WatchingTV Online

Nielsen, Twitter partner on social TV ratings

2012-12-18T07:04:43Z

Nielsen and Twitter are teaming up to provide social television ratings starting next fall. The "Nielsen Twitter TV Rating" will attempt to measure the social interaction of its users around certain television shows.

USA Today via Twitter Blog

Richard O'Dwyer avoids extradition to the US

2012-12-16T07:53:19Z

A British student's two-year fight to avoid extradition to the US ended in less than five minutes on Thursday, when Richard O'Dwyer signed an agreement in a New York court to avoid prosecution and a potential 10-year jail term for breaking copyright laws with the file-sharing website he set up as a teenager. [video]

[via The Guardian]

Virgin launches streaming internet TV service

2012-11-07T20:32:43Z

Virgin Media has launched an internet TV service that streams programmes to computers, tablets and smartphones. The BBC reports.

The TV Anywhere service is available to UK customers but they will need to rent a Tivo set-top box from the company and upgrade if on a basic package.

Read full article.

Kim Dotcom announces Mega, successor to Megaupload

2012-11-01T07:27:41Z

According to The Guardian, Kim Dotcom, founder of the banned Megaupload filesharing site, has announced a new version called Mega designed to sidestep the American laws under which he is being prosecuted for �175m ($282m) worth of alleged online piracy, racketeering and money laundering.

Dotcom on Thursday announced the new online storage service, saying it would give users direct control � and responsibility � over their files. The site has previously been referred to as Megabox in a teaser video.

French anti-P2P agency's funding to fall by 23 percent in 2013

2012-10-25T09:43:47Z

More than a month after a French court convicted its first three-strikes offender under the anti-P2P regime known as Hadopi, the French government will be continuing the controversial program into 2013. And despite a reduced budget, Hadopi will also begin policing pirated video games, in addition to films and music.

The US has been gearing up for the implementation of a similar six-strikes anti-piracy program, due to hit our networks in the coming weeks.

[via arstechnica]

US election debates a hit for YouTube

2012-10-24T06:48:53Z

The presidential and vice presidential debates were a hit for the video sharing website YouTube, which streamed the events live for the first time this year. stuff reports.

YouTube officials say the three debates between President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney and the single debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Paul Ryan had been viewed 24 million times, both live and in playback.

Viewers watched the debates stream live in 215 countries, besting the April 2011 royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton which streamed live in 188 countries.

The first debate between Obama and Romney on October 3 was the most watched of the four on YouTube.

YouTube estimated that half the debate views had been in the US and half from other countries.

Read full article.

The Pirate Bay ditches servers and moves to the cloud to make it almost untouchable

2012-10-17T14:05:36Z

In a move that will almost certainly infuriate copyright authorities and the governments that support them, the world�s most popular Bittorrent sharing website The Pirate Bay has ditched its servers and moved to the cloud, ensuring that it can remain operational at all times. The Next Web reports.

Making an announcement on its official blog, The Pirate Bay details how it dropped static trackers, then ditching torrent files back in January � when it switched to Magnet links. Now, the website has moved its data into the ever expanding network of cloud hosting services, allowing it to switch between various site deployments, should authorities try to take it down or malicious attackers attempt to bring it to its knees.

PredictGaze wants the TV to look at you

2012-10-16T06:54:58Z

TVs that pause programming when you go to the bathroom, iPads that grey out your Facebook feed when you hand over the device to a coworker: PredictGaze wants to use simple webcams to control devices without having you wonder over potential privacy pitfalls. GigaOM reports.

We�ve all been there: You are watching a movie on TV, and it�s time for a bio break, or you want to go to the fridge and grab something yummy. However, the remote control managed to once again disappear between the couch cushions. Mountain View-based vision control startup PredictGaze wants you to leave it there, and simply walk away. A TV with this technology notices right away and simply pause what�s playing.

PredictGaze is part of a new wave of startups that explore the space between facial recognition, gesture control and other types of visual input to help you control devices. One focus of the company has been the control of TV sets and connected devices.

US File Sharers, Get Ready For Copyright Violation Warnings

2012-10-13T13:27:28Z

After a series of delays, the Center for Copyright Information's "six strikes" anti-piracy scheme" has a launch date. Starting on November 28, AT&T, Comcast, Cablevision, Time Warner and Verizon will start sending out warnings to users who download copyrighted material without authorization. But don't quit those Torrent networks just yet. ReadWriteWeb reports.

The CCI is a partnership between the Recording Industry Association of America, Motion Picture Association of America, and the major Internet service providers in the U.S. Under the group's Copyright Alert System, Internet users who download unauthorized material will receive a series of messages explaining that it's illegal to do so and encouraging them to stop.

Initial concerns that the system could lead to users being cut off from the Internet appear to be unfounded. It's really about educating (okay, scaring) people rather than punishing them.

"Alerts will be non-punitive and progressive in nature," reads the CCI's website. "Successive alerts will reinforce the seriousness of the copyright infringement and inform the recipient how to address the activity that is precipitating the alerts.

Kim Dotcom plans Megaupload reboot

2012-10-13T13:18:25Z

In a move bound to provoke US prosecutors and entertainment executives, indicted Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is planning to launch a replacement of his shuttered website and a new online music service by the end of the year, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

... The flamboyant Dotcom confirmed in a brief telephone interview this week that he's almost completed work on "new Mega" and "Megabox" but said he doesn't want to divulge details ahead of a major press launch. However, statements he's made on Twitter and a promotional video paint a picture of what he's planning.

YouTube search, now optimized for time watched

2012-10-12T16:16:59Z

Youtube has started adjusting the ranking of videos in YouTube search to reward engaging videos that keep viewers watching.

According to Youtube Blogspot:

The experimental results of this change have proven positive -- less clicking, more watching. We expect the amount of time viewers spend watching videos from search and across the site to increase. As with previous optimizations to our discovery features, this should benefit your channel if your videos drive more viewing time across YouTube.

[via TheNextWeb]

Netflix settles with deaf-rights group, agrees to caption all videos by 2014

2012-10-11T06:23:57Z

In an agreement that the National Association for the Deaf (NAD) calls "a model for the streaming video industry," Netflix has agreed to caption all of its shows by the year 2014. arstechnica reports.

The online-streaming giant is already captioning 82 percent of its videos, according to the consent decree [PDF] filed in court yesterday. Now, it's bound to finish its entire library, reaching the 90 percent mark in 2013 and 100 percent by 2014.

Read full article.

YouTube expands original programming push to Europe

2012-10-08T06:56:51Z

YouTube is cranking up its original programming effort with an international push that includes new channels in Europe. C/net reports.

The video-sharing site announced this evening it was adding 50 channels on top of the 100 it has introduced in the past year, along with the launch of country-specific channels in France, Germany, and Britain.

"From local cuisine, health and wellness and parenting to sports, music, comedy, animation and news, this new lineup of original channels will have something for everyone," Robert Kyncl, YouTube's global head of content, said in a company blog post this evening announcing the new programs. "They are backed by some of the biggest producers, well-known celebrities and emerging media companies from Europe and the U.S."

Read full article.

MegaUpload users will get their day in court

2012-10-05T06:37:18Z

In January, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia accused MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom and six other company managers of criminal copyright violations, wire fraud, and money laundering. U.S. officials allege that MegaUpload was operated as a criminal enterprise that profited from the copyright violations committed by users. News.com reports.

DotCom and the other defendants have denied wrongdoing and are fighting U.S. attempts to extradite them to this country. The case is shaping up to become one of the Web's most important copyright cases ever and could help form how Web storage lockers are operated.

Since the shutdown of MegaUpload, the company's servers and the files contained within have been stuck in a legal limbo.

Read full article.

Japan introduces piracy penalties for illegal downloads

2012-10-02T06:37:17Z

Japan-based internet users who download copyright infringing files face up to two years in prison or fines of up to two million yen ($25,700; �15,900) after a change to the law. The BBC reports.

Such activity has been illegal since 2010, but until now had not invoked the penalties. It follows a lobbying campaign by country's music industry. The Recording Industry Association of Japan had pushed for the move, suggesting that illegal media downloads outnumbered legal ones by about a factor of 10.

The figure is based on a 2010 study which suggested that people in the country downloaded about 4.36 billion illegally pirated music and video files and 440 million purchased ones that year.

In theory the new download punishments can be enforced if a user is found to have copied a single pirated file.