Sony using freebies to attract PS3 buyers
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 [...]
Three hacker teams unlock the PSP
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 [...]
Mathematical Analysis Shows Ratios are Bad
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 [...]
RIAA Fights Back, Threatens Open Wi-Fi
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 [...]
The Pirate Bay abandons plans for a sovereign nation
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” when [...]
Viacom gets “JOOST” up P2P style
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 asks FCC to open up cellular networks
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 [...]
Hip-Hop Outlaw (Industry Version)
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 [...]
Music companies target colleges in latest crackdown on illegal downloading
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 [...]
More Than Half of UK Youth Pay to Download Music
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 free downloads, [...]
