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- Claim: ISP Identified Non-Subscriber In Troubled File-Sharing Case
Last year when thousands of Internet users had their privacy breached due to the actions of ACS:Law, watchdog Privacy International said it would pursue the anti-piracy law firm for breaching the Data Protection Act. Now, in PIs 2010 report, there is a suggestion that BSkyB "contaminated" subscriber information it sent to ACS:Law, which led to someone being accused of piracy who had no broadband account with BSkyB.
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : torrentfreak.com - Biggest Ever BitTorrent Piracy Settlement is Intriguing
After being tracked as the original uploader of at least six pornographic movies to various torrent sites, an East Coast man found himself in the middle of lawsuit last month. Then, just four days later, it was all over. Without putting up any kind of a fight he agreed to pay a record settlement of $250,000. Unusual? You bet. But the devil, as they say, is in the detail.
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : torrentfreak.com - BitTorrent Inc. Leaks Screenshots of Mainline Client Version 8
Updated version feature channels users can browse through to find content, as well as the option to rate and comment on torrents. BitTorrent Inc. has taken advantage of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) underway in Las Vegas, NV by releasing screenshots of the "major changes" it has planned for version 8 of its BitTorrent Mainline client.The effort is part of "Project Chrysalis" which it has been embarked upon for a few months now."More than a radical aesthetic and UI overhaul, more than cool new features, Project Chrysalis represents a metamorphosis," it said last month when first announcing the project. "A new beginning, with all the power of today’s BitTorrent technology you know and love remaining at the core."The CES has given given BitTorrent Inc. the platform to really show what users can expect from future versions of its Mainline client."First and most obviously, BitTorrent Mainline version 8 will feature a radically overhauled user interface, designed to simplify your experience and make BitTorrent easier than ever," says Simon Morris, BitTorrent Incs VP of Product Management. Part of the new look involves the creation of channels along the top of the client which users can select and browse through for a faster, and easier downloading experience. Users will be able to rate torrents and comment on them. The new version will also offer the capability for transcoding and pushing content to a variety of devices and external media, a feature long offered by the Vuze BitTorrent client.BitTorrent Inc. says a beta version the Mainline client will be available sometime by the end of MarchStay tuned.jared@ zeropaid.com
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.zeropaid.com - RIAA Admits P2P Not Solely to Blame for Decreased Music Sales
Says that "comparing sales numbers only reveals part of the story," and notes that in 2010 the music market "saw enormous growth" in online streaming music services like Vevo and Pandora where music fans dont make any music purchases at all. The music industry has long made it seem that P2P is solely to blame for the overall decline in legal music purchases, but by its own recent admission this isnt true, there are many more reasons why revenues are still in decline.According to Nielsen SoundScan, digital music sales are still nowhere close to compensating for the decline in physical music purchases. Last year digital album sales rose 13% to 86 million while physical CD sales declined by 20% to 240 million sales. Overall album sales were down 13%.Digital music now accounts for 46% of all music purchases; up from 40% in 2009 and 32% in 2008. Its this fact that should be most troubling to the music industry because digital music has lower price points and allows music fans to cherry pick the songs they want on services like Apples iTunes. These two things squeeze the amount of money record labels can make on both ends - the number of songs purchased and the amount paid per each.Thanks to decreased distribution and nonexistent packaging costs the price needed to charge consumers for music is decreasing, thus lowering its overall revenue by default.There are also other forces at work that have caused a decline in music purchases and one of them, by the RIAAs own admission, are free music streaming services."As we and other industry observers have noted, comparing sales numbers only reveals part of the story," it says in a recent blog post by Joshua P. Friedlander, the RIAAs Vice President of Research and Strategic Analysis. "Perhaps more telling about the direction in which the music market is headed, 2010 saw enormous growth in online streaming music and access models. Although the growth of services like Vevo and Pandora have been well documented, the growth of revenues from streaming services is becoming more significant."There you have it. Music sales only reveal "part of the story." When it regularly lobbies members of Congress to pass legislation like the controversial Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) you can bet it doesnt have an asterisk next to the figures for declining album sales that says "only reveals part of the story."Copyright holders always need to make file-sharing seem like much more of a problem that it really is, and admitting that P2P is only partially to blame for its woes wouldnt help pass "urgent" legislation like giving the justice dept. a fastrack process for seizing domain names before owners have a chance to contest the charges in court.A UK survey has even shown that streaming music has already caused a majority of young adults (54%) to quit illegally downloading music altogether.At some point the music industry has to publicly admit that its business model has changed, and that its woes arent solely to blame on illegal file-sharing. Music fans have an increasing variety of listening options these days, and many of them will mean much less revenue for the music industry. Making a playlist on YouTube, for example, or cranking up Pandora, on a daily basis by millions if not billions of people worldwide is a much greater cause for declining music industry revenues than is a guy who downloaded an album that he may not have even bought otherwise.Stay tuned.jared@zeropaid.com
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.zeropaid.com - Breaking: Multiple Activists and Members of the Pirate Party Arrested
ZeroPaid has just learned that multiple web activists and members of the Pirate Party have been arrested in the midst of free speech protests in Tunisia recently. The arrests come as the war over free speech heating up in the country.In the midst of the Tunisian government crackdown on online dissent, multiple members of the Pirate Party, along with free speech activists within the country, have been arrested. Al Jazeera recently profiled the online wars detailing some activists being hit with phishing sites, hacking and government censorship.According to the report, back in April last year, over 100 blogs have been censored by the government. On Monday, some activists were locked out of their Gmail and Facebook accounts. Activists blamed the Tunisian Internet Agency for the hijacking."I think it is high time for Facebook and Google to take serious steps to protect Tunisian activists and journalists," Sofiene Chourabi, a journalist for Al-Tariq al-Jadid magazine and blogger told Al Jazeera."My personal account on the Facebook, including around 4200 friends, was exposed to failed hacking attempt last Friday, but I quickly recovered it after an unidentified person had taken control of it," he said.Stefano Hesse, Facebooks head of communications, said that they were not censoring any content."One thing needs to be clear: we, as Facebook, are not censoring any content, and we had not been approached by the local government in order to do anything regarding anyone," Hesse said.While a few may be recovering their content, others appear to not be so lucky:Another activist who was caught in the phishing campaign is a Tunis-based man, who goes by the name of Azyz Amamy in the online world. Amamy told Al Jazeera in a phone interview that his Facebook and email accounts had been hijacked on Monday. Amamy was able to recover both accounts within two hours, after Facebook and Gmail responded to his request. The difference is that he had retained control of a separate email account with which he had registered both accounts.Two hours was enough time for the authorities to get the login information for his four blogs from his email accounts, deleting all the content.Now, were learning today, that things have escalated. Shortly after these interviews were conducted, a number of Pirate Party members and online activists were arrested.Pirate Party International issued a press release on the issue:On the 6th of January 2011, blogger and activist Hamadi Kaloutcha, and rapper "El General" (real name: Hamada Ben Aoun) were arrested by the police for questioning. Later that day, Azyz Ammami, Slim Amamou and Slah Eddine Kchouk, graduate students and members of the Pirate Party of Tunisia were also arrested. To date, no formal arrest warrant has been filed against them and there has not been any news regarding their current situation.Pirate Parties from around the world condemned these arrests, saying that the actions of the Tunisian government were deplorable.Pirate Parties around the World condemn these acts against freedom of expression, human rights and democracy, and call upon governments take firm action against Tunisia for these recent events. Party members are advised to refrain from visiting Tunisia until the human rights situation has improved.What will no doubt be interesting is how world governments will react to these latest events. Will these governments take action against Tunisia for these arrests or will they stand by silently? Its hard to say at this point.Have a tip? Want to contact the author? You can do so by sending a PM via the forums or via e-mail at drew@zeropaid.com.
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.zeropaid.com - One way or another, piracy is coming to the Mac App Store
The Mac App Store is an attempt by Apple to leverage the reputation and ease of use of the iOS App Store on Mac OS X. However, under certain conditions, applications, or rather, developers, are left wide open to piracy.
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.topix.net - PlayStation Phone gets in-depth testing by Chinese site (videos)
The PlayStation Phone continues to get coverage, also known as leaks, and the latest for the Xperia-branded and Android-powered device comes from a Chinese website, IT168. The reported codename for the device has been given as Zeus.
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.topix.net - Samsung sees record 2010 sales, operating profit
The manufacturer of the 7000 Series 3D flat panel TV estimated that consolidated revenue during 2010 came to 153.76 trillion won , which would be an increase of 13 percent from the previous years record performance of 136.32 trillion won.
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.topix.net - Verizon iPhone launch seems set for Feb. 3
We appear to be closing in on a solid date for a Verizon iPhone launch, although everything is still conjecture and rumor. While an earlier report indicated a three-week blackout period for Apple retail employees, at least those without seniority. Now we have heard that employee vacation requests, reportedly not just for retail employees, have been blacked out for Feb. 3 through 6.
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.topix.net - Woman blames iPhone alarm bug for job loss; repeated tardies really at fault
The well-publicized alarm bug that affected iOS devices earlier has cost a young woman her waitressing position, according to an open letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs that was published on the Huffington Post. There are a few things missing from her story, however, such as how many times she had been late previously?
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.topix.net - Camera makers slash prices on new point-and-shoots
To fight dwindling camera sales, manufacturers are slashing prices for point-and-shoots -- often below $100 -- and offering more features for the money.
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.topix.net - Apple Ceo Jobs keeps $1 salary Jan 7, 2011 2:43 PM Et a " Apple Inc....
Jobs, 55, has had an annual salary of $1 since 1998. Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs compensation package remained the usual $1 in fiscal 2010, but the value of the shares he owns has skyrocketed amid the companys ongoing success in introducing shiny new gadgets many people come to find indispensable.
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.topix.net - The Verizon iPhone era begins on Jan. 11, with a Verizon press event
As we wrote earlier, we expect the Verizon iPhone to launch on Feb. 3. Launch is not the same as announce, and we now expect Verizon to announce the Verizon iPhone on Tuesday, Jan. 11.
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.topix.net - Tablets crowd gadget show, chasing iPads tail
Big tablets and small tablets, white ones and black ones. Cheap ones and expensive ones.
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.topix.net - Six girls arrested after Facebook plot: Attack a Teacher Day
Six girls have been arrested after using Facebook to plan "Attack a Teacher Day" at two Carson City, Nevada, middle schools. One girl was accused of inviting approximatedly 100 students on Facebook to participate in the event, which was scheduled for Friday. The other five were accused of responding with online threats against specific teachers.
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.topix.net - No joke: Apple goes after @ceoSteveJobs Twitter parody account
Just a few days after a California law banning certain Internet impersonations (or e-personations) went into effect, Apple has complained to Twitter about the @ceoSteveJobs Twitter account. While that account has over 370,000 followers, its most famous Tweet came last year when the U.K.s Daily Mail quoted a post that said Apple might have have to recall the iPhone 4.
Published : 2011-01-08 Source : www.topix.net - Pirate Party Slams Anti-Piracy Outfit for Filing ‘Illegal’ Complaints
Wearing "Piracy is Illegal" T-shirts and carrying several boxes of complaints against file-sharers, a group of movie industry representatives showed up at the Attorney Generals Office doorstep in Portugal this week. By clogging the judicial system they hope to raise awareness of widespread online movie piracy. However, this ideal may backfire as the local Pirate Party believes that the actions of anti-piracy activists may very well be illegal.
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : torrentfreak.com - Microsofts answer to the iPad is still in pieces
Instead of unveiling an elegant response to the iPad, Microsoft came to the tech industrys premier gadget show with a collection of exposed computer guts.
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : www.topix.net - Intel targets lucrative tablet market
Of the thousands of show-floor booths at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Intel INTC-Q is perhaps the most useful for anyone looking for clues as to where the technology industry is headed.
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : www.topix.net - Jon Friedmans Media Web: IPad, iPhone: Apple is a media company
A few years ago, I unwittingly touched off a lively debate in journalism circles by suggesting that Google Inc.
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : www.topix.net - BitTorrent Inc. To Launch All-In-One BitTorrent Ecosystem
In the first quarter of 2011 BitTorrent Inc. will replace its mainline client with a brand new all-in-one solution for media entertainment. The new software will be part of a BitTorrent Certified technology ecosystem which includes TVs, mobile devices and other consumer electronics. By eliminating many technical hurdles the project, codenamed Chrysalis, is an attempt to cater to a wider range of consumers than uTorrent currently does.
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : torrentfreak.com - European Commission Mulls Forcing ISPs to Help Fight Piracy
Report notes their status as "intermediaries between all users of the Internet and the rightsholders," and that in the face of an "unprecedented increase in opportunities to infringe intellectual property rights" it must explore the possibility of exploiting their "favourable position" in order to "prevent" and "terminate" online piracy. Also says online market places and search engines should be forced to take "preventive measures." A new European Commission report suggests exploring increased involvement by ISPs, online marketplaces, and search engines in the war against online piracy.It says that a an earlier intellectual property directive implemented back in 2004 helped improve enforcement efforts, but that since then the Internet has created an "alarming" number of increased opportunities for infringement that the Directive didnt foresee at that the time."The Internet and digital technologies have added an extra, challenging dimension to enforcing intellectual property rights," it says. "On the one hand, the Internet has allowed creators, inventors and their commercial partners to find new ways to market their products. On the other hand, it has also opened the door to new forms of infringements, some of which have proved difficult to combat."The report cites how the "multi-purpose nature" of the Internet has made it easy for people to commit a wide variety of copyright infringements, that search engines and P2P enable users to conveniently sell, share, or download copyrighted material.Part of the problem, it says, lies with copyright holders who have been "unable," though Id argue unwilling, to keep up with the demand of legal digital content."File-sharing of copyright-protected content has become ubiquitous, partly because the development of legal offers of digital content has not been able to keep up with demand, especially on a cross-border basis, and has led many law-abiding citizens to commit massive infringements of copyright and related rights in the form of illegal up-loading and disseminating protected content."Because of this unmet demand many sites are either hosting or facilitating the illegal distribution of copyrighted material, and the existing law isnt suited to address the problem. The report suggests that all "intermediaries" between infringers and rightsholders whose services are used to infringe copyright be enlisted to play a role in combating the problem."Intermediaries who transport goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights (such as carriers, freight forwarders, or shipping agents) can play a leading role in controlling the distribution of goods that infringe intellectual property rights," adds the report. "Internet platforms such as online market places or search engines can also play an important role in reducing the number of the infringements, in particular through preventive measures and ‘notice and take-down’ policies."ISPs are identified as a "key" component of the Internet that allows users to access copyright infringing material, and that given the fact that current efforts have so far been unable to effectively stop or even decrease the level of online infringement more "powerful" tools are needed."Given intermediaries favourable position to contribute to the prevention and termination of online infringements, the Commission could explore how to involve them more closely," it says.It does say that any regulations it considers must respect privacy laws and the protection of personal data, but says there is no rule that the former should take "precedence over the right to property or vice versa." A balance between the rights of both parties must be found.Another interesting suggestion by the report is the issue of damages. Its authors believe that "damages awards do not currently appear to effectively dissuade potential infringers from engaging in illegal activities. This is particularly so where damages awarded by the courts fail to match the level of profit made by the infringers."The problem with this is that it could never properly address illegal file-sharing since it lacks an inherent profit motive. More importantly, theres no way to fully quantify what damages have been done to a copyright holder by an individual file-sharer. Increasing damage awards risks unfair financial harm to individual file-sharers while at the same time serving as very little of a deterrent effect.Thankfully, it does hint at the fact that it should explore the a "commercial scale" requirement, that is that the "infringing act is carried out for direct or indirect economic or commercial advantage." That would go a long way towards ensuring that the rights of all parties involved are respected. Theres a big difference between file-sharing and file-selling.Stay tuned.jared@zeropaid.com [Hat Tip]
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : www.zeropaid.com - Atari Loses Infringement Case Against RapidShare
Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf said that RapidShare does remove copyrighted material when asked by copyright holders as required by law, and that Ataris demands that it filter or prevent copyrighted material from being uploaded to the site is, in RapidShares words, "unreasonable or pointless." Swiss-based cyberlocker RapidShare has prevailed once against charges it hasnt done enough to filter copyrighted material illegally uploaded to the site by users.In March of last year, Atari Europe S.A.S.U. convinced the German Dusseldorf Regional Court that RapidShare had failed to properly prevent the illegal distribution of the game “Alone in the Dark” on the site.RapidShare appealed the ruling to the countrys Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf, and today revealed that it has successfully convinced the court to dismiss the claim.“The ruling demonstrates once again that RapidShare is operating a fully legal range and has taken measures against the misuse of its service which go beyond the level that is legally required," says RapidShare’s lawyer and spokesman, Daniel Raimer. "We are confident that copyright holders will gradually come to accept this conclusion.“The Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf said that RapidShare does remove copyrighted material when asked by copyright holders as required by law, and that Ataris demands that it try to prevent copyrighted material from being uploaded by users in the first place is, in RapidShares words, "unreasonable or pointless."The court referred to previous rulings that sided with RapidShare on the issue.The first, from May of last year, was an appeal of an earlier decision against RapidShare similar to the current one. In that case the Düsseldorf Court of Appeals found that Rapidshare is not liable for copyright infringement committed by third parties using the service, and that the site itself doesn’t make copyrighted material “publicly available.”Links to copyrighted files are private, and its the user themselves who make them publicly available in violation of copyright law.As for filtering copyrighted material, a demand also made by Atari in the current case, the court said that filtering is “inappropriate” and “arbitrary," that a keyword isnt a “compelling indicator” that a file contains illegal material.The Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf agreed, reiterating the implausibility of deleting or filtering files based on a keyword because of the likelihood that legal files would be deleted as well.Manual file inspection was also ruled out for the sheer enormity of staff and man hours it would require.The ruling could be a key test for its possible inclusion again on the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus’ list of the world’s top 6 most “notorious” illegal websites. RapidShare called the claim “outrageous,” and said it couldn’t believe that a caucus of the US Congress would link the site to piracy, especially since courts have repeatedly ruled the site isnt so "notorious" after all.It recently hired a Washington, DC-based lobbying firm to plead its case, but this latest ruling ought to give the site even more legitimacy in the eyes of its critics.Stay tuned.jared@zeropaid.com
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : www.zeropaid.com - Apple restricting retail employees vacations beginning end of January
Weve seen this in past years, when Apple and / or AT&T have restricted vacations around a date that turned out later to be a high-profile launch. Now AppleInsider has learned that Apple is restricting vacation time for some of their retail employees beginning later this month.
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : www.topix.net - Apple launches Mac app store
Apple Inc is launching an applications store for Mac computers, replicating a model that proved wildly popular on its iPhones.
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : www.topix.net - RIM shares PlayBook details from CES
Corporate interest in Research in Motions new tablet was "massive," the company said, as it announced plans to launch a 4G version of the device this summer with Sprint Nextel .
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : www.topix.net - The Mac OS X App Store and Mac OS 10.6.6 go live
Apple has opened the Mac App Store for businees. In order to get the functionality, users have to update to the latest version of Snow Leopard, 10.6.6.
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : www.topix.net - Another Verizon iPhone signal as AT&T drops 3GS pricing to $49
A Verizon iPhone is unlikely to be announced at CES, but that said, recent signals appear to indicate its coming, and soon. AT&T has just given its own signal, as well: it has issued a press release that says that starting tomorrow, new, not refurbished iPhone 3GS devices will be selling at $49.
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : www.topix.net - Chase marks bank account for fraud after ATMs red ink SNAFU
Red ink on a check resulted in a couples bank account balance going red, after a technology SNAFU at a JP Morgan Chase ATM. The banks new ATM technology, which reads checks automatically using text recognition, couldnt read the red ink on a check, and the bank flagged it as fraud, and closed their account.
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : www.topix.net - Finally: Star Wars Blu-ray available for pre-order
Before Avatar, there was Star Wars, a long time ago in a theater far, far away. While Avatar has come to Blu-ray, Star Wars remains Blu-ray-less, but you can pre-order it now.
Published : 2011-01-07 Source : www.topix.net
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