“We are stunned that RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod, and we are investigating the implications of their actions under the DMCA and other laws. We strongly caution Real and their customers that when we update our iPod software from time to time it is highly likely that Real’s Harmony technology will cease to work with current and future iPods.”

–Apple July 2004

Has the dispute over the FairPlay Digital Rights Management technology Apple once used in iTunes really dragged on this long? Impossibly, it seems it has. More than three years after the company discontinued its use, the now six-year-old lawsuit is back in the headlines again. The judge hearing the case on Monday ordered Apple CEO Steve Jobs to testify, Bloomberg reports.

Under the terms of the mandate, Jobs must sit for a two-hour deposition, answering questions about a 2004 software update that that made songs purchased from RealNetworks unplayable on the iPod, thwarting Harmony, the software RealNetworks developed to mimic FairPlay and outraging iTunes user Thomas Slattery who sued Apple in 2005 (for further detail, see the ancient posts I wrote about these issues for GMSV below). “The court finds that Jobs has unique, non-repetitive, firsthand knowledge about the issues at the center of the dispute over RealNetworks software,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Howard R. Lloyd wrote in a court filing.

Which is almost certainly true.

But at this point, who cares? Aside, that is, from the folks who in 2005 accused Apple of “rigging” the iPod so that only music purchased from iTunes could be played on it. Evidently, they’d still like to be able to play RealNetworks files on their iPods.

Reached for comment, Apple declined. Below, some very dusty background on the case …

Yeah, you’re Real alright … real annoying …

In a recent e-mail to Steve Jobs, RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser asked the Apple CEO to consider a “tactical alliance” with his company. License us your Fairplay digital rights management system, allow our customers to play their digital music collections on the iPod, wrote Glaser, and we’ll make the iPod our primary device for the RealNetworks store and for RealPlayer software.

It was an astonishing offer, especially coming from Glaser, who had been a vocal critic of Apple and its decision to make digital music sold through its iTunes store playable only on iPod (“I bought an iPod and can only shop at one store,” Glaser once said. “What is this? The Soviet Union?”) But it was an offer that Jobs found unappealing. The Apple CEO rebuffed Glaser, declining even to meet with him over lunch to discuss it. So Real’s announcement today of a new technology that makes its online music service compatible with the iPod isn’t likely to go over well at Apple HQ. This morning Real rolled out RealPlayer 10.5 and with it Harmony, technology that will allow people to play music purchased at its Rhapsody store on Apple’s iPod as well as music players that support only Microsoft’s WMA (Windows Media Audio) format.

For Real this is quite a coup, and one that, assuming it’s not thwarted by Apple, may well give it a much needed leg up in the online music market. “This is very important for RealNetworks, because it overcomes one of the biggest issues they have had: lack of popular device support,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research. “It’s the device that drives the music store, not the other way around. Now the challenge is for Real to provide a compelling reason for users to come over–an extended catalog, more attractive pricing. It has solved the technological problem. Now it has to persuade customers from a content perspective.”

Hey, I’ve got a great idea! Let’s do an online petition!
When Real Networks’ launched its “Hey Apple, Don’t Break My iPod!” petition, it hoped for an outpouring of support for its new Harmony technology, which allows consumers to download music to all new music devices, including the iPod. What it got instead was a merciless tarring and feathering that will no doubt give the Real PR team nightmares for years to come. Appended to the hundreds of digital signatures on petition were hundreds of comments, most of them critical of Real, its technology and its business practices.

“When Real makes their songs available for sale to Mac users, then we can talk about limiting choice,” wrote one signatory. “Hulk smash Real player!!! Apple good for strong bones!!!! Glaser weak, Hulk Strong. Hulk smash Glasers head with fist for insulting Hulks intelligence!!! Hulk Smart!!! Glaser Dumb!!!,” wrote another. Not all of the comments added to the petition were so staid or tongue in cheek. “Selling on a loss to gain market share might work for large profitable giants with money to burn,” wrote one signatory. “But for a worthless company like Real, with history of losses quarter after quarter, it is a short-cut to Chapter 11. And I say more power to Real, please spend your way to bankruptcy ASAP. The whole market will heave a collective sigh of relief and your 49c customers will get what they paid for, support or rather lack thereof, from a bankrupt company.”

Its first petition gone horribly awry, Real launched a second, this one with comments disabled. But it too drew the ire of those viewing it and inspired an alternate petition that pretty much captured the spirit of the entire debacle.

The video, called “War of Internet Addiction,” is a send-up of government censorship starring videogame characters that has become one of the hottest things on the Chinese Internet, epitomizing the unruly spirit that thrives on the Web despite an intensifying crackdown on free expression in China.

The 64-minute video consists entirely of footage shot in the virtual universe of “World of Warcraft,” a wildly popular online game from Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) in which millions of players around the world do battle via magical avatars.

The movie’s plot centers on gamers’ frustration with an actual bureaucratic battle over regulation of the Chinese edition of the game, but its subtext is a broad, biting allegory of the fight against government Internet controls, peppered with allusions to a list of real-world conflicts in China over the past year.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

There are “universal” remotes that are designed to let you operate multiple electronics devices from a single control. But most universal remotes, if you can figure out how to work them at all, don’t help much with the tedious sequence of button pushes often required to do simple tasks, like watch a movie. In my case, just turning on the TV can require up to six punches on two different remotes, depending on what activity I happened to be doing on my home-theater system the last time I shut it off.

Logitech International, the Swiss computer-accessory maker, has come up with an answer to the problems of remote-control clutter and excessive button-pushing with its family of Harmony universal remote controls that are relatively affordable and easy to use.

The Harmony 1000

I tested two of the latest models of Logitech remotes, the Harmony 890 and 1000, and found that they greatly simplified using my home-theater system, despite a few flaws.

It’s a challenge just getting many universal remotes working, considering all of the electronics gear that occupy many TV rooms. The setup usually involves punching arcane codes into a universal remote corresponding to your electronics devices after looking the numbers up in a manual — a tedious process with lots of opportunity for failure.

Users configure Harmony remotes through what I found to be a far more user-friendly process: by tethering them to a Mac or Windows PC with a USB cable. A software program that comes with the remotes asks users what types of devices they’d like to set up, such as a home-theater receiver, a television set and a digital video recorder. Users will need the model number for their devices.

Once you’ve entered the model numbers into the Harmony program, the software automatically downloads all of the commands required to configure the remote so it works with your TV-room gadgets from an online Logitech database containing more than 200,000 devices — far more than you’d find listed in the manual for a conventionally programmed universal remote control. The Harmony software easily located all of my devices in its database.

An important feature of the Harmony remotes is something called activities, which lets users reduce to one the multiple button pushes typically required to do basic functions with their entertainment systems, such as watching a DVD. Logitech didn’t invent this concept, but it has made the setup process easy enough so users don’t have to hire a professional installer to do it for them, as is the case with many other high-end universal remote controls.

Based on the types of devices I told it I had, the Harmony software on the PC recommended a handful of activities for my remote controls, including “Watch TV,” “Watch a DVD,” and “Listen to CDs.”

To watch a DVD on my entertainment system, I normally need to turn on my TV and set it to the correct video input source, turn on my home theater receiver (which I use to play audio when watching movies) and turn on my Xbox 360 game console (through which I play DVDs) — a process that requires up to seven button pushes on multiple remote controls.

The Harmony remotes eventually allowed me to push one button to turn on all of these devices, but there were hiccups. When I hit the “Watch DVD” activity button, the Harmony remotes initially turned on all of my devices except the Xbox 360. After a few minutes exploring the Harmony software on the PC, I was able to change a setting to correct the problem and update the remote.

In all, it took me about 30 minutes to configure the first Logitech remote I used, the Harmony 1000, and half that time for the Harmony 890, after I had become familiar with the process.

The two models of remotes offered similar functions but in radically different industrial designs. The Harmony 1000 is a tablet-shape control about the size of a small picture frame, with a large touch-sensitive color screen that displays large buttons for accessing activities and other functions on your devices. The Harmony 890 is a more conventional wand-shape remote with a smaller screen.

I preferred the design of the Harmony 890, finding it easier and more natural to use with one hand, not to mention a better value. I have found the Harmony 1000 selling for as low as $272 and the Harmony 890 for $222 on Amazon.com. The 890 comes with a kit that lets you extend the range of the remote by using radio frequency, instead of infrared, signals.

Both Harmony remotes, though, made it much easier for me to use my entertainment system and cleaned up some of the clutter in my living room.

Walt Mossberg is on vacation.

Write to Nick Wingfield at nick.wingfield@wsj.com