Boghound's World News & Events

Streaming Services Can Be Prosecuted

After the US Congress failed to monopolize the worldwide web with absurd laws like SOPA, it didn’t give up. The politicians were recently presented with the option of making streaming of copyrighted material a full pledged felony.

Of course, the music industry has never been the only one interested in destroying BitTorrent – movie and TV studios have the same goal, having been fighting against P2P for almost a decade. Although crackdowns happen and thousands of users find themselves plunged into copyright lawsuits, illegal file-sharing still keeps on thriving.

The representatives of a Swedish anti-piracy outfit which tried to banish The Pirate Bay out of Sweden also admitted that streaming is a growing problem for the industry. The creators believe that it is largely irrelevant what kind of technology is used as long as they lose sales, so legislators have to solve this problem. Despite the fact that streaming services have nothing to worry about at the moment, some of the experts warn that a storm might be coming soon.

Cold caller saves pensioner’s life

A cold caller saved a pensioner’s life when he rang her while she was having a stroke.

They are one of the biggest sources of irritation for people who find themselves at home during the day.

But for 84-year-old Jessica Robbins a cold caller attempting to sell her solar panels became an unlikely hero when he rang her while she was having a stroke.

Simon Shepherd, 25, who was in the second day of his job at an energy firm in Tamworth, Staffs., called an ambulance for Jessica Robbins when it became clear she was struggling to breathe.

When he rang the pensioner on March 12 Mr Shepherd initially asked how she was “doing today”.

To his shock, Mrs Robbins, who lives on her own, said she believed she had just had a stroke.

“She told me she was lying face down on her living room floor, unable to move,” Mr Shepherd, from Tamworth, said.

“She said she couldn’t breathe properly and I just felt sick. It sounds strange to say but it sounded like she was dying. A lot of people make bizarre things up to get us off the phone but I knew that this was something different.

“She couldn’t breathe properly and sounded panicked – terrified. She told me she couldn’t move and thought she’d had a stroke.

“An elderly woman living on her own is all alone and it’s terrifying circumstances to find yourself in. She’s someone’s mum, someone’s grandma, a neighbour and there was no one to help her.”

Mr Shepherd stayed on the phone to reassure Mrs Robbins before ending the call. He immediately told his manager, Craig Siviter, who dialled 999. He asked for an ambulance to be sent to Mrs Robbins’ house in Walsall, in the West Midlands – around 15 miles from the company’s offices.

Mr Shepherd then called Mrs Robbins again to tell her an ambulance was on its way.

Paramedics entered her flat with the help of a neighbour and found Mrs Robbins lying on the floor. She was taken to hospital – where she made a full recovery.

She said: "I am very grateful to the young man, he was very good with me on the phone, he went above and beyond for me.

"My father had a couple of strokes like this but I’ve got the feeling back and I’ve got the young lad to thank for that, and the ambulance service."

Canada Still Sues Canadian File-Sharers

Nine years ago Canada saw its first major lawsuit filed by BMG Canada Inc. and a number of other music labels against some Canadian file-sharers. The entertainment industry asked the ISPs to reveal the names and addresses of the suspected infringers. This case became a milestone for other copyright lawsuits which were filed afterwards and set the frivolous balance between privacy and copyright. BMG’s request was denied.

Since 2011, a number of similar cases emerged, and a couple of them were of great importance. Such behaviour could be explained by the affinity of the US for such cases, where a bunch of anonymous file-sharers are brought to justice. In case ISPs want to cooperate, the alleged infringers are forced to either settle for a certain amount or go to trial. Although the effectiveness of such approach has been debated in certain circles, the Canadian legal system seems to catch up to these methods and is ready to apply them.

As you can see, it turned out that this method of dealing with copyright violators is slowly but surely becoming the easiest and most effective way of giving copyright owners what they want, regardless of privacy concerns and ethics. Not so good for the Canadians, though.

Computer Error Killed T-shirt Business

One of the popular online T-shirt selling companies that had offices in the United Kingdom has recently been knocked out of business. It reportedly was a computer error which resulted in it advertising the company’s wares on Amazon glorifying rape, murder and sex crimes.

He issued an apology message to explain the situation and promised that as a father, husband, brother and son, he would have never promoted a product like that (which seems logic). Fowler claimed this was never his intention and he was extremely sorry for the trouble this carelessness caused.

Microsoft Owes $1 billion in Europe’s Taxes

It recently turned out that Steve Ballmer had skimped on paying Danish taxes called Danegeld. The latter is what civilized nations pay to the government in order to make sure that they don’t get invaded by Vikings. They say that the last person in England who avoided paying these taxes was Aethelred the unready, and it didn’t end well for him.

In response, Microsoft claims it has obeyed all the rules, but the company received a nasty surprise after it got its tax bill and a following Danish investigation. Apparently, the software giant has done a sterling job to hide its money from the tax authorities for years now and managed to exploit every loophole it could find. Nevertheless, with most European countries short of cash, and other tax payers bled dry, multinational corporations are supposed to finally be told to stop being bludgers. Let’s see if there’s any result.

US ISP Will Hijack Subscribers’ Browsers

Since nobody in the United States thought it was a good idea to reign in the entertainment industry, it is currently acceptable for an Internet service provider to hijack a suspect infringer’s browser.

Industry experts admit that this measure is unlikely to be effective. What is more likely to happen is that people will switch to VPN providers and BitTorrent proxies – real infringers know how to avoid detection. Still, the move proves that the owners of automatic weapons have more freedoms in the United States than Internet users.

Council bans apostrophes from all street signs to avoid ‘confusion’

A council has sparked fury from residents after banning apostrophes from street signs to avoid potential confusion.

Mid-Devon District Council said its new streets had not contained apostrophes for many years but the policy was now being made official.

Residents and plain English campaigners criticised the move, but the council said apostrophes could only be found in three street names in the district.

It added that Beck’s Square and Blundell’s Avenue both in Tiverton and St George’s Well in Cullompton were all named many years ago.

Andrew Lacey, of Mid-Devon District Council, said there was no national guidance that stops apostrophes being used.

But proofreader Mary de Vere Taylor from Ashburton said the thought of apostrophes being removed made her shudder.

"It’s almost as though somebody with a giant eraser is literally trying to erase punctuation from our consciousness," she said.

"To me there’s something terribly British and terribly reassuring about well-written and well-punctuated writing.

"Some may say I should get a life and get out more but if I got out more and saw place names with no apostrophes where there should be I shudder to think how I’d react."

Ms de Vere Taylor said while she accepted language had to evolve, she felt the council’s decision was a backwards step.

Steve Jenner from the Plain English Campaign said punctuation including the apostrophe was one of the basic rules of language. The council’s decision as "nonsensical", he said.

Mid-Devon Council declined to comment further and did not elaborate on who might be confused by the use of correct punctuation.

Phone Unlocking Petition Got Over 100,000 Signatures

It turned out that a White House online petition to lift the phone unlocking ban has already gathered over 110,000 signatures. Since the threshold for “We the People” petitions is 100,000, now the government will have to review or at least reply to the petition.

The controversial ban was introduced in the beginning of the year and under this new legislation anyone who dares to unlock their own phone in the United States could face up to five years of prison time along with a $500,000 fine. Industry observers were not happy to hear such news. For example, Forbes described the new law as a “clear example” of copyright legislation gone crazy (which is true). In the meantime, the lawmakers pointed out that the underlying law is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, better known as DCMA. However, applying the legislation to cell phone unlocking is, we would say, a stretch.

Industry experts compared the situation to the one when a car company is telling its clients that they can’t install new alloys. In the meantime, buying a modular assault rifle is still legitimate in the United States, and the accessory market is growing rapidly. Indeed, in most states you can install everything from a bayonet to a high-powered scope and high capacity magazine on almost any rifle, and it is absolutely legal. Yet unlocking a cell phone can lead you to a courtroom, facing some serious jail time…

Movie Company to Sue 34 Internet Users

Voltage Pictures LLC is a movie studio whose name has become popular in the industry after it released a blockbuster “The Hurt Locker”. The outfit has filed a lawsuit against 34 users alleged of pirating its films.

Voltage Pictures LLC has won a few Academy Awards in the past, and now is making attempts to receive $180.000 in damages from each of the 34 Internet users, accusing them of copying and distributing a last year’s movie “Maximum Conviction” without their consent.

While Trilobyte Games Co is sending notices of desist each time one of its games gets pirated and downloaded, the movie companies keep suing large groups of Internet users, asking for damages which, in most cases, are impossible to comply with.

It begs the question “Who would want to download & watch Maximum Conviction anyway”?

Elderly man on mobility scooter sought after ‘ramming vehicle into supermarket window’

Sussex Police are hunting an elderly man on a mobility scooter who is thought to have rammed his machine into a supermarket window.

The renegade, believed to be in his 60s,  is suspected to have bumped the property after a dispute with staff at the Bexhill Co-op in Western Road on Wednesday.

Investigators believe the OAP crashed into the window on purpose because he was angry ‘over a customer service issue of some kind’.

The argument resulted in smashed glass and now police are seeking the man, who was wearing blue jeans, sunglasses and a dark top.

They have also released a CCTV image of him on his scooter.

Officers are urging anyone with information to come forward.

Co-operative Food said: ‘We can confirm that the front window of our store on Western Road in Bexhill was damaged on Wednesday 6 March, after a mobility scooter was driven into it.

‘CCTV has been passed to the police who are investigating.’