Adult video-sharing list leaked from law firm

According to the BBC, personal details of thousands of Sky broadband customers have been leaked on to the internet, alongside a list of pornographic movies they are alleged to have shared online.

The list, seen by BBC News, details the full names and addresses of over 5,300 people thought by law firm ACS:Law to be illegally sharing adult films.

It appeared online following an attack on the ACS:Law website.

Related: - Email leak being investigated at law firm that pursues filesharers

Judge denies 'Hurt Locker' subpoenas

A federal magistrate judge in South Dakota has denied an attempt by the producers of the Oscar-winning film "The Hurt Locker" to obtain the identities of 143 accused illegal file sharers from their Internet service provider. CNet reports.

The judge's decision last week however likely means only a temporary delay for Voltage Pictures, the independent studio which made "The Hurt Locker."

Read full article.

Previously:

-- Here come the "Hurt Locker" file sharing subpoenas

-- Is your IP address on the "Hurt Locker" hit list?

-- "Hurt Locker" file sharers ordered to pay $1,500

-- Hurt Locker downloaders, you've been sued

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

-- Hurt Locker Producers Take Up Arms Against Pirates

Community’s Season 2 Premiere to Be Preceded by Live “Twittersode” Experiment

For the second season of Community premiere last Thursday NBC tested its luck with a Twitter experiment called a “Twittersode”. Using faux Twitter feeds for the show’s characters, a scene was acted out consisting of 80 tweets in all.

[Slashfilm via Mobile Behavior Blog]

Porn industry going after file sharers

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the porn has copyright concerns too and the industry is going after file sharers.

Porn DVD super store Pink Visual is rallying dozens of adult entertainment studio operators at an unprecedented Content Protection Retreat in Arizona in October to train in ways to combat piracy and defend intellectual property.

Read full article.

Time Machine Takes You Through History via YouTube

YouTube Time Machine (YTTM) - by Justin Johnson and Delbert Shoopman III, not by YouTube - arranges thousands of YouTube videos on a categorized timeline for easy browsing of history highlights in genres like current events, sports, movies, music, and more.

[via Lifehacker]

In This War, Movie Studios Are Siding With Your Couch

Armed with new copy-blocking technology, studios want to offer new movies on video-on-demand only about 45 days after they arrive in theaters, at a premium price of $24.99 - instead of after 120 days for $4.99.

[via The New York Times]

Another Smart Copyright Ruling In Spain: Google Not Liable For User Upload

Just a few weeks after a German court ruled that YouTube was somehow responsible for copyright infringement done by users, a Spanish court has ruled in the exact opposite manner. Techdirt reports.

Basically, the court properly recognized that Google is the tool that is used, and that it should not be responsible for the infringing behavior of its users. The court also properly notes that YouTube makes it easy (I'd argue, perhaps too easy) to remove content that a copyright holder believes is infringing. This is, of course, similar to the US Viacom ruling.

Read full article.

Supreme Court could take its first RIAA file-sharing case

The US Supreme Court is weighing in on the first RIAA file sharing case to reach its docket, requesting that the music labels’ litigation arm respond to a case testing the so-called “innocent infringer” defense to copyright infringement. arstechnica reports.

The case pending before the justices concerns a federal appeals court’s February decision ordering a university student to pay the Recording Industry Association of America $27,750—or $750 a track—for file-sharing 37 songs when she was a 14 year-old high school cheerleader.

The appeals court decision reversed a Texas federal judge who, after concluding the youngster was an innocent infringer, ordered defendant Whitney Harper to pay $7,400—or $200 per song. That’s an amount well below the standard $750 fine required under the Copyright act.

Harper is among the estimated 20,000 individuals the RIAA has sued for file-sharing music. The RIAA has decried Harper as “vexatious,” because of her relentless legal jockeying.

Read full article.

"A stab in the back": Europe tackles online piracy

The internal traitor envisioned here is a French MEP, Marielle Gallo, the "rapporteur" who lead the drafting of a resolution regarding piracy. arstechnica reports.

The "Gallo report," as the document is known, was drafted earlier this year, passed the JURI legal affairs committee over the summer, and today came up for a full plenary vote in Parliament. Despite the best efforts of opposition groups, the resolution passed 328-245.

The Gallo report is a pretty vague document that calls on ISPs and others to use "additional non-legislative measures" to address copyright infringement online. Zimmermann sees this as a move to privatize copyright infringement and take cases away from the judiciary—a gutting of the rule of law.

Read full article.

Mad Men. The Daily Beast eulogy of Miss Blankenship

Don't miss The Daily Beast eulogy of Miss Blankenship and The LA Times Show Tracker interview of Randee Heller.

Activists target recording industry websites

Piracy activists have carried out coordinated attacks on websites owned by the music and film industry. The BBC reports.

The assault temporarily knocked the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) offline.

The attacks were declared on notorious message-board 4chan and were reportedly in retaliation for anti-piracy efforts against file-sharing websites.

The group has declared it will continue to target other sites.

Read full article.

Code That Tracks Users’ Browsing Prompts Lawsuits

The New York Times reports onthe growing number of consumers who are taking legal action against companies that track computer users’ activity on the Internet.

At issue is a little-known piece of computer code placed on hard drives by the Flash program from Adobe when users watch videos on popular Web sites like YouTube and Hulu.

The technology, so-called Flash cookies, is bringing an increasing number of federal lawsuits against media and technology companies and growing criticism from some privacy advocates who say the software may also allow the companies to create detailed profiles of consumers without their knowledge.

Unlike other so-called HTML cookies, which store Web site preferences and can be managed by changing privacy settings in a Web browser, Flash cookies are stored in a separate directory that many users are

Read full article.

The Creative Process Illustrated - on YouTube: Documentary Video Series

The Art Directors Club and YouTube announced the launch of the "The Creative Process Illustrated - on YouTube," a new series of documentary video shorts in which top agency creatives and marketers provide a rare behind-the-scenes look at how great online work is made. [via Dexigner]

The documentary series examines the tangible aspects of the creative process, bringing it to life in the words of leading creatives in the field.

The films will be premiered at a free Advertising Week event on Tuesday, September 28 from 7:00-9:00 pm at the ADC Gallery in New York.

After the premiere, the films will posted on YouTube Show & Tell.

Read full article.

Credit Suisse Anticipates Pay TV Decline, Rise of Streaming Services

Credit Suisse has downgraded a number of media company stocks, including those from Disney, Time Warner, Viacom, and News Corp. over concerns that cable and satellite--"pay TV"--subscriber numbers will drop as we see a rise in more affordable streaming services from Apple, Google, and Netflix. [iva Ubergizmo]

According to the investment house, as more users ditch their pay TV subscriptions in favor of Web-based offerings, subscription fees to cable and satellite companies will be slashed, prompting those companies to reduce their fees to networks and Hollywood studios.

Read full article.

CreditReport.com Launches YouTube Channel

CreditReport.com ,has announced the release of a series of humourous YouTube videos that are part of the company's effort to educate consumers about their personal credit scores and help them take control, manage and improve their credit or be alerted if they are potential victims of identity theft.

[Market Wire press release]

Apple Said to Negotiate With Publishers Over Digital Newsstand

According to Bloomberg, Apple Inc. is developing a digital newsstand for publishers that would let them sell magazines and newspapers to consumers for use on Apple devices, said two people familiar with the matter.

The newsstand, designed particularly for the iPad, would be similar to Apple’s iBook store for electronic books, said the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations are private. The newsstand would be separate from Apple’s App Store, where people can buy some publications now, they said.

Read full article.

Extreme Netflix: Some Users Have Rated 50,000 Movies

Netflix has released some statistics about its users, showing that more than one percent of its customer base has rated 5,000 shows or more, and a few hundred users have rated over 50,000. A reporter for The Atlantic tracked down a few of those extreme users to find out why they do it. Read on.

[via slashdot]

Justin.tv Releases iPhone Streaming App

In 2007, Justin Kan, a San Francisco developer, decided he would start documenting every moment of his life and stream it to a Web site for anyone to watch. Bits reports.

Those who were interested could see Mr. Kan wandering around, going to board meetings, eating lunch and engaging in other mundane, and sometimes unpleasant, activities. After a few months of the experiment, he turned the project into Justin.tv, a Web site that makes it possible to stream yourself to viewers over the Web.

Now Justin.tv is trying to encourage its users to begin streaming more content from their mobile phones. And to enable this, the company announced on Thursday the release of a free downloadable application for the iPhone.

Read full article.

Google TV to offer “tens of thousands” of apps

Google TV is to support the company’s Android Market application store early next year, the company announced this week, reports Wireless Duniya.

Google TV will be switched on in the US in the next few weeks, followed by a worldwide rollout from 2011, and the company wants to integrate its application store into the offering.

Soon we will be bringing tens of thousands of the same applications you can get on your mobile phone to your TV,” revealed Google TV product marketing manager Brittany Bohnet. “We are going to be launching support for Android Market in early 2011. TV, the full Web, tens of thousands of applications. Google TV gives you access to more entertainment than any other living room device you have ever experienced.”

Read full article.

iPad App Listens To Your TV, Provides Additional Content

PSFK reports on a new iPad app released by ABC that syncs with their new TV show, My Generation, to provide real time content on the tablet device.

By listening to the audio coming out of the TV, the iPad app, with the help of Nielsen, is able to identify where the viewer is within each episode and provide additional content.

Behind the scenes and interactive media will then be pushed to the tablet as viewers watch TV.

Bridalplasty reality show. Crossing a wedding competition with extreme plastic surgery

In one of the most shocking reality TV ideas yet, E! has ordered a new series that crosses a wedding competition with extreme plastic surgery. The network is set to announce "Bridalplasty," where brides-to-be compete in wedding-themed challenges to win extensive surgical procedures. [via The Hollywood Reporter]

What's wrong with you E! To all involved watch and feel ashamed.

[via tvtattle]

Pigeon beats broadband in great data race

Is your broadband faster than a pigeon? That was the question being posed by business broadband ISP, Timico, in a race between arcane communications and the UK's data network. PCPro reports.

In an event that was part publicity stunt, part campaign for rural broadband, the race organisers planned to see which method could transfer a 200MB video file more quickly - a pigeon flying about 70 miles from Beverley to Skegness or the supposed broadband connection of a friendly Beverley farmer uploading the file to YouTube.

The result? A little bird tells us the pigeon triumphed, completing the journey in an hour and 15 minutes.

The upload, which had to be restarted once after it hung, was 24% complete when the pigeon arrived in his loft.

Read full article.

Previously:

-- SA pigeon 'faster than broadband' - In 2004, A Durban IT company pitted an 11-month-old bird armed with a 4GB memory stick against the ADSL service from the country's biggest web firm, Telkom. Winston the pigeon took two hours to carry the data 60 miles - in the same time the ADSL had sent 4% of the data.

Forget tweets and status updates, here’s a new way to socialize online

Smartplanet on Qlipso, a multi-user social environment for checking out content together. You can watch the same video with friends, talk to each other by voice or text chat, represent yourself by a 3-D animated avatar or webcam, invite friends, share it with your social network.

With the purchase this year of Veoh, a free website for watching TV and video clips, the creators of the content-sharing platform Qlipso got to test this hypothesis on more than 10,000 users a day: that interactions with media last longer when shared with friends.

Read full article.

Apple to introduce wireless printing for iPad

Apple said Wednesday it is releasing a beta version of its AirPrint wireless printing for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch to members of Apple's iOS developer program. The program will also be included in the free iOS 4.2 software update in November.

"AirPrint automatically finds printers on local networks and can print text, photos and graphics to them wirelessly over Wi-Fi without the need to install drivers or download software," said Apple in a statement.

[via MarketWatch]

Why is TV so superior than movies nowadays?

New York Times film critic A.O. Scott points out that TV has become daring and topical as films have become conservative and cautious.

"Look back over the past decade," he says. "How many films have approached the moral complexity and sociological density of 'The Sopranos' or 'The Wire'? Engaged recent American history with the verve and insight of 'Mad Men'? Turned indeterminacy and ambiguity into high entertainment with the conviction of “Lost'? Addressed modern families with the sharp humor and sly warmth of 'Modern Family'? Look at 'Glee,' and then try to think of any big-screen teen comedy or musical — or, for that matter, movie set in Ohio — that manages to be so madly satirical with so little mean-spiritedness."

[via tvtattle]

Related: TV series and characters - why the appeal

YouTube begins live streaming test

Monday and Tuesday, YouTube will be testing live video. If it works, YouTube hopes to have much more live video in the future.

YouTube will add live video to channels from four of its partners: Howcast, Rocketboom, Next New Networks and Young Hollywood. When users go to their channel pages, they will see live videos being broadcast, alongside the usual archived video selections.

Read full article in USA Today.

Mad Men Casting Call Contest

Banana Republic has joined up with Mad Men to launch a Mad Men Casting Call which started in July.

Contestants have to register at a Banana Republic retail store and retrieve a code which will enable them to enter the contest and post their picture online.

Visitors to the website are invited to vote for their favorite male and female submssion through September 17. The favorite will win a walk-on role on the popular series.

First ever iPad premiere for Warner’s Nikita

At a secret launch of Nikita last night in London, CW's new action show Danny Wallace appeared and told the assembled journalists that this was the first ever iPad première of a TV show.

Nikita will air in the UK in October.

[via BeehiveCity]

How an Anti-Piracy Firm Became Banned In Its Own Country

A notorious Switzerland-based anti-piracy tracking company called Logistep has to stop harvesting the IP addresses of citizens using P2P networks. The Swiss High Court ruled that IP addresses constitute personal information and when Logistep collected them without the owner’s knowledge, that amounted to a breach of privacy laws.

Read full story in TorrentFreak.

Apple relents on Flash-derived iPhone, iPad apps

Four and a half months after an Apple license change led Adobe Systems to scrap a project to bring Flash-derived applications to the iPhone, Apple has reversed the ban, according to CNet.com.

Apple undid license restrictions for software developed for iOS devices on Thursday, saying it was taking developer feedback to heart. "We are relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code," Apple said in a statement.

Read full article and Statement by Apple on App Store Review Guidelines.