The Computer and Communications Industry
Association (CCIA) is fi ghting back against major
media distributors, which it claims are bullying con-
sumers with exaggerated copyright notices. In an
effort to thwart the increasingly aggressive tactics
being used by Hollywood studios, music publish-
ers, et al., the CCIA has fi led a complaint with the
Federal Trade Commission defending consumers’
right to fair use. To add your voice to the organiza-
tion’s petition, visit http://www.defendfairuse.org.Fight for Your Rights
AMD and Nvidia have been engaged
in a veritable pissing match over
the HQV HD video benchmark, with
AMD accusing its rival of cooking
its Forceware drivers in order to
achieve higher scores than its prod-
uct deserves. Nvidia, in turn, has
accused AMD of engaging in a disin-
formation campaign.
The issue stems from beta Vista
drivers (Forceware 163.11) that Nvidia
provided to reviewers testing HD-video
performance with videocards based on its
GeForce 8600 GTS graphics processor.
AMD’s Aboubakeur Nacef ran the bench-
mark and took photographs that he says
reveal ghosting caused by overly aggres-
sive use of noise-reduction in Nvidia’s
PureVideo HD decoder. “My feeling,”Nacef told Maximum PC , “is that Nvidia
was in panic mode and needed to release
something quickly.”
Nvidia’s Rick Allen, countered that
Nacef was “using an older driver and
overly aggressive driver settings to cause
the problem.” Nacef responded that
Forceware 163.44 had the same problem
but that he hadn’t tested version 163.69,
the latest version available at press time.AMD Alleges Benchmark Cheating
by Nvidia
Video quality benchmark scores
are source of conflict12 MAXIMUMPC HOLIDAY 2007
quick start THE BEGINNING OF THE MAGAZINE, WHERE ARTICLES ARE SMALL
MS ANTITRUST RULING STANDS
After an appeals pro-
cess that lasted more
than three years, an EU
court has upheld the
European Commission’s
original antitrust ruling
against Microsoft. In
2004, the Commission
found Microsoft’s prac-
tice of tying its media player to its OS and
its unwillingness to disclose specifications
for its network protocols to be an abuse
of the company’s market dominance. With
Microsoft’s appeal now overturned, the
company will be forced to pay $688 million
in fines.COMING SOON: CABLE
STREAMING
The cable industry’s firm grip on its con-
tent looks to be loosening with the recent
approval of DTCP-IP (Digital Transmission
Copy Protection). The streaming protocol will
allow cable subscribers to move content—
including HD and video-on-demand—across
their home networks for viewing on devices
that aren’t connected to their cable boxes.
Programming flags will
protect specified content
from being copied.TOTAL HD ON HOLD
Warner Bros.’ plan to
develop optical discs that
support Blu-ray on one
side and HD DVD on the
other is being shelved
indefinitely. Dubbed Total
HD, the dual-format media
was seen as a way to
curb costs for studios that
support both formats and save shelf space
in retail outlets. But with more studios now
choosing sides and consumers remaining
unenthused about either format, Warner is
discontinuing its efforts with Total HD for the
time being.EMUSIC FOR BIBLIOPHILES
The second-largest music
download service in the United
States is adding audiobooks
to its offerings. Subscribers
to eMusic will now be able to
purchase books from major
publishers in the form of 64kb/s
MP3 files for $10 a pop.FUNSIZENEWS
Recently, a number of Comcast subscribers have had their service terminated due
to what the broadband provider terms “excessive use.” The problem, however, is
that Comcast provides no clear guidelines concerning what it views as excessive.
Charlie Douglas, the company’s director of corporate communications, explained
that giving such information to consumers is simply unnecessary because “only.
percent of Comcast customers have been affected.” Douglas went on to say that
bandwidth limits were equivalent to a consumer downloading 30,000 songs each
month and were consistent across all markets. While such usage does seem exces-
sive, we encourage ISPs to provide clear limits and tools to measure bandwidth
usage (which Comcast also fi nds unnecessary), which would make it much easier
for consumers to avoid service termination.Comcast Bans Broadband Hogs
But you might not know you’ve overindulged until it’s too late