Month: December 2016

Laut Verdi sollen die Streikenden über Stunden die Anlieferung verhindert haben. Eine schottische Zeitung berichtet über Lagerarbeiter bei Amazon, die im Wald in der Nähe des Standortes Dunfermline zelten. (Amazon, Verdi)

For those who’ve keenly followed the past five weekly episodes of the BBC’s Planet Earth II series, it’s been a magical experience. In a world obsessed with the monotony of reality TV, Sunday nights in the UK have rarely been so awe-inspiring.

But while UK license-payers have been enjoying early access to the show, those elsewhere will have to wait for the show’s appearance on regular TV. The United States, for example, must wait until January 2017 to experience its wonders on BBC America. Unless they have access to the Internet, of course.

Ever since the first episode’s debut on BBC, each installment of the series has been uploaded to torrent and streaming sites after airing. However, more than a week ago someone obtained a copy of the series on Blu-ray and uploaded every episode to the Internet, including the season finale “Cities” which airs tonight.

As can be seen from the image below, one of the copies was sourced from an official Blu-ray disc before its official release, produced and distributed by BBC Worldwide.

The hand-written label suggests that the copy might have been destined for semi-private Russian tracker HD Club, although it’s possible more copies were available elsewhere.

While an early leak of an episode of Game of Thrones, for example, would have made worldwide headlines, the leak of Planet Earth II before its finale has been more low key. However, behind the scenes the BBC has been furiously trying to protect the show.

Since November 7, the day after the first episode aired, US-based anti-piracy company MarkMonitor has been regularly sending notices to Google which target many thousands of copies of the show on hundreds of file-sharing sites.

Up until the last day of November these notices targeted only copies of shows that had already aired, but following the leak of the Blu-ray (which contains the season finale), things got more serious. The first takedown send to Google in December targeted nearly 400 URLs, a tiny sample of which can be seen below.

A handful of the takedowns sent to Google

On December 2, another 485 URLs were hit by the BBC, 562 two days later, and a further 456 the day after that, adding to the many thousands already sent.

TorrentFreak spoke with BBC Worldwide to find out more about their efforts to keep Planet Earth’s finale fresh but perhaps understandably they didn’t want to say too much.

“Piracy is illegal wherever and whenever it happens – before or after a programme is broadcast,” Dan Phelan, BBC Worldwide’s Head of Communications, told TorrentFreak.

“We take it seriously whatever the source and will work hard to get it taken down.”

But while the BBC are unquestionably doing just that, once again there appears to be an issue with pirates fulfilling unmet demand. Planet Earth II won’t get released on TV in the states until January 28, 2017, which considering the massive buzz around the show online, undoubtedly means that some will choose to pirate instead.

An image from Planet Earth II’s “Cities” finale

Of course, there are many avenues to do that (such as torrents and illicit streaming) but some are taking a third approach.

In common with all big shows on the BBC, Planet Earth II appears on the corporation’s iPlayer service, both live and in catch-up form after airing. The iPlayer tries to keep foreign users out but in reality, the use of VPNs and even some easily installed browser plug-ins can easily circumvent the measures in place.

The Planet Earth II finale “Cities” will air on BBC1 at 8pm tonight. For those looking for a more permanent keepsake, the Blu-ray is also now officially on sale.

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

Interesting thing that has caught my attention last weekend is this new lightsaber from Wicked lasers. It’s really a “light saber” minus the zapping sounds and the company is calling it as “LaserSaber”. Wicked Lasers Lasersaber is selling for $99.95, which is kind of a low cost light saber that you can purchase. What’s cool […]

Einmal die gesamte Erde verwalten. Diese Utopie durften Spieler 1993 tatsächlich ausleben in Syndicate, dem Echtzeit-Strategiespiel mit hohem Actionanteil aus dem Hause Bullfrog unter der Federführung von Peter Molyneux. (Golem retro_, Peter Molyneux)

From YouTube's warning to the music industry to a new threat facing cinema chains, read the news roundup for the week ending December 11, 2016

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Four months ago Polish law enforcement officers arrested Artem Vaulin, the alleged founder of KickassTorrents, who’s been held in a local prison since.

Polish authorities acted on a criminal complaint from the U.S. Government, which accused him of criminal copyright infringement and money laundering.

Over the past few weeks, Vaulin has been fighting a U.S. extradition request. However, facing serious back problems, he was recently transferred to a hospital for treatment and further research.

Initially, the court ruled that the health problems weren’t serious enough, but the prison director later decided that his facility doesn’t have the means for adequate treatment

According to defense attorney Aleksander Emil Kowzan, Vaulin’s back problems are severe. He further notes that several of the upcoming extradition hearings are postponed for now.

“The hearings that were scheduled for the coming days are canceled. Due to the state of his health, our client can not be transported to court,” Vaulin’s lawyer told the Polish press agency.

“Doctors have no doubt that surgery is necessary. What’s more, there is a slight paralysis, loss of sensation in the lower limb,” he added.

The defense team has asked an expert to determine whether their client is fit enough to take part in future hearings of his case. If not, they must look for alternative solutions. One thought that was raised is to hold the hearings at the hospital.

Despite his health problems, Polish authorities are keeping a close eye on the alleged KickassTorrent owner. Vaulin is continuously guarded by four officers, two outside and two inside his room.

This is a violation of his rights, according to the defense team, who plan to file a complaint with the ombudsman. The fact that the alleged KickassTorrent operator is cuffed to his bed at night is particularly worrying.

“Mr. Vaulin is under constant supervision of four officers – two in the room and two in the front hall. At night, when there are no doctors, there is – in our opinion – a shameful situation. He is handcuffed to the bed.”

“This is strongly opposed by the doctors, who explained that this might cause nerve damage,” Vaulin’s lawyer added.

Over the past months, Vaulin’s lawyers have pointed out several human rights violations. In addition to the current situation, he was also unable to meet with his U.S. counsel to prepare his defense.

For now, Vaulin remains at the hospital. Previously, the court prolonged his custody until mid-February, but if the case is delayed there could be a further extension.

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

The Kodak Ektra is a smartphone that looks more like a camera than a phone from the back, thanks to the large lens, the camera-style grip, and the classic camera-like fake leather finish.

Under the hood, the phone has the guts of an upper mid-range Android smartphone… including what seems to be a decent, but hardly unique camera.

First unveiled in October, the Kodak Ektra is now up for order in Germany for €499 (about $527).

Continue reading Kodak Ektra camera-centric phone is goes on sale (in Germany) at Liliputing.

Bei langen Flugzeugreisen oder im Ausland läuft Super Mario Run nur mit Hindernissen: Nintendo hat wenige Tage vor der Veröffentlichung des Games für iOS bekanntgegeben, dass das Spiel immer eine aktive Onlineverbindung zu den Servern des Herstellers benötigt. (Super Mario Run, Apple)