Windows 7 Beta leaks

by Taylor Flatt on December 29th, 2008 at 10:12 am EDT - 322 views

Windows 7 Beta has been leaked to the internet as of this last weekend. A bunch of torrent sites have just picked up on it and the torrents are running wild.  With thousands of seeders, people who has downloaded and are now contributing to the upload rate, and thousands of leechers, people who have not downloaded it completely and are “leeching” on the seeders, one has to wonder how this happened.

It seems like Microsoft has a real problem with leaks with a lot of their good and “secret” stuff always being leaked. It might just be me, but I believe it might be on purpose to increase the hype and then get user feedback so then it can be a polished product when it does come out. So then, when people complain, they could simply say it wasn’t meant for release yet. Oh well, I suppose we will just never know.

I hope, however, that Microsoft does upgrade their IE standards to a more recent compatibility like those of Chrome and Firefox so we don’t have to make certain code changes to make everything appear right. In some cases, admins have to make 2 seperate sites and redirect based on browsers because IE has its own little world and all the other browsers are close enough together to not really throw a fit. This, I hope, will come coupled with the new system.

Snag in RIAA’s Plan?

by Taylor Flatt on December 23rd, 2008 at 3:15 pm EDT - 180 views

Recently, the RIAA has announced they will no longer be taking the fight to the courtroom, rather, they will be taking it to the ISPs.  However, one ISP has stepped up to the plate and demands that RIAA pays him for such a service.  Jerry Scroggin of a Lousiana ISP company had this to say,

“They have the right to protect their songs or music or pictures,” Scroggin said. “But they don’t have the right to tell me I have to be the one protecting it. I don’t want anyone doing anything illegal on my network, but we don’t work for free.”

With the RIAA excpecting ISPs to stand up and jump on the bandwagon, it seems all too easy to get lost in all the excitement to forget that the little guys actually have bills.  The RIAA is basically looking for these ISPs to find, track and (possibly) remove clients from their listing when they upload or download content illegally.

Although there seems to be some friction between this ISP and RIAA, Scroggin still wishes they could work out a deal with RIAA,

“There’s got to be a better way than HBO sending me threatening e-mail,” he said. “What I’m saying is, let’s sit at the table and come up with a way that works for everyone, including the customers.”

With small ISP companies on the edge of this plan, RIAA must do something to help protect their against this foe or they might see their whole operation go up in smoke.

Source: CNet

Does the RIAA Really Have a Plan?

by Taylor Flatt on December 22nd, 2008 at 2:48 pm EDT - 195 views

No. All this talk about stopping piracy is a big one.  From the RIAA suing the websites to them shutting off their user’s internet. These are all drastic steps that will prove to be more problematic than anything else. From zdnet, they have provided some snippets of an interview that was done with the RIAA, let us listen in,

• Q: When will the system actually be in place and start working? Has that been determined yet? 
• A: It has not. 
• Q: Can you say anything about what ISPs are involved? 
• A: No. All the parties would want comfort that the technology is accurate and reliable, because nobody is interested in false positives. And we’ll also need a mechanism so that somebody who claims that he or she was improperly identified would have an opportunity to be heard and have the question resolved. All of those things need to be worked out.
• Q: How will you deal with ISPs that choose not to cooperate? Will they be notified about subscribers who share files? Will you proceed with lawsuits?
• A: That’s an issue we hope not to have to address. … This is entirely voluntary and I think it’s made possible because the business interests of the industries are converging. There was a time five years ago when ISPs were solely focused on increasing their broadband penetration, and cutting back on piracy was not part of their business interest. Five years later, they’re in a very different place. They want to be portals in their own right, they want to offer their subscribers great content; it’s something that distinguishes one from another. They’re looking at themselves as more than the dumb pipes that they were five years ago, and I think that opens up partnerships that didn’t exist before.

Not only does this interview give insight of their overall plan, which is no plan, but they also believe that all ISPs will go along with their little plan.  If you look at it on the other side of the tracks, then you will see there are big dollar signs for ISP companies that don’t switch.  

For example, you have millions of people who download things illegally and if you network and market yourselves to these people, they will switch to you and pay more money to not get caught on this big scandal. This is especially true when they said when people were accused, then their voices would be heard. Does this mean their voices will be heard in an unbiased manor with evidential backup to support their accusations?  We will see, but for now, it is all just talk.

Source: ZDNet