Daily News Brief: Microsoft Still Confident with Zune

Microsoft Still Confident with Zune

In response to GameStop dropping sales of the Zune, Microsoft on Friday said its portable media player has seen "good momentum online and at retail." GameStop, which primarily sells videogames, said they pulled the Zune because "it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated [and] did not fit with our product mix." Launched in 2006, the Zune in the first quarter of this year accounted for only 4 percent of the U.S. portable music player market, compared to the iPod's 71 percent.

Samsung Releases Eco-Friendly Hard Drive

Samsung last week announced its one terabyte EcoGreen F1 hard drive, which the company is billing as ideal for surveillance applications and for audio and video recording. Samsung claims a 15 percent power savings compared to other low-powered drives of the same size, and a 50 percent power reduction when compared with performance oriented terabyte drives thanks in part to its 5400RPM rotational speed and 334GB per platter. The EcoGreen F1 will carry a MSRP of $199.

MPAA Targets Movie Linking Websites

The MPAA is sending a strong message to sites that violate movie copyrights with its recent court victories. ShowStash.com, who drew the MPAA's ire by indexing and streaming copyrighted movies from around the web, was nailed with a $2.7 million judgment. Just 10 days prior Cinematube.net was ordered to pay $1.3 million in damages. "Our goal is to stop this kind of blatant and illegal activity," John G. Malcolm, MPAA exec vpp in charge of antipiracy, said in a statement. Both sites have since dropped off the web.

U.S. Plots Against Pirate Bay

Wikileaks claims to have obtained a leaked copy of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a new bill purportedly being discussed in Congress behind closed doors. One section of the bill would criminalize non-profit facilitation of copyrighted information exchange on the internet, a measure becoming known as the "Pirate Bay-killer," DailyTech reports. Read more here.

German Police not Amused with Ebay Auction

German police are investigating a couple after they offered their eight-month-old son for sale on Ebay, a stunt the mother claims "was only a joke." No laughing matter, the baby was put in state custody and detectives are currently investigating the couple on suspicion of child trafficking. No bids were placed on the auction, unlike earlier this month when a man tried to sell his wife on Ebay.

Windows 7 Screenshots

More alleged screenies of Microsoft's next OS, Windows 7, appeared on the web this weekend, some of which have appeared before and some that appear to be new. Take a peek here.