http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio Netvideo jason_romney@mac.com 2007-06-01 17:20:40 +1000 hourly 1 2007-06-01 17:20:40 +1000 http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20060815090211/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20060815090211/index.html

Media, Entertainment and Technology insights from The X|Media|Lab, Melbourne

Date Created: 15 Aug, 2006, 09:16 AM

The media world is in upheaval as phenomena such a user-generated content, piracy and location-aware mobile distribution both create and destroy opportunities for content aggregators and original content creators. The X|Media Lab, brainchild of Australian Brendan Harkin, periodically brings together thought leaders from around the world to exchange views about the nature and pace of change. They also mentor new projects, bringing technological, business and creative perspectives to people who are trying to refract a new idea through the new business models. Netvideo visited the latest X|Media Lab and asked 17 people - both mentors and project heads - to sum up on camera in five minutes what they had brought to and taken from the event. These seventeen interviews, comprise 1.5 hours of insights, tips and polemics. Andrew Lawrence, producer of the ABC's Rage music video program, describes how the ABC is turning music videos into multi-platform, multi-device, fully play-listed properties For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Angela Beesley, co-founder and Vice-President, WikiMedia, talks about the Wikia's latest functions and product development path For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Brian Seth Hurst, CEO of the Opportunity Management Company, explains how big show business companies and the world's major brands are responding to media landscape change For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Chris Gilbey, a partner at venture capital company Perceptric, explains the particular challenges of scale and market access that Australian entrepreneurs face. For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Chris Winter, manager of ABC2, Australia's second digital public broadcasting channel, explains the way imaginative content is being marshalled for ABC2 at minimal cost For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) David Llewellyn Smith, publisher of The Diplomat magazine, explains how his publishing enterprise is adapting to changes in the technology of distribution. For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) David Rose, Managing Director of New Zealand-based Satellite Media, explains how the media industry is changing in his part of the world and what his company is doing to address that change. For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Dominic Knight, producer of The ABC's The Chaser program, describes how his satirical news program is changing in the face of user-generated content creation opportunities. For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Elina Koivisto, (pictured above) Research Engineer for Nokia's Game House at the Multimedia Technologies Laboratory in Finland, describes how location aware mobile devices are changing game play and possible crossover between location awareness in the real world and massively multiplayer online role playing games in the virtual world. For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Geoff Lowe, the CEO of London-based FilmServe, describes how changes in the technology of media consumption are affecting the type of stories and narratives that can be created for audiences to consume. For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Jennifer Lewis, Cross Media Editor of STOMP at The Straits Times of Singapore Press Holdings, describes how newspapers are adapting in Asia to increasingly video-based, mobile delivered consumer information preferences. For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Professor John Buchanan, of the Entertainment Technology Centre at Carnegie Mellon University, describes how artificial intelligence agents and other new technologies are affecting the consumption of media. For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Kath Earle, Series Producer for ABC TV Arts and Entertainment, describes how ABC New Media is changing its conception of story production, workflow and distribution for the 21st century. For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Dr Mark Ollila, co-founder and non-executive director of telcogames, now based in sweden, explains how mobile services are fundamentally changing storytelling and the business models for content creator/aggregators. For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Richard Fox, Online Producer for Zuji at Travelocity, describes how location based services are revolutionising those parts of the media that deliver travel stories. For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Simon Julian, Global B2B product manager for Lonely Planet, describes how the definitive traveller's survival guide has plunged into new media. For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing) Professor Zhang Tina Aihua of Beijing Film Academy, describes how dissident film makers in China are using inexpensive video technology and distribution techniques to alter the political and cultural landscape in China. For video iPod Windows Media Version (Right click to download to disk before playing)

]]> 2006-08-15 09:16:58 +1000 http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20060422174010/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20060422174010/index.html

The Australian Communications and Media Authority's 2005 Conference

Date Created: 22 Apr, 2006, 05:45 PM

Netvideo's comments on change in the global media landscape and how that change will affect media companies in Australia were captured at the ACMA 2005 conference along with numerous well-known figures from the Australian industry. Australian Communications Minister, Helen Coonan, has sought comment from interested parties on her set of proposals to manage Australia's digital future. In this 55 minute, 50MB report (available in video iPod H.264 format only) an enterprising squad of community TV videographers captured some truly fascinating remarks. Apple Video iPod version can be right-click downloaded here

]]> 2006-04-22 17:45:27 +1000 http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20060413041845/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20060413041845/index.html

21st Century creative, technological and commercial challenges for screen producers

Date Created: 13 Apr, 2006, 04:26 AM

There is a media revolution underway, in which business models, technologies and creative opportunities are changing fast. But how does a screen producer get noticed, get distributed and get paid in this dynamic new media landscape? Netvideo.com.au audiences may want to check out a course I'm conducting at the Australian Film, TV and Radio School's Centre for Screen Business in coming months in each Australian capital city. See the link here: http://csb.aftrs.edu.au/index.cfm?objectid=1A4C2909-E7F2-B118-6DFB73B5EC747ECF and also the first of three White Papers here: http://csb.aftrs.edu.au/index.cfm?objectid=B46D66BE-E7F2-B118-643A6D6B1C376D81 I'll post a video-based round up of the issues here shortly, along with the presentation slides that many attendees have asked for. The course is being turned into a book. More details will be released here soon. The book will be an analysis of the profound changes underway in the media. It will look at changing audience behaviours, screen production techniques across new playback devices and platforms, and include a practical production guide for those would like to create something like Netvideo.com.au themselves. Most importantly, it will try to clarify what revenue streams will persist for screen producers in the future and how broadband both creates and destroys value for individual film makers through to large media companies. Please email me with any suggestions, comments or requests at jason.romney@netvideo.com.au. For those interested in what's coming up on netvideo, the next interview will be about Mobile TV. Chris Flintoft, director of broadcast and wireless at hyro.com will describe the business, technical and creative challenges involved in publishing to video capable mobile devices, from 3G phones to video iPods. By the way, AFTRS LAMP head Gary Hayes publishes a useful overview of what was discussed at the latest Milia, from which he has just returned, on his blog at http://www.personalizemedia.com/ I'm also hoping to present some of the thoughts of former Disney chief Michael Eisner who visited Melbourne recently.

]]> 2006-04-13 04:26:00 +1000 http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20060314135210/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20060314135210/index.html

How is making video stories for mobile small screens different? Anthony Lilley, MD of leading UK-based firm, Magic Lantern, explains

Date Created: 14 Mar, 2006, 01:56 PM

Multimedia content doyens are wracking their brains for more profitable distribution methods for TV and film - methods that will avert piracy, allow audience behavior tracking and restore the 30 second ad spot's revenue generating potency against fragementing audiences. But while the producers struggle to deal with technology changes, the content creators are feeling their way towards a new "science" of content - one that allows the interactive, mobile and small-screen nature of the contemporary world to actually change the nature of the stories that are told. Netvideo recently spoke with the Managing Director of one such company, the UK's Magic Lantern. Its MD, Anthony Lilley (pictured right with Netvideo's Jason Romney), is a former theatre director and lawyer. Today, he is MD of one of the world's most imaginative and prolific new media content creation companies. One example of Magic Lantern's work is the FourDocs video upload server that allows documentary film makers to upload and thus distribute and monetise their 4 minute works via Channel 4. But as well as providing business smarts and corporate leadership, Lilley hugs the coal face with his company's content producers and dreams up actual content projects. In this interview, Anthony Lilley talks about his company's new formats and story types, developed specifically for the mobile, small screen world. He profiles work on the BBC drama Spooks and children’s TV properties. But he says the famous children’s books in the 1970s and 80s where the reader would reach the end of a paragraph and decide whether the character would turn left or right, were the mere early "cave paintings on the wall of interactive media", compared to what is coming. "The narrative form of interactive media is not film with clicks in it, it is actually a whole form which is centred on the user being in charge of the experience," Lilley says."That is related to, but different from, a traditional cathartic and Aristotelian narrative, where things happen to other people...It is always on the boundary between forms where the creative things happen." In this interview, Lilley speaks about interactive narrative, in games, in machinima and in the world of mobile. Although the sun was setting (and Netvideo apologises for the interview's inexorable dimming), Anthony Lilley provides one of the most lucid and fascinating accounts of the specific, practical issues that film makers face when they make the transition to mobile phone video. "I’m more interested in what forms of content creatively make more sense when the audience is on the move," Lilley explains. "Or when you are in this very personal relationship with a device which may be only one foot away from your face. What does that mean for the creator of that experience? ...The creative challenges are really quite significant. "What should the graphics look and feel like when you are very close to somebody. You are paradoxically, in a TV production, relying on the sound a great deal to cue people into what might be happening next, or what was important. Or you play music in to stress the tone of a scene. That is very difficult to do if you don’t know whether a person is listening with headphones or has a tiny speaker on a mobile device. And those are the creative challenges of actually creating mobile content. "The filmic equivalents of those in 1905 were not having the ability to move the camera because it was too heavy. There was no sound, no color, and an audience without grammar. Back then, the audience didn’t know that when a shot closes in on a doorknob, the door is probably going to open; an audience had to be taught that, initially. And we are in that stage in the mobile content area, and to an extent, with online video, where there is no real grammar yet for how this works. "The danger is simply porting television grammar which doesn’t always necessarily work on a tiny screen in a very different personal relationship. So it is creatively fascinating territory at the moment, and, commercially starting to make sense because there is a big enough audience. Certainly if the products are global in potential reach, and there is a big enough audience for people wanting to be commissioning that work now it can work [profitably]." Quicktime for Mac users here Flash Video for Windows PC users here Sony Playstation Portable version can be right-click downloaded here Apple Video iPod version can be right-click downloaded here 3GP for video-capable cellphones can be right-click downloaded from here. Microsoft Windows Media can be right click downloaded from here. Audio only MP3 version: can be right click downloaded from here. Netvideo in iTunes - click here if you have iTunes installed. Note for OSX Safari users: Browsers such as Internet Explorer and FireFox work fine for a right click download for the PSP and 3GP files above. But if you are using Safari, do not right click, but instead, press the option key as you click on the filename and, after downloading, change the filename to end in .3gp or .mp4 respectively. Note for PSP users: after downloading the special .mp4 PSP version above, change the video's file name to the Sony PSP naming convention that is compatible with other file names you may already have on your PSP to avoid conflicts and ensure that the video shows up in the PSP video directory.

]]> 2006-03-14 13:56:25 +1100 http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20051202140940/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20051202140940/index.html

The BBC leads the world in interactive drama and entertainment innovation - and Sophie Walpole leads the BBC

Date Created: 02 Dec, 2005, 02:10 PM

Who does the BBC work with? What is its commissioning system? Head of interactive Drama and Entertainment, Sophie Walpole, says the BBC has just been reviewed by the Government and has been found to work poorly with new UK-based companies that have fresh ideas in the digital media space. So the BBC will be trying to locate those UK-based new ideas - and get them off the ground - in 2006. That doesn't bode well for Australians wanting to work with the BBC. But perhaps the turn of the Asia Pacific region will come down the track... In the mean time, the BBC's Walpole talks about the BBC's new IMP media player and its significance for the global media landscape. Does it give the BBC an exciting new onramp to the world's broadband-enabled livingrooms and their new entertainment systems? How will the BBC exploit that new global presence? And what does the finding of the Australian courts in the Kazaa matter mean for the BBC's strategy with IMP? Walpole also describes what research shows UK people want from the BBC - content free of schedules and unleashed from the TV to work widely across new devices and platforms. And she talks about how the BBC is dealing with audience generated content. The Times newspaper in the UK once called Walpole a "cow" for shutting down the BBC's chat rooms. In this interview, she describes the philosophy behind that decision and how the BBC's position on audience generated content may change as the world's media moves increasingly to long-tail based democratisation. For now, however, its war: "they want to break everything the BBC does" says Walpole, talking about the hacker groups who try to ruin the BBC's chat rooms and so on. One response by the BBC is to concentrate on the production of tools that will allow people to create their own content online and upload it to the BBC for potential publication and use, both by the BBC and other audience members. This, again, is a potential new paradigm shift for the world media. Another is to innovate in areas such as "alternative reality games" where Jamie Kane is reshaping the rules of content for young audiences. Sophie Walpole originally worked in 1995 at Channel 4 as launch editor for www.channel4.com. She stayed there for nearly five years as head of the interactive department responsible for www.filmfour.com digital text services and was involved in the commissioning of the very first Big Brother. She left to find a fortune as Editorial Director of the dotcom WorldSport which crashed on the day she arrived. Indeed, Ms Walpole lost all her money there and she speaks in this interview about what she learned in that period which might be of benefit to young entrepeneurs starting out today to exploit the new technologies and media characteristics. For Ms Walpole, the death of WorldSport led to a period of consultancy, working for broadcasters and a range of internet content providers. Then she joined the BBC first as Head of Content in 2001 and subsequently as Head of Interactive Drama and Entertainment from 2002. She speaks here with 3 years under her belt in the hot seat. This is an uncommonly detailed insight into the thinking of one of the world's most powerful content executives. Quicktime for Mac users here Flash Video for Windows PC users here Sony Playstation Portable version can be right-click downloaded here Apple Video iPod version can be right-click downloaded here 3GP for video-capable cellphones can be right-click downloaded from here. Microsoft Windows Media can be right click downloaded from here. Audio only MP3 version: can be right click downloaded from here. Netvideo in iTunes - click here if you have iTunes installed. Note for OSX Safari users: Browsers such as Internet Explorer and FireFox work fine for a right click download for the PSP and 3GP files above. But if you are using Safari, do not right click, but instead, press the option key as you click on the filename and, after downloading, change the filename to end in .3gp or .mp4 respectively. Note for PSP users: after downloading the special .mp4 PSP version above, change the video's file name to the Sony PSP naming convention that is compatible with other file names you may already have on your PSP to avoid conflicts and ensure that the video shows up in the PSP video directory.

]]> 2005-12-02 14:10:13 +1100 http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20051126110331/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20051126110331/index.html

Mark Pesce, the father of Virtual Reality Markup Language and one of the world's most sought after media futurologists, on Net swarms, hyper distribution and the future of TV

Date Created: 26 Nov, 2005, 11:03 AM

Known internationally as the man who fused virtual reality with the World Wide Web, Mark Pesce is now based in Australia and espousing his philosophy of Internet "swarm" audiences and peer-to-peer "hyper-distribution" via the Australian Film, TV and Radio School. The author of five books, Pesce is a ferociously illuminating technologist, futurist and philosopher. Forbes ASAP, TIME Digital, WIRED and The New York Times have profiled him and his views on the interactive age. He has written himself for WIRED, Feed, Salon, PC Magazine, and serves on the editorial board of TRIP magazine. From 1998 through 2000, Pesce chaired the Interactive Media Program at the University of Southern California's world-renowned School of Cinema-Television. His mandate - to bring cinema and broadcast television into the interactive era - led him to create a program that encouraged creative vision and is now producing a generation of entertainment professionals shaping the media of the 21st century. Pesce's current projects include TRUE HALLUCINATIONS, an opera based on the life and death of ethnobotanist and philosopher Terence McKenna, and The Next Big Thing, a book chronicling the science, business and politics of nanotechnology. In this interview, Mark Pesce talks about the how the profound changes in technology consumption and distribution are likely to reshape the media landscape in the next couple of years. He describes in depth the legal, financial and philosophical implications of peer-to-peer networking, IPv6, nano-technology, mobile wireless video devices, identity management and theft, copyright and piracy. Quicktime for Mac users here Flash Video for Windows PC users here Sony Playstation Portable version can be right-click downloaded here Apple Video iPod version can be right-click downloaded here 3GP for video-capable cellphones can be right-click downloaded from here. Microsoft Windows Media can be right click downloaded from here. Audio only MP3 version: can be right click downloaded from here. Netvideo in iTunes - click here if you have iTunes installed. Note for OSX Safari users: Browsers such as Internet Explorer and FireFox work fine for a right click download for the PSP and 3GP files above. But if you are using Safari, do not right click, but instead, press the option key as you click on the filename and, after downloading, change the filename to end in .3gp or .mp4 respectively. Note for PSP users: after downloading the special .mp4 PSP version above, change the video's file name to the Sony PSP naming convention that is compatible with other file names you may already have on your PSP to avoid conflicts and ensure that the video shows up in the PSP video directory.

]]> 2005-11-26 11:03:52 +1100 http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20051129182518/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20051129182518/index.html

Chris Winter, a key architect of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's new ABC2 digital channel, describes its opportunities and challenges

Date Created: 25 Nov, 2005, 06:26 PM

Chris Winter, the manager of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's new, second digital channel, ABC2, describes the ABC's strategy, production processes and thinking about the future world of broadband video and IPTV. He describes how many people are watching ABC2, and what consumption patterns have emerged so far. He describes how the ABC (or AuBC to distinguish it from the ABC in the United States) is revolutionising its output, with a broadband version, for example, of the popular (and long running) current affairs show, Four Corners. The effort to create a strong experience with each week's Four Corners topic has taken centre stage at ABC new media and Winter describes why it is a showpiece of what the ABC, as an integrated cross platform media organisation similar to the BBC, can do with its new skills. Now if only the ABC had more funding... Quicktime for Mac users here Flash Video for Windows PC users here Sony Playstation Portable version can be right-click downloaded here Apple Video iPod version can be right-click downloaded here 3GP for video-capable cellphones can be right-click downloaded from here. Microsoft Windows Media can be right click downloaded from here. Audio only MP3 version: can be right click downloaded from here. Netvideo in iTunes - click here if you have iTunes installed. Note for OSX Safari users: Browsers such as Internet Explorer and FireFox work fine for a right click download for the PSP and 3GP files above. But if you are using Safari, do not right click, but instead, press the option key as you click on the filename and, after downloading, change the filename to end in .3gp or .mp4 respectively. Note for PSP users: after downloading the special .mp4 PSP version above, change the video's file name to the Sony PSP naming convention that is compatible with other file names you may already have on your PSP to avoid conflicts and ensure that the video shows up in the PSP video directory.

]]> 2005-11-25 18:26:11 +1100 http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20051129182744/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151501/LHA20051129182744/index.html

The IPTV revolution is set to surge through global media, says Dr William Cooper, CEO of leading IPTV think tank, informitv.com

Date Created: 25 Nov, 2005, 05:29 PM

How will IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) be different from the broadband "value-added" services we associate today with a computer? What lessons does the United Kingdom - an early adopter of IPTV - have for the rest of the world? [Pictured Centre] Dr William Cooper (the PhD is in Communications) is an expert on the convergence of interactive media. As Head of Interactive for BBC Broadcast, he was responsible for the operational delivery of the BBC’s online and interactive television services. At the BBC he oversaw the exponential growth of online services and the launch of interactive services on satellite, terrestrial and cable television. He joined the BBC as Head of Online Operations from the Press Association, where he was responsible for taking traditional newswire systems onto the web with the launch of online syndication services for news, features, photos and press releases. There he also led the development of Ananova, the world’s first virtual newscaster. The Ananova division was subsequently acquired by the mobile telecommunications company Orange for £95 million. In this interview he talks in detail about the qualities, technology and business model of IPTV, touching on some of the issues he explored in the report informitv.com recently published about it. Quicktime for Mac users here Flash Video for Windows PC users here Sony Playstation Portable version can be right-click downloaded here Apple Video iPod version can be right-click downloaded here 3GP for video-capable cellphones can be right-click downloaded from here. Microsoft Windows Media can be right click downloaded from here. Audio only MP3 version: can be right click downloaded from here. Netvideo in iTunes - click here if you have iTunes installed. Note for OSX Safari users: Browsers such as Internet Explorer and FireFox work fine for a right click download for the PSP and 3GP files above. But if you are using Safari, do not right click, but instead, press the option key as you click on the filename and, after downloading, change the filename to end in .3gp or .mp4 respectively. Note for PSP users: after downloading the special .mp4 PSP version above, change the video's file name to the Sony PSP naming convention that is compatible with other file names you may already have on your PSP to avoid conflicts and ensure that the video shows up in the PSP video directory.

]]> 2005-11-25 17:29:12 +1100 http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151434/LHA20051124104459/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151434/LHA20051124104459/index.html

Mark Meadows: fusing artificial intelligence, design, psychology and games

Date Created: Nov 24, 2005, 10:45 AM

Mark Meadows pursues digital creativity at the intersection of visual art, literature, and computer interactivity. He has worked at Xerox-PARC as Artist-in-Residence, at Stanford Research Institute on Artificial Intelligence start-ups, and has co-founded three companies that develop business plans drawing on artificial intelligence, interactive narrative or virtual reality. His 3D animation and interactive designs have powered works by Lucasfilm, Sony Pictures, and Microsoft. In 2002 he wrote, Pause & Effect; The Art of Interactive Narrative. He is now writing a book on Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Emotion, and the roles interactive characters play in emerging forms of narrative. He is also working as creative director on a video game with architect, Frank Gehry, and the band, Radiohead. In this interview, Mark talks about what he has learned by working on these diverse and fascinating projects. He describes the trends he sees emerging and contemplates the most likely futures for the game and AI industries. Quicktime for Mac users here Flash Video for Windows PC users here Sony Playstation Portable version can be right-click downloaded here Apple Video iPod version can be right-click downloaded here 3GP for video-capable cellphones can be right-click downloaded from here. Microsoft Windows Media can be right click downloaded from here. Audio only MP3 version: can be right click downloaded from here. Netvideo in iTunes - click here if you have iTunes installed. Note for OSX Safari users: Browsers such as Internet Explorer and FireFox work fine for a right click download for the PSP and 3GP files above. But if you are using Safari, do not right click, but instead, press the option key as you click on the filename and, after downloading, change the filename to end in .3gp or .mp4 respectively. Note for PSP users: after downloading the special .mp4 PSP version above, change the video's file name to the Sony PSP naming convention that is compatible with other file names you may already have on your PSP to avoid conflicts and ensure that the video shows up in the PSP video directory.

]]> 2005-11-24 10:45:20 +1100 http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050802081618/LHA20051123173257/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050802081618/LHA20051123173257/index.html

The Kazaa litigation: what was it like, what issues did it raise and how does it bode for the future?

Date Created: Nov 23, 2005, 05:34 PM

Partner in prestigious Sydney technology law firm, Gilbert + Tobin, Michael Williams, was a key player in the infamous Kazaa case, recently fought in the Federal Court of Australia. In this interview, Michael describes what it was like to appear (as a solicitor) in the witness box and the high drama of the Anton Piller orders (which enabled Michael's client and its 65-strong team to capture computers from 13 locations, simultaneously, all over Australia). The case started 5 February, 2004 - with the raids starting the next day at universities, ISPs and the homes and offices of those who were identified as operating the Kazaa system. Mr Williams describes the fundamental issues of the case and explores the degree to which the Internet remains a strangely lawless zone. He talks about his early work in 2002 for the American movie studios and recording companies in the Grokster case. Then in 2003, when aspects of Kazaa moved to Australia, he began the investigation that led to the Kazaa case we know today. Michael Williams analyses what the Kazaa system comprised and how the law has adapted to address its challenges. He talks about the extent to which anyone on the Internet today is visible to the copyright authorities when they carry out acts of piracy. And he reviews the sentences that have been given to pirates so far, right through to jail. Williams goes on to tackle the latest issues raised by the Sony BMG "root kit", an ill-fated attempt to achieve content copy protection via software that ushers in vulnerability to attack. He also describes how the various file sharing technologies - such as LimeWire, BitTorrent and Kazaa - fit together, following the thread of their relevance to copyright. Note that Kim Weatherall will comment further on these matters at the Melbourne Essoign Club, Owen Dixon Chambers, this Thursday evening. Quicktime for Mac users here Flash Video for Windows PC users here Sony Playstation Portable version can be right-click downloaded here Apple Video iPod version can be right-click downloaded here 3GP for video-capable cellphones can be right-click downloaded from here. Microsoft Windows Media can be right click downloaded from here. Audio only MP3 version: can be right click downloaded from here. Netvideo in iTunes - click here if you have iTunes installed. Note for OSX Safari users: Browsers such as Internet Explorer and FireFox work fine for a right click download for the PSP and 3GP files above. But if you are using Safari, do not right click, but instead, press the option key as you click on the filename and, after downloading, change the filename to end in .3gp or .mp4 respectively. Note for PSP users: after downloading the special .mp4 PSP version above, change the video's file name to the Sony PSP naming convention that is compatible with other file names you may already have on your PSP to avoid conflicts and ensure that the video shows up in the PSP video directory.

]]> 2005-11-23 17:34:17 +1100 http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151434/LHA20051123181854/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151434/LHA20051123181854/index.html

American McGee has worked on the world's greatest games - here he describes his work, philosophies and new projects...

Date Created: Nov 23, 2005, 04:25 PM

American McGee is a legend of interactive entertainment. He wrote and produced "Bad Day L.A.", the new XBOX video game that is a memorably macabre romp through the eccentricities of Los Angeles, with its violence and irony reflecting influences from South Park to Monty Python. He also created the dark new "Alice in Wonderland" film with Sarah Michell Gellar as Alice (sneak previews included here). In this interview, American describes his life experience with games. He started at id Software across design, programming, music management, sound design and art crafting the 1st/3rd person shooter genre as it is known today. He contributed to titles including: "Doom," "Doom II," "Final Doom," "Ultimate Doom," "Quake", "Quake II,", and "Quake II Deathmatch Pack." In this interview, he describes what it was like to be involved in such well-known titles and what he has learned from his mentorship at the X|Media Lab in Singapore. American's own company, the Mauretania Import and Export Company, acts as an IP creation house today, adapting his original stories into films, books and merchandise. American speaks frankly in this interview about everything from why his own name is so often included in his game titles to where he thinks American culture is headed in the 21st century - and his new work, a prequel to the Wizard of Oz with Jerry Bruckheimer. Quicktime for Mac users here Flash Video for Windows PC users here Sony Playstation Portable version can be right-click downloaded here Apple Video iPod version can be right-click downloaded here 3GP for video-capable cellphones can be right-click downloaded from here. Microsoft Windows Media can be right click downloaded from here. Audio only MP3 version: can be right click downloaded from here. Netvideo in iTunes - click here if you have iTunes installed. Note for OSX Safari users: Browsers such as Internet Explorer and FireFox work fine for a right click download for the PSP and 3GP files above. But if you are using Safari, do not right click, but instead, press the option key as you click on the filename and, after downloading, change the filename to end in .3gp or .mp4 respectively. Note for PSP users: after downloading the special .mp4 PSP version above, change the video's file name to the Sony PSP naming convention that is compatible with other file names you may already have on your PSP to avoid conflicts and ensure that the video shows up in the PSP video directory.

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Noah Falstein has brainstormed with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg and worked on some of the world's best known games. This is his game development philosophy...

Date Created: Nov 22, 2005, 08:41 AM

Noah Falstein was among the first ten employees at Lucasfilm Games (now LucasArts Entertainment), The 3DO Company, and Dreamworks Interactive. He was project leader for the classic arcade game Sinistar, the PC titles PHM Pegasus and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and co-designer of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. He has worked with game developers, educators, writers, and filmmakers at brainstorming sessions with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. He was the first elected chairman of the CGDA (now International Game Developers’ Association). In this interview Noah talks about what he has learned from time spent on some of the world's most sophisticated and innovative game projects. He talks about the trends and philosophies of the game industry, the changes in technology and the impact of games on our lives (and the lives of our children). He also describes recent path breaking work he has embarked on for more "serious" games, that can be used in education, for the military and for business. These simulations, hypotheticals and learning experiences are teaching us new things about how our brains work and revealing unexpected keys to creativity. Quicktime for Mac users here Flash Video for Windows PC users here Sony Playstation Portable version can be right-click downloaded here Apple Video iPod version can be right-click downloaded here 3GP for video-capable cellphones can be right-click downloaded from here. Microsoft Windows Media can be right click downloaded from here. Audio only MP3 version: can be right click downloaded from here. Netvideo in iTunes - click here if you have iTunes installed. Note for OSX Safari users: Browsers such as Internet Explorer and FireFox work fine for a right click download for the PSP and 3GP files above. But if you are using Safari, do not right click, but instead, press the option key as you click on the filename and, after downloading, change the filename to end in .3gp or .mp4 respectively. Note for PSP users: after downloading the special .mp4 PSP version above, change the video's file name to the Sony PSP naming convention that is compatible with other file names you may already have on your PSP to avoid conflicts and ensure that the video shows up in the PSP video directory.

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Scare someone better than ever before and you have novelist, film and game maker Matt Costello's attention. He explains his own tactics for creating chilling works...

Date Created: 21 Nov, 2005, 01:05 PM

What kind of films, games and novels really scare people? Why? How exactly do they do it? In this interview, we hear from an expert in the craft of terror. Matt Costello's innovative work includes ground-breaking and award-winning novels, games, and television. Costello wrote the critically acclaimed game The 7th Guest, which helped launch the CD-ROM era. Since then, Costello has scripted dozens of best-selling games including the recently released Doom 3 of which Time Magazine said, "To play Doom 3 is to feel your skin prickle with atavistic fear." Current games include Pirates of the Carribean 3 for Disney, Shellshock 2 for Eidos, and a new top-secret IP for ID Software. His novel Beneath Still Waters has been filmed for Lions Gate and Filmax for world-wide release in 2006. His current novel, Out of Time, has been optioned. Quicktime for Mac users here Flash Video for Windows PC users here Sony Playstation Portable version can be right-click downloaded here Apple Video iPod version can be right-click downloaded here 3GP for video-capable cellphones can be right-click downloaded from here. Microsoft Windows Media can be right click downloaded from here. Audio only MP3 version: can be right click downloaded from here. Netvideo in iTunes - click here if you have iTunes installed. Note for OSX Safari users: Browsers such as Internet Explorer and FireFox work fine for a right click download for the PSP and 3GP files above. But if you are using Safari, do not right click, but instead, press the option key as you click on the filename and, after downloading, change the filename to end in .3gp or .mp4 respectively. Note for PSP users: after downloading the special .mp4 PSP version above, change the video's file name to the Sony PSP naming convention that is compatible with other file names you may already have on your PSP to avoid conflicts and ensure that the video shows up in the PSP video directory.

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Cross-platform, cross-device brand management and monetising new types of content are Brian Seth Hurst's obsession. This is industry legend Hurst's advice...

Date Created: 21 Nov, 2005, 08:00 AM

What are the opportunities for each of the conventional media types in the bold new world of mobile TV, IPTV and games? Is there a future for newspapers and what is it? Will the 30 second TV ad spot survive and if not, what will replace it and what will be the vectors of the evolutionary process? What is the significance (and future) of video blogging? Are content creators outside the US and Europe in a stronger position than ever - or at risk of being swamped by incoming content from better placed competitors? Brian Hurst advises some of Hollywood's best known media companies on these thorny issues and speaks here of his experience and insights. Brian Seth Hurst (brian.seth.hurst@emmyleadership.org) is Principal and CEO of the Opportunity Management Company, a strategic consultancy. Hurst served two terms as Chairman of the New Media Council of the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and sits on the national Board of the PGA. As a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (“The Emmy’s”) he is in his second term as a Governor representing the Interactive Media Committee. Brian's company assists broadcasters and content rights holders to build initiatives that reach audiences across emerging content platforms. These range from digital and interactive television to broadband, mobile and new communications devices. His clients include PRC Direct (China), Lifetime Television, Virgin America and AOL.Com. As Managing Director of Convergence at Pittard Sullivan, Brian was instrumental in the launches of TVGuide as the first "cross-platform" brand, and of TiVo. Brian is a regular panelist and key note speaker at conferences including NATPE, NAB, CES, Digital Hollywood, MIPTV and many international events. Brian also serves as Chair of the Television Academy’s Brand and Sponsorship Review Committee, and as a member of the Budget Review and Executive Committees. He is sits on the advisory board of MobiTV. And he is co-author with Olivia Newton-John of Simon and Schuster’s best selling children’s book A Pig Tale. Quicktime for Mac users here Flash Video for Windows PC users here Sony Playstation Portable version can be right-click downloaded here Apple Video iPod version can be right-click downloaded here 3GP for video-capable cellphones can be right-click downloaded from here. Microsoft Windows Media can be right click downloaded from here. Audio only MP3 version: can be right click downloaded from here. Netvideo in iTunes - click here if you have iTunes installed. Note for OSX Safari users: Browsers such as Internet Explorer and FireFox work fine for a right click download for the PSP and 3GP files above. But if you are using Safari, do not right click, but instead, press the option key as you click on the filename and, after downloading, change the filename to end in .3gp or .mp4 respectively. Note for PSP users: after downloading the special .mp4 PSP version above, change the video's file name to the Sony PSP naming convention that is compatible with other file names you may already have on your PSP to avoid conflicts and ensure that the video shows up in the PSP video directory.

]]> 2005-11-21 08:00:00 +1100 http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151434/LHA20051216134244/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jason_romney/blogwavestudio/LH20050608151434/LHA20051216134244/index.html

New York's hottest multi-player game expert, Katie Salen, talks about her massive game events for 2006 and new book

Date Created: 21 Nov, 2005, 07:00 AM

The director of the graduate Design and Technology program at Parsons School of Design New York, Katie Salen, takes time out to describe her ground breaking line up of new works in 2006. In the past, Salen has designed multi-player, wide-space events for clients such as Microsoft, SIGGRAPH, the Hewlett Foundation, gameLab, the Design Institute, the Director's Guild of America and the Buckminster Fuller Institute. She is co-author of Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, a textbook on game design (MIT Press) and the Game Design Reader (MIT Press). She worked as an animator on Richard Linklater’s animated feature Waking Life, and two music videos for the band Zero 7 (In the Waiting Line; Destiny). Nowadays she is thinking about the philosophical and social issues raised by multiplayer games and how new collaborations can spring up between the film, animation and game industries. In this interview, Professor Salen talks about her latest projects in animation, machinima and mass-scale real-world games. Quicktime for Mac users here Flash Video for Windows PC users here Sony Playstation Portable version can be right-click downloaded here Apple Video iPod version can be right-click downloaded here 3GP for video-capable cellphones can be right-click downloaded from here. Microsoft Windows Media can be right click downloaded from here. Audio only MP3 version: can be right click downloaded from here. Netvideo in iTunes - click here if you have iTunes installed. Note for OSX Safari users: Browsers such as Internet Explorer and FireFox work fine for a right click download for the PSP and 3GP files above. But if you are using Safari, do not right click, but instead, press the option key as you click on the filename and, after downloading, change the filename to end in .3gp or .mp4 respectively. Note for PSP users: after downloading the special .mp4 PSP version above, change the video's file name to the Sony PSP naming convention that is compatible with other file names you may already have on your PSP to avoid conflicts and ensure that the video shows up in the PSP video directory.

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