The success of Google Inc served as a “wake-up call” for Microsoft Corp. to the financial power of Web advertising, Microsoft’s chief technologist said on Tuesday. Google’s success forced the company to consider advertising as a new revenue stream beyond its traditional licensing and subscription model, Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie said at a [...]

ISO hunt as an interesting results display up that lists the recent top search queries made at the venerable BitTorrent tracker site. It’s always curious to see what other people are searching for when it comes to downloading content via BitTorrent, and ISO Hunt’s top search query list is no exception. The list details the [...]

First in a series of ZP “How To” guides that will teach you how to find TV programming to watch on-demand or via BitTorrent download so that you can watch your favorite TV shows whenever you like. With the ever increasing amount of TV shows available to watch on TV, it has become even tougher [...]

Earlier on Monday we had decided to ignore the stories about EMI bailing out on supposed talks to sell unprotected MP3s as well as the story about BitTorrent launching a ridiculous "authorized" movie download site that even the folks at BitTorrent seem to recognize is guaranteed to fail thanks to the inclusion of DRM. However, [...]

After months and months of hype, curiosity, wonder, and just about every other emotion possible under the sun, BitTorrent Inc opens its movie download service for business. Offering more than 5,000 titles, from digital movies, TV shows, games, Japanese anime, and other media, the BitTorrent Entertainment Network (BEN) aims to succeed in finally making its [...]

Video 9 is a free video conversion program that allows users to convert video files for playback on either the Nintendo Wii or Sony’s Playstation 3. For those of you looking to get the most of your fancy new Wii or PS3, Video 9 offers a free video conversion program that allows you to convert [...]

It is hardly news that for years now the American motion picture industry has been in a slow downward spiral. Though by some accounts attendance was slightly up in 2006 over the previous year, the box-office tracking firm Exhibitors Relations reported that attendance actually declined yet again, reaching its lowest point in 10 years. And [...]

As the mastermind of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is sitting on a potential gold mine that could make him the next Silicon Valley whiz kid to strike it rich. But the 22-year-old founder of the Internet’s No. 2 social-networking site also could become the next poster boy for missed opportunities if he waits too long to [...]

Earlier this month it was widely reported that EMI was indeed ready to cast DRM into the dark abyss and earn the company the honorable status of being the first major music label to realize that DRM alienates honest customers. As it turns out, the company is indeed open to the possibility of ditching DRM, [...]

Virgin Chairman Sir Richard Branson is not known for the gift of understatement. So when he announces a new platform for online video game delivery, he does it in typical Branson style, saying that it will "do for PC games what iTunes has done for music." Also, it will replicate Second Life. The new service [...]

Sony is handing out freebies to buyers of its PlayStation 3 as its hefty price appears to be scaring away shoppers. The latest giveaway will take place in Australia, where the gaming console launches March 23. The first 20,000 buyers will receive a copy of the James Bond movie “Casino Royale.” Free downloads of the [...]

Computer hackers have scored a victory in their battle against Sony and the way the company controls its PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld games console. Sony sells its PSP with built-in software, known as firmware, which controls how the console operates. The firmware locks many of the PSP’s capabilities, preventing enthusiasts from writing their own programs, [...]

In the file-sharing community, balance is everything. If everyone contributes, the system works, and everyone is happy. Community generosity leads to high-speed transfers and high availability. But not everyone is generous. Some people are downright grinchy when it comes to sharing. And that really pisses people off. So people make private communities to keep out [...]

Debbie Foster was sued by RIAA member company Capitol Records for allegedly sharing copyrighted material on a P2P file sharing network.  However, the alleged infringement was apparently committed by someone else with access to her ISP account.  Foster had the case dismissed last summer, and as reported by Listening Post earlier this month, was awarded [...]

The world’s most famous BitTorrent pirates decide to drop anchor in their home country of Sweden, saying the whole affair was really for them to be able to “look on Google Maps and find ourselves there”. It was January 9th of last month that The Pirate Bay fired the proverbial “shot heard around the world” [...]

In a slap to the face of YouTube, Viacom said it plans to soon deliver free films and television shows through Joost, the global on-demand broadband television service from the creators of KaZaA and Skype. After failing to reach a deal with YouTube, Viacom found a partner that was more than eager to satisfy its [...]

Skype yesterday petitioned the FCC to lay the smack down on wireless phone carriers who "limit subscribers’ right to run software communications applications of their choosing" (read: Skype software). Skype wants the agency to more stringently apply the famous 1968 Carterfone decision that allowed consumers to hook any device up to the phone network, so [...]

Late in the afternoon of Jan 16, a SWAT team from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, backed up by officers from the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office and the local police department, along with a few drug-sniffing dogs, burst into a unmarked recording studio on a short, quiet street in an industrial neighborhood near the Georgia [...]

Cracking down on college students, the music industry is sending thousands more complaints to top universities this school year than it did last year as it targets music illegally downloaded over campus computer networks. A few schools, including Ohio and Purdue universities, already have received more than 1,000 complaints accusing individual students since last fall [...]

Many UK kids are keeping to the straight and narrow when downloading music. Over half pay for music downloads, according to a new study by Q Research. Although 45% pay nothing, almost a third spend up to £5 a month and 3% spend £25 or more a month. Younger respondents were the heaviest users of [...]