Month: May 2016

Die Swisscom gibt trotz leicht sinkendem Umsatz mehr für den Netzausbau aus. Mehr Haushalte und Geschäfte bekommen Glasfaser. Fast ein Drittel aller Schweizer Haushalte hat FTTH. (Glasfaser, Internet)

Bisher hat Dell zugekaufte Unternehmen meist ins Unternehmen integriert. Auf der EMC World hat Firmenchef Michael Dell angekündigt, dass es mit EMC anders laufen wird. Damit soll vor allem Hewlett Packard Enterprise einen ernstzunehmenden Konkurrenten bekommen. (EMC, Dell)

With The Pirate Bay no longer the world’s most popular torrent site, attentions are increasingly turning to KickassTorrents (KAT).

Currently the most visited torrent index on the planet, KAT is also one of the most-blocked sites on the Internet and the focus of legal action in increasing numbers of countries. With cases pending as far away as Australia, the latest European addition to the list is Finland.

A decision just handed down by the Market Court, a specialist venue hearing IP, competition and market law disputes, compels a total of seven Internet service providers to begin blocking KAT. They include the three largest providers DNA, Elisa and TeliaSonera Finland plus Anvia, Kaisanet, Lounea and MPY Palvelut.

The decision follows June 2015 amendments to copyright law that allow sites which are run by people who conceal their identities and are “clearly” set up to infringe copyright to be blocked at the ISP level.

But despite the important ruling, rightsholders are disappointed that the mechanism of blocking requested in the original application has been diluted by the Court. Although ISPs will be expected to block KickassTorrents’ URLs there will be no obligation to block the site’s IP addresses.

“Unfortunately the Market Court granted the rightsholders behind the initial application a considerably more limited blocking order, which in the rightsholders’ view will make the blocking partially ineffective,” says Jaana Pihkala, Executive Director at the Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Center (CIAPC).

CIAPC says it will take time to consider the decision and may in time seek an opinion from the Supreme Court.

Once the KAT blockade is put in place it’s expected that users of the site will either try to circumvent the ban with VPNs and/or proxies or will simply migrate to other sites. That will likely trigger more applications to the court in which rightsholders will seek to block even more domains. As the UK example shows, that is likely to descend into a seemingly never-ending game of whac-a-mole.

The Pirate Bay is already blocked in Finland following a process that dates back to May 2011 when the Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Center (CIAPC) and music industry group IFPI filed a lawsuit at the District Court.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Nach über anderthalb Jahren erstattet Apple einem Käufer von 500 Bildungsversionen der App Air Display 2 den vollen Kaufpreis - ohne Wissen und zulasten des Entwicklers Dave Howell. Offenbar ist das kein Einzelfall. (Apple, Softwareentwicklung)

Hulu's head of content acquisitions has admitted to using piracy data in deciding what content the streaming company will purchase.

Hulu's Lisa Holme says piracy data often points to which shows people are really passionate about. "They are passionate enough about it to break the law," says Holmes.

These are the shows that Holme says Hulu would be interested in licensing, as she believes that many of these users would gladly pay if things are made easier, and more affordable, for them.

Netflix has already admitted to using piracy data to determine which country they planned to expand to next and at what price, so Hulu's admissions are not too surprising.

Piracy tracking and intelligence firm MUSO says this type of use of piracy data is now the norm.

"Rights owners are starting to use piracy insights effectively to help support their digital strategy, and we’re seeing huge benefit now across the TV and live broadcast industry in particular, which has such geographic-specific rights," says MUSO's Chief Commercial Officer Christopher Elkins.

"For us, it's incredibly encouraging to see the creative ways the content industry are using data to ultimately serve a better experience for audiences," added Elkins.

Sämtliche 21 Helden treten im offenen Betatest auf den zwölf Maps der finalen Fassung von Overwatch an: Vorbesteller können ab sofort spielen, ab Donnerstag lässt Blizzard dann alle Interessierten auf Konsole und Windows-PC um den Sieg ballern. (Overwatch, Playstation 4)

Auf der EMC World hat das Speicherunternehmen eine neue Plattform vorgestellt. Unity ist für EMC der Beginn reiner Flash-Lösungen für Anwendungen, die viel Speicherplatz brauchen. Es wird aber auch eine Hybridversion auf den Markt gebracht, die den Preis halbiert. (EMC, Dell)

Tim Cook ist wie immer begeistert von Apple, auch wenn im vergangenen Quartal Umsatz, Gewinn und iPhone-Absatz gesunken sind. Einzig zur Apple Watch räumt er ein, noch in der Lernphase zu sein. (Apple, Börse)

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