Posted 07/29/08 at 08:50:03 AM by Chris Moody
You have to love the spin doctors. No not the band, the group of people that are try to put a certain angle on a viewpoint. Specifically the MPAA’s latest claim that The Dark Knight had such a smash opening weekend was because of their efforts against piracy. It couldn’t possibly be because the movie was actually good, could it?
TechDirt.com points out that the MPAA would have us ignore the awesome reviews, that the movie was available in IMAX (which you can't replicate at home), or that the movie was available online right after it was released in their claims.
In the LA Times article that spawned this debate, the MPAA’s argument cites the original Hulk movie. They argue that a rough, early version of the movie by Ang Lee made its way to the internet about two weeks before the film's scheduled premiere which provoked negative reactions from the comic-book’s devoted fans.
Make the jump to see what else the article had to say.

Posted 07/13/08 at 12:36:40 AM by Justin Kerr

Making copies of protected DVD media is complicated process conducted over dark fiber and only by the hacker elite, or is it? A new survey conducted by Futuresource Consulting shows that in reality, more than one in three US & UK residents have owned up to making copies of content they didn’t own. These numbers are up sharply from the one in four self proclaimed pirates surveyed during the previous year. The results tell the true story of what keeps Hollywood executives up at night. Is the movie industry doomed to suffer the same collapse facing music labels?
Click the jump to find out.
Posted 06/27/08 at 10:14:31 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Piracy is a global pandemic which is taking heavy toll across various industries. The music entertainment industry being one of them, the mere mention of piracy to a musician should elicit a morbid facial expression. But English R&B singer Joss Stone doesn’t flinch at the mention of piracy. She recently told an interviewee that she thinks piracy is brilliant. She perceives piracy as a wonderful way of sharing music.
"Yeah, I love it. I think it's brilliant,” Stone proclaimed. She further said that it doesn’t matter to her how people listen to her music “as long as you hear it.”
Stone comes across as an intellectual and philosophical artist and not as the archetypical entertainer – the ilk that frequents rehabs even when not on an addiction. Having given her a bit of credit for her rosy-eyed perspective, no philosophy can vindicate piracy.
Posted 06/27/08 at 03:31:27 PM by Paul Lilly
In a recent interview, Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli blasted the PC industry as "the most intensely pirated market ever." By his own estimation, Yerli believes the sales-to-piracy ratio could be as high as 1 to 20, or in other words, for every videogame legitmately sold, 20 more are illegally downloaded or copied.
Yerli also critiqued certain aspects of Crysis. Click through the jump to see what he had to say, and what to expect differently from Crysis Warhead.
Posted 06/24/08 at 02:25:56 PM by Mark Pengelski
Starting in January 2009, French users bittorrenting the latest film or music from singer Carla Bruni can get the guillotine -- from the Internet at least. That's the plan approved by the French presidential cabinet last week. It goes to a vote in the French Parliament later this year.
Under the 'three strikes plan', individuals who do not cease their illegal downloads after 2 (very official) warnings will be have their broadband service disconnected for 1 year. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said "There's no reason that the internet should be a lawless zone."
Posted 05/07/08 at 10:17:32 PM by <a href="/david_murphy">David Murphy<br /></a>
Comcast's proposed Internet cap of 250GB per month runs contrary to its pay-for-performance speed enhancements. And if you think that's shocking, just wait until you see the overage fees!
Posted 04/25/08 at 04:56:10 PM by One4yu2c
CompUSA rises from the dead, Microsoft notes increase in piracy, find out why Iron Man's suit isn't ready for prime time (No way?! Way!), and more!
Posted 10/26/07 at 10:45:31 PM by Mark Soper
Vista's activation DRM may shut you down for 'too many' hardware changes, even if you changed drivers, not hardware. Here's how to avoid getting nailed - and some advice for Microsoft.





