For well over a decade, the motion picture industry has been fighting a somewhat losing battle against piracy, but in recent times, there have been some crumbs of comfort. Netflix, for example, is a subscription package used by millions of consumers worldwide, and although the major studios don't recoup as much as they used to from, say, DVD sales, the likes of Netflix are still more desirable than people downloading illegally. Now, one former Wall Street analyst has developed a new service that essentially allows users to "borrow" digital copies of movies from their friends, and whilst Hollywood has yet to hop aboard, it does seem that the creator has taken the necessary steps to ensure the service's legality.
Those of us living outside the United States have been able to look on with a smug expression on our faces while the land of the free tries its best to get its tentacles into each and every communication medium on the planet. Not other government would try and get its fingers into encrypted messages sent by its own people, would it?
The Pirate Bay is down right now, but a new launch date for its return may have been revealed by the site itself, and it can happen way sooner than you think. More details can be found right here.
People do strange things at this time of year, and that includes just about anything that they can shoehorn some sort of Christmas, Santa Claus or elf reference into. If you've not had enough of the festive season just yet though and have a particular urge to start fiddling with your Wi-Fi network's name, then we have something you just might like.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has taken a rather surprising step with the launch of a website called WhereToWatch. The MPAA is apparently dialing it down a bit as far as online streaming of movies and TV shows is concerned. WhereToWatch lets you search for your favorite movie or TV show and points you to where you can legally stream it from, or rent it or buy it.
Essentially classifying Internet service as the same as basic utilities such as water or electricity, President Obama has publicly called on the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to take strong measures in ensuring Internet neutrality.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer may not be everyone's first choice when it comes to picking a browser, but despite having conceded quite a bit of its market share to Chrome and Firefox in its time, the software maker has made some significant improvements of late both in terms of functionality and reach. Given that IE is only available on the software maker's own platforms, though, it's somewhat limited to a particular audience, and so in order to rectify this situation, Microsoft has launched a new system that allows users to test the most recent edition of its Web-surfing app through the likes of OS X and iOS as well as Google's Android.
A project called the Internet Archive has just put together a library which includes over 900 of the best arcade games out there that you can play right away from the comfort of your Web browser.
Since day one, Facebook has required users to use their real names when signing up to the site and while that has partly been behind much of its success, the social network has long come in for plenty of criticism due to its refusal to accept sign-ups where users wish to remain anonymous.
If you thought that your expensive Wi-Fi access point or router was secure, you may need to think again after a flaw was found in at least two of the chipsets used by hardware manufacturers.
















