Group items tagged

" Andy on May 24, 2015 C: 0 Opinion While plenty of sites infringe copyright on a regular basis, this site is never one of them. However, that doesn't stop copyright holders from trying to disappear our pages from Google search. Sadly, the latest sorry efforts only attracted our attention to even bigger mistakes, such as the Web Sheriff trying to take down a movie's own Kickstarter page."

" Andy on May 24, 2015 C: 0 Opinion While plenty of sites infringe copyright on a regular basis, this site is never one of them. However, that doesn't stop copyright holders from trying to disappear our pages from Google search. Sadly, the latest sorry efforts only attracted our attention to even bigger mistakes, such as the Web Sheriff trying to take down a movie's own Kickstarter page."

" Ernesto on September 24, 2015 C: 7 Breaking Internet provider Cox Communications has hit back at anti-piracy company Rightscorp. While denying responsibility for the alleged copyright infringements of its subscribers, Cox turns the tables, accusing Rightscorp of sharing thousands of copyrighted works without permission."

" Ernesto on September 24, 2015 C: 7 Breaking Internet provider Cox Communications has hit back at anti-piracy company Rightscorp. While denying responsibility for the alleged copyright infringements of its subscribers, Cox turns the tables, accusing Rightscorp of sharing thousands of copyrighted works without permission."

"The games industry continues to boom while other sectors of the economy sputter, according to a new report from the Entertainment Software Association. by Nick Statt @nickstatt November 11, 2014 2:54 PM PST "

"The games industry continues to boom while other sectors of the economy sputter, according to a new report from the Entertainment Software Association. by Nick Statt @nickstatt November 11, 2014 2:54 PM PST "

"Over the years, I've heard both Windows users and Linux enthusiasts make the claim that professional media production on Linux is impossible. While there may be some workflows so over-engineered that legacy software is a must, I firmly believe that, with effort, using Linux for media production is doable."

"Over the years, I've heard both Windows users and Linux enthusiasts make the claim that professional media production on Linux is impossible. While there may be some workflows so over-engineered that legacy software is a must, I firmly believe that, with effort, using Linux for media production is doable."

"Recently, Lee Brian wrote a great article about her own Linux story in My Dad, Linux and Me. In some of the comments to that article, a discussion of viruses and Linux emerged. While most of the Linux community would agree that viruses are less of an issue in Linux than some other operating systems, there are some people we share files with who are affected by viruses and other malware."

"Recently, Lee Brian wrote a great article about her own Linux story in My Dad, Linux and Me. In some of the comments to that article, a discussion of viruses and Linux emerged. While most of the Linux community would agree that viruses are less of an issue in Linux than some other operating systems, there are some people we share files with who are affected by viruses and other malware."

" Ernesto on June 17, 2015 C: 0 Breaking The MPAA is refusing to hand over documentation discussing the legal case it helped Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood build against Google. According to the Hollywood group, Google is waging a PR war against Hollywood while facilitating and profiting from piracy."

" Ernesto on June 17, 2015 C: 0 Breaking The MPAA is refusing to hand over documentation discussing the legal case it helped Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood build against Google. According to the Hollywood group, Google is waging a PR war against Hollywood while facilitating and profiting from piracy."

While the last decade was focused on the Web, the next phase in the evolution of our industry will be on the convergence of Web, mobile and desktop applications and the ability to extend existing applications with these new technologies for a consistent user experience regardless of how and where the information is viewed,' says Nexaweb CTO Jeremy Chone

I wound up joining this campaign at the urging of the ACLU after checking the Privacy Policy. The Reset the Net campaign seems to be endorsed by a lot of change-oriented groups, from the ACLU to Greenpeac to the Pirate Party. A fair number of groups with a Progressive agenda, but certainly not limited to them. The right answer to that situation is to urge other groups to endorse, not to avoid the campaign. Single-issue coalition-building is all about focusing on an area of agreement rather than worrying about who you are rubbing elbows with.  I have been looking for a a bipartisan group that's tackling government surveillance issues via mass actions but has no corporate sponsors. This might be the one. The reason: Corporate types like Google have no incentive to really butt heads with the government voyeurs. They are themselves engaged in massive surveillance of their users and certainly will not carry the battle for digital privacy over to the private sector. But this *is* a battle over digital privacy and legally defining user privacy rights in the private sector is just as important as cutting back on government surveillance. As we have learned through the Snowden disclosures, what the private internet companies have, the NSA can and does get.  The big internet services successfully pushed in the U.S. for authorization to publish more numbers about how many times they pass private data to the government, but went no farther. They wanted to be able to say they did something, but there's a revolving door of staffers between NSA and the big internet companies and the internet service companies' data is an open book to the NSA.   The big internet services are not champions of their users' privacy. If they were, they would be featuring end-to-end encryption with encryption keys unique to each user and unknown to the companies.  Like some startups in Europe are doing. E.g., the Wuala.com filesync service in Switzerland (first 5 GB of storage free). Compare tha

"This June 5th, I pledge to take strong steps to protect my freedom from government mass surveillance. I expect the services I use to do the same."

I wound up joining this campaign at the urging of the ACLU after checking the Privacy Policy. The Reset the Net campaign seems to be endorsed by a lot of change-oriented groups, from the ACLU to Greenpeac to the Pirate Party. A fair number of groups with a Progressive agenda, but certainly not limited to them. The right answer to that situation is to urge other groups to endorse, not to avoid the campaign. Single-issue coalition-building is all about focusing on an area of agreement rather than worrying about who you are rubbing elbows with.  I have been looking for a a bipartisan group that's tackling government surveillance issues via mass actions but has no corporate sponsors. This might be the one. The reason: Corporate types like Google have no incentive to really butt heads with the government voyeurs. They are themselves engaged in massive surveillance of their users and certainly will not carry the battle for digital privacy over to the private sector. But this *is* a battle over digital privacy and legally defining user privacy rights in the private sector is just as important as cutting back on government surveillance. As we have learned through the Snowden disclosures, what the private internet companies have, the NSA can and does get.  The big internet services successfully pushed in the U.S. for authorization to publish more numbers about how many times they pass private data to the government, but went no farther. They wanted to be able to say they did something, but there's a revolving door of staffers between NSA and the big internet companies and the internet service companies' data is an open book to the NSA.   The big internet services are not champions of their users' privacy. If they were, they would be featuring end-to-end encryption with encryption keys unique to each user and unknown to the companies.  Like some startups in Europe are doing. E.g., the Wuala.com filesync service in Switzerland (first 5 GB of storage free). Com

" Ernesto on October 31, 2014 C: 56 News Disney has just obtained a patent for a search engine that ranks sites based on various "authenticity" factors. One of the goals of the technology is to filter pirated material from search results while boosting the profile of copyright and trademark holders' websites." [# ! #Imagine... # ! ... this kind of '#artifacts' mandatory to the computer # ! manufacturers... [# Additional #WARNING: #Disney to #Decide the "#Authenticity" of web #contents... what's next?]]

" Ernesto on October 31, 2014 C: 56 News Disney has just obtained a patent for a search engine that ranks sites based on various "authenticity" factors. One of the goals of the technology is to filter pirated material from search results while boosting the profile of copyright and trademark holders' websites."

"from the your-promised-broadband-Utopia-never-arrived dept While Title II is the best net neutrality option available in the face of a lumbering broadband duopoly, it still doesn't fix the fact that the vast majority of customers only have the choice of one or two broadband options. It's this lack of competition that not only results in net neutrality violations (as customers can't vote down stupid ISP behavior with their wallet), but the higher prices and abysmal customer service so many of us have come to know and love"

"from the your-promised-broadband-Utopia-never-arrived dept While Title II is the best net neutrality option available in the face of a lumbering broadband duopoly, it still doesn't fix the fact that the vast majority of customers only have the choice of one or two broadband options. It's this lack of competition that not only results in net neutrality violations (as customers can't vote down stupid ISP behavior with their wallet), but the higher prices and abysmal customer service so many of us have come to know and love"

" Ernesto on December 27, 2014 C: 0 News While the Pirate Bay's domain continues to wave a pirate flag, there's no sign of a pending return yet. However, many supporters of the notorious torrent site are keeping its torrents widely available. I"

" Ernesto on December 27, 2014 C: 0 News While the Pirate Bay's domain continues to wave a pirate flag, there's no sign of a pending return yet. However, many supporters of the notorious torrent site are keeping its torrents widely available. I"

"from the mikey-doesn't-like-it dept The cable industry has long pretended that the cord cutting phenomenon either isn't real or that the only people cutting the cord are aging losers living in their parents' basement. Of course when you actually look at the data, while cord cutting remains a slow but growing phenomenon, most of the cord cutters are young, highly educated, employed, and make a good amount of money." [# ! … #Freedom from The #Start: #Good #Move. # ! Notwithstanding '#OldSchool' #manipulators' #criticism…]

"from the mikey-doesn't-like-it dept The cable industry has long pretended that the cord cutting phenomenon either isn't real or that the only people cutting the cord are aging losers living in their parents' basement. Of course when you actually look at the data, while cord cutting remains a slow but growing phenomenon, most of the cord cutters are young, highly educated, employed, and make a good amount of money."

[# ! Por cortesía de vinagreasesino.com a través de Google Alerts 'Linux'] "This test should help you while choosing the best Linux Distribution for you. The test contains several question to find the suitable distribution for you. Please note that the result is only a suggestion." [# ! #choose # ! … #Your #Perfect #FreeSoftware #Match. (# And don't scare about the opening home page written in #German… # ! #English version available, too)]

[# ! Por cortesía de vinagreasesino.com a través de Google Alerts 'Linux'] "This test should help you while choosing the best Linux Distribution for you. The test contains several question to find the suitable distribution for you. Please note that the result is only a suggestion."

The Verint company has very close ties to the Iraeli government. Its former parent company Comverse, was heavily subsidized by Israel and the bulk of its manufacturing and code development was done in Israel. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comverse_Technology "In December 2001, a Fox News report raised the concern that wiretapping equipment provided by Comverse Infosys to the U.S. government for electronic eavesdropping may have been vulnerable, as these systems allegedly had a back door through which the wiretaps could be intercepted by unauthorized parties.[55] Fox News reporter Carl Cameron said there was no reason to believe the Israeli government was implicated, but that "a classified top-secret investigation is underway".[55] A March 2002 story by Le Monde recapped the Fox report and concluded: "Comverse is suspected of having introduced into its systems of the 'catch gates' in order to 'intercept, record and store' these wire-taps. This hardware would render the 'listener' himself 'listened to'."[56] Fox News did not pursue the allegations, and in the years since, there have been no legal or commercial actions of any type taken against Comverse by the FBI or any other branch of the US Government related to data access and security issues. While no real evidence has been presented against Comverse or Verint, the allegations have become a favorite topic of conspiracy theorists.[57] By 2005, the company had $959 million in sales and employed over 5,000 people, of whom about half were located in Israel.[16]" Verint is also the company that got the Dept. of Homeland Security contract to provide and install an electronic and video surveillance system across the entire U.S. border with Mexico.  One need not be much of a conspiracy theorist to have concerns about Verint's likely interactions and data sharing with the NSA and its Israeli equivalent, Unit 8200. 

[... Should a knife manufacturer be held responsible for what happened in the Psycho shower scene? ...] " Andy on June 26, 2014 C: 44 News The fight between a movie studio and an Australian ISP has today taken another odd turn. Village Roadshow's co-CEO now suggests that iiNet must take responsibility for piracy in the same way a car manufacturer apparently would if one of its vehicles killed someone while being driven by a customer. Except they don't, of course."

[... Should a knife manufacturer be held responsible for what happened in the Psycho shower scene? ...] " Andy on June 26, 2014 C: 44 News The fight between a movie studio and an Australian ISP has today taken another odd turn. Village Roadshow's co-CEO now suggests that iiNet must take responsibility for piracy in the same way a car manufacturer apparently would if one of its vehicles killed someone while being driven by a customer. Except they don't, of course."

Watch the second video! This is extraordinary. "New Zealand's Duke Engines has been busy developing and demonstrating excellent results with a bizarre axial engine prototype that completely does away with valves, while delivering excellent power and torque from an engine much smaller, lighter and simpler than the existing technology. We spoke with Duke co-founder John Garvey to find out how the Duke Axial Engine project is going."

" Christian Peukert University of Zurich - Department of Business Administration Jörg Claussen Copenhagen Business School - Department of Innovation and Organizational Economics Tobias Kretschmer Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München - Faculty of Business Administration (Munich School of Management); London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) August 20, 2013 Abstract: In this paper we make use of a quasi-experiment in the market for illegal downloading to study movie box office revenues. Exogenous variation comes from the unexpected shutdown of the popular file hosting platform Megaupload.com on January 19, 2012. The estimation strategy is to compare box office revenues before and after the shutdown, controlling for various factors that potentially explain intertemporal differences. We find that box office revenues of a majority of movies did not increase. While for a mid-range of movies the effect of the shutdown is even negative, only large blockbusters could benefit from the absence of Megaupload. We argue that this is due to social network effects, where online piracy acts as a mechanism to spread information about a good from consumers with low willingness to pay to consumers with high willingness to pay. This information-spreading effect of illegal downloads seems to be especially important for movies with smaller audiences."

" Christian Peukert University of Zurich - Department of Business Administration Jörg Claussen Copenhagen Business School - Department of Innovation and Organizational Economics Tobias Kretschmer Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München - Faculty of Business Administration (Munich School of Management); London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) August 20, 2013 Abstract: In this paper we make use of a quasi-experiment in the market for illegal downloading to study movie box office revenues. Exogenous variation comes from the unexpected shutdown of the popular file hosting platform Megaupload.com on January 19, 2012. The estimation strategy is to compare box office revenues before and after the shutdown, controlling for various factors that potentially explain intertemporal differences. We find that box office revenues of a majority of movies did not increase. While for a mid-range of movies the effect of the shutdown is even negative, only large blockbusters could benefit from the absence of Megaupload. We argue that this is due to social network effects, where online piracy acts as a mechanism to spread information about a good from consumers with low willingness to pay to consumers with high willingness to pay. This information-spreading effect of illegal downloads seems to be especially important for movies with smaller audiences."

Watch for massive class action product defect litigation to be filed against the phone companies.and mobile device manufacturers.  In most U.S. jurisdictions, proof that the vendors/manufacturers  knew of the product defect is not required, only proof of the defect. Also, this is a golden opportunity for anyone who wants to get out of a pricey cellphone contract, since providing a compromised cellphone is a material breach of warranty, whether explicit or implied..   

[# ! Welcome to The #NWO # ! ... and , The #Citizens', caught in '#Their' #Crossfire...] "from the no-more-no-spy dept Techdirt has been following the complicated German reaction to Edward Snowden's revelations about US and UK surveillance of people in that country, whether or not in high places, for some while now. "

"from the no-more-no-spy dept Techdirt has been following the complicated German reaction to Edward Snowden's revelations about US and UK surveillance of people in that country, whether or not in high places, for some while now. "

" Andy on November 12, 2014 C: 0 Breaking Spotify's Daniel Ek has poured fuel onto the raging Taylor Swift controversy. While explaining how less availability of Swift's music will lead some to obtain it without paying, Ek labeled rival Grooveshark a 'pirate' service. Now Grooveshark is biting back by reminding Ek that he was once the CEO of uTorrent. " # ! what a bad memory... # ! ... for not to say #disloyal #competence, # ! ... or morbid envy of others success # ! ... where the first one failed... [# ! Or the fiasco of many so-called legit music services with their limited music supply: a few bucks in royalties will never compensate the broad exposition of artists through 'irregular' sites...]

" Andy on November 12, 2014 C: 0 Breaking Spotify's Daniel Ek has poured fuel onto the raging Taylor Swift controversy. While explaining how less availability of Swift's music will lead some to obtain it without paying, Ek labeled rival Grooveshark a 'pirate' service. Now Grooveshark is biting back by reminding Ek that he was once the CEO of uTorrent. "