According to Reuters, the European Commission has requested information from the developers of the rival Blu-ray and HD DVD next-generation disc formats, but noted the request is not the start of a formal investigation. Instead, the EC is looming into whether the licensing terms of the new DVD formats are in violation of EU competition regulations.
The EC declined to from which companies it was requesting information, or which licenses were the focus of its inquiry. Being similar in many respects, both disc formats involve licensing of component technologies (such as the Advanced Access Content System, or AACS in addition to the format license itself. Sony confirmed it has received the requests and was cooperating with regulators, noting in a statement, “There are no indications of any complaint, nor of any antitrust concerns on the part of the Commission or anyone else.”
If the EC uncovers questionable practices in the licensing terms, it may launch a formal inquiry; otherwise, the matter will likely be set aside. If an investigation were to focus on only one disk format and not the other, it may give the “unencumbered” format an edge in market adoption. The European Commission doesn’t necessarily mess around with antitrust matters: earlier this month, it levied a $357 million fine on Microsoft for violating terms of a 2004 antitrust settlement, and is threatening €3 million per diem fines if Microsoft doesn’t comply by July 31, 2006.
HD DVD is expected to debut in Europe in time for the end-of-year holidays; Blu-ray is expected to reach European markets in early 2007.
A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a server run by the VPN provider. Websites see the VPN server’s IP address instead of yours, and you can get around geo-blocks, censorship, and ISP throttling. The best VPN services are paid, but there are still a handful of free options that do the job well.
Most free VPNs come with a hidden cost, because running servers isn’t cheap and a company that doesn’t charge you has to make its money somewhere else. Many do so by logging your browsing activity and selling it to advertisers, while others flood you with ads and track you across apps.
A stocked computer cache may be convenient for logging into and out of go-to sites in seconds flat, but a major buildup of these tracking codes could significantly impact your PC’s performance. If you’ve noticed that your PC has been running rather slow of late, or you’re using a new browser and don’t know how to clear its cache, we’ve got you covered with the following guide.
If you’re looking to clean up your Gmail inbox, but you don’t want to delete anything permanently, then choosing the archive option is your best bet. Whenever you archive an email, it is removed from your inbox folder while still remaining accessible. Here’s how to access any emails you have archived previously, as well as how to move such messages back to your regular inbox for fast access.