Two Million People Now Own iPads. But not I

Two million. That's a big, big number, writes Gizmodo and certainly a far cry from the 300,000 Apple sold on the launch day. It's largely helped by the international launch last Friday in the UK, Europe, Canada, Australia and Japan. Read full article.

I checked out the Apple store and the iPad in Geneva on Saturday and again this morning when it was less crowded and though I wanted to, I didn't buy one.

I mainly want an iPad to watch TV series, movies and read books and benefit from the 10 hour battery life and the wonderful lightweight tablet, but this is not possible from Switzerland - yet.

The Swiss iTunes store offers no TV series, no movies and few books (only the classics). And because the iPad does not support Flash, I can't even watch via iPad's Safari, my favorite series on web sharing sites, like I can do on my MacBook.

It's all the more frustrating because Geneva a stone's throw from France, where the French can access their France iTunes store which offers much more.

Switzerland is sadly, the forgotten country of copyright legislation.

Calls for Internet access as a fundamental right

Internet use has become so woven into everyday life that some technology experts say online access should be legally protected, even to the point of considering it a human right, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

According to Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre executive director David Vaile, removing online access would potentially disenfranchise people from society.

Australian copyright provisions allowing ''fair use'' were substantially less forgiving than US laws and threatened consumers here with losing their online access.

... Internet community activist Brett Solomon, the former head of GetUp! and now executive director of AccessNow.org in the US, backed Mr Vaile's call to safeguard online access.

''Access to the internet is both a gateway to other rights and a right unto itself,'' Mr Solomon said, describing it as ''essential to the enjoyment of one's basic human rights''. He said online access was central to freedom of expression. ''Without access … citizens cannot fully participate in modern democracy,'' he said.

Read full article.

Mobile TV's Last Frontier: U.S. and Europe

Free-to-air mobile TV is common just about everywhere except the United States and Europe, where operator resistance, technical standards and licensing hurdles have interfered with the spread of the technology. But that may be about to change, according to one handset maker.

[via The New York Times]

DOJ Inquires Into Apple’s Adobe Flash Policy

The New York Post reports that the U.S. Department of Justice is talking to industry figures about Apple’s decision not to support Adobe Flash on the iPad. An anonymous “Hollywood” source told the Post that the DoJ is “doing outreach” because “the Adobe thing is just inviting the wrath of everybody.”

[via Mashable]

Smokescreen makes Flash content visible on iPhone and iPad

engadget shows a preview release of Chris Smoak's Smokescreen, enabling Flash content to play on Apple's iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad.

Apparently it's slow, but still, it's a start.

Click here to read more and watch demo video.

iPed launched in China

Spotted on Tokyomango, the (Chinese made) iPed, which launched in Japan the day before the iPad.

Ofcom unveils anti-piracy policy

Lists of Britons who infringe copyright are to be drawn up by the UK's biggest ISPs, under proposals from the regulator Ofcom. The BBC reports.

The plan is contained in a draft code of practice it hopes will curb copyright infringement.

Names and the number of times individuals infringe will be logged.

Music firms and movie studios can request details from the list so that they can decide whether to start their own action against serial infringers.

However, any suspected infringers will be sent three warning letters before any action can be taken.

Related:

-- Ofcom. Draft code of practice to reduce online copyright infringement

-- Digital Economy Act: ISPs told to start collecting filesharers' data next year

-- Debate needed on Digital Bill

-- Lords Copyright Change Could Block YouTube

-- Piracy Bill to Coast Broadband users extra $40/year

-- Queen announces Internet Disconnection Bill

'Hurt Locker' downloaders, you've been sued

Producers of Oscar-winning film "The Hurt Locker" have made good on a promise to file copyright lawsuits against people who illegally shared the movie via peer-to-peer networks. News.com reports.

Voltage Pictures, an independent production company, filed a copyright complaint on Monday against 5,000 John Does in federal court in Washington, D.C.

Voltage has asked the court to order anyone who downloaded the movie illegally to destroy all copies of "The Hurt Locker" on their computers and any other electronic device that they may have stored the film.

As for monetary damages, the movie's producers did not ask for a specific figure but want those found to have pilfered the movie to pay actual or statutory damages and cover the costs that went into filing the suits.

Read News.com"> full article.

Previously:

-- TorrentFreak on Hurt Locker's upcoming massive lawsuit against pirates

-- Hurt Locker Producers Take Up Arms Against Pirates

The Doctor Will See You Now. Please Log On.

Advances in video technology and a need to reduce medical costs have made interactive telemedicine a growing business. The New York Times reports.

Spurred by health care trends and technological advances, telemedicine is growing into a mainstream industry. A fifth of Americans live in places where primary care physicians are scarce, according to government statistics. That need is converging with advances that include lower costs for video-conferencing equipment, more high-speed communications links by satellite, and greater ability to work securely and dependably over the Internet.

... Face-to-face telemedicine technology can be as elaborate as a high-definition video system, like Cisco’s, that can cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Or it can be as simple as the Webcams available on many laptops.

Read full article.

Vodka Eyeballing fad spreads on YouTube

The things teenagers do. And this one is scary. According to 9News Now, the latest disturbing fad on youtube is young people pouring vodka into their eyes to get a quick buzz.

Susan Ippolito, a Springfield mom of two, says, "It's something you wouldn't think you'd have to tell your kids, 'don't put alcohol in your eyeball.'"

Vodka is 70% alcohol. It gets absorbed quickly into the body through the eye and sinus cavity giving them a quick high, says Washington optometrist Dr. Stephen Glasser. He worries young people will see the videos and do it themselves, risking permanent damage to their eyes.

Read full article. The fad has spread to England too, according to The Daily Mail.

Twitter Emerging as Online Video Power Broker

According to Mashable, stats by video measurement company TubeMogul show that Twitter is quickly growing as a top referrer for web video traffic, far outpacing Facebook, Yahoo, Google and Bing.

iTee: T-shirt for iPad

After pants for iPad, here comes T-shirt for iPad.

[via Techeblog]

Get a Mac campaign tribute

Apple has officially concluded their "Get a Mac" campaign with a mashup. Click here for a trip down memory lane.

[via Gizmodo]

YouTube Preview of New CBS Twitter Sitcom

CBS has released a preview of their new Fall show $#*! My Dad Says staring William Shatner that is based on the popular Twitter account @shitmydadsays.

It's viewable here for Americans. Geo-blocked for the rest of the world.

[via LaughingSquid]

Previously: - Twitter gets a sticom on CBS

PayPal Wants to Be in Your TV, Your Cell Phone, Your DVD Player and Your Car

PayPal doesn’t just want to be in your mobile phone, or behind the transfer of virtual goods in social networks such as Facebook, where it’s one of the options for the new Facebook Credit payment system, according to President Scott Thompson, in an interview with Mathew Ingram for GigaOM.

He told me during an interview in Toronto recently that he sees the company becoming the default payment engine for your television, your car, your DVD player and even your fridge. Thompson also said that the online payment business is exploding with new competitors in a way he has never seen before, but that PayPal is confident it can retain its edge as more and more transactions move online.

Read full article.

Schmidt Says Google TV Ads Will Be a Cash Machine

Television may have been around for half a century or so, but Eric Schmidt thinks Google TV can one-up regular television — at least when it comes to advertising. Why? Because it can target ads the same way Google does online, and thus make them more relevant and more valuable to advertisers.

[via GigaOM]

Logitech's Google TV companion box includes smartphone apps

Logitech in the wake of the Google TV launch has provided in-depth details of how its own companion box will work. The unnamed device is actually based on the Harmony 900 remote and simply bridges that out to other devices, including phones. Both Android and iPhone OS will get apps that control both Google TV and the other home theater devices in the room, whether they're Blu-ray players, DVRs or game consoles.

[via ipodnn via engadget]

Pakistan Lifts YouTube Ban, Maintains Facebook Ban

The Pakistani government lifted a ban on video-sharing website YouTube after the company took down "blasphemous" footage but retained a temporary ban on social-networking site Facebook imposed earlier this week, the country's telecommunications regulator said Thursday.

[via The Wall Street Journal]

Google launches Google TV

[via boingboing]

Pakistan blocks access to YouTube in internet crackdown

Pakistan blocks YouTube, a day after barring access to Facebook in a row over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

[via the BBC]

Google's plan for viewing Web content on TV due today

Get ready for Google on TV, writes USA Today.

Today, the search giant is expected to announce a new way of watching Web contenton televisions, via a Google operating system of sorts, at a conference in San Francisco.

Google is expected to be working with a host of partners including Sony, which will have the Google channels as part of new TVs in stores either this year or next. Google and Sony declined comment.

Read full article.

Omar's coming to the University of York

The Wire, a cult US television series about the fight against crime in Baltimore will be studied at the University of York from this autumn as part of its sociology degree, according to The Telegraph.

The 10-week module, thought to be the first of its kind in the Britain, will be offered to all final year students.

Titled The Wire as Social Science Fiction?, it will use the HBO series to look at topics including class, race, political process and the city.

The lecturer behind the course believes the popular show could challenge traditional methods of teaching and presenting social science.

Read full article.

YouTube hits 2 bn daily downloads

YouTube said it now gets over two billion hits daily - nearly double the number of people who tune into the US's three prime time TV stations combined.

The news comes as the site celebrates the day five years ago when the first beta version of YouTube was launched.

[via the BBC]

TorrentFreak on Hurt Locker's upcoming massive lawsuit against pirates

As reported earlier, producers of Oscar-winning movie Hurt Locker have joined a very lucrative ‘pay up or else’ scheme that will target tens of thousands of U.S. BitTorrent users.

Here's TorrenFreak's take on the massive lawsuit.

Although U.S. Copyright Group say it is their intent to sue individuals who do not pay, in reality that eventuality is impossible to maintain on any scale. Their aim will be to scare as many people as possible into paying, perhaps backed up with legal action against a tiny minority to prove a point.

... The ‘pay up or else’ scheme is not only lucrative for the rights holders, who get only 30 percent of the settlement money. The remaining 70 percent goes to the U.S Copyright Group and its anti-piracy partners.

In the UK House of Lords they have been labeled a scam, and the lawyers operating them accused of “harassment, bullying and intrusion” and “legal blackmail.” We expect that the U.S. equivalent will also meet great opposition.

Read full article.

Related: - Hurt Locker Producers Take Up Arms Against Pirates

Apple Unveils New iPad Commercial

[via Mashable]

Germans To Get Fined For Not Securing Wi-Fi Networks

If you live in Germany you can get fined for not password-protecting your Wi-Fi network. Gizmodo reports via MSNBC.

Germany's top criminal court ruled Wednesday that you're responsible for anyone who takes advantage of your Internet connection to pirate files or cause other troubles.

"Private users are obligated to check whether their wireless connection is adequately secured to the danger of unauthorized third parties abusing it to commit copyright violation," the court said.

Read full article.

Half of YouTube’s Traffic Comes From Old Videos

Interesting, half of YouTube’s traffic comes from videos that have been on the site for six months or longer.

[via NewTeeVee]

Producers of "The Hurt Locker" to sue tens of thousands of BitTorrent users who pirated the film

According to The Hollywood Reporter, producers of the Oscar-winning "The Hurt Locker" are preparing a massive lawsuit against tens of thousands of individuals of BitTorrent users who pirated the film online. The case could be filed as soon as Thursday.

[via Gizmodo]

YouTube gets useful 'unlisted' video option

YouTube is now offering a third level of privacy for users to implement on their videos, one that makes it easier to share clips privately without actually having to set the video to private. News.com reports.

The new "unlisted" option lets anyone with a link to the video watch it, however it won't show up in YouTube's search results, channels pages, or on user profiles. And unlike YouTube's current private video option, the user who created unlisted video doesn't need to set up permissions for who can watch his or her video, just like the watcher does not need to be registered with YouTube to watch it. Instead, all the viewer needs is the URL.

Read full article.

Showtime to Launch TV Everywhere Site

Showtime is working on its own TV Everywhere play with a website that will offer subscribers online access to its programming, according to a report from Bloomberg via The New York Times.