Audio Video News

G<I>ary Oldman, William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc, Mimi Rogers, Heather Graham, Lacey Chabert. Directed by Stephen Hopkins. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic, 16:9 enhanced). Dolby Digital 5.1. 139 minutes. 1998. New Line Cinema N4667. Rated PG-13. $24.99.</I>

The legal wrangling over television broadcasting got much more complicated last week with the introduction of a bill to the US House of Representatives that would allow direct broadcast satellite (DBS) services to beam local TV stations' signals into the stations' own territories. The practice is currently banned by <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov">Federal Communications Commission</A> regulations, despite the fact that cable companies have carried local signals since the beginning of the cable industry.

K<I>eir Dullea, William Sylvester, Gary Lockwood, Daniel Richter, Daniel Rain as the voice of HAL. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Aspect ratio: N/A widescreen. 5.1-channel Dolby Digital. Two layers. 139 minutes. 1968. MGM Home Entertainment 906309. Not rated. $29.95.</I>

In an effort to regain full control of its video library worldwide, <A HREF=http://www.mgm.com">Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer</A> announced last week that it has entered into an agreement with <A HREF="http://www.warnerbros.com">Warner Bros.</A> for an early termination of its existing video-distribution agreement with Warner Home Video. The original agreement with WHV was to end in May 2003.

S<I>tar Wars</I> is with us as much today as it was 22 years ago, when the first film of the series was released. In fact, it has been around so long that it seems an inherent part of popular culture, like <I>Huckleberry Finn</I>---in the public domain, free for anyone to use as they wish. George Lucas, creator of the blockbuster film and its two sequels, has long looked the other way regarding possible copyright infringements. Fanzines, fantasy periodicals, and filmed spoofs have elaborated on <I>Star Wars</I> characters and story lines for two decades without fear.

Last week, video-technology developer <A HREF="http://www.faroudja.com">Faroudja</A> announced the resolution of a patent dispute with <A HREF="http://www.snellwilcox.com/">Snell & Wilcox</A>. In the dispute, Faroudja alleged that S&W's Interpolator infringed a patent held by Faroudja as well as two patents licensed by Faroudja from General Instrument on an exclusive basis in certain fields.

Using hard-drive technology to store audio and video data has become a growth industry of late, with startups <A HREF="http://www.tivo.com">TiVo</A> and <A HREF="http://www.replaytv.com">Replay</A> taking the lead (see <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?353">previous</A> articles). Consumer-electronics giant Sony has also gotten into the act with its <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?321">announcement</A> last December that it will team up with Western Digital to develop hard-disk-based products.