Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories, downloads, and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about.
As you probably know by now, the entertainment industry is still busy trying to sue The Pirate Bay out of existence. If they get what they want and The Pirate Bay closes down, their big piracy problem will not suddenly melt away. It may in fact continue to flourish, with or without The Pirate Bay.
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) has decided that they want to try and catch software pirates red handed. If you purchased software from on an online auction site, such as eBay, you might be eligible for a $500 reward if the software is pirated! Here's how it works:
When it comes to Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) Microsoft is doing two things that almost counteract each other. First off Microsoft is easing up on the "Reduced Functionality Mode" for those users who don't pass the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) test. As of right now if you don't pass WGA Vista will disable premium features such as Aero Glass, ReadyBoost, games, and BitLocker.
Stopping piraters from downloading movies illegally is at the very top of the MPAA's task list. Given that, they have gone to some great lengths to enforce their zero tolerance policy, and an exclusive article over at Wired today points this out. The article starts out "Promises of Hollywood fame and fortune persuaded a young hacker to betray former associates in the BitTorrent scene to Tinseltown's anti-piracy lobby." This situation involving Robert Anderson is just one of many examples of what the MPAA is doing to try and stop piracy, but does it really do them any good?
MediaDefender is a popular company who's goal is to thwart illegal file, music, and movie sharing. Their 60 employees and 2,000 servers are used to post fake files (that appear to be real) on the file sharing networks, and they can load corrupt data into the files being downloaded on the Kazaa network.
Microsoft is doing all they can to stop people from pirating their software, especially students.
While Wal-Mart may have entered the digital music scene a little late and didn’t really come in with a bang, they’re proving that they can compete with the competition, namely iTunes. Their recent announcement that they will be selling DRM-free music at $0.94 per song is proof of this.
Wouldn’t it be nice to get some free music downloads with no strings attached? That’s something many of us long for, and it’s the same thing that the RIAA despises. One of the places where I can download free music is a site that one of my friends told me about, and it’s called PureVolume.
Anyone that has been using BitTorrent for several years undoubtedly knows, or used, the SuprNova.org site. It was a BitTorrent tracker much like what The Pirate Bay is today, and before shutting SuprNova down in December 2004 it was bringing in some 1.5 million visitors per day.
A Zero Tolerance policy means zero tolerance, and unfortunately for one 19 year old girl, that policy could land her in jail for a year. The story goes like this: Jhannet Sejas was out with her boyfriend to celebrate her birthday. They took a video camera along to record memories of their day at the mall, and then headed to the theater to see Transformers.
Mods chips are the focal point of recent raids here in the U.S. by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to an announcement issued by ICE, over 32 warrants were issued, and homes and businesses were raided in 16 different states.
Can you figure out which disc above is a counterfeit copy of Windows Vista? Most people probably wouldn’t be able to tell which is why software piracy is an increasing problem for both the people looking to purchase applications as well as the companies developing the software.
It is well-known that the RIAA aggressively files lawsuits when they feel they have evidence that someone is pirating music. Back in February we reported that a 16 year old boy from New York was being sued by the RIAA for piracy, and decided to fight back. He’s not alone in his fight anymore becasuse a woman from Beaverton, Oregon is also fighting back.
Okay, so maybe Google isn’t exactly an advocate for video piracy, but they don’t seem to be taking the drastic measures needed to keep copyrighted videos off of their service. The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) posted an article criticizing Google’s effort (or lack thereof) for stopping copyrighted videos from appearing on the Google Video site. They pointed out that:
Economist.com recently posted about the current state of piracy around the world according to the Business Software Alliance, which is a trade body. As you can imagine, it’s really not too good.
The Pirate Bay made an official announcement today that there is still something big coming, and it isn’t related to the Playble.com! Instead, the new site will be a video streaming site comparable to what YouTube, Google Video, and MetaCafe all offer:
The Pirate Bay has been surprisingly quiet lately compared to the hype that they got last year from the police raid. It looks like they want to turn the tables back in their favor by launching two new things that are sure to make your hairs stand up on end.
We already know about the RIAA’s list of shame for top piracy schools, but it looks like the MPAA is following right along with their own list, naming the top 25 schools where students are violating copyright laws.
As Microsoft continues their battle with Piracy, they have disclosed that one in five, or 22% of Windows installations are not genuine.
