A German court recently declared that the DVD media manfacturer, Optical Disc Service (ODS), was infringing upon certain patents licensed in the MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License. According to the suit, ODS was manufacturing DVD-Videos without licensing the required patents.
District Court in Germany (Landgericht Dusseldorf) today announced verdicts finding that German DVD disc manufacturer Optical Disc Service ("ODS") has infringed certain patents licensed in the MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License offered by MPEG LA as a result of ODS's manufacture of DVD discs. The verdict of infringement as a result of DVD disc manufacturing issued in eight of nine cases brought by six patent holders who are Licensors to MPEG LA's MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License. See http://www.mpegla.com/news/n_05-08-02PR.pdf. The patent holders alleged that using the MPEG-2 Standard in recording video onto DVD discs constituted acts of infringement. The MPEG-2 Standard is the core technology underlying the efficient creation, transmission, storage and display of digitized moving images and sound tracks on which DVD and other digital technologies are based; and the DVD-Video Standard (DVD Specifications for Read-Only Disc, Part 3: VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS) requires DVD Video discs to contain information formatted in accordance with the MPEG-2 Standard.
ODS has been ordered by the court to stop its current DVD production and pay damages to the patent owners. If you'd like to read more, MPEG LA's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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The guys at CD Freaks have put together a review of Sony's new multi-format DVD burner, the DRU-830A. Here's a sample of what they had to say:
The 18x DVD+R and DVD-R writing on our media produced very good quality. The drive writes CD-R media very fast with very good quality. It also supports reading and writing special 99 minutes CD-R without any problem. DVD-RAM was read and write supports at 12x is a very nice feature. The drive supports transfer mode "Ultra DMA Mode 4" which provides higher data throughput and allowed to be placed in an external enclosure for high speed burning and reading without any slowdowns.
If you'd like to read more, head on over to CD Freaks and check out their review. Want a second opinion? Our review of the DRU-830A can be found here. Add a comment

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CDRLabs is looking to expand its staff by adding one or two software reviewers. These people must be able to work on their own, be motivated and work under deadlines. In return, you'll be able to check out the latest software while earning some extra spending money. If you're interested, send me an email. Add a comment

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On behalf of the staff here at CDRLabs, I just wanted to wish all of our American readers a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

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Today, CDRLabs brings you a brief review of Plextor's new CD/DVD destructor, the PlexEraser PX-OE100E. An high-tech alternative to disc shredders, the PX-OE100E uses a laser to completely destroy the data layer of a CD or DVD, making it unreadable and unrecoverable. In this review we take a look at some of the features found on the PX-OE100E and then see how it performs. Is it the right choice for you? You'll have to read the review to find out.


Plextor PlexEraser PX-OE100E CD/DVD Destructor
If you have any comments or questions about this review or the Plextor PlexEraser PX-OE100E, please post them in the forum by clicking the link below.
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