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Posts by Prophet
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External file host removed and uploaded to the site
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NETFLIX EXEMPTS U.S. MILITARY BASES FROM COPYRIGHT GEO-BLOCKS
Netflix is increasingly blocking users who circumvent geo-restrictions through VPNs and proxies. This issue worries many U.S. soldiers stationed overseas, but according to Netflix American military bases will still be able to access the content library of their home country.
Earlier this month Netflix announced that it would increase its efforts to block subscribers who circumvent geo-blockades.
This means that it will be harder to use VPN services and proxies to access Netflix content from other countries, as movie studios have requested.
With the application of commercial blacklist data Netflix blocks IP-addresses that are linked to such services. The announcement caused concern among many people who live and work abroad, including U.S. military personnel.
Many soldiers stationed in the Middle East and elsewhere use Netflix in combination with a VPN, to feel ‘at home.’ Soon, this may no longer be possible, at least not for those who live off-base.
While Netflix is determined to take stronger action against VPN-pirates, the company also says that all U.S. military bases are exempt from blockades, Stars and Stripes reports
“Netflix always exempts U.S. military bases around the world. They will still be able to access the U.S. catalog,” Netflix spokesperson Anne Marie Squeo said.
This is an interesting decision, since most military bases abroad are not considered U.S. soil. Also, we are not aware of a similar treatment for other overseas workers or military bases of non-U.S. countries.
Still, for most soldiers this gesture is not enough, as they live off-base.
Jesse Fowler, a hospital corpsman stationed in Bahrain, says he’s not disappointed with the local offering of Netflix but relies on a VPN to access some shows that are not available.
“…I’m mad if I can’t change where my Internet is so I can’t watch my own shows,” Fowler says.
This sentiment is shared by the Bahrain-stationed Navy counselor Eric Cutright. “My VPN hasn’t been blocked. But if it does, I will be pissed. Netflix Bahrain is trash,” he said.
TorrentFreak has kept a close eye on the recent developments and Netflix has indeed started to block more VPN providers. However, blocking all of them appears to be a difficult task, especially because several providers continue to add new IP-addresses.
Ironically, many soldiers may switch to piracy again when Netflix is no longer an option, turning the clock back half a decade.
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wonders how much content were gona get when yah can hardly get 1080p broadcasts in UK
You just know they will shaft the customers (as usual), but for some of those at the edge of technology it will be a simple "must have"
I certainly won't be one of them, i would need to afford a 4k tv first :62:
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UK’s Virgin Media plans a group-wide reorganisation that will cut 900 posts. The Liberty-owned cablenet has given no details amid ongoing consultations.
“The proposed reorganisation will give us an even sharper focus on the customer, network expansion and business growth,” said CEO Tom Mockridge.
The announcement contrasts with the £3 billion (€3.92bn) Project Lightning investment 12 months ago that was trailed to create 6,000 direct new jobs, including 1,000 new apprenticeships over a five year period. Mockridge claimed the operator was still in growth mode: “We’re expanding, investing and growing our business. The proposed reorganisation will give us an even sharper focus on the customer, network expansion and business growth.”
It is thought the job cuts will come over the next two years. Virgin Media said that the total number of people it employs, either directly or through partners in the UK and overseas, to rise from about 23,000 last year to more than 25,000 in 2016 and 26,000 in 2017. Virgin Media employs 13,600 staff directly.
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January 25, 2016
Sky will unveil its pricing structure for its new SkyQ Ultra-HD set-top box during its latest quarter’s results announcements on January 29th.
Analyst reports suggest the new ‘all in’ pricing model will start above the current £90 per month for Sky’s all-embracing top-level sports & movies bundles.
Equity analysts at investment bank Nomura suggested to clients that “If it follows previous product launches, such as HD and connected boxes, then box costs could cause initial downgrades.” However, it tempered its comments by saying that quick [financial] returns would follow.
Deutsche Bank, in a note to clients, said: “Sky Q should be margin accretive. More importantly, selling more services into the base, not chasing subscriber growth means [customer] acquisition costs are falling.”
However, there’s a potential problem for Sky in particular with its German sibling. The weekend saw a report that the German cartel office is looking to split the broadcast TV rights of the important Bundesliga football coverage. The reports say the cartel office is looking for a restructuring of the way the TV rights are sold. Sky Germany currently pays €486 million per season for its ‘all rights’ (TV, cable, web, mobile and IPTV) exclusivity. These rights expire at the end of the 2016-2017 season.
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January 25, 2016
An all-party group of British MPs has called for the formal separation of BT’s infrastructure subsidiary Openreach from the telco, citing BT’s “lack of ambition and under-investment” as being responsible for parts of the UK suffering from slow broadband speeds.
In an open letter published in the Daily Telegraph they say that whether at home or work, fast broadband should be a reality in all our communities.
“Sadly, this is not yet the case. A new report from the British Infrastructure Group of MPs reveals that despite the £1.7 billion [€2.25bn] of taxpayers’ cash pumped into subsidising the construction of UK high-speed broadband, there are still a staggering 5.7 million people across Britain who cannot access the Internet at the Ofcom-required 10 megabits per second. But the situation is even worse for business, with 42 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises reporting problems with their Internet connection, at an estimated £11 billion cost to the British economy,” they claim.
The Group’s report, BroadBad, calls on comms regulator Ofcom to take radical action over the ‘natural monopoly’ too long enjoyed by BT Openreach. The report, which details connection speeds in every part of the country, argues that, given the UK economy’s reliance on the Internet, it is time to stop being held back by BT’s lack of ambition and under-investment.
“We believe that Britain should be leading the world in digital innovation. Yet instead we have a monopoly company clinging to outdated copper technology with no proper long-term plan for the future. We need to start converting to a fully fibre network so we are not left behind other nations which are rushing to embrace digital advancement,” they declare.
“However, we will only achieve this by taking action to open up the sector. Given all the delays and missed deadlines, we believe only a formal separation of BT from Openreach, combined with fresh competition and a concerted ambition to deliver, will now create the broadband service that our constituents and businesses so rightly demand,” they conclude.
In response, BT said that Ofcom, the EU and others repeatedly place the UK number one for broadband and superfast broadband when compared to other large EU countries. “The idea that there would be more broadband investment if BT’s Openreach infrastructure division became independent is wrong-headed. As a smaller, weaker, standalone company, it would struggle to invest as much as it does,” it warned.
A spokesman for Department of Culture, Media and Sport described the report as “misleading”, noting that 95 per cent of the UK would have access to superfast broadband by 2017.
The UK Government set out plans in November 2015 designed to ensure that every home and business could have access to fast broadband by the end of the current Parliament in 2020.
Prime Minister David Cameron said that access to broadband should be put on a similar footing as other basic services such as water and electricity, helping to cement Britain’s position as the most digitised major economy in Europe. The Government is planning to introduce a broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) with the ambition to give people the legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps, no matter where they live.
In December 2015, Ofcom chief executive Sharon White said the status quo between BT and Openreach was “unlikely” to continue, suggesting one option was the structural separation of Openreach from BT. White explained this was among four possible options being explored. Other options include more deregulation, and adjusting the existing system to make it “more fit for purpose”. That could include improving services, repairs, and laying new superfast lines.
According to White, the UK was doing “fairly well” in rolling out superfast broadband compared with other major European economies, but described it as “unacceptable” that 2.5 million homes did not have access to minimal broadband speeds of 10 megabits per second.
Ofcom’s Strategic Review of Digital Communications is examining competition, investment, innovation and the availability of all digital communications services. These include broadband, mobile, landline and bundled services.
Responses to the consultation, which closed in October 2015, will inform a statement at the turn of the year on priorities and action, which will shape Ofcom’s regulatory approach for the next decade.
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Have you attempted a fresh install of a new image ?
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After deliberately provoking authorities with the launch of several pirate sites, the Czech Pirate Party have welcomed the news that they're finally being prosecuted by the police. "Our goal is to change the copyright monopoly law so that people are not fined millions for sharing culture with their friends," the party says.
As champions of less restrictive copyright law and advocates of greater online freedoms and privacy, the Pirate Party has stamped its mark on the online space in recent years.
As a niche political movement it has often taken a guerrilla approach to its activism, with strategies often designed to provoke a fierce response from perceived enemies.
In July 2011, the Czech division of the party did just that with a brave move designed to stir up sentiments against the Czech Anti-Piracy Union who had targeted a 16-year-old accused of posting links to infringing material on his website
Under the slogan “Linking is not a Crime” the Czech Pirate Party launched its own movie download site. Tipnafilm.cz had an attractive layout with links to content plus movie covers, embedded trailers, and links to reviews on sites such as iMDb. A second site, Piratskefilmy.cz, carried 20,000 links to more than 5,800 movies.
“We challenge the Anti-Piracy Union to stop bullying the under-aged and to aim its preposterous claims at the Pirate Party,” the pirates said.
Declaring “open war” on the anti-piracy outfit, the Czech pirates later launched TV focused site Sledujuserialy.cz (I Watch TV Series). With the previous two sites faded away, it is this site that has finally elicited the response the pirates had longed hoped for.
“A landmark political trial for Czech Internet is about to take place!” the party has just announced.
“On Thursday 21st January, the Czech pirate party was officially notified that it will be prosecuted in criminal court. The reason is their long-term political campaign “Linking is Not a Crime” in which the party ran a non-commerical website ‘sledujuserialy.cz’ highlighting an absurd interpretation of copyright monopoly law with regard to the Internet.”
Although it has taken more than four years to come to fruition, it appears the pirates’ plan progressed as predicted. Their taunting of the Czech Anti-Piracy Union resulted in the anti-piracy group filing a complaint with the police. The police are now prosecuting the Pirate Party over their TV piracy site.
Unusually for torrent site operators, the Pirate Party say they are glad they’re in trouble with the law.
“[The Pirate Party] welcomes the criminal case. Until now, the Czech Anti-Piracy Union has targeted only randomly chosen individuals with its bullying. The victims were in an unfair position as they faced expensive lawyers of lobby organisations which push the current repressive copyright monopoly regime. This time it’s different,” Czech Pirate Party chairman Lukáš Černohorský explains.
“Instead of teenagers, copyright industry lobbyists are now dealing with a political party which didn’t run the website for money but because of our conviction that linking is not and should not be a crime.”
The Party says it has been forced to take this action to fight the persecution of linking online, adding that sites including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube don’t face any action for doing the same, even though they operate their sites for-profit.
That being said, it’s unclear how Czech copyright law will draw a line between the party’s hand-curated TV show download site and user-generated content sites like YouTube, but finding out is clearly one of the party’s aims.
“Our goal is to change the copyright monopoly law so that people are not fined millions for sharing culture with their friends. However, until we achieve that, we will fight in courts over interpretation and enforcement of the law,” Černohorský concludes.
The Party says that in the coming days it will call on all organizations who care about the future of the Internet to join them in a massive demonstration against oppressive copyright regimes and recent proposals for increased online censorship and surveillance.
Pirate parties have a long history of supporting pirate sites, particularly The Pirate Bay.
At times the Swedish Pirate Party famously hosted parts of The Pirate Bay’s infrastructure which put them on a collision course with authorities there. Over in the UK, the local Pirate party was threatened with a lawsuit from the music industry after refusing to take down its Pirate Bay proxy service. It eventually complied in December 2012.
Most recently, last year the Norwegian Pirate Party announced its own DNS service to bypass ISP censorship of The Pirate Bay.
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A fan-created ASCII version of the 1999 sci-fi classic The Matrix is the oldest known torrent that's still active. Created more than 12 years ago, the file has outlived many blockbuster movies and is still downloaded a few times a week, even though the site from where it originated has disappeared.
BitTorrent is an excellent distribution mechanism, but for a file to live on at least one person has to keep sharing it.
This means that most torrents eventually die after the public loses interest. However, some torrents seem to live on forever.
More than ten years ago TorrentFreak reported on a fan-made ASCII version of The Matrix, describing it as a really old torrent. This torrent had survived for 696 days, which was a rarity.
At the time BitTorrent had only a fraction of the users it has now so it was harder to keep them active. A lot of things have changed in the decade since, but the torrent in question is still going strong.
The torrent file of The Matrix ASCII was created more than 12 years ago (4,419 days) on December 20, 2003. Even though the original site is no longer online, it still has 8 active seeders at the time of writing.
There are also people actively downloading the file, most likely after they found a copy of the release on one of the torrent sites where it remains available. To the best of our knowledge, this means that The Matrix ASCII is the oldest torrent that’s still being actively shared.
The 12-year-old release of The Matrix ASCII comes with a DVD cover and insert. While there are no accurate statistics available it is believed to have been downloaded by tens of thousands of people over its lifetime.
Perhaps worried that Hollywood wouldn’t appreciate the effort, the torrent includes a small disclaimer.
“This work is a parody. As such I do not believe that this DVD has any possibility of competing with the original in any market. It is not for sale,” the disclaimer reads.
Prospective downloaders have very little to worry about though. Warner Bros. is not known to go after this type of fan-art that’s created for non-commercial use and the creator has never been targeted either.
The people who’ve downloaded a copy of The Matrix have thus far responded mostly positively after watching the ASCII movie. That is, those who knew what to expect. Those looking for the original Matrix movie are less appreciative.
“Dude, tell me what to do with this Matrix ASCII, cause the picture is all green n stuff, can’t even see what’s going on. And, its in 4 VOB files, but why?” was the response of one unhappy downloader.
The fact that this torrent has been able to survive for so long is a testament to the resilience of BitTorrent. For us, The Matrix ASCII has become an iconic release and we’ll certainly keep an eye on how it fares in the future.
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Basic rules of economics dictate that websites need a way to monetize their operations but with pressure in the advertising world increasing, options for pirate sites are more narrow than they were. However, while many still do their best to deliver a decent experience to users, others are letting everyone down.
During the past couple of years there has been a steady wave of reports claiming that so-called ‘pirate’ sites are some of the worst offenders when it comes to hoisting junk, malware and viruses upon their users.
Usually commissioned or funded by entertainment industry groups, these reports often lead to a sense of déjà vu, with phrases such as “content theft” and “organized crime” painting an apocalyptic vision for anyone daring to use a torrent or streaming portal.
The stark warnings are somewhat ironic. As the movie, music and software industries continue their crusade to have mainstream advertisers boycott any site they have not authorized, file-sharing sites are increasingly forced into the advertising backwaters. This means that the chances of bad ads appearing in front of users is increasing.
Although it will never be said in public, anti-piracy groups are well aware of the importance of diminishing the user experience on pirate sites. If they’re difficult to access (web-blocking) and risky to use (dodgy ads), the free content on offer might not be so attractive. It’s cynical and also makes somewhat of a mockery of their efforts to ‘warn’ about the dangers of using pirate sites.
But as with all things in life the proof of the pudding is in the eating and there are millions of file-sharers gobbling up content, enjoying the experience, not falling ill, and returning to sites day after day. That in itself suggests that the catastrophic impact suggested in various reports isn’t playing out in the real world.
However, it would be irresponsible to suggest that these industry reports are all absolute nonsense. While admittedly completely self-serving, several have raised very good points about the dubious quality of advertising appearing on various ‘pirate’ portals.
It’s a bitter pill but it needs to be said. While there are thousands that don’t, there are large numbers of pirate sites that fall way below the standards those who pay their bills deserve. Why some site operators sink to these levels isn’t always clear, but aggressive redirects, misleading advertising, fake virus warnings and malware are always unacceptable.
For some reason streaming sites seem to be among the main offenders and in the worst case scenarios they bombard the user with an endless stream of dubious advertising techniques that can only be of major annoyance to their visitors.While acknowledging the return they get from these ads is minimal (hence their volume), from a business perspective it seems baffling to use customers as things to be beaten into submission.
Unless sites really don’t care whether a user comes back again tomorrow or not, it makes absolutely no sense to treat them and their machines with disrespect. Of course, some popups, ‘direct download’ buttons and affiliate sponsors are to be expected, but wouldn’t it be better to at least maintain some level of sanity?
Of course, one response to aggressive advertising is for users to become more aware of their ad blocking options. As a result they then join the growing ranks of users who not only use all the facilities of pirate sites without contributing a dime to their upkeep, but feel entirely justified in doing so. This raises another irony.
Some might question whether we should be surprised that people who obtain movies and music for free don’t want to contribute financially to pirate sites. But human nature is not that straightforward. There are droves of people who are not only happy to contribute to the health of a pirate site, but do so while supporting the likes of Netflix, Spotify and Steam.
In the end and when the entertainment industries finally sort themselves out, it will be a battle between those who treat their customers properly and those who have no idea. Release windowing expensive content over geo-blocked services is annoying, no doubt, but pirate sites laden with junk aren’t the solution.
Both sides need to treat their users with respect to maintain or increase market share. Let battle commence.
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External link removed and uploaded to the site
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UK GOV OPENS CONSULTATION ON NETFLIX-STYLE GEO-BLOCKING
The UK government has launched a public consultation on the EU's proposals to ban Netflix-style geo-blocking. The government says it wants its citizens to be able to access legally purchased content wherever they travel in the European Union and is now seeking input from copyright owners, ISPs and consumers.
During the past several days the issue of content geo-blocking has become a global hot potato after Netflix announced renewed efforts to thwart users who attempt to bypass its content-locking mechanisms.
Starting immediately, subscribers who attempt to access the Netflix service with a VPN or proxy in order to gain access to libraries in other regions will face additional roadblocks. The measures have been widely criticized by both VPN companies and consumers.
But while this kind of effort to protect copyright holders and licensing agreements is probably legal now, over in Europe a conflicting scenario is playing out via the European Commission.
Following the adoption last March of a new Digital Single Market Strategy which aims to improve consumer access to digital services and goods, the Commission presented plans to abolish geo-blocking and filtering restrictions across EU member states.
Describing geo-blocking as a “discriminatory practice used for commercial reasons” the Commission said that users should be allowed to access digital content services like Netflix all across Europe, no matter where they are.
In response to the Commission’s proposals the UK government has just launched a public consultation, aiming to gauge the public’s response to the idea of a geo-blocking ban in advance of any final decision by the EU.
“The European Commission has recently published draft legislation that is intended to ensure that all digital services are portable within the European Union,” the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) announced.
“This would mean that a person who lives in the UK, and who subscribes to a digital content service there, would be able to be confident they can continue to access that service when they are elsewhere in the EU, provided they have the right level of internet connection.”
The UK government itself is strongly in favor of the EU’s proposals and believes that both consumers and content providers will benefit from legislative change.
“The Government supports cross-border portability, and the Prime Minister welcomed these proposals on the day of their launch. We will now be working with other European partners to negotiate the detail of the Regulations so that they deliver the best outcome for businesses and consumers,” the IPO writes.
The proposals suggest changes to copyright law aimed at smoothing the way for providers such as Netflix to make subscriptions available in other EU countries by allowing them to apply the laws of the subscriber’s home territory.
“It is currently difficult to provide portability for some types of content because of territorial copyright agreements which govern where services can be accessed,” the IPO notes.
The government says that in advance of negotiations on the text between EU Members States it is seeking views from both businesses and consumers on the costs and benefits of the proposals, alongside suggestions of how the language of the legislation could be improved.
“In particular, we are seeking views from service providers, rights holder organizations, and consumers, in order to better understand how the proposals will affect them,” the IPO says.
The aim is to introduce content portability sometime in 2017 but those interested in contributing to the process need to be quick. The government’s consultation is effective immediately and will end on February 12, 2016.
If you would like to get your voice heard on this, follow the link
Codehttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/call-for-views-on-cross-border-portability-of-digital-services -
I think we are allowed to discuss cable now, but must be very careful in what we say
I have not seen any specific guides although someone may see your post and put one up
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Link to external file host (which included malicious spyware & pop ups) removed and uploaded to the safety of the site
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I suggest you have a good read of the rules
Thread closed
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File uploaded to the site for everybody's convenience
