $400 on average to produce now; this is amazing considering it’s only been out about 1.5 years and originally cost about $880 to produce. Here’s a quick link on the information I provided.
Thanks,
Jason Hatfield
===Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!===
It’s my birthday and guess what i got! Boiling point by Tom Merritt, maybe you’ve heard of him. I just find it funny how my parents googled my favorite podcast buzz out loud and found out that Tom wrote a book. Ahhhh the power of the internet web search. I can’t wait to start reading it! I just turned 17 in cased you wanted to know.
-- Jack Hanington
===Here’s another example of an operator forcing clients to go all digital.===
I thought about this when you guys were talking about the Comcast salesman, going door-to-door lying to their customers. But we’d gotten a phone message at home advising us Verizon was doing the very same thing, Though I couldn’t find written evidence of it… Well lo and behold... This is the part you’ll want to quote “The federal government has mandated that all television broadcasting be transitioned from analog to digital transmission by Feb. 19, 2009, freeing up parts of the scarce and valuable broadcast spectrum. Verizon made a commitment with the FCC to eliminate our analog service by Feb. 19, 2009. To allow time to reconfigure our network and ensure a smooth customer transition, Verizon will begin the transition in the Spring of 2008. By making these changes now, we ensure that our FiOS TV customers have access to all the new digital content that’s coming this year.” Please, please read my e-mail on the Buzz Out Loud. I’m a Long time listener and sometime e-mailer. (I’m too shy to call) I want to becomean OFFICAL member of the Buzz out Loud family!
--Jonathan W. from Mount Vernon, NY