Pirate Bay Founder Aims to Disrupt Online Advertising Industry

After disrupting the entertainment industry with The Pirate Bay, Peter Sunde now hopes to do the same with the advertisement business. Today, Sunde’s micropayment service Flattr teamed up with Adblock Plus, offering publishers a way to get paid without having to show annoying ads.

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

flatabpWhen the Pirate Bay launched over a decade ago the entertainment industry was blown away by the pirates’ utter disrespect for copyright.

The site’s founders argued that people have the right to watch what they want whenever they please, and in a way this attitude acted as a catalyst for many of the legal services we have today.

Fast forward a few years and another industry is facing massive pushback from the Internet.

Growing tired with a constant stream of invasive and annoying ads on many websites, millions of people are now using ad-blockers to clean up their web-browsing experience.

This has led to frustration among publishers and advertising companies who somehow feel that they are entitled to dictate what people get to see. Some even go as far as equating it to “piracy,” as ad blockers take away ad-views and thus income for publishers and ad-vendors.

However, like the entertainment industry before them, advertisers and publishers can’t complain their way back to the pre-adblock era. They should interpret the rise of adblocking as an important signal and adapt their businesses accordingly.

And this is where a familiar name comes in.

Today, Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde announces that his micropayment service Flattr is teaming up with Adblock Plus. Their new service, Flattr Plus, allows publishers to generate revenue directly from readers instead of forcing ads upon them.

Flattr Plus is built on the existing micropayment platform that was launched in 2010. Through a new browser add-on it allows users to automatically share money with website owners when an ad is blocked.

“For us it’s super important to show that we’re not generation free, but generation sustainability. I think Flattr has been that way all the time and it’s obvious that Adblock Plus has kind of also been thinking about a good open web,” Sunde informs TorrentFreak.

Those who equate ad blocking to piracy should move on, and try to come up with better monetization models themselves. Advertising on the Internet is not sustainable in its current form, at least not for everyone.

“I think it’s funny how people compare that to piracy – especially since I have been part of that discussion for forever,” Sunde says.

“The media industry seems to think everything is piracy. Then again, it’s hard for them to complain about Flattr Plus, because it contains a solution for exactly the thing they’re complaining about and haven’t fixed themselves,” he adds.

That said, Sunde sees some parallels between Flattr Plus and The Pirate Bay. Both are about sharing information, but this time the creators are compensated.

“Flattr is for me just an extension to the same thinking that I’ve had with The Pirate Bay – information needs to be spread, we need to share information but we also need to fix that missing link of supporting people. And now, finally, we’ll have the user base size to fix that!”

Whether the partnership between Flattr and Adblock Plus will be as disruptive as The Pirate Bay has yet to be seen, but it will certainly cause some waves.

Announcing Flattr Plus

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

Dealmaster: Get a Core i7-powered Dell Inspiron 3000 desktop for $559

Plus deals on iPads, laptops, smart TVs, and more.

Greetings, Arsians! Courtesy of our partners at TechBargains, we have a number of great deals to share with you today. First and foremost, we have a deal on a powerful Core i7-powered desktop: now you can get the Dell Inspiron 3000 PC with 16GB of RAM and a 2TB HDD for just $559. That's a steal of a price, especially for a desktop with a good amount of memory and storage to carry you through nearly any task. Now's the time to upgrade if you've been thinking about getting a new desktop.

Check out the rest of the deals we have on tablets, notebooks, smart TVs, and more below.

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Deals of the Day (5-3-2016)

The second-gen Intel Compute Stick features an Intel Atom x5-Z8300 Cherry Trail processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, 802.11ac WiFi, USB 3.0, and a microSD card slot.
Launched earlier this year, I found that the new model offers a slight speed boost …

Deals of the Day (5-3-2016)

The second-gen Intel Compute Stick features an Intel Atom x5-Z8300 Cherry Trail processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, 802.11ac WiFi, USB 3.0, and a microSD card slot.

Launched earlier this year, I found that the new model offers a slight speed boost over the 2015 model. More importantly, it offers significantly better WiFi performance and has two full-sized USB ports, which makes it easier to use without a hub or Bluetooth accessories.

Continue reading Deals of the Day (5-3-2016) at Liliputing.

Arkane Studios: Dishonored 2 erscheint im November 2016

Ohne großen Vorlauf hat Bethesda den Erscheinungstermin von Dishonored 2 bekanntgegeben. In dem Action-Schleich-Rollenspiel steuert man wahlweise einen Leibwächter oder eine junge Kaiserin. (Dishonored, Rollenspiel)

Ohne großen Vorlauf hat Bethesda den Erscheinungstermin von Dishonored 2 bekanntgegeben. In dem Action-Schleich-Rollenspiel steuert man wahlweise einen Leibwächter oder eine junge Kaiserin. (Dishonored, Rollenspiel)

OpenSSL-Update: Die Rückkehr des Padding-Orakels

Die jüngste Version von OpenSSL behebt eine kritische Sicherheitslücke: eine Neuauflage des sogenannten Padding-Oracle-Angriffs. Mehrere ältere Bugs ermöglichen außerdem zusammen eine Memory-Corrpution-Lücke. (OpenSSL, Technologie)

Die jüngste Version von OpenSSL behebt eine kritische Sicherheitslücke: eine Neuauflage des sogenannten Padding-Oracle-Angriffs. Mehrere ältere Bugs ermöglichen außerdem zusammen eine Memory-Corrpution-Lücke. (OpenSSL, Technologie)

Stellenabbau: Mobilfunkentwicklung bei Nokia Stuttgart soll schließen

Die Nokia-Konzernführung will in Stuttgart die komplette Mobilfunkentwicklung schließen, als Teil des konzernweiten Stellenabbaus. In dieser Woche wird bundesweit protestiert. (Telekommunikation, Nokia)

Die Nokia-Konzernführung will in Stuttgart die komplette Mobilfunkentwicklung schließen, als Teil des konzernweiten Stellenabbaus. In dieser Woche wird bundesweit protestiert. (Telekommunikation, Nokia)

Trump: Before going to Mars, America needs to fix its economy

Likely Republican nominee favors more partnerships between NASA and private space.

Donald Trump hasn't spoken much about space on the campaign trail, but his campaign did provide some answers to a technical space organization, AIAA. (credit: DonaldJTrump.com)

US space policy has been anything but a prominent issue in the 2016 presidential election, falling far behind domestic and foreign policy issues, not to mention normal campaign antics like name-calling. Yet NASA consumes about 0.5 percent of the federal budget and about 2 percent of federal discretionary spending. Therefore, while NASA may not come up much during the campaign, the agency may nonetheless see big changes under a new president who reassesses how the government is spending its money.

Unfortunately we don't have much detail about what the likely Democratic and Republican nominees for president will do in terms of space policy. There have been a few passing references on the campaign trail. For example, Hillary Clinton said she "really, really" does support the space program. And Donald Trump, in response to a question about NASA's plan to go to Mars, said, “I love NASA” and “Space is terrific.” However, he then added, “Right now, we have bigger problems. You understand that? We’ve got to fix our potholes.”

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics understandably sought deeper insight than this, and so it sent a list of 10 questions to Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side, and Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich on the Republican side. Only Sanders and Trump replied substantively to the questions, and because Sanders appears unlikely to be the Democratic nominee, we will focus on Trump's comments.

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HTC 10: Update soll Schärfe bei Fotos verbessern

Einer der Kritikpunkte im Golem.de-Test des neuen HTC 10 soll mit einem Update zum Verkaufsstart beseitigt sein: Die knapp 85 MByte große Aktualisierung sorgt laut HTC für schärfere Fotos und eine verbesserte WLAN-Verbindung. (HTC 10, Smartphone)

Einer der Kritikpunkte im Golem.de-Test des neuen HTC 10 soll mit einem Update zum Verkaufsstart beseitigt sein: Die knapp 85 MByte große Aktualisierung sorgt laut HTC für schärfere Fotos und eine verbesserte WLAN-Verbindung. (HTC 10, Smartphone)

Self-driving minivan reportedly coming from Fiat Chrysler and Google [Update: It’s official]

Google’s new round of self-driving prototypes will be ready for soccer practice.

The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica in all its glory. (credit: Chrysler)

A report from Bloomberg claims that we'll soon see a self-driving car deal between Google and Fiat Chrysler. The two companies are reportedly teaming up for a new round of self-driving car prototypes using a minivan, the Chrysler Pacifica.

The report describes the Pacifica as "the first phase of a joint project" to create self-driving cars. Fiat Chrysler would equip the Pacifica with Google's autonomous tech "starting this year." Bloomberg says the deal would not be exclusive for either company, allowing both to pursue other partners.

If the report turns out to be true, going with minivans would be an interesting choice. Google's newest self-driving prototype is a tiny two-seater the company designed itself. The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica is a comparatively giant vehicle that seats seven people. Google's self-driving fleet also contains several Lexus RX450Hs and Toyota Priuses, making the Pacifica the company's largest autonomous car. We were really hoping for a Fiat 500 mod, as it looks like a close cousin of Google's custom cars.

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PocketCHIP $49 handheld computer begins shipping this month

PocketCHIP $49 handheld computer begins shipping this month

The CHIP is a tiny computer with a tiny price tag. Launched in 2015 through a Kickstarter campaign, the single-board PC has a 1 GHzAllwinner R8 processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a $9 price tag.

You can use the CHIP by connecting a display, keyboard, and mouse. But the company also promised that it would release accessories like the PocketCHIP to turn the little PC into a full-fledged portable computer/gaming device.

Continue reading PocketCHIP $49 handheld computer begins shipping this month at Liliputing.

PocketCHIP $49 handheld computer begins shipping this month

The CHIP is a tiny computer with a tiny price tag. Launched in 2015 through a Kickstarter campaign, the single-board PC has a 1 GHzAllwinner R8 processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a $9 price tag.

You can use the CHIP by connecting a display, keyboard, and mouse. But the company also promised that it would release accessories like the PocketCHIP to turn the little PC into a full-fledged portable computer/gaming device.

Continue reading PocketCHIP $49 handheld computer begins shipping this month at Liliputing.