............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Judge Halts
Sales of
RealDVD
RealNetworks failed to
convince a U.S. District Court
judge to lift a temporary halt
on distribution of its RealDVD
software after a suit fi led
by the MPAA claimed the
company had violated the
Digital Millennium Copyright
Act’s anticircumvention rules.
The MPAA stated that
the software circumvents
copyright protections
because it doesn’t require
the physical disc to be in
the drive during playback,
allowing users to rent, rip,
and return movies with ease.
RealNetworks insists it’s
not infringing on any licenses
because the software keeps
the CSS encryption intact
after ripping DVDs. The
MPAA admits that there is
nothing specifi cally written
against what RealDVD does.
U.S. District Judge
Marilyn Patel vowed not to
remove the suspension until
she is convinced that the
software is not in violation of
the DMCA. – F IGoogle Goes to
Washington
D.C. ditches Microsoft’s Office
suite for online alternative
Washington D.C. joins the ranks of more than
500,000 businesses and organizations that have
their heads in the clouds. D.C. CTO Vivik Kundra
inked an agreement with Google that will port all
38,000 municipal employees over to Google Apps.
According to Bloomberg, the agreement, which
was signed in June, is worth almost $500,000 a
year and will include such applications as Gmail,
Google Docs, Google Video for business, and
Google Sites.
But Google isn’t the only company challeng-
ing Microsoft in the productivity world. Zoho also
off ers a collection of online apps and managed to
snag GE as a customer. Meanwhile, Microsoft has
largely been content
to ride the success
of its offl ine
Offi ce suite,
but things
could get
interesting
if cloud
computing
continues
to pick up
steam. – P LTom Halfhill was formerly a senior editor
for Byte magazine and is now an analyst for
Microprocessor Report.FAST FORWARDFabs Overboard
TOM HALFHILLhttp://www.maximumpc.com | HOLIDAY 08 |MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC| 11
LaCie has released
a new line of LED-
backlit monitors
for people who put
a premium on color
accuracy. But they
won’t come cheap;
the monitors range
from $2,040 for the
20-inch model to
$5,850 for the 30-
inch. – T EB
y now you’ve probably heard of AMD’s com-
plicated deal to spin off its chip-fabrication
plants to a newly formed independent com-
pany. Essentially, AMD is exiting the manufacturing
biz to focus on chip design.
This long-expected move was greeted with both
cheers and jeers. Some investors applauded AMD’s
decision to cut loose the riskiest and most capital-
intensive part of its fl agging business. Others worried
that AMD is merely jettisoning ballast on a sinking
ship. Numerous observers proclaimed the end of an
era, often quoting former AMD CEO Jerry Sanders III:
“Real men have fabs.”
All the above may be true. Fabs cost billions of
dollars to build and operate, and only high-volume
production makes them profi table. Intel introduces a
new-generation fabrication process every two years,
exerting enormous pressure on AMD to keep up. AMD
has temporarily improved its balance sheet, but it may
not be enough. And when Sanders uttered his famous
words in the 1990s, fabless semiconductor companies
were still the upstarts—all the big semi companies
owned their fabs.
Times change. Today, Intel is pretty much the
last man standing. Intel continues to build and
operate its own fabs and develop its own fabrication
technology. Even mighty IBM can’t stand alone
anymore. IBM forges partnerships with other com-
panies to share the huge capital expenses of fab
construction and technology development. In fact,
AMD is one of those partners. There’s no shame.
It’s simply the new reality.
Fabless semi companies have two options. They
can manufacture their chips in fabs jointly owned and
operated with partners, or they can completely out-
source the manufacturing to independent companies
whose specialty is chip fabrication (those companies
are called foundries). AMD may do both.
Either way, shifting production to outside fabs
is potentially hazardous. Remember Transmeta,
the fabless startup company whose Crusoe and
Effi ceon processors challenged Intel’s chips in
notebooks? One reason Transmeta got stomped is
that manufacturing problems delayed produc-
tion for a whole year. PC companies couldn’t get
deliveries and jumped ship.
Outsourcing the production of microprocessors
isn’t like outsourcing the production of shoes. AMD
is making a tough business decision, but it’s a risky
move that Intel will try to exploit to the fullest......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................LaCie has released LaCie has released LaCie has released LaCie has released LaCie has released LaCie has released
a new line of LED-a new line of LED-a new line of LED-a new line of LED-a new line of LED-a new line of LED-
backlit monitors backlit monitors backlit monitors backlit monitors backlit monitors backlit monitors
for people who put for people who put for people who put for people who put for people who put for people who put
a premium on color a premium on color a premium on color a premium on color a premium on color a premium on color
accuracy. But they accuracy. But they accuracy. But they accuracy. But they accuracy. But they accuracy. But they
won’t come cheap; won’t come cheap; won’t come cheap; won’t come cheap; won’t come cheap; won’t come cheap;
the monitors range the monitors range the monitors range the monitors range the monitors range the monitors range
from $2,040 for the from $2,040 for the from $2,040 for the from $2,040 for the from $2,040 for the from $2,040 for the
20-inch model to 20-inch model to 20-inch model to 20-inch model to 20-inch model to 20-inch model to
$5,850 for the 30-$5,850 for the 30-$5,850 for the 30-$5,850 for the 30-$5,850 for the 30-$5,850 for the 30-
inch.inch.inch. – –T ET EIn Living Color
LaCie’s 700-series LCD monitors are designed to dazzle