Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the mom who was caught file-sharing by the RIAA, has been charged with infringing 24 copyright laws during a retrial. Thomas will be forced to pay the recorded music company's a total of $1.92 million, roughly $80,000 per song shared. After the verdict was delivered, Jammie Thomas-Rasset said "Good luck trying to get it from me... it's like squeezing blood from a turnip."
NBCU and Microsoft have joined forces to sell television ad spots through the Internet. NBCU tested the Microsoft owned Admira ad platform in the spring and is now ready to bring it out nationally, selling inventory to advertisers of all sizes on both cable and broadcast networks. Unlike Google's TV ad platform, NBC's will not auction ad space.
The Senate Commerce Committee confirmed the appointment of Julius Genachowski and Robert McDowell to the FCC. Sources say the committee fast-tracked the process by holding the vote off-the-floor. Julius Genachowski will take over as Chairman of the FCC for Kevin Martin who served during the Bush Administration.
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien topped the Late Show with David Letterman in ratings this week. While O'Brien lost viewers from his first week, he averaged a 1.5/6 rating and was able to hold off Letterman and CBS. However, while Conan beat Letterman in total viewers (3.8 million vs. 3.7 million), Letterman beat O'Brien in household ratings, garnering a 2.7 over Conan's 2.6.
Hillcrest Labs has introduced a mouse for your living room. If your PC's hooked up to your TV, now you can navigate sites like Hulu or YouTube the way they're supposed to be navigated. The Loop Pointer, which looks like something out of Star Trek, is an easy to use, highly functional and much needed tool for browsing on TV.
Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV. Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net For information about Get Digital Classes, visit www.shellypalmer.com/seminars