In another especially strong sign of physical media's demise, Japan's Taiyo Yuden, which teamed with Philips and Sony in the 1980s to help pioneer commercialization of recordable CDs, was among a dozen companies to withdraw recently from the DVD Copy Control Association (CCA), the group told the FTC and Attorney General Loretta Lynch in Aug. 21 written notifications. So said a notice published in Monday’s Federal Register by the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. Taiyo Yuden, in a June 11 announcement, said it would terminate sales of recordable optical discs by Dec. 31, citing “diminishing” market conditions for physical media amid the growing storage capacity of hard drives and the increasing use of cloud computing. According to the DOJ notice, besides Taiyo Yuden, the companies that withdrew recently from the DVD CCA include: Centurion Corp. and Eastern Asia Technology, both of Singapore; ETV Interactive of the U.K.; Guangdong Coagent Electronics S&T and Shenzhen Autone-Tronic Technology, both of China; Hyundai Media of South Korea; JRC and Kyoei Sangyo, both of Japan; Moser Baer India of India; Optical Experts Manufacturing of Charlotte, North Carolina; and Yusan Industries of Hong Kong. Three companies did sign on as new DVD CCA members through Aug. 21, including Dongguan Digital AV Technology of China, and Socionext and Taiwan Sanshin Electronics, both of Japan, the notice said. The DVD CCA runs licensing and administration of the DVD format’s Content Scrambling System copy protection platform. The change-of-membership notifications to the FTC and DOJ were required to extend antitrust protections to DVD CCA members under the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993, the notice said.

In another especially strong sign of physical media's demise, Japan's Taiyo Yuden, which teamed with Philips and Sony in the 1980s to help pioneer commercialization of recordable CDs, was among a dozen companies to withdraw recently from the DVD Copy Control Association (CCA), the group told the FTC and Attorney General Loretta Lynch in Aug. 21 written notifications. So said a notice published in Monday’s Federal Register by the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. Taiyo Yuden, in a June 11 announcement, said it would terminate sales of recordable optical discs by Dec. 31, citing “diminishing” market conditions for physical media amid the growing storage capacity of hard drives and the increasing use of cloud computing. According to the DOJ notice, besides Taiyo Yuden, the companies that withdrew recently from the DVD CCA include: Centurion Corp. and Eastern Asia Technology, both of Singapore; ETV Interactive of the U.K.; Guangdong Coagent Electronics S&T and Shenzhen Autone-Tronic Technology, both of China; Hyundai Media of South Korea; JRC and Kyoei Sangyo, both of Japan; Moser Baer India of India; Optical Experts Manufacturing of Charlotte, North Carolina; and Yusan Industries of Hong Kong. Three companies did sign on as new DVD CCA members through Aug. 21, including Dongguan Digital AV Technology of China, and Socionext and Taiwan Sanshin Electronics, both of Japan, the notice said. The DVD CCA runs licensing and administration of the DVD format’s Content Scrambling System copy protection platform. The change-of-membership notifications to the FTC and DOJ were required to extend antitrust protections to DVD CCA members under the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993, the notice said.

Kaleidescape, having settled its longstanding court case with the DVD CCA (DVD Copy Control Association) over copyright infringement, is energetically positioning itself as a streaming content provider, Angelika Stalman, vice president-marketing, told us at a gathering of home theater industry professionals in Brooklyn Thursday. “Suddenly people have access to an unlimited amount of movies” that are accessible from tablets, smartphones and PCs, but the experience is being compromised in exchange for convenience, Stalman said. “What’s getting lost is the immersive, cinematic experience."

The FCC approved a declaratory ruling Thursday requiring carriers to safeguard most of the customer proprietary network information (CPNI) on mobile phones. Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai had considered a dissent, but managed to work through differences with acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn and was able to vote for the order, with a concurrence. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel also voted to adopt the order, but by getting Pai onboard, Clyburn avoided a dissent during her first meeting as acting chair.

*May 6 Dickstein Shapiro, FleishmanHillard and Homeland Security Defense Business Council webinar on cybersecurity, 2 p.m. -- http://bit.ly/100yJhm

April 2 State Department International Telecommunication Advisory Committee meets on ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference, 2 p.m., 1300 I St. NW, West tower’s 4th floor -- http://1.usa.gov/XHAXjo

Jan. 8 FCBA Mass Media Committee brown bag lunch on legal issues for non-commercial broadcasters, 12:15 p.m., Drinker Biddle, 2nd floor, 1500 K St. NW -- http://bit.ly/UiKfm6

INDIANAPOLIS -- Monster, which earned its stripes as Monster Cable, made strides at CEDIA Expo with its next generation of wireless products. The irony wasn’t lost on Mitch Witten, product area manager, who said “it’s interesting for a company founded on wire and cable to be focusing a lot of attention on wireless audio, but we found a way to make Bluetooth work really well.” Witten told us higher-end audio codecs have brought the quality of wireless Bluetooth transmission to a level the company is comfortable with, including a Bluetooth module that began shipping this summer and a multi-function product it plans to ship in November.