piracy

Did Sinking Pirate Bay Cause More Piracy? And Does It Matter Anyway?

Kit Eaton — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:19:59 -0500

Pro-copyright activists celebrated while file-sharers cried at rulings on the Pirate Bay's illegality, and the subsequent attempts to sink the site. But some new data suggests piracy sites tripled in the aftermath, which really doesn't sound good.

Billy Bragg's Copyright Reform Push Gains New Web Site

Kit Eaton — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:56:28 -0400

Singer/songwriter/activist Billy Bragg's just launched a new effort to try to push for a reform of copyright laws: a Web site that acts as a forum for conversations between artists and fans. It's being dubbed the Net's first and only artists-to-fans-to-artists blog.

People and Powers-That-Be Disagree on Broadband

Kit Eaton — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:54:47 -0400

Net neutrality: Like it or loathe it, you can't deny it's a hot topic at the moment.

Who Cares About iPhone App Piracy?

Chris Dannen — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:42:55 -0400

In the old software world, torrent sites and other piracy dens were the publisher's nemesis. But these days, few iPhone app developers spend much time thinking about piracy, even though it's very much a reality in markets worldwide.

IFPI Appoints 'Anti-Piracy Czar' To Police High Seas of File-Sharing

Clay Dillow — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:23:30 -0400

The recording industry, or at least the disjointed array of labels, trade groups, and intellectual property authorities that represent it, has had little success in curbing music piracy on the Web.

MP3s Drive the Music Biz Into Multiple Personality Spin

Kit Eaton — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:06:47 -0400

Ah, the music biz--source of fun for the masses, and craziness for businesspeople. We all know about the first part of that, but the second bit's been highlighted by some odd news this week, hinging on MP3s.

International Talk Like A Pirate Day

Clay Dillow — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:11:34 -0400

Ahoy, me hearties! While most acceptable guidelines for magazine writing style may condemn opening a paragraph thusly, today all standards for proper English may be set aside, for it's International Talk Like Pirate Day.

Why Would Anyone Pay for a YouTube Flick?

Chris Dannen — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:26:16 -0400

Last night, news leaked that YouTube was in talks with major movie studios like Lions Gate, Sony, MGM, and Time Warner to begin renting movies as soon as they were available on DVD. The full-length films would be available for rent for as little as $3.00, and would compete directly with Netflix's "instant" movie streaming, Amazon's VOD, Hulu, and iTunes movie rentals.

Pirate Bay Not Dead After All

Chris Dannen — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:12:15 -0400

Just two days ago it seemed as if former torrent network the Pirate Bay was going to be scuttled forever, as deals for its acquisition fell apart and its users held a hacking vigil in remembrance. But now it appears that that the company involved in the potential acquisition, Global Gaming Factory X, may indeed make the sale go through.

As Pirate Bay Sinks, Cyber-Attacks Mourn It

Chris Dannen — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:23:38 -0400

The popular peer-to-peer torrent network Pirate Bay will not go quietly. That's the message of deliberate attacks on the Pirate Bay's Internet service provider, perpetrated today as the company attempted to comply with a Swedish court's demand that the site be scuttled.

Acquisition of the Pirate Bay Collapses

Chris Dannen — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:43:45 -0400

Hackers and Web nerds worldwide were distressed when torrent search engine The Pirate Bay announced last month that it had be sold into a legitimate channel of business. A company called Global Gaming Factory had a plan that would raise funds to pay off copyright holders and salvage the brand as a Napster-like pay-for-media site.

Disney CEO Hints at Online Movie Store. Why It's a Wonderful World of Wrong

Kit Eaton — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:20:11 -0400

Disney's CEO Bob Iger let something interesting slip yesterday: Disney might be planning a subscription-based Web site offering movies, TV shows, and games. It looks like Disney, once a staunch DRM advocate, might really embrace the Web.

Pirate Bay Pulls a Napster: Sells for $8 Million

Kit Eaton — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:57:36 -0400

Just like Napster, the music sharing site that was sold in the midst of its legal woes, Pirate Bay has just been bought by Global Gaming Factory for $7.8 million. So while its creators still face jail time, the Bay's about to go semi-legit.

Tweeters Buy More Music--Twitter's Halo Effect?

Kit Eaton — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:18:58 -0400

Users of Twitter buy more music than people who don't Twitter, according to a new study released from NPD Group. This seems to be a classic halo-effect, but is it actually being caused by Twitter?

Opera 10 Is Going to Piss Off Some Very Important People

Chris Dannen — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:49:02 -0400

On the spectrum of menacing devices, the lowly server falls somewhere between a toaster and... an evil toaster. Which is to say that most people don't think the "clouds" that store so much of their email and files as being either good or bad. But the folks at Opera, makers of an eponymous Web browser with approximately 2% marketshare, would like you to believe they're bad. At first blush, this makes them sound crazy. They are not.

Pirate Party Wins a Seat on E.U. Parliament

Kit Eaton — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:46:13 -0400

Europeans have been busy choosing new members of the European Parliament, and the Swedes have pulled off a surprising maneuver: They've elected a member of the Pirate Party. For the anti-copyright movement, it's a huge coup.

Napster Returns as Best Buy's Streaming Music Muscle [Updated]

Kit Eaton — Mon, 18 May 2009 06:12:01 -0400

Napster, the original file-sharing site that set the digital music world into a tailspin, is making yet another phoenix-like return to life from the ashes of its former self. This time it's as a music streaming site, and it's got Best Buy's muscle behind it.

RIAA Still Suing Individuals, While E.U. Lightens Three Strikes Rule

Kit Eaton — Thu, 07 May 2009 08:32:46 -0400

Piracy and copyright issues are still troubling the world, and recent news about the RIAA, and the European Union's copyright laws highlight this fact. The RIAA is reportedly still suing people when it said it wouldn't, and in Europe they're stamping on an overly-protective French Three Strikes law.

Four Convicted in Pirate Bay Trial

Chris Dannen — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:42:41 -0400

The music industry won a major victory against copyright infringement today with the conviction of the four men behind the Pirate Bay, a file-swapping service with over 20 million members. The men were sentenced in a Swedish court to serve one year in prison, and pay $3.6 million in damages to a group of entertainment companies including Warner Bros., Sony Music, Columbia, and EMI.

Torrent Site Fights Legal Action with 'Chewbacca Defense'

Chris Dannen — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:55:11 -0500

Yesterday was the third installment of the Pirate Bay Trial in Stockholm, Sweden, that has pitted a popular file-sharing site against media companies claiming copyright infringement. Fresh off yesterday's minor victory, when half the charges brought by the prosecution were dropped, counsel for the four men behind the site used something that Pirate Bay users are calling the "King Kong Defense" to press for acquittal.

YouTube Monty Python Videos Boost DVD Sales 23,000%

Kit Eaton — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 09:36:59 -0500

And now for something completely fantastic: The trick of making Monty Python videos available for free online has boosted DVD sales of the comedy sketch show. If you compare DVD sales figures on Amazon before and after the creation of the Monty Python YouTube channel, the boost apparently tallies in at around 23,000%.

Late last year the Python team, fed up by the tens of thousands of clips illegally uploaded to YouTube by fans, took an unusual step. Here's the offical Monty Python clip explaining what they did and why:

RIAA To Stop Suing Individuals For Music Piracy

Kit Eaton — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:47:18 -0500

'Tis the season traditionally associated with goodwill, but I'm not sure I could've predicted this piece of good news: the Recording Industry Association of America is going to stop suing individuals for music piracy.

There are 35,000 actions against individuals in the murky legal history of the RIAA, and it has created an equally murky public opinion of an industry now seen to be bullying, money-grabbing and lagging behind technological developments.

Buy Vista … or else!

Guy Smith — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:33:25 -0500

A smart(ass) marketing professionals can find opportunity in adverse situations. So in an effort to atone for my occasional (perpetual) jabs at Microsoft and Vista, I offer the following observations of two bad realities that Microsoft can leverage for future success.

iTunes Store Gets Radiohead (Finally)

Chris Dannen — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:41:50 -0400

In a small but significant announcement out of Cupertino today, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced that the band Radiohead will finally be available via the iTunes music store, complete with a la carte pricing. Radiohead made international tech news when it decided to release its last album, In Rainbows, on its website on January 1, 2008, asking buyers to donate whatever price they saw fit before downloading.

Steal This Idea

Kermit Pattison — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:30:10 -0400