Audio Video News

Expressing fear that consumers' fair use rights will be eroded, the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) has weighed in on a recent copyright infringement <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?1144">lawsuit</A> brought against <A HREF="http://www.sonicblue.com">SonicBlue, Inc.</A> by a triumvirate of companies from the entertainment industry. At issue is the ability of SonicBlue's latest hard-disk video recorder to skip commercials and transmit recorded programs.

CEATEC stands for Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies, and is the largest Asian exhibition for the communications, information, and imaging fields&mdash;roughly equivalent to a Japanese CES. I recently had the opportunity to visit CEATEC Japan 2004 courtesy of Panasonic, which flew journalists from all over the world to Japan not only to visit the show, but also to attend a kickoff meeting for the Blu-ray Disc Association (see the <A HREF="http://www.ultimateavmag.com/news/101804bda">accompanying story</A>), find out more about Panasonic's products and future plans, and tour some of their Japanese facilities.