Michael Jackson Video Footage Wanted by Dr. Conrad Murray

Michael Jackson's Last Days Wanted by Dr. Conrad Murray

The defense for Dr. Conrad Murray in the involuntary manslaughter case against Dr. Conrad Murray could possibly be shown footage of MJ in his last days before his death in 2009.  The last videos of Michael Jackson were so top secret, they were transported in an unmarked truck, accompanied by armed guards in the dead of the night ... this according to new docs filed in the Conrad Murray manslaughter case.

Michael Jackson

While prosecutors say that Michael died from an overdose of medication administered by Dr. Murrary, defense lawyers believe that the videos will show that Michael was already ill and physically weak.  Dr. Murray wants to see ALL of the rehearsal videos shot for the doomed "This is It" tour.  Murray's lawyers believe it could show Michael was in such a frail condition ... there were many reasons for his death other than Propofol.

Murray's lawyers subpoenaed the tapes, but now Sony Pictures -- which has possession of the videos -- is objecting for several reasons.  Sony claims there are more than 20 boxes of videos and it would cost $200,000 to log and reproduce all of them.  Sony Pictures owns the rights to the videos, which contains over 100 hours of unused video during Michael's filming of of This Is It documentary and are contractually obligated to not allow any footage to be released that will be show MJ in a "negative light."  But in the docs, Sony describes how top secret the videos were to the studio.  Sony lawyers say, "When they were transported to the Sony lot in Culver City, the transport in an unmarked truck was accompanied by armed guards in the dead of the night."

When the tapes were in an editing bay, security guards were posted outside the door and no Internet access was allowed in the room.  And a Sony honcho also submitted a declaration which says the videos "have a high monetary value inherent in their potential for future uses.  Those uses include one or more 'anniversary editions.'"

Unfortunately for Sony and for the Jackson estate, a judge can still force Sony to release the videos, which would help Dr. Murray's defense.

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Fox Refuses to Pay Black Couple $800,000 on Their Show Fox "Million Dollar Drop"

"Million Dollar Drop" Says Black Couple Answered Wrong

On Fox's premier episode of "Million Dollar Drop", on Monday, a Black couple prepared to answer a question presented to them worth $800,000.00.  The couple answered the question correctly, but Fox claims the wording of the question made the answer wrong and refused to pay the Black couple the $800,000.00.  A blogger caught the show and posted that the producers of the show were wrong for claiming the contestant got the question wrong.  Gabe Okoye and Brittany May felt confident that the category "Inventions" would be easy to answer for them.  The host asked them this question:

"Which product was first sold: the Macintosh computer, the Sony Walkman, or 3M's Post-It Notes."

Okoye answered that 3M's Post-It-Notes was the first product.  The controversy is over the wording of the question, versus the technicality of the answer.  Also keep in mind that the category was inventions.

The producers of the show gave the host Pollak the answer that 3M was not the first product, and that the correct answer was the Sony Walkman.  Richard Lawson of Gawker.com expressed his doubts. Post-Its first started trickling into the marketplace as early as 1977 — so, earlier than the Sony Walkman, which debuted in 1979 (and not, as Okoye guesses on the show, in "the '90s").

It seems that by including 3M in the answers, that the entire question is a trick question.  You see 3M Post-It-Notes although nationally marketed, were only given away to a select area, for free in 1977.  The marketing ploy made headlines and garnered some free press nationwide.  I personally remembered stories about the actual inventor of Post-It-Notes getting ripped off by 3M, i.e. although he invented it, he got nearly nothing compared to the millions the company made, because he was under contract with 3M at the time.

The Post-It-Notes were not made available in stores nationwide until 1980.  Now although the product was available for free in a select few markets, I personally got a stack before 1980, in Nevada.

However, Fox sticks by their fact-check of the question, as directed by 3M that they were available for sale nationwide in 1980.  My guess is, that Fox did not ask 3M when was the product invented and introduced to the market.  It's like the difference between you getting your hands on a new Hershey's chocolate bar, and not knowing it's not in a store, versus the actual first contract to sale them in stores.

My guess is that 3M provided Fox with the answer to the question they asked, i.e. when were Post-It-Notes first SOLD.  I guarantee if Fox had asked: "when were Post-It-Notes first invented and made available to the public" they would have gotten a completely different answer.

The executive producer of "Million Dollar Money Drop," Jeff Apploff issued a statement to Gawker, "The integrity of the questions and answers on our show are our No. 1 priority. In this case, our research team spoke directly with 3M, and they confirmed that although they had given out free samples in test markets in 1977 and 1978, it wasn't until 1980 that Post-Its were sold in stores. Million Dollar Money Drop stands behind the answer that was revealed on the show."

However, upon further research, it seems the producers have let a few questions slip between their grasps, as several sources have found their answers to be wrong in addition to this question.

In my opinion Fox is splitting hairs on this answer.  And, we are talking about splitting hairs on a $800,000 question.  It seems that their integrity is rightfully in question if at this early stage in the show this controversy is already arising.

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Activision to Pull Their Titles from PS3

Kotick Threatens

Bobby Kotick and a partner bought the once-struggling Activision for $440,000 in 1991, at a time when it was losing $30 million on $10 million in revenues. Now the world's biggest independent computer games company, it has a market value of $16 billion (£10 billion) and operating profits of $179 million in the first quarter on sales of $981 million.

Activision overtook Electronic Arts last July when it was in effect taken over by Vivendi of France in a deal where Vivendi injected World of Warcraft into the company for a 56 per cent stake.

In an interview with the London Times, Activision / Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has some strong advice for Sony and threatened to pull its support for the console. “I'm getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform. It's expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation,” he says. "They have to cut the price, because if they don't, the attach rates (the number of games each console owner buys) are likely to slow," Kotick said. "If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony." As for the timing on that, he adds: "When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console--and the PSP (portable) too."

For its part, Sony, which is mired in third place behind Nintendo and Microsoft in the next-gen game-console wars, keeps saying it won't be pressured into trimming the price of the PS3.



Sony Dismisses Activision

Sony Corp. CEO Sir Howard Stringer responded directly--and dismissively--to Kotick's comments. "He likes to make a lot of noise," the Welsh-born executive told Reuters at a tech conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, which Kotick is also attending. "He's putting pressure on me, and I'm putting pressure on him. That's the nature of business. … [But] I lose money on every PlayStation I make--how's that for logic?"

Speaking of the PS3, Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton deflected questions that a widely rumored reduction in the console's cost could come as early as next month. "We feel that we're sacrificing the short term to pay dividends in the long term," he told Silicon Valley magazine Fast Company. "People are having short-term thinking--the platform is not even three years old…. It costs a lot to invest in rolling out new technology, and if the consumer walks away before the life cycle is over--you can talk about the install base of hardware, but how many of those machines are still active, how many people are still playing them?"

"In 2008, we had a 38 percent increase in sales and we hit our 10-million-units-worldwide goal for PS3 sales," he explained. "We had $6.4 billion in revenue in US alone on the PlayStation brand, and a 116 percent increase in software sales. At the worst possible time, if you're hitting numbers and delivering success... my hope is that as our production efficiencies improve and more great games come to market, the horizon has got to be better for 2009 and 2010."

Bioware Wants Attention

Now, Bioware co-founder Greg Zeschuk, has talked about the statement war, “I don't think it's really fair to poke fun at Sony,” Zeschuk says. “Certainly the Wii's been a massive success and Sony's probably not going as fast as they thought it would be but I think that they're starting to make the right moves and the software's coming along. I think it's silly to be saying you're not going to support Sony. The brand itself is still huge and there are millions of users out there.” Keep in mind bioware scared Sony witless when they threatened to not bring their title Mass Effect to the PS3. Also bioware is not in the number #1 spot for 3rd party developers as the giant Activision is.

My Take on the Situation

First of all Activision is right. Sony has priced probably 50% of the gaming market right out. The Nintendo Wii can be found for $126. The XBOX 360 can be found for $183. There is no way that at a price point of $400.00 can a PS3 even compete. For all those nay sayers, saying Activision is goofy or some other stupidity, follow the money.

Secondly developing for the platform is expensive. Again, follow the money, if the platform is far more expensive to develop for and it's in 3rd place behind two consoles that are A) selling more and B) cheaper to develop for... It's a no brainer.

Lastly the "too big to fail", doesn't apply in real business, unlike banks. People are saying that Activision would be giving up a huge platform if they didn't support PS3 any longer. "More bang for your buck"! Ever heard of that? If they drop PS3 and target exclusively XBOX and Wii, and they get a much higher return for every development dollar? Who cares how large PS3 is, they are going to go where the money is.

I think Sony introd the market at a whopping $799.99 price point simply because their name is Playstation and they thought people would buy it regardless of the price. It is ridiculous. You could buy a car for that much, and get yourself a job delivering pizza. And, it would make you money, unlike the PS3.

I vote Activision follow through with the threat. Who's to stop them? For all this sabre rattling, no one is taking them seriously.

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