Entertainment

Hoping to overcome sizable hurdles such as a volatile stock market and uncertain economy, Current Media -- the money-losing, multi-channel media company cofounded by former Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore -- has filed for an initial public offering. Current Media, which operates ...

Amazon.com is taking its digital music store to the world -- a necessary move if the online retailer hopes to compete with a digital giant like iTunes. Amazon will roll out its music store internationally this year, offering music that is free of digital rights management copy-protection technology ...

The global music industry is winning some sales battles, but online piracy continues to pummel it in a larger war. As a result, the industry's worldwide trade group is calling on Internet regulators to assist in bringing an end to illegal downloads. Some political heavyweights are joining the fight....

Of all the groups that have hurt the movie studios' financials through illegal file-sharing and piracy, college students have been the most egregious offenders, the Motion Picture Association of America has long maintained. In fact, it provided statistics two years ago that blamed college students f...

HBO will start to make its high-profile catalog of series, films and specials available online this week for some subscribers, a move that underscores the growing comfort content owners feel toward using the Web as a distribution channel. The service, known as "HBO on Broadband," will go live on Tue...

Legions of Oprah Winfrey fans will have access to the talk show megastar 24/7 on "OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network," Winfrey and Discovery Communications President and CEO David Zaslav announced Tuesday. The joint venture will enable Discovery to repurpose its less-than-successful Discovery Health cha...

In a move to help it break free of the old-school DVD format, Netflix is beefing up its streaming video service. Instead of limiting the number of hours customers can watch movies online, Netflix is now offering unlimited video streaming from its entire video library. With the change, customers can ...

Amazon.com will start selling songs from the massive library of Sony BMG in a format free of restrictions on copying and playback -- a major victory for the e-tailer's fledging music store and another sign that digital rights management controls on premium digital music may soon be a thing of the pa...

Comcast is launching an online video hub that will connect users with content in a variety of formats, joining a crush of companies aiming to leverage the Web to provide the ultimate on-demand experience. The cable giant's Fancast site will be the first such destination meant to connect users with c...

Movie rental giant Netflix will partner with LG Electronics to offer set-top boxes that will enable consumers to stream movies from the Internet to their network-enabled TV sets. The service will eliminate the need to use a personal computer to download films -- a service Netflix currently offers on...

The U.S. government is putting plans into motion to help consumers who have analog TVs continue to receive broadcasts on Feb. 17, 2009 -- the date when most television stations are scheduled to start sending digital signals exclusively. Without taking special steps, those relying on analog broadcast...

The Recording Industry Association of America has dumped a load of mud into the already murky waters surrounding the personal use of copyrighted music. The trade group, which represents the U.S. recording industry, is taking legal action against Jeffrey Howell of Scottsdale, Ariz., for allegedly sha...

Already, YouTube has conquered your PC and mobile. However, what happens if YouTube conquers your living room, too -- and in HDTV quality? With IPTV that is possible, and the race to see who will be best-positioned in the digital living room of the future has already started. IPTV is being called th...

Amazon.com has picked up the third major record label to let the online music retailer sell MP3 songs without digital rights management schemes attached. Warner Music Group announced Thursday that Amazon customers can now buy and download songs from its artists, which include Matchbox Twenty, Rob Th...

Considering the speed at which technology evolves, predicting even a year in advance can be a dicey proposition. Still, given key tech sector developments during 2007 and the outlook for 2008, some trends are unmistakable. It's a safe bet that social networking and Web 2.0 overall will remain a clos...