Comcast announced a new subscription video-on-demand service today that will provide "out of home" access via the Web.

Comcast has named the new service Xfinity Streampix. The cable company's strategy to compete against Netflix, the Web's No. 1 video rental service, has obviously been influenced by HBO.

Streampix is designed to enhance Comcast's existing service, Xfinity, by offering users a broader selection of movies and TV shows. Variety, the Hollywood trade magazine, first reported the story.

HBO Go, the Internet service that enables HBO subscribers to access every episode of the company's past and … Read more

China's government has raised the cap on the number of U.S. movies it allows to be screened in that country each year, according to the White House and the six major Hollywood film studios.

Negotiations between the U.S. and China have also yielded an agreement that will put a greater share of box-office revenues into the hands of U.S. filmmakers. This is only a marginal technology story because of the implications it has on online piracy.

The tech sector has long blasted Hollywood for not making films and TV shows more accessible at a more affordable … Read more

Fred Wilson, a well-known venture capitalist from New York, says he's in favor of creating a blacklist for Web sites found to traffic in pirated films, music, and other intellectual property.

The co-founder of Union Square Ventures told a gathering of media executives at the Paley Center for Media yesterday that he believes a good antipiracy measure would be for Google, Twitter, Facebook, and other major sites to issue warnings to people when they try to connect with a known pirate site.

Wilson favors establishing an independent group to create a "black and white list." "The … Read more

The Web is getting re-Bourne today. As in Jason Bourne.

NBC Universal released the trailer for the "Bourne Legacy," the latest installment in the popular "Bourne" film series. Not surprisingly, the film trailer has begun to light up Twitter and is quickly circulating on the Web, even though the movie isn't scheduled hit theaters for another six months.

Who could have guessed that stories about spies and government conspiracies that are well told and acted would strike a chord with the public?

Matt Damon, who has starred in the previous three Bourne films, is not … Read more

Look out Netflix. While you're worried about HBO, Amazon's building up its streaming library.

Amazon announced today it has signed a licensing agreement with Viacom that will bring the entertainment conglomerate's shows to Amazon's Prime video service. Over the next several months, Amazon will receive access to episodes from Viacom's Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and BET outlets, the company said in a statement.

"This deal will bring the total number of Prime Instant Videos to more than 15,000," Amazon wrote.

This hits Netflix where it hurts. Amazon continues to build up the … Read more

Semi-automatic shotguns, body armor, and accusations of police brutality and acts of terrorism are common in stories about Mexico's drug wars or the fighting in Afghanistan.

So what are those terms doing in technology stories about copyright and online file sharing? A recent arrest of MegaUpload's founder by 70 armed police officers as well as cyber attacks on media executives and government officials by Anonymous indicates that the gloves have come off in the copyright conflict.

Against this backdrop, BTJunkie, one of the top BitTorrent index sites, has decided to shut down. BTJunkie posted a note on its … Read more

With a frown on his face and holding his head in his hand, LimeWire founder Mark Gorton appeared depressed last May as he sat in a New York courtroom.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) had already won its copyright case against Gorton and LimeWire, the once-popular file-sharing service, and the parties were back before the judge to determine how much in damages he owed the four top major record companies. On May 12, he agreed to pay the RIAA $105 million.

But Gorton's pain didn't end there. Ever since, he's been under siege by different … Read more

While the LP revival is still in full swing you rarely hear about the other 12-inch, grooved vinyl record format, the RCA VideoDisc.

It was a grooved, carbon-loaded PVC disc. The grooves were 48 times smaller than an LP groove, but they were still tracked with a diamond "needle"! That was possible because unlike an LP's zigzag grooves the CED's grooves were hills and dales. That difference also minimized groove wear, so the discs could be played hundreds of times. VHS and Beta tapes would wear out faster than that. The VideoDisc also had stereo soundtracks.… Read more

Times have been good for aficionados of Jim Henson.

Not only did we see a new Muppets feature film over the holidays, last week we also saw the posting of a "lost" Henson short: "Robot," made for an AT&T data-communications seminar in 1963. And now a kind of "sequel" to "Robot" has made its way online.… Read more