Entertainment

The associations representing movie studios and music labels are warning some 40 college presidents that their students are using their high-powered networks to steal copyrighted entertainment and urging them to take "immediate action." The Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Pi...

Hoping to grab the early lead in the move toward high-definition DVDs, Warner Home Video said it would release a disc next month that contains both traditional and high-definition versions of the same film. The DVD release of "Rumor Has It," a romantic comedy starring Kevin Costner and Jennifer Anis...

A new mode of movie ownership is briskly emerging -- one which someday may challenge the hegemony of the digital videodisc (DVD). During the last few weeks, Hollywood debuted two films, "King Kong," and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," via a new media, broadband, Internet-based "download-to-ow...

Digital video recorder maker TiVo has won a jury verdict finding that rival EchoStar has been infringing on a "time warping" patent that is at the core of the DVR technology. A jury in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas found EchoStar has "willfully" infringed on TiVo's patent, set...

Paramount Pictures and Microsoft on Wednesday entered into a partnership to push the movie studio's trailers into the software giant's Xbox Live service. Dubbed the Xbox Movie Showcase, the service will feature free, high-definition, downloadable content from two of the most highly anticipated films...

Amid controversy over digital download music prices, an Anglo-Italian band is making its own headlines -- and a bit of history -- by releasing Britain's first "mobile only" single. Planet Funk will release the single "Stop Me" on May 8 over mobile media company 3's network. Planet Funk is hopping on...

Netflix on Tuesday filed a patent infringement suit against Blockbuster alleging the bricks-and-mortar movie rental chain illegally copied its ideas. Netflix is seeking a court order that would force Blockbuster to change its online rental processes and pay patent royalties. The complaint was filed ...

Lawyers for Apple Computer argued to a United Kingdom court that the iTunes Music Store is a data-transfer service, not a purely musical endeavor and as a result does not violate a long-standing agreement with the company that handles The Beatles business affairs. The argument was made during procee...

The TiVo v. EchoStar Communications patent trial officially began on Wednesday. Now it's up to a Texas jury to decide whether the satellite TV giant stole TiVo's technology that allows viewers to skip commercials. In a case that could have stock market and cable television industry repercussions, Ti...

In direct competition with TiVo, Cablevision Systems on Monday announced a planned trial of a remote storage digital video recorder service. It will allow customers to record and store programs in a dedicated space within Cablevision's head-end facilities, using existing digital set-top boxes. Using...

The lengthy battle between The Beatles and Apple over whether the computer maker infringed on the legendary band's trademark by pushing into the music business will reach the highest court in the United Kingdom this week. Justice Edward Mann will hear arguments on whether Apple's iTunes online music...

In yet another experiment to leverage legal, digital distribution of Hollywood movies, Universal Pictures and online rental service LoveFilm announced they will begin offering a download-to-own Internet movie service in the UK next month. The service will kick off with the release of the feature fil...

Sling Media, the maker of the Slingbox technology that enables remote access to TV programs stored on a digital video recorder, has made a beta version available of a service that can deliver video from various sources to mobile devices. SlingPlayer Mobile lets Slingbox owners gain access to their s...

Microsoft has scored a contract to provide Internet Protocol television services (IPTV) to one of the largest phone companies in Europe, possibly providing it a key proving ground for its technology as Web TV grows in popularity. Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft and Deutsche Telekom announced they had...

Microsoft inked a deal with Epic Records that will give Xbox Live users a year's worth of free access to downloadable music and high-definition on-demand video from Epic artists. Xbox Live is the online, interactive portion of the Xbox 360 gaming platform that debuted last year as the first of what ...