Report: Sony may have paid up to $400 million (U.S.) to Warner Brothers

WASHINGTON, TORONTO -- Howard Stringer made history in 2005 for being the first non-Japanese executive to take the helm at Sony Corp. But he may be better remembered as the one who won the high-definition war, erasing the stain on the electronics firm's image ever since it lost the videotape war two decades earlier.

Although celebrated yesterday, the victory was sealed last month when Sony swayed Warner Bros. to back Sony's Blu-ray technology and quit producing movies using Toshiba Corp.'s rival HD DVD format.

What remains a mystery is just how big a push Warner needed to pick sides. Analysts say Sony only prevailed following a heated bidding war against Toshiba, with the reward reaching as much as $400-million (U.S.). Neither side has confirmed the size of any bids or payments.

[From globeandmail.com: Stringer makes his mark]

$400 million is pocket change when compared to either Warner's or Sony's marketing budget for one year. Now think of a war of attrition, trying to sell people into picking one format or the other. That's up to ten miserable years blowing millions in advertisement, free discs with each drive bought, and Black Friday loss leader sales of drives. And no promise of resolution at the end of the ten years. For all we know, at the end of these 10 years we would either still have to figure out which disc to buy, or end up paying more for a dual mode disc. And let's not forget that Sony had the superior format (Betamax) the last time, yet there are still plenty of VHS tapes around (and now that I think about it, mini discs).

An Open Letter to Warner Brothers

Dear Warner Brothers,

As a recent owner of two AppleTVs (one for my child, one for us adults), I was extremely thrilled when my wife showed me that her "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Two-Disc Special Edition)" included a 100% legal digital download. How nice of you guys to save me the trouble of having to download an illegal copy so I can watch the movie, or having to rip the DVD under my fair use rights.

The problem is, it doesn't work.

The instructions are quite simple: the box has a flier with a serial number. You are expected to pop-in the second DVD into your computer, select the digital download choice in the menu, then enter the serial number. And yes, the box has a sticker that clearly says that this feature is only Windows compatible.

Then how come I can't run it in Windows?

I followed the instructions perfectly, and what did I get? A pop-up menu that automatically changes pages and won't allow me to enter the serial number. Is it really that hard to make an auto play menu that runs properly in Windows? I am not even asking for it to work on Mac OS, but Jesus Christ, to what depths of suck do you have to fall into so you can't even deliver a god damn auto play menu that works properly in Windows? And yes, I am talking XP SP2, not some odd duck.

The sad thing is that when my wife handed me the box the very first thing I told her was "sweet, I don't mind paying for the DVD, I just don't want to waste the time to rip it."

Go Fuck Yourself, Warner Brothers.