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Q Cubed
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t3h y3ll0w p3ril
Apr 1999
time: 23:30
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yay? i suppose it could be good for them.
http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/030730/2237001826_1.html
quote:
China Plans Rival Format To MPEG Audio-Video Standard
Wednesday July 30, 10:37 pm ET
BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- The Chinese government is supporting an effort to develop a homegrown standard for compressing digital audio and video, in its latest attempt to assert its technological independence from the rest of the world.
The committee developing China's standard met in Beijing Wednesday, and state- run media quoted industry officials as saying the aim is to enable domestic companies to avoid using the dominant MPEG standards, which require royalty payments.
Sounds and images have to be encoded in particular ways in order to be converted into a digital format that can be easily reproduced and transmitted - like DVDs or the popular MP3 format for computer files. The Moving Picture Experts Group, or MPEG, is the author of the most widely-used methods for doing this.
Makers of digital electronic devices, like DVD players or mobile phones capable of playing music and video, have to license the MPEG technologies to take advantage of those capabilities.
The competing Chinese standard, known as AVS, will be proposed as a national standard in 2004, the China Daily newspaper reported, citing Huang Tiejun, secretary-general of the Audio Video Coding Standard Workgroup.
Chinese manufacturers licensing that technology would pay fees in the order of one yuan ($1=CNY8.28) per device, much lower than those for MPEG, the report said. If it becomes a national standard, products of foreign companies sold in China could also have to use AVS.
Reflecting the importance of the Chinese market, the local research arms of multinationals like International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - News) , Royal Philips Electronics and Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - News) have signed up as members of the standard's working group.
Web site: http://www.avs.org.cn |
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Alinestra Covelia
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I sense the dodgy presence of Bing - a presence I've not felt since...
Feb 2000
time: 00:30
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AP WIRE
Slug: economic-WED-JUL-30-2003
Byline: Alinestra Covelia
TITLE: Chinese codec paves new era in porn
[Breakline]
The cries are growing louder and more insistent, as the pressure mounts for the Chinese government to legalize pornography. Beijing based nationalists and liberals alike agree that in order to truly assert its influence on the world as far as audio/video output is concerned, Chinese porn stars, currently eking out an existence on fringe publications, must enter the mainstream.
Statistics released by the State Pornography Assessment and Nudity Kommission (SPANK) suggest that despite being the world's largest nationality (17% global populace), pornography featuring Chinese citizens makes up for only a paltry 1-2% of total online bongo footage. That's compared to 87% porn featuring white Americans, who make up 3.5%; and 10% porn featuring former "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson, who makes up 0.0000000006% of the global census.
Adult filmmakers of various Southeast Asian countries have jumped at the chance to fill the market demand for naked but vaguely-Chinese-seeming bodies, flooding the industry with models of greater cost (Taiwan) or regional variations thereof. Said Reuters spokesman Burblechuff Foofoo Friday, "If the Chinese government could lift its protectionist state run tariffs and checks, a blossoming domestic porn industry could be well on its way to establishing a global reach by 2008."
Taiwanese porn star Jade Hsu spoke out Tuesday on the sometimes-unethical practices of the industry.
"They ask us to change our names, to paint corners into our eyes, and to pretend we can't pronounce 'r' sounds," she complained. "Then they give you drugs and force you to do bukkake," she continued, before her publicist administered a bitch slapping.
But there is little that can be done to stem the tide of cheap imitations in an industry where a discerning expert is an all too rare occurrence.
"Who amongst the Americans knows that 'Hsu' is a very Taiwanese surname?" asked pornographist expert and doctor of sexology Gunther Bottenhagen of NYU's Climactic Research Center. "Pornnoisseurs the world over are getting fleeced into buying or downloading or finding discarded under bushes so-called 'Chinese' pornography that really isn't the real deal."
Bottenhagen said that in order to guard against piracy and imitations, most buyers should consult experts before making a purchase. He added that he was free most Monday afternoons.
However, some fear that the damage has already been done to Chinese porn futures.
"Whenever I log onto an Asian movie site, they're always advertising Japanese and Korean women," said Times correspondent Jayson Blair. "They managed to get the message out there fast and efficiently, thus cornering user awareness and leaving nascent Chinese porn stars struggling to find a niche market. Whether they can find another entry point or angle into the jackpot will spell life or death for the Chinese market."
Blair added thoughtfully "But then again, the Civ3 manual did say China had more horses than anybody else."
Dissatisfied with the 'chop suey' Asian-a-like American industry, with such imitation Asians as Tera Patrick, Asia Carrera, and Kobe Tai, many western men are turning to Asian girlfriends, braving all the conversion, overheads, and cost inefficiency that that entails.
"Yeah, I know Angela Carter said that marrying for sex is like buying a jumbo jet just for the peanuts," said a Texas Klan Wizard who asked not to be named. "Just the other day, I was looking for a GameCube action replay on eBay, and there was one going but you had to buy the GameCube as well. I already had one but I bought it just the same, so I could get the action replay. This was something similar," he concluded somewhat lamely.
This comes as a severe blow to Chinese historical pride, especially as the sexual liberties of the Sung and Tang dynasties are the stuff of legends.
Said Beijing farmer Xiao Yunliang, "I want to see China great again. And I only know that that will have been accomplished when I see Chinese astronauts in space, Chinese fighter jets in the skies, and Chinese pornstars engaging in DVDAs and Cleveland Steamers on my VCD machine."
Tentative plans to catapult a Chinese porn industry have met with two obstacles - the lack of a charismatic leader to spearhead the main thrust, and fears of rampany piracy. The Chinese government is said to be in talks with Beijing-born singer Yan Zi and Hong Kong-based artist Faye Wong to promote media crossovers. The talks are being kept under wraps, after an early clinch with basketball giant Yao Ming resulted an in acrimonious split, after which Yao immediately pulled out and stopped shooting.
Nevertheless, hopes are slowly rising that with the advent of proprietary porn codecs hitting the internet later this year, Chinese stars can get the backing and funds injection they have desired for decades. National recognition also tops most respondents' concerns.
"It really pisses me off that when you type 'Wang' (a common Chinese surname) into the search engine, you get nothing but sex sites," said irate Imperial TIE Fighter pilot Hu Man Bing. "Hopefully when our girls achieve greater coverage and market penetration, that anomaly will be rectified."
American President George W. Bush was busy lynching buffalo at his Texas ranch and was unavailable for comment.
[enditem]
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31-07-2003 19:47
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