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Is ad blocking the problem? |
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03-10-2010 - 02:32 AM - by Rart
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Is ad blocking the problem?
March 9, 2010
" Ars Technica's Ken Fisher recently wrote an impassioned plea to turn off ad-blocking software like AdBlock Plus to save the online publishing industry. His attempt to turn back the clock on digitization, however, would likely accomplish the opposite.
Fisher has a good point: ad-blocking software almost certainly does hurt sites like CNET by denying them revenue. As he points out, "[m]ost [large] sites...are paid on a per view basis," not a click-through basis, which means that ad-blocking software very literally takes money out of the pockets of publishers, leading consumers to "devastat[e]...the sites you love."
So who should change? Consumers using the technology, or the publishers?
Online media publishers should change, as asking consumers to change is a recipe for failure...and for stagnation rather than innovation in business models. It's not the consumer's job to figure out a successful business model for the vendor.
Lest online media feel particularly aggrieved by the pilfering of ad-blocking software, perhaps it would be comforting to know that we in the open-source world have been dealing with similar pressures for over a decade.
In the early days, many of us agonized over how to monetize the popularity of freely available software. The more money open-source developers made writing software, the more open-source software would get written, went the reasoning. Free riders sucked money out of the system.
Most ironically, a big... [Read More]
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1 Reply | 184 Views
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Ubisoft's New DRM Servers Kill Assassin's Creed 2 for PC Gamers |
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03-08-2010 - 06:36 PM - by SonsOfLiberty
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Ubisoft's New DRM Servers Kill Assassin's Creed 2 for PC Gamers
Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to... not being able to play Assassin's Creed 2 on the PC? It would seem as though Ubisoft's recently released PC version of the well-received console action adventure has fallen foul of the publishers' new "extreme" DRM server authentication. According to a massive thread on Ubi's European forums, the Uplay service has been overloaded and unable to authenticate new game sessions of AC2 since yesterday.
Assassin's Creed 2 may well be a single-player offline game but Ubisoft's widely criticised new DRM methods dictate that players must maintain a connection to the servers at all times to play.
The anti-piracy measures have come under a lot of flak from gamers around the globe, and yesterday a Ubi community manager posted the following statement.
Due to exceptional demand, we are currently experiencing difficulties with the Online Service Platform. This does not affect customers who are currently playing, but customers attempting to start a game may experience difficulty in accessing our servers. We are currently working to resolve this issue and apologize for any inconvenience.
It's not yet known if this issue is affecting gamers outside of Europe at this time. We've asked Ubi for comment and we'll update the story if and when we get more.
UPDATE: Ubisoft has since made an official apology via its Twitter, stating that its servers were 'attacked' yesterday. It went on to say that "95% of players were not affected, but a small... [Read More]
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6 Replies | 307 Views
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Newzbin vs MPA Usenet ‘Filtering’ Trial Concludes |
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03-05-2010 - 04:45 AM - by Rart
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Newzbin vs MPA Usenet ‘Filtering’ Trial Concludes
March 04, 2010
" After a fairly bumpy ride, the High Court trial between Newzbin and the MPA has reached its conclusion. While the site’s owners are claiming that the site will remain open no matter what, a negative result could result in hefty damages and an obligation to make changes to the site, including the implementation of a Mininova-style filter.
Newzbin is one of the original and most popular Usenet indexing sites on the Internet. The site pioneered the increasingly popular .NZB format which simplified previously complicated Usenet downloading.
While most of Hollywood’s legal might was focused on the snowballing BitTorrent scene, Usenet downloading also gained in popularity – and exposure – and by 2008 it soon had Newzbin in the spotlight.
Newzbin received complaints from the studios in May that year, stating that the site was listing NZBs which linked to movies on Usenet which infringed their members’ copyright. In December, Newzbin confirmed it was removing some NZB files at copyright holders’ request but it wasn’t enough and the MPA filed for an injunction.
The London High Court showdown between Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation & Others v Newzbin Ltd before Mr Justice Kitchin began February 1st 2010. Details coming out of the case have been relatively few and entirely from Newzbin’s perspective. TorrentFreak contacted the MPA for their take but they told us they could not comment on an on-going case.
Newzbin reported that the... [Read More]
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2 Replies | 414 Views
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UK Government defeated over measures to tackle online piracy |
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03-04-2010 - 03:07 PM - by darkstate
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UK Government defeated over measures to tackle online piracy
March 4, 2010 12:14 GMT
" The government has been defeated in the House of Lords over measures to tackle online piracy after opponents said the plans could hamper digital innovation.
Ministers want the power to change laws on online copyright in future without the need for further legislation. The Lords said the "blanket nature" of the clause was "objectionable". But their chosen replacement - giving courts the right to block internet sites which are infringing copyright - has also prompted criticism.
The government argued that the new Digital Economy Bill should include the power to amend copyright law to ensure legislation could cope with more technically advanced forms of piracy in the future.
But Google and Facebook were among the firms to express "grave concerns" about the provision, saying it could allow ministers to "increase monitoring of user data even where no illegal practice has taken place". "
 Source: Lords force rethink of government's online piracy... [Read More]
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1 Reply | 131 Views
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Microsoft Investigating New Internet Explorer Flaw |
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03-02-2010 - 12:16 AM - by Darth Sushi
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Microsoft Investigating New Internet Explorer Flaw
By Kevin Parrish, published on March 1, 2010
" Another bug was found in Internet Explorer. Oh yay.
The Microsoft Security Response Center issued a warning Friday indicating that users of Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 are vulnerable to malware through an un-patched bug in VBScript. The exploit was originally uncovered by Polish security analyst Maurycy Prodeus of iSEC Security Research. He said that the flaw only resides within Windows XP SP3--all other versions of Windows are not affected by the vulnerability.
According to this post, it's possible to invoke winhlp32.exe from Internet Explorer which in turn might lead to remote code execution. Attackers could execute malicious code when their fake web pages convince visitors to press the F1 key. The good news is that Microsoft has not received reports on attackers actually using this exploit.
"Windows Help files are included in a long list of what we refer to as unsafe file types," Microsoft reports. "These are file types that are designed to invoke automatic actions during normal use of the files. While they can be very valuable productivity tools, they can also be used by attackers to try and compromise a system."
Microsoft said that it's currently investigating the situation, and will "take appropriate action to protect customers." Microsoft suggests that consumers follow its "Protect your Computer" guidelines by enabling a firewall, applying all software updates, and keeping anti-virus... [Read More]
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1 Reply | 148 Views
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