Piracy

Tue
27
Feb
Dennis Faas's picture

New Software Makes it Easy to Identify Online Media Piracy

As software and technology expand to make sharing digital content on the web easier than ever before, the flipside of the coin is that many media companies are losing control over the disbursement of their copyrighted material. This is especially ... true in terms of copyrighted content illegally shared on popular web portals, such as YouTube.com. In the fierce fight for copyright protection, a company based in California has put together content-recognition software, which makes it possible to identify copyright material -- even if the sounds and images are slightly distorted or blurry. (Source ... (view more)

Fri
22
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

Microsoft, Vista, and Staying Ahead of Piracy

Microsoft created quite a stir earlier this year when they launched the Windows Genuine Advantage , a program designed to root out the piracy of the company's software. It wasn't so much a "launching" as a sneaky installation, however, as Microsoft ... offered the snitch-like WGA without really telling users exactly what it was they were downloading. The fallout of such questionable business practice landed MS in hot water for some time, and it's only now emerging from that stigma with the highly anticipated launch of Vista. But, can Microsoft stay a step ahead of the pirates in this next ... (view more)

Fri
17
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

Microsoft To Snuff Pirated Vista Software

Microsoft announced Wednesday that pirated versions of it's Vista operating system (OS) will be of "limited value" to anyone who has received a copy of the company's newest version of Windows. The new OS is said to have integrated anti-counterfeit ... technology, which disables the pirated versions from being used. (Source: pcworld.com) The software giant's announcement comes as a reaction to earlier reports that the key code to "crack" Vista's activation process was posted on peer-to-peer networks, Usenet groups and BitTorrent download sites. (Source: informationweek.com) Although Microsoft is " ... (view more)

Thu
09
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

MySpace to Virtually Fingerprint Audio Pirates

Representatives from MySpace.com have announced the creation of a system that will prevent users from uploading copyright music onto their personal sites. The system known as "audio fingerprinting" intends to protect the rights of all recording and ... independent artists. (Source: dailycamera.com ) MySpace.com hopes to review all music files uploaded through a database known as Gracenote Inc. Members who repeatedly attempt to upload copyright music files will be permanently removed from the site and relieved of all privileges. (Source: technology.canoe.ca ) Recently, sites typically driven by ... (view more)

Thu
02
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

The Newest Force Against Internet Piracy: The Boy Scouts?!

Young Boy Scouts all over Los Angeles now have a new reason to put on their uniforms, pull up their knee-high socks, line up their merit badges, and fill up their cookie boxes. That's because the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has just ... joined forces with the Los Angeles Area Boy Scouts. Pitching a tent, starting a fire, crusading against Internet movie piracy -- it's all in a day's work for the Scouts. Here are a few excerpts from the official MPAA curriculum distributed to the Scouts: "Identify five types of copyrighted works (two may be your own). For each, give the author/ ... (view more)

Wed
02
Aug
Dennis Faas's picture

Microsoft Shopping for Pirates

It seems Microsoft is nabbing software pirates the old fashioned way. Despite its much-publicized release of the anti-piracy program WGA ( Windows Genuine Advantage ), Microsoft has successfully nabbed 26 software pirates through "secret shopping." ... Secret shopping is the practice of sending a company representative -- dressed like the average citizen -- into retail businesses in the hopes of nabbing shoplifters, or in this case software pirates. Microsoft actually purchased random software and then tested its legitimacy. The Redmond-based company also used its "rat" phone line -- 1- ... (view more)

Thu
20
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

British Courts Order ISPs to Reveal Accounts of 59 Music Pirates

Despite very liberal views on sex, drugs, and drinking age, Europe is becoming a conservative force in rooting out peer-to-peer (p2p) file sharing. Just weeks after Spain made it a civil offense for individuals to download music and a criminal ... offense for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to allow it, the British music industry is now demanding that two ISPs give up the names of 59 accounts. Although Spain remains the more aggressive of the two countries in weeding out file sharers, Britain's corporate community is forming its own strong-arm policy in making illegal music downloads a thing of ... (view more)

Sat
29
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

How Piracy Helps Microsoft Make Billions

Microsoft estimates it lost $14 billion last year to software piracy. The loss may prove to be the most profitable sales never made. Although the world's largest software producer spends millions every year to combat illegal reproduction of its ... products, piracy helps the company to establish itself in emerging markets and fend off threats from free open-source programs. (Source: LAtimes.com ) The sharing of pirated copies establishes Microsoft products as the software standard. As the economy grows, people and companies begin buying legitimate versions, and they usually buy Microsoft because ... (view more)

Thu
27
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Microsoft Fights Piracy with PopUp Notifications

Is Microsoft spying on you? The Redmond-based company will soon release a major update to their 'Windows Genuine Advantage' (WGA) program. The update will include an alert mechanism that informs users if they are using a pirated copy of Windows ... software. 1 Once installed, the Windows Genuine Advantage program beams popup notifications directly to the desktop. The notification will continue to pop up until your computer is running genuine Microsoft Windows. When you receive this message, you are left with the following two options: 1. You can click Resolve now to start the Get genuine Windows ... (view more)

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