What Is Piracy

What Is Piracy & How It Affects Us.....

By - SD

WHAT IS INTERNET PIRACY?

Internet piracy is the downloading or distribution of unauthorized copies of intellectual property such as movies, television, music, games and software programs via the Internet. Illegal downloads occur in many forms including file sharing networks, pirate servers, websites and hacked computers. Each file posted on the Internet can result in millions of downloads. Hard goods pirates also use the Internet to sell illegally duplicated DVDs through auctions and websites.

Piracy is theft, and pirates are thieves, plain and simple. Downloading a movie off of the Internet is the same as taking a DVD off a store shelf without paying for it. In 2005, MPAA studios lost $2.3 billion worldwide to Internet piracy alone. Posting movies on a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) service or an unauthorized website is akin to giving illegal copies to millions of people.

The Global Avalanche of Internet Piracy The primary source of newly released pirated movies comes from thieves who camcord films in theaters. Illegally recorded movies are then sold to individuals who distribute them around the world through computer servers known as “Topsites.” The extraordinary speed and power of a Topsite triggers the avalanche that is global Internet piracy.

WHAT ARE PEER-TO-PEER (P2P) FILE-SHARING SERVICES?

A peer-to-peer service is a network that enables computers to connect directly to each other in order to distribute and copy files. Software programs utilize these networks to search for and trade every kind of file. Examples of P2P services include eDonkey, KazaA, Limewire and DirectConnect. These programs can turn your computer into a directory and distributor of an unlimited variety of illegal material, viruses and worms.

When you download a file from the P2P services, you're not just receiving stolen goods. You're now a dealer, responsible for all the violations that others are enabled to commit as a result. Besides putting yourself at risk of the legal consequences of illegally distributing movies, you're opening your computer up to potentially dangerous situations. By inviting complete strangers to access your hard drive, you risk exposing your private information such as bank records, social security numbers and personal pictures. You also make yourself vulnerable to identity theft and possibly a whole lot more. In addition, you are exposing your computer to harmful viruses, worms, Trojan horses and annoying pop-ups.

LEGAL ALTERNATIVES

As a consumer, there are plenty of sites that offer legal downloads such as CinemaNow, Vongo, ifilm, Movielink, Movieflix, AtomFilms, iTunes video and more. You can also get show times and tickets for movies playing in local theatres online. There are also many options available to buy or rent movies without even having to leave your home. For students, services such as Cdigix and Ruckus are becoming readily available on college and university campuses across the nation.

How Internet Piracy Affects You

By now, you should know that copying and distributing any copyrighted material is illegal and is called piracy. You should also know that having any of these pirated materials in your possession is also illegal. While there are some differences in the types of piracy, the end of the line is that it is illegal and you could be charged and even face jail time for downloading, burning, copying, selling or owning pirated materials.

Pirated materials are rife throughout the world, but especially in the Far East and Eastern Europe. It is easy to get a hold of these pirated versions of popular (and expensive) software; however, the costs can be many.

Not only may you find yourself with hefty fines for using and owning pirated material, you may also have problems with your computer. Many pirated software packages come complete with viruses that can tear down the foundation of your computer. The cost to repair damages done by some viruses can be incredible - rendering your computer useless in some cases and much data lost.

Internet piracy also affects the base cost of the product. The more that people steal the programs, the higher the cost of the programs in retail - companies are out to make a profit and if the guy down the street sells pirated versions of software, the company has to increase their price.

There are several types of software piracy, and these include:

End-user: a user copies software without the appropriate license. This can be as easy as purchasing one copy of software and using it on multiple computers in a business or home setting.

Pre-installed software: a manufacturer uses one copy of software and uses it on more than one computer that they are selling. Watch out when you purchase a new computer that the software comes with the appropriate license documentation stating that the software you have is licensed properly.

Internet: downloading copies of software through the Internet. If you are downloading material, ensure that the publisher of the software has authorized the distribution. There is quite a bit of "free ware" and "share ware" out there on the net, but be cautious that you aren't downloading from a third party who does not have the right to offer these downloads.

Counterfeit: Illegal copies of software are made and then distributed in packages that are similar reproductions of the manufacturer packaging.

Online auction: There are several forms of online auction piracy, such as selling software that is labelled NFR (not for resale) or OEM software that is not authorized for sale by a third party.

Remember the rule of thumb: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. If you have found a "sale" on software that seems too good to be true, chances are its pirated and illegal.

Pirated copies of software, including downloaded movies, music and more, affect everyone. These illegal copies are not "showing the companies" - it's making everything more expensive at the retail level and copying these discs will become increasingly more difficult, to the point where we may not be able to afford them at all in any way shape or form (and thusly, if pirated, no newer versions will be released).

Internet Piracy: The Facts

• The scope of the problem and the effects on the music industry
• Internet file-sharing involves 760 million unauthorised music files at any one time (870 million on the internet overall) (source: IFPI Digital Music Report 2005).
• US research shows about 75% of all the illegal files are coming from 15% of the people (source: NPD Music, May 2003).
• Illegal file-sharing is a major factor in the fall in CD sales, down 22% over five years.
• 15% of industry sales on average go into developing new artists - higher R&D costs than most industry sectors and on a par with pharmaceuticals.
• 53% of Internet users believe that firms that own & operate file-sharing networks should be deemed responsible for the pirating of music & movie files. (US internet research project Pew, March 2005).
• The value of audio sales is down in the last five years: in Germany 50%, Denmark 43%, Netherlands 35%, Italy 24%, Austria by 30%, Finland by 18% (all local currency).
• The value of audio sales in France is down 30% in two years. The UK market has been relatively stable during the past few years with several key factors holding up sales. But the UK is not immune to internet piracy. 18% of the 12-74 year olds; 8 million people downloaded music in 2003. These consumers spent 33% less than non-downloaders.

Third-party research on the impact of file-sharing

• Potential losses to the industry from file-sharing was $2.1 billion in 2004 (Informa Media Group, September 2004)
• All major surveys say that illegal file-sharing makes people buy less - the latest is Forrester showing 36% of downloaders buy less music as a result (August 2004)
• Stan J. Leibowitz - a long-time and respected commentator on digital matters - in his paper File-sharing: Creative Destruction or Just Plain Destruction (November 2004) states: "…the evidence seems compelling that the recent decline in sales can be properly attributed to file-sharing". The paper concludes: "There is strong evidence that the impact of file-sharing has been to bring significant harm to the record industry".

The industry response and its impact on illegal file-sharing

• With today's announcement of 963 new actions launched in 11 countries, the total number of cases launched against file-sharing outside the US has reached 1,652. In addition 9,900 cases have been brought to date in the US. This brings the total number of lawsuits to have been launched internationally to 11,552.
• Infringing music files on the Internet overall (peer-to-peer and other) are down over 20% between June 2003 and January 2005 (1.1 billion to 870 million)
• There has been a drop in 28% of users on the most popular peer-to-peer service (FastTrack, which includes KaZaA) since January 2004, i.e. since before the start of international legal action (3.2 million to 2.3 million concurrent users)
• There has been a drop of 45% of users on the most popular peer-to-peer service (KaZaA) since April 2003, i.e. since before all US and international legal action (4.2 million to 2.3 million concurrent users)
• KaZaA users are migrating to more niche networks such as eDonkey/eMule, Gnutella (Bearshare), WinMx, OpenNap, BitTorrent and DirectConnect.

Awareness and attitudes towards file-sharing (IFPI data, 2004)

• On average 7 out of 10 people in Europe are aware that unauthorised file-swapping is illegal. This is even higher than the corresponding levels of awareness in the US (64%) in December 2003, after three waves of US lawsuits against individuals.
• Over 12 million instant messages have been sent outside the US.
• More than half the people surveyed in four European countries support the industry's legal actions against major internet infringers.
• Litigation has played a critical role internationally in improving the public's awareness that file-swapping is illegal. Awareness of illegality of file-swapping is higher among people who have heard that the industry has taken legal actions against file-swapping services and users (59%). In the US awareness rose from 37% to 64% in one year (from April 2003 to April 2004).
• Half of all respondents in four European countries (53%) think that the prospect of legal action by music copyright holders would make illegal file-swappers stop or reduce their activities.

X-Men Origins Wolverine -- Uncaged Edition Review

X-Men Origins: Wolverine -- Uncaged Edition

Review By-Sd

“The Best Ever Game Made on Feature Flim . Surely it’ll appeale to the Hardcore Action Game Lovers.”

“It's derivative and occasionally buggy, but solid action and over-the-top gore make X-Men Origins: Wolverine a cut above other movie tie-ins.”

The Good

• Raw, brutal action
• Varied enemy types
• Good showcase of Wolverine's powers

The Bad

• Disappointing (and sometimes buggy) boss fights
• Cheap deaths
• Too easy

X-Men Origins: Wolverine will give you new insight into how much damage indestructible, razor-sharp claws can do to a human body. This is a game that revels in gore, with decapitations, eviscerations, and mutilations drenching the screen in blood. It may be derivative, a cakewalk, and at times buggy, but the sheer visceral impact of the over-the-top violence in X-Men Origins is enough to make it a fun action game, as well as one of the better movie tie-ins released recently.

It helps that the violence in X-Men Origins: Wolverine is backed up by decent gameplay, and though it doesn't bring anything new to the third-person action genre, it's still solid and satisfying at most times. You play as the titular Marvel mutant, with the game's muddled storyline mimicking and expanding on events in the movie of the same name. Along the way, you take Wolverine through the jungles of Africa, the hidden Weapon X base at Alkali Lake, the interior (and exterior) of a massive casino, and more. You have to take on groups of increasingly aggressive and dangerous enemies, solve not-too-taxing environmental puzzles, as well as go up against several guest boss villains from the Marvel universe. Unfortunately, the game doesn't do a great job of introducing these nefarious individuals--such as the Blob and Gambit--and often throws them in with little explanation of why Wolverine needs to beat on them in the first place.

Your weapons of choice for dispatching these villains are Wolverine's claws, and even though the game's jumping timeline means that you'll be playing as both pre- and post-adamantium Logan, the claws retain their indestructible ability to slice through practically anything throughout the game. You have light and heavy attacks that you can string together to perform various combos, and also an extremely useful lunge that lets you launch Wolverine at enemies from a distance. These button-based combos are easy to pull off, and get gradually more intricate as you unlock more. As Wolverine gains levels, new combos open up, as well as four different fury attacks, which are supermoves that require you to build up your rage meter before unleashing. These four attacks can be upgraded as Wolverine gains experience, giving the game a very basic character-customization element.

Although spamming the same combos can prove useful early in the game, you won't be able to get away with mindless mashing for too long. The game does a good job of forcing you to change your tactics, sending at you a wide variety of enemy types that require different attacks and combos to dispatch. For example, though the lunge may work on low-level enemies, tougher foes and midlevel bosses will simply swat you out of the air. With a bit of practice, all of Wolverine's moves can be chained seamlessly, making you feel extremely powerful as the mutant unleashes his rage on groups of enemies.

Among the game's highlights are a number of particularly gruesome ways that you can dispatch your foes. Some are situational; throw enemies near any conveniently located floor or wall spike and you'll automatically impale them. Some are part of normal attacks, which can result in arms, legs, and heads flying in any direction. The best ones are Wolverine's various flashy finishing moves. The angry mutant can stab an opponent in the side of the head with one set of claws before decapitating them with the other; rip off someone's arm and beat him to death with it; literally tear someone in half; use the spinning blades of a helicopter to transform an enemy's head into bloody chunks; and much more. It's certainly the most blood-soaked superhero game in years, and one that younger Wolverine fans should avoid. However, adult fans of the character will probably find this a guilty pleasure, in turns laughing and wincing at the blood-soaked display in front of them.

Your enemies will try to give as good as they get, and Wolverine will have to face off against a good variety of human, mutant, and robotic foes. Most pack heavy firepower or super abilities, but Wolverine has his rapid healing to fall back on. His health bar will automatically refill after a few seconds of not taking damage. In fact, Wolverine's health recovers quite quickly, which makes the game fairly easy to breeze through on normal difficulty. It's rare to feel too threatened by the odds stacked up against you, and chances are that the only time you'll die in the game is when you fall off of a high ledge or into water. That's right: Wolverine can survive bullets, swords, flames, explosions, and lasers, but fall into one of the game's few predetermined no-go zones and it's instant death.

This is particularly jarring during the game's final boss fight, in which falling off means having to restart the battle from the last checkpoint. Wolverine's other boss fights are mostly anticlimactic, with some of the bosses even freezing up on occasion. In one instance, a boss character simply stopped moving, whereas in another it failed to reappear after being thrown offscreen. These occurrences were rare but quite annoying when they happened, and to its credit, the game does have two standout showdowns, the first with the Blob, and the second a fight with a gigantic Sentinel. But though the latter is a fun multistage battle that culminates in a spectacular finishing blow from the near-invincible mutant, it's probably not quite the epic face-off that fans of the X-Men series have been hoping for.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is easy; you'll likely finish its five chapters in fewer than 10 hours. There's no multiplayer here, and most of the replay value is in finding hidden alternate costumes throughout the levels, as well as an unlockable hard difficulty. There are only a few extra costumes (such as Wolverine's classic brown spandex), but once unlocked, they can be used while you play through levels to replace the boring "faded jeans and white shirt" look that serves as Wolverine's default.

The game's environments--particularly its indoor ones--are plain-looking; the various corridors and laboratories lacking real distinctiveness. Characters fare a little better, sporting good animations if lacking a little in the detail and sharpness departments. The model of Wolverine himself is the standout and features an interesting structure that shows off real-time damage. Get hit, and the damaged areas will show the exposed muscle underneath. Keep on getting pummeled and you'll even see the character's skeletal structure exposed, to be gradually replaced by muscle and skin as Wolverine heals. This sounds better than it looks--most of the time, this real-time damage lacks clear definition, looking more like random red splotches on Wolverine's clothes than serious injuries. As for sound, the highlight again is Wolverine, with movie star Hugh Jackman lending his voice to the character. However, other environmental effects are inconsistent. Most of the time, the various slashing, gunshots, and explosions in the game sound appropriately meaty, but there are some occasions when onscreen actions seem to lack the accompanying sound altogether.

Although X-Men Origins: Wolverine does sport some clear technical deficiencies, it's never enough to fully distract you from what it is at its core: a solid if unspectacular game that, for once, takes those metal claws of Wolverine seriously. This is a game that's at its best when it's brutal, and though it lacks any real depth, it's fun while it lasts.