pwned

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 »

After Pwning The Music Industry, Radiohead Are Pwned By Their Fans

10:24AM Clem Bastow | Presumably Radiohead hoped there would be some fans of theirs who wouldn’t take advantage of their new album’s “pay what you feel” gesture, but it seems most Radiohead listeners are brazen freeloaders. Which, when you consider that most self-confessed Radiohead fans spend their time living in fifteen-room sharehouses and eating nothing but Two-Minute Noodles and sunshine, is probably not really all that surprising. Yesterday, about a third of fans decided to pay nothing, according to The Times daily, citing a poll of 3000 people who bought it from the website. “I chose zero, but maybe if I had a chance to chip in $10, after I hear it if it’s great, then I would,” said one identified fan from Australia, shortly after downloading the album. The average price chosen was £4 ($9.10) – half the typical album price on online music retailing leader iTunes of around £8 – although 67 people paid more than £10 ($22.80), according to the poll. You can still pick up a “hard copy” box-set for about £40, but really, isn’t that option now reserved strictly for suckahs? Word has it James Blunt was considering giving his next release away for free, but no one wanted it anyway. More »