Stopping Internet Piracy

Internet piracy happens everyday. It is the biggest threat to the film industry. Low budget, independent films are hit the hardest by piracy and large film studios lose millions. The Internet is huge and impossible to patrol, and on top of that the Internet is anonymous in most cases. It is very hard to catch those that download film illegally from the Internet.

France is the first country to create a government agency that specifically targets, and punishes, Internet pirates. England has also compromised and come up with a way of dealing with Internet pirates. Representatives from Greece think that the best way to stop Internet piracy is to educate the people about it, and what the punishment for being caught may be. Repeat offenders are easier to catch. Other countries addressing the piracy issue think that punishing repeat offenders will put Internet pirates and the film industries on the same playing field. France has even proposed shutting off the Internet connection of those repeat offenders that are caught.

Regardless of the punishment, the fact remains that the digital world we now live in brings its own new set of criminals, which must be addressed. Completely cutting off a persons Internet connection seems harsh, but we lived without the Internet at some point. Maybe this is just what we need to stop Internet pirates, but will the US ever adopt this method?

Article Link

Team of Rivals Assemble to Harness Digital Media

Everything today is digital. If it can’t be found on an iPhone or Blackberry, then it isn’t important. This is the view of a lot of the worlds population. This move to a digital world has brought together some of the biggest rivals in the magazine industry. In an effort to take part in the digital world some top names in the magazine industry may be joining forces.

A new company would be formed that would bring together magazines like Time, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Sports Illustrated, etc. This new company would act as a “library” where digital copies of each magazine could be purchased. Printed magazines will still be for sale, but this new company would help these magazines account for those readers that are in need of digital copies. The layout of this application would unify each magazine into one easy to use area. However, each magazine would be responsible for the digital design of their magazine.

Social Networking vs. Google

Google has spent the last decade at the top, when it comes to online business. To many people it is the place to get your information. The search engine can yield billions of results for a single search. However, some say that Google’s reign may be coming to an end in the near future. The billions given by a Google search was once seen as a good thing. But, in our ever-busy lives we are constantly looking for the quickest easiest solution.

Social networking has taken over the web in recent years. It is much easier to get answers through social networking on sites like Facebook and Twitter. People are more likely to take the quick, easy route, and get answers from people close to them that they trust. No one wants to sift through thousands of pages of results anymore. Also, because Google is such a big business, and one of the pioneers of internet business, it is slow to adopt new philosophies. Google has not undergone many significant changes in its decade on the top. Only time will tell the fate of Google, but what is known is that Google will never fully disappear. Google has become one of the icons of our generation.

Google Adds Automatic Captions to YouTube

YouTube has become one of the most widely searched sites on the web. It is so widely used that every minute 20 hours worth of video is uploaded to the site. We have all visited the site. There are videos for everyone spanning thousands of subjects. There are endless how-to's, music videos, aspiring artists, and mindless entertainment videos. We all enjoy these videos. We navigate through the site with ease. But what about those with disabilities?

Any cable TV channel you watch today will have the option for closed captioning. So, wouldn't it make sense for a popular video website to also offer captions for its videos? This is exactly what Vint Cerf, a Google VP, thought.

YouTube currently has an option for users to add their own captions to videos that they upload. This feature is rarely used and isn't beneficial to those that may be hearing impaired. So, YouTube has taken it upon themselves to create closed caption channels on their website. They will begin using a recognition software that will automatically create captions on any uploaded videos to create a more user friendly experience for anyone that wishes to visit the site.