TorrentSpy ordered to pay $110m

File-sharing site TorrentSpy has been ordered to pay $110m (£56m) in damages to the Motion Picture Association of America for copyright infringement. 

The ruling from a court in the United States comes just weeks after the website shut down. 

TorrentSpy facilitated the illegal sharing of copyright files by hosting a collection of links to films and music. 

TorrentSpy parent company Valence Media and its owners Justin Bunnell and Wes Park have filed for bankruptcy. 

The MPAA first began legal action against the website in February 2006. 

"This substantial money judgement sends a strong message about the illegality of these sites," said Dan Glickman, chairman of the MPAA. 

"The demise of TorrentSpy is a clear victory for the studios." 

TorrentSpy utilised a legitimate file-sharing technology called BitTorrent. It makes it easier to exchange large files over the internet without having to rely on central servers, with individual users sending and sharing bits of files. 

In a four-page ruling, US District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper said that TorrentSpy had to pay $30,000 for "each of the 3,699 infringements shown". 

The judgement is one of the largest fines ever handed down for copyright theft. 

TorrentSpy shut down on 24 March and the website now has a message saying it has closed as "the ultimate method of privacy protection". 

It states: "The legal climate in the USA for copyright, privacy of search requests, and links to torrent files in search results is simply too hostile."
Form : http://news.bbc.co.uk/

GTA IV blows away the record

No taint of ill repute could deter the worldwide rush for "Grand Theft Auto IV," a notoriously violent video game that racked up a record $500 million in estimated retail sales globally in its first week.

Take-Two Interactive Software, the "Grand Theft Auto" publisher that's under pressure from a takeover bid by Electronic Arts, said Wednesday that GTA IV sold approximately 6 million copies in the seven days since its April 29 release.

About 3.6 million copies were sold the first day, with a retail value of roughly $310 million for combined sales of the standard $60 game and a $90 collector's edition, the company said. GTA IV is available for two consoles, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.

The dollar figures were boosted by exchange rates that made the retail price significantly higher in Europe, where almost as many copies may have been sold as in the United States, according to analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities.

Still, the GTA results soared beyond the previously reported video-game and entertainment highs: $300 million in global first-week sales last year for Microsoft's "Halo 3" game, and worldwide first-week movie box office totals of more than $400 million each last year for Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and Sony's "Spider-Man 3."

Electronic Arts' $2 billion offer for Take-Two - repeatedly rejected by Take-Two's board - lingered in the backdrop amid

speculation about the effect of GTA sales on any potential negotiations. Take-Two's stock closed Wednesday at $26.26, down 9 cents but 52 cents above the $25.74 per share offered by EA.

"I don't see these figures having any impact on the EA takeover, although I'm sure that Take-Two management has a different view," Pachter said by e-mail.

Pachter added, "The first week sell-through doesn't change my view that lifetime sales (for GTA IV) will be approximately 18 million units, and doesn't change my valuation of the company - still below $20 - meaning that EA's offer still represents a premium to the intrinsic value of Take-Two."

Another analyst, Doug Creutz of Cowen and Co., said: "The game sold very well, and I think everyone expected that. I don't think this has any real impact on the EA bid."

Take-Two's management had said it would not engage in formal talks with EA until after GTA IV went on sale. Wednesday, Take-Two Chief Executive Ben Feder declined to comment on whether any talks had occurred since the game's release.

"Nothing has changed," EA spokesman Jeff Brown said. "We are maintaining our tender offer and have said repeatedly that we're willing to speak with management and negotiate the acquisition of this company." 

Feder declined to comment on whether the GTA IV launch exceeded Take-Two's projections. But he described the combined sales in Europe and the United States as an "extraordinary" example of global popularity.

He said the media and fan buzz about the game, which has garnered critical acclaim while being flagged by watchdog groups as a dangerous influence on kids, was proving more valuable than a marketing campaign.

"I wouldn't expect demand to drop off quickly," Feder said. "I expect word of mouth to drive sales well into the future."

GTA IV apparently is enticing some consumers into buying consoles: Microsoft said Xbox 360 sales went up 54 percent in the week following the game's launch, and Sony told the Associated Press that PS3 sales increased for its 10 largest retailers.

Entertainment analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers, said GTA IV combined with the new "Iron Man" film to create in dollars spent "what may have been the biggest entertainment week ever."

Despite speculation that pop-culture fans preoccupied with GTA IV would dilute the movie's attendance, "Iron Man" opened with a global box office of almost $200 million.

"I don't know exactly how to quantify the combination, but you've got the fan boys out there talking about both," Dergarabedian said.

"Even in times of economic uncertainty, when it comes to certain irresistible entertainment, the money comes out of the wallets."

Form : http://www.mercurynews.com/

Satnav or GPS?

All the satnavs I've seen allow you to search by postcode or
address. However, many organisations provide grid references. Do any
satnav devices allow you to search for these?

Gren Jones



I don't know of any, but satnavs seem to be aimed at drivers who don't
want to read maps. By contrast, handheld GPS systems are more
attractive to people who do use maps, often of the paper variety.



Obviously you could convert grid references into "points of interest"
(POIs) and load them into a satnav. There are also lots of sites that
let you download free POIs, though you may find it hard to get the places you want. There's a useful conversion site at nearby.org.uk.



One solution might be a Pocket PC that can run satnav (eg TomTom) and
other software, and also accept a plug-in GPS. Does anybody have a
better idea?

Form : http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/

Microsoft to show new search tech this month

Microsoft hopes to back up its refrain that it has a plan to catch
Google by showing off some improvements to its Live Search product at a
company-sponsored advertising conference later this month.

"We will start to show you the next version of the search," Chairman Bill Gates said in comments to reporters in Japan Wednesday,
promising that Microsoft had some exciting things up its sleeve. The
comments were included in a partial transcript provided by Microsoft.

The spring update is also expected to include new types of vertical
search and improvements in overall relevance of search queries,
according to a source familiar with the company's plans. Specifically,
Microsoft is expected to add to the shopping-specific search tools that
debuted in its Fall 2007 release. Microsoft has also been working on a new look for its Live Search product, which went live this week.

The company has struggled to make headway in search, particularly in the area of being the place that consumers go for general Web queries.

Microsoft has been a distant third in search, accounting for 9.4
percent of core U.S. search queries in February, according to ComScore.
Google, held a 59.8 percent share, while Yahoo was second, with 21.3
percent.

Many of Microsoft's recent changes have centered around
improving specific types of searches, such as image search, celebrity
tracking, and medical searches. The company is also focusing a good
deal of energy on trying to build "search experiences" into its various
Web products.

Windows Live General Manager Brian Hall reiterated that's
Microsoft's approach in a speech to investors on Tuesday. Hall echoed
an oft-repeated line that search can be a lot better than 10 blue
links, particularly if it is integrated into the task people are doing
when they make the queries.

"We think we can do a lot more to drive contextual search," he said. "We see a lot of opportunity to push the envelope there."

Microsoft declined to offer detailed comments on what is due in the next iteration of its search product, which has been code-named "Rome."

"Live Search is on a fall/spring release cycle, and we will
gradually roll out updates at these intervals to improve the experience
for both advertisers and consumers," the company said in a statement.
"The recent updates you've noticed are part of the latest release, and
we will continue to test and implement various features and
functionality over the next couple of weeks."

In his comments in Japan, Gates pointed out that although
Google has a high market share in search, it is also the kind of area
in which Microsoft can use marketing to get people to try out its
products, in due course.

He also played up the notion that Microsoft is an important
counterweight to Google's position in the market saying, Microsoft
wants to "make sure that state of the art does get advanced and
advertisers have good choices in terms of what they are doing with
their interactive advertising."

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