file sharing

“A Nation Of Music Pirates”, Apparently Meeting At Children’s Birthday Parties

12:54PM Clem Bastow | There’s nothing the media loves more than a beat-up about online piracy – why, they even managed to turn the Underbelly fracas into an exposé about file-sharing – so it wasn’t like we were surprised when we read this morning of Australia’s apparent boom in music piracy. However, we were rather amused when they moved the story to the front page around lunchtime, and chose to illustrate it in this manner: Yes, it seems the worst offenders in this affront to artists’ rights are children who think Jack Sparrow is a pretty cool dude. Next time you see a six-year-old loitering in the Wiggles/Hi-5/Bindi Irwin section at HMV, crash tackle them – they’re probably on a reconnaissance mission for their illegal file-sharing ring, for which “Grade 1B” is just a shonky front. More »

Bang, Bang, You’re F–ked: Victorian ‘Underbelly’ Ban No Match For Internets

9:54AM Clem Bastow | In the biggest “well duh” news since Shane Warne admitted he had a problem keeping it in his dacks, Justice Betty King’s Victorian ban of Underbelly has been “ignored” by those meddling web pirates, who are busy cruisin ur P2P networks, downloadin ur superior local drama. The gangland series premiered last night everywhere but Victoria and our helpful interstate pals shameless copyright infringement fans wasted no time in uploading the goods. By midnight Victorians were rushing to file sharing sites such as mininova and torrents2hell to download the first episode. This morning over 600 people were already downloading the show from one site, but some users reported slow speeds due to the rush of people trying to obtain the file at the same time. Some Victorian bars defied the ban in other ways by screening Underbelly via a satellite feed beamed from another state, risking being found in contempt of court. It goes without saying, naturally, that we will be staying well clear of these “file-sharing sites” the youth of today frequent. Anyway, we’re still trying to get used to having electricity and running hot water in our houses – when we were young, we had to lick road clean with tongue and work down t’ pit. That were luxury! More »

News Ltd Photo Editors Attempt To Kickstart Lolunderbelly Meme; Residents Of “File-Sharing Era” Unimpressed

6:28PM Clem Bastow | While we’re still sulking about the fact that Underbelly has been banned from airing in Victoria (harrumph, thanks a lot, Justice Betty King, whoever YOU think you are, etc), we a) naturally thought “Oh well, time to hop on the P2P networks get our friends in Sydney to tape it for us” and thus, b) were mightily amused by this chilling News Ltd mock-up of what might happen in this heady technological era where banning a television show is NO OBSTACLE to people on the internets (click for full size): We’re particularly amused by the portentous caption, “BitTorrent…” – that ellipsis says so much – “almost certainly undermine”, etc. Just imagine it being read out by a Fox News announcer with all the relevant (i.e. irrelevant) emphasis on certain words, or perhaps in the same tone as the old Grim Reaper campaign. And why only “63%”? Is it a coded message? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? Even the headline of the story is over the top: “Underbelly ban useless in file-sharing era”. USELESS! WATCH OUT FOR YOUR PASSWORDS! EPIC LULZ, NEWS LTD D00DZ! More »