Author: Digital Digest | Latest News

The results and analysis for Blu-ray (and DVD) sales for the week ending 17th October 2015 are in. A pretty big week for new releases with Aladdin, San Andreas and Tomorrowland all in the top 4.

You can read the rest of the stats and analysis here

Two prominent filmmaker groups are urging the US government to criminalize streaming piracy, which they say will "level the playing field" when it comes to piracy.

Under current laws, those who upload copyrighted content for illegal streaming online, and those who offer the same content for downloading or file sharing are treated different. The former is considered as a form of "public performance", while the latter is considered distribution.

As a result, the penalties for both types of offences differ, with distribution treated as a felony, while streaming is only a misdemeanor.

This, the Directors Guild of America, Inc. (DGA) and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) say, is hampering efforts to curb online piracy.

"While illegal downloading of our members’ creative works remains the best known method of Internet theft, illegal Internet streaming has actually become the preferred viewing and listening experience," the groups write in their submission to the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, who is currently seeking public consultation on a new Intellectual Property Enforcement plan.

"Unfortunately, the law has not kept pace with these new consumer habits. While illegal downloading and distribution is a felony, the illegal, willful, and commercial streaming of films, TV programs, and music remains only a misdemeanor."

If the DGA and IATSE get their way, those who upload videos to YouTube and either deliberately or inadvertently include copyrighted content could find themselves committing a felony, and be subject to prosecution from the Department of Justice. While this is an extreme case that's unlikely to occur, with the DoJ most likely devoting their resources to going after bigger targets. 

It is also worth noting that even with current laws, the DoJ have the power to seize domain names and seek other legal measures against the operators of streaming sites.

Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) Vice President Masayasu Ito has hinted at the possibility of releasing an enhanced, higher performance version of the PS4 that would also support Ultra HD Blu-ray movies.

Speaking to Japanese gaming website 4Gamer, Mr. Ito talked openly on a variety of topics regarding Sony's gaming line-up, but was unusually candid when asked about Sony's plans for future PS4 SKUs.

Ito hinted that it would not be implausible for Sony to release a high performance, enhanced version of the PS4 that would have better gaming performance

When probed on the question of Ultra HD Blu-ray support for the PS4, Ito confirmed that the Blu-ray drive used in the PS4 cannot read the triple-layer media that is used by the new 4K Blu-ray format, and as a result, existing PS4s have no way to play these new discs scheduled to come out at the end of the year.

However, Ito again hinted that an enhanced PS4 model could possible also include a new disc reader, which would then allow the PS4 to play Ultra HD Blu-ray movies.

While Sony may indeed have such plans, the real question, according to Ito, is whether there's a market for a souped up PS4, one that will also play Ultra HD Blu-ray movies. Ito cites the fact that very few homes have 4K TVs that are needed to view Ultra HD Blu-ray at their best, and the added cost of a new disc drive and the hardware upgrades for the "super PS4", might mean a PS4 that would be too expensive to make commercial sense for the company.

From the PS4's rise to the fall of Popcorn Time? Read this and other news stories for the week ending 25 October 2015. Plus NPD stats for September

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A web version of Popcorn Time has been shut down by the MPAA only days after it launched.

Popcorn Time was an application that promised to be the Netflix of piracy, making pirating movies and TV shows as easy, perhaps even easier than the point-and-click interface of Netflix. Instead of downloading, installing a BitTorrent client like uTorrent, and then finding and downloading torrent files, Popcorn Time automates most of this for you, and gives you a Netflix-like interface to search for and play video content. 

But for all of its simplicity, users still had to download and run the Popcorn Time app. At least this was true until last week, when a new website called BrowserPopcorn was launched by web developer Milan Kragujević. It promised the full functionality of Popcorn Time running inside a browser without the need to install anything.

Whether it was intended or not, BrowserPopcorn was a shot across the bows of the likes of the MPAA, who have already expressed serious concern about Popcorn Time. An even easier to use version would be even more of a concern for rights-holders.

Since it's launch, information has been made available on the underlying architecture of BrowserPopcorn, and its resource intensive requirements (on the server end) meant that it was unlikely to have been a huge hit. But all of this is now moot, with the developer of BrowserPopcorn choosing to shut down the site due to legal pressure. A message, which has since been removed from the BrowserPopcorn website, blamed the MPAA for taking down the site (a new messages now reads: "This was never intended to be a battle for piracy, more of an experiment with the streaming technology."). 

While BrowserPopcorn is down, the developer of the app, Milan Kragujević, has made the source code available for a local version of the app that users can run on their own computers within a browser, something that other developers can perhaps use to create their own BrowserPopcorn.

Update: Since this story was originally published, the official BrowserPopcorn site no longer has any content, other than a "nothing here" message.

The results and analysis for Blu-ray (and DVD) sales for the week ending 10th October 2015 are in. Magic Mike XXL was the week's best selling new releases.

You can read the rest of the stats and analysis here

The BBC has taken action against users who use VPN servers to access the broadcaster's iPlayer catchup service from outside of the UK.

The BBC's iPlayer has proven to be extremely popular not just with viewers in the UK, but also those who want to watch the latest BBC programs, shows such as Sherlock and Doctor Who, from outside of the UK. Access to iPlayer by default is blocked for those outside of the UK, but many users use VPN services to bypass the geographical restriction.

Even though the BBC considers these overseas users as "pirates", the broadcaster has not taken any actions to prevent this kind of access.

All that changed last week, when several popular VPN services lost access to iPlayer. A BBC spokesperson informed TorrentFreak that new blocks are indeed in place for unauthorised VPN access to iPlayer. 

"We regularly make updates to our technology to help prevent access to BBC iPlayer from outside the UK which breaks our terms of use," says the BBC.

Some VPN operators have already responded to the block by issuing new IP addresses for users, which in time will most likely also be blocked. They have also expressed disappointment in the move, which they say will block many UK users too who use VPN services for privacy and security reasons.

The BBC also acknowledged that legitimate users may be affected by this latest block, but also promised to work hard to ensure users of private VPN in the UK are not adversely affected.

Statistics in Australia shows that the piracy rate has declined for the first time in "quite some time", thanks largely to the introduction of legal streaming services such as Netflix.

Netflix launched in Australia in March, just shortly after local streaming opreators Stan and Presto also launched their subscription video-on-demand services. Since then, these streaming services has proved increasingly popular (with Netflix leading the way), and it appears that giving people what they want has led to a shift in piracy habits.

At least that's according to IP Awareness Foundation's executive director Lori Flekser, who also pointed out that the most "problematic" age group when it came to piracy, 18 to 24 year-olds, saw the biggest decline. It's the first time in "quite some time", according to Flekser, that any decline has been observed. While other age groups did not see the same kind of dramatic results, Flekser still considers this latest change to be a "game changer", one that will forever alter the way content is delivered to consumers.

Flekser says that the main problem with piracy is that there is the perception that illegal downloads offer an easier user experience than paying for content, which usually involves several steps, including creating an account, logging in and entering payment details. This process, Flekser says, is unavoidable and the reason why content providers are always going to have a hard time trying to beat piracy.

The results and analysis for Blu-ray (and DVD) sales for the week ending 3rd October 2015 are in. New release Avengers: Age of Ultron led the week and helped to boost Blu-ray results.

You can read the rest of the stats and analysis here

From the PS4's price cut to Netflix's price rise, read this and other news stories for the week ending 11 October 2015

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