Movies

Anti-SOPA blackouts planned for tomorrow by sites like Wikipedia, Boing Boing, Reddit, and others are "stunts" that are "dangerous and troubling," Hollywood's chief lobbyist said.

In a statement issued today (PDF), MPAA chairman and CEO--and former U.S. Senator--Chris Dodd railed against the blackouts, calling them "an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on [the sites] for information and [who] use their services."

Dodd also said that the blackouts are "an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It's a dangerous and … Read more

Mashup artists love to make and spread videos based on other people's content. But how many of those artists have explicit permission to use source material from archives like the video libraries of Universal Studios and Warner Brothers Film, and the image and music collections of Getty?

From now until February 29, as part of Getty's Mishmash remix competition, anyone can use those content riches to create a mashup and try to win the contest's $5,000 first prize, as well as get the work in front of a group of influential judges.

"Short story, video … Read more

Count Wikipedia among the growing number of sites that are likely to take action against SOPA.

As anger towards the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act grows, more and more people and organizations are joining the fight against the bipartisan Congressional legislation. (See CNET's FAQ on SOPA.)

Earlier this week, the news site Reddit announced it would shut down for 12 hours on January 18 in a bid to make its displeasure known about SOPA and its Senate counterpart, the Protect IP Act. And now, there are strong signs that Wikipedia may express its community's protest sentiment, although it'… Read more

The headlines from CES about Hollywood's digital efforts are likely to make readers believe that the major film studios are fixated on selling movies instead of renting.

Readers might also have the impression that the studios' strategy on UltraViolet (UV), the plan to promote the use of digital lockers, was hurt by Netflix's decision to drop participation in UV.

Both are true to a point but much more nuanced.

I wrote this week that Netflix decided not to renew its membership in the consortium behind UV and some pundits are taking it as a sign that UV is … Read more

Amazon has become the first major retailer to agree to sell films on the UltraViolet platform and the Web's biggest store is starting with movies from Warner Bros., multiple film-industry sources told CNET.

Amazon VP Bill Carr announced during a panel discussion at CES yesterday that the retailer had struck a UV deal with a single Hollywood studio, but he declined to identify which one or provide many details about the agreement.

Carr was joined on stage by members of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE), the consortium that founded UV. Among them were top executives from Sony, Warner … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Hollywood should offer Jeff Bezos the keys to the city.

The Amazon CEO and his troops rode to the aid of the five major film studios backing UltraViolet, the name of the effort to promote the studios' vision of digital lockers and create the next generation home-entertainment format.

In the fall, when the studios began releasing movies for UV, conspicuously missing was participation from any significant Web retailer. But today, Bill Carr, Amazon's executive vice president of digital, said during a panel discussion at CES, that the merchant had signed a deal with one of the major film … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Samsung said today it is making its Smart Blu-ray players compatible with the UltraViolet, the cloud-movie platform backed by the Hollywood studios.

The main UV feature will enable owners of the Blu-ray players to move their existing DVD and Blu-ray libraries into their own UV digital lockers.

The feature, which will be made available later this year, is being referred to as "disc to digital," which enables owners to slip in an eligible movie disc and the software will then attempt to scan and recognize the film. When it does, the technology will then offer owners a … Read more

Netflix is out of the consortium that created UltraViolet, the technology platform designed to make digital movies accessible to any device or service.

Sources told CNET that the highest-ranking executive representing Netflix within Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE), a group of more than 70 companies connected to the film industry, recently did not renew his membership. Current members include Hollywood studios, software and hardware makers, film distributors, and retailers.

While Netflix may maintain some low-level DECE presence in the future, the company in large part cut ties to DECE a while ago, the sources said. Netflix executives have rarely, if … Read more

Amazon's Lovefilm has inked two important deals as it prepares to wage a streaming-video war with Netflix in the U.K.

BBC Worldwide will bring its programming, including "Doctor Who" and "Life On Mars," to Lovefilm's streaming service. In addition, Lovefilm, which operates solely in Europe, announced today that it has signed a deal with the U.K.'s largest commercial broadcaster, iTV, to stream its shows, including "Marchlands" and "Above Suspicion" among many others.

Lovefilm's BBC deal is especially important. Just last month, Netflix announced that it signed a deal with the BBC … Read more