Daily Shocker: BitTorrent Is Hot Like Fiya!
By Joseph Coscarelli on Mar 26 2008
New data is pouring in and trickling down at professional pirate headquarters, TorrentFreak. The reports are largely positive, but that, of course, is all relative to which side you're on. For big business and "anti-piracy outfits" -- for instance, the infamous RIAA and the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) -- things look bleak. In a breakdown of the Top 25 torrent sites as of March 27, TorrentFreak is noting "explosive growth," with 21 of the piracy-aiding websites moving up in the rankings according to Alexa, the web information company that lists the top 500 sites globally.
The Pirate Bay, no stranger to threats and even litigation (TMT News), has seen an approximately 40% rise in traffic over the past three months. Elsewhere, sites like Torrentz.ws, Torrentvalley.com, and Newtorrents.info have also experienced large jolts in their online popularity. Mininova.org, the most popular torrent site, has jumped ten places to become the 53rd most popular site on the internet as of March 2008.
This is all in the face of a "crackdown" on illegal downloading, with many U.S. universities, for example, being targeted by wide-reaching litigation letters. Is it starfish that regenerate limbs? Hydra-heads? Lizard tales grow back, right? What's that one game -- whack-a-mole? Yeah.
You're gonna need a bigger boat.
Here's the top 10. You can check out the rest of the list here.
Japanese File-Sharers May Soon Lose Internet Access, Linux Distribution Expected to Halt
By 8bit on Mar 25 2008
How does Japan always manage to beat the United States to anything remotely related to technology? Face it, whether it's sweet cellphone credit cards or the heralded replacement to the original Xbox controller, Japan has the USA licked. And now in 2008, Japan rolls out its latest and greatest announcement in the technology field: threats to file-sharers!
Yes, the four major ISP providers in Japan reportedly plan on implementing a system to track illegal file-sharing among its users. They plan to send e-mail warnings to first-time offenders, eventually escalating to account termination if the user continues sharing files. TorrentFreak reports that the number of Japanese file-sharers has increased by 180% in a single year. That's a lot of J-pop floating around in those tubes.
Representatives for the ISPs quickly responded to the reports, claiming that no current plan exists to punish file-sharers; however, the ISP providers and the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers, and Publishers (or JARSAC!!!!!! JARSAC CANNON ACTIVATE BREAOOWOW PPOWP POW!) plan to meet in April to discuss the possibilities.
Next up on Japan's docket: The much-anticipated response to America's Thrillhammer EC01.
Transmodern Festival 2008 Will Piss You Off
By Mr P on Mar 25 2008
Don't like avant performance? Hate installations? Distaste sound? Have an aversion to film? Can't stand mayhem?? Loathe ecstasy?? Wish radical culture never existed??? Boy do I have a fest that'll get your goat, upset your apple-cart, ruffle your feathers, foam, mouth, bee, bonnet, etc.! It's called Transmodern Festival (Live.Art.Action), and it's running April 3-6 in Baltimore.
Tagged as "Baltimore's Best Art Event" by City Paper, the four-day fest features everything you hate ("avant performance, installation, sound, film, mayhem, ecstasy, and radical culture"), with over 50 artists crammed in the Load of Fun studios. Tell Dina Kelberman how much her cute art stinks! (Ooooh!) Throw water balloons at Anna Oxygen and tell her she needs more hydrogen! (Hah, youch!) Let Blevin Blectum (pictured) know her electronic music sounds organic! (Nice one!) Refuse to buy Thach Thao Nguyen's's Vietnamese-style spring rolls, no matter how Vietnamese-styled they are! (Preach on, P!)
In a time when artists have broken from mainstream aesthetics and are making hopeful attempts at unification through localized art fests, we need hate now more than ever. Cost to spread hate at the fifth annual Transmodern Festival: $10 each day; $25 for all four days. Time to show these knuckleheads how we show our deep-rooted horror and sense of repugnance in 2008!
A Woman Is Suing the RIAA for Racketeering and Spying; Are You Ever Surprised When You Read Headlines Like This?
By Scout Leader Kyle on Mar 25 2008
Last month, Tanya Anderson counter-sued the RIAA after it tried to sue her for copyright infringement, but the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge. However, it's been recently announced that Anderson's lawsuit against the RIAA for racketeering and spying is back in full swing. This time, it's been revived as a class-action lawsuit against the RIAA and its use of MediaSentry (its spy subsidiary) to illegally hack into the private computers of tens of thousands of Americans and wrongfully accuse them of piracy.
The case was originally swatted down by the federal judge because the case was too subjective and didn't have much in the way of evidence. Hopefully the newly modified class-action suit will be enough for it to move up the justice system ladder. Time will tell whether or not the case is truly up to snuff, but if it does start rolling, the RIAA will be forced to explain just how legit MediaSentry probably isn't.
Jamie Lidell to Tour, Me to (Potentially) Go See Jamie Lidell in D.C. this June and Throw Frilly Panties Onstage, Me to Stop Procrastinating Writing TMT News Stories and Finding My Way Out of Trouble By Making Absurdist Frilly Panty References, That Being Said, Me to Actually Have Gone to Victoria’s Secret Yesterday to Take Advantage of Their 5 for $25 Deal Promoting Their PINK Product Line, Which I Consider Playful, Comfortable, and Reasonably Priced
By AJ Pacitti on Mar 25 2008
In support of his upcoming EP “Jim,” set for release April 28 (and 29 in the UK) via Warp, Jamie Lidell is doing the tour thing. Panties ready, girlfriend? Mine are. Always.
Jim tracklisting:
