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Stephen Fry slams industry consensus on P2P piracy
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English comedian, writer and Twitter-holic Stephen Fry has admitted to illegally downloading his old mate Hugh Laurie's latest TV series, while criticising the computing industry's consensus on P2P piracy. Speaking at an Apple iTunes Live event at Camden's roundhouse over the weekend, Fry criticised the 'three strikes and your out' style approach of demonising (and attempting to sue) individuals for illegally sharing copyrighted material online. Fry is of the opinion that fining individuals for downloading material for their personal consumption (not for commercial gain) is "the stupidest thing the recording industry can do" and that the law should look at those illegally ...
BBC announces 'Digital Revolution' documentary
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BBC Two is to mark the 20th anniversary of the world wide web by producing a groundbreaking 'open source' documentary in association with web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee. The project is currently being referred to as "Digital Revolution", and is described as an "ambitious new project that will explore the profound impact of [Berners-Lee's] seminal invention on almost every facet of our lives." What does sound potentially "ground-breaking" is the fact that the producers are employing an "open source approach" to the production process, giving "web users early access to programme content by making their rushes available online and sharing some of their key arguments, inviting ...
Exclusive: Spotify: 'We are better than piracy'
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According to a recent survey, the number of teens illegally downloading music and sharing it online has fallen since 2007, with the increasing popular music streaming service Spotify claiming a large part of the responsibility for the decrease in online piracy. The Music Ally report says that, as of January 2009, 17 percent of web users said they regularly downloaded music from illegal file-sharing sources online, down from 22 percent in December 2007. The drop in the percentage of the teen demographic illegally downloading MP3s is most notable - 26 percent of 14-18 year olds admitting to illegal downloading in January 2009, down from 42 percent in December 2007. ...
Google Maps' My Location comes to PCs
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Google has announced it has brought the My Location feature, found on Google Maps, to the desktop. Previously only available through smartphones, My Location shows approximately where you are on Google Maps in the form of a blue circle. While the idea that you can see where you are on a static computer is a it of a 'meh' one, the service will come into its own for those who use My Location on the go on their laptops. Blue button "When you visit Google Maps with a supported web browser, you'll see a new My Location button in the top left corner of the map," explains Steve Block, Software Engineer and Noam Ben Haim, Product Manager on the Google ...
Wikipedia slapped with National Portrait Gallery copyright order
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A developer for the Wikimedia Foundation has been given a copyright infringement notice by the National Portrait Gallery, regarding images of paintings uploaded to Wikipedia. As with most of Wikimedia's doings, the notice has been made public for all to see, and it makes for wince-inducing reading. Essentially, the notice is addressed to Wikimedia developer Derrick Coetzee and asks for all images of paintings that are in the National Portrait Gallery be taken off of Wikipedia by 20 July or further action will be taken. Unsurprisingly, Coetzee is consulting his lawyer about what to do next, but if the images are taken down it will be a blow for the not-for-profit ...
