https://torrentfreak.com/police-raid-9-year-old-pirate-bay-girl-confiscate-winnie-the-pooh-laptop-121122/

Police Raid 9-Year-Old Pirate Bay Girl, Confiscate Winnie The Pooh Laptop

An anti-piracy company has found itself in the middle of a huge controversy. CIAPC, the company that had The Pirate Bay blocked by ISPs in Finland, tracked an alleged file-sharer and demanded a cash settlement. However, the Internet account holder refused to pay which escalated things to an unprecedented level. In response, this week police raided the home of the 9-year-old suspect and confiscated her Winnie the Pooh laptop.

Very soon in the United States, letters will be sent out to Internet account holders informing them that they should stop sharing copyrighted material on BitTorrent.
He is, however, guilty of having a 9-year-old daughter with a taste for pop music.

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/102462/is-the-pirate-bay-storing-personal-data/

Is The Pirate Bay Storing Personal Data?

Hackers have accused owners of The Pirate Bay of collecting and storing the personal data of its users, backing it up with screenshots that show a user management system that holds IP addresses, emails and passwords in an easy to read format.

While the authenticity of the images has yet to be verified, PokeX, the twitter account that posted links to the screenshots and pastebin post, claims to have links with Anonymous.

However if these claims turn out to be true, the owners of the site would have more to worry about than its reputation with anonymous. It would completely cease to exist in its current iteration. If the user base of the site thought that it was being tracked, there would be a mass exodus.

If The Pirate Bay is storing user info, what’s to stop that information from falling into the hands of hackers or law enforcement?

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/09/05/sweden-paid-cambodia-59-4-million-arrest-the-pirate-bay-co-founder-gottfrid-svartholm/

At the start of this month, news broke that The Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm had been arrested in Cambodia. A bunch of updates followed, including that Svartholm would be deported to Sweden, and that the two countries of course collaborated on his capture. The latest tidbit, as of today, is the craziest one yet: Sweden essentially paid Cambodia tens of millions of dollars for the deed.

Now, the announcement of course didn’t come quite like that, but that’s to be expected. Let’s just say it’s hard to believe Sweden didn’t suddenly become interested in aiding Cambodia with millions of dollars.

The Swedish government has agreed to give 400 million Swedish Kronor ($59.4 million) to Cambodia for various reasons, including democratic development, human rights, education, environment protection, climate change, sustainable development, and poverty reduction. You name it (just don’t say international arrests).

Google Search Will Start Penalizing Pirate Sites

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/08/googles-opaque-new-policy-lets-rightsholders-dictate-search-results

Google's Opaque New Policy Lets Rightsholders Dictate Search Results
In particular, we worry about the false positives problem.

There are a few points in the article that are not explained fully.

Firstly (IANAL...) windows can typically be purchased in two flavours - an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) license or a Retail License. There are others that typically affect businesses - like Volume licenses where the company negotiates to purchase a large quantity of copies of Windows (or Office etc etc)

Computer builders usually include an OEM license for the main reason of price. OEM licenses are quite a bit cheaper than retail licenses - which allows the builder to either sell the computer cheaper - or make more profit.

Users who wander into a retail outlet will usually see on the shelf, fancy boxed copies of windows - these are the retail copies.

The difference between the two - OEM licenses once installed are then associated with that one PC forever. You are not allowed to uninstall an OEM license from one computer and install it on another (newer?) PC. The OEM license is not transferable to another computer.

Retail Licenses you may remove from one PC and install on another PC (but only one at a time).

The second point that Microsoft started to bundle "diskless" copies of Windows with new PCs that are shipping so Microsoft could make more money - I doubt. If they wanted to make more money they could just drop the OEM license altogether and require every license to be the more expensive Retail license.

The reason the OEM license exists, is because many PC Builders include other programs (many that are unwanted by the user), custom drivers, wallpapers and other files to customise the OOBE (Out Of Box Experience). Allowing PC Builders to configure a custom version of Windows to show the new PC in the best light possible to its new owner/purchaser. They also typically include utilities to create recovery/setup disks so you can return the PC back to it's original setup (if things go really wrong).

So shipping PCs with a custom copy of windows on the hard disk is less about saving Microsoft money, and more about making life easier (and more flexible) for the PC Builders. Conversely - life as a result isn't always "easier" and "more flexible" for the owner of the PC.

As for what is legal/illegal when selling a PC with software. If you include the Retail license on the PC you are selling - you cannot keep it for yourself. You cannot use the OEM license of Windows if you sell the PC (even if you remove OEM windows from the PC you are selling).

Some software licenses include a legal clause along the lines that the software is licensed to you and you are not allowed to sell/rent/giveaway the software to anyone else (even if you were to give up the license/possession of the software). I'm doubtful such a clause would stand up if tested in court (for some countries). Some license agreements can be pretty outrageous - but nobody reads them, other than as a cure for insomnia.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/4552166/When-selling-hardware-is-software-piracy

I want to sell my old computer, but a friend said it was illegal to sell it with Windows and other programs still installed.

Is that true? Paul L

In certain circumstances, yes. When selling a computer with an operating system installed, it is illegal to do so without

also supplying the licence for it, as well as any other licensed software installed.

Shareware programs are typically licensed to the buyer, which means if you sell your old machine with the programs installed,

you cannot install them on your new machine using the same licence because this would be considered software piracy.
Microsoft soon worked out it could maximise profits and reduce piracy further by distributing new machines without Windows

disks at all, instead including the required files in a separate folder or special partition on the hard drive.

This was all very well until the drive died, whereupon customers were left without an easy means of reinstalling Windows.
If you are buying a second- hand machine, ensure you get all relevant licenses with it.

If the seller doesn't supply a valid key and you use the computer, you are technically a software pirate.

Wow, very interesting issue - I wonder how it will eventually be resolved.

http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/15-memorable-quotes-from-the-pirate-bay-s-peter-sunde-676735

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/07/pirate-bay-soon-to-be-hosted-within-swedish-parliament.ars
Pirate Bay soon to be hosted within Swedish Parliament?
hopes to host the Bay from servers located within the Swedish Parliament to take advantage of parliamentary immunity.

I seem to remember some dark predictions in the late 70's and early 80's about video rental stores killing the motion picture industry. At that time, the average cost of a movie (VHS or BETA) was $80, so it was a bit difficult to build up a decent sized collection. A rental from a video store was one or two dollars, but it also increased the risk of people pirating the movies for their own collection. Now there is a whole market devoted to "direct to DVD" movies promoted almost exclusively at the rental stores. The price of movies to own has also dropped dramatically. Video stores have reached an agreement with the movie companies about revenue sharing and everyone is on good terms again.

What we need to do is develop a system that utilizes our current technology to make (movies, music, etc...) more readily available and cheap enough to entice people away from pirating. I realize that we will never escape piracy 100%, but we can make a legal route that is affordable enough for the general public to say no to piracy. There are already several distribution platforms available to choose from. (Gnutella, Torrents, ED2K) All of them offer the potential for a digital age "rental store." Who knows, this might even bring the "Fair Use" laws back into effect and allow someone to put their legally purchased DVD movies onto a laptop so they can watch them on a business trip or extended stay away from home. You may say I'm a dreamer...

You're a day behind- or rather the nzherald is- I just checked torrentfreak, and the latest is that The Pirate Party Becomes The Pirate Bay’s New Host with the entry page currently showing this taunting picture:

The plot thickens faster than a pan of gravy.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/file-sharing/news/headlines.cfm?c_id=199

Has the Pirate Bay finally been sunk?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/intellectual-property/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501011&objectid=10644656

LimeWire hammered in copyright case

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/intellectual-property/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501011&objectid=10645702

Piracy student must pay Microsoft $24,000

Thanks wiz!
The background pics of Wazzal are great and the game is modable.
Wazzal II - Notrium Mod

Never did that, but http://www.monkkonen.net/ makes me curious : Notrium Modding

To help our modding community we once again present the Barebones mod. Use this mod as a basis for building your own.

It seems I have got a lot to explore and to learn. I actually read more about games and how to make them, than I play them - LOL

Thanks for this find.

Thanks for the games Wizz

W.R.

Today I have a couple of games for everyone by the same developer of Notrium, Monkkonen. Bikez II is a GTA clone that is rather good considering it's price. Wazzal is a space privateering sim game. Both of these games have decent graphics despite their age and have quite a bit of gameplay to them.

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Bikez II

Bikez II is an excellent GTA clone in which you ride your motocycle around town completing missions. During the missions, you'll need to collect money either by completing the mission, or by killing innocent people. This game is not suitable for children under 15. Use your own discretion! The money that you've collected can be used to upgrade your fully customizable weapons, which you will need to do if you have any hopes of finishing the game. The following is a review from Abandonia Reloaded:

You want to enter the shoes of a mercenary? Make that a mercenary biker, that's right you want to wreck vengeance and destruction on the innocent, then Bikez II is the game to do that. The game has a simple enough premise to follow, go forth complete missions for the gang you are employed in, upgrade your weapons and keep going to see how far you can make it. Simple but effective but it may leave some gamers wanting more from this title.

If your looking for some complex story line to get you engaged at first it is not here with this game. There is a sort of story that does proceed when you start doing missions though but again it changes up as you proceed through the game and keep advancing. At first your job is to drive around on your motorcycle, maybe kill some civilians here and there and find a character that looks very similar to yours. When you do this, drive up slowly beside him, hit the enter key and you are taken to a different screen that describes the mission you will be doing.

Graphics in the game are well done. The environment of the city is done nicely, as is the character models and your bike model as well. However, there is not many character models about five of them and you will get used to seeing them being repeated. Controls for the game are easy to remember, use the arrow keys to drive your bike, space bar is handbrake, and your number keys 1-4 are your weapons. The actual feeling of the bike movement, in game is represented well. However it will take some time to get used to the bike movements and it will take some time, especially once you get into the missions of having to shoot down other bikers.

The missions themselves however while providing a back-story of sorts for the game, are essentially mostly the same sorts of activities. Either escorting somebody to a location or killing some official, or destroying another vehicle. So it does get repetitive after awhile. There is only one music track that loops, it's a nice track I find and fits with the atmosphere with the game but only one, it may just get on your nerves eventually.

However, if you are looking for a title that you can just sit down and play after a long day of work and you can get used to the controls, give this a try and see for yourself.

Download here!

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Wazzal

Wazzal is an excellent space privateering sim. Put simply, you fly around space attacking enemy ships, looting the ships, and selling the plunder for a profit. So basically you're a space pirate =D The following is a review by Ken Suguro:

Having played through Wazzal a couple of times, I am just surprised of the sheer quality of this FREEWARE game. The game is a variation of the ever so traditional “space trade” type game where you kill enemies, gain resources, and sell resources at different planets for money. It may sound simple when written that way, so let me elaborate.

In Wazzal, you’re a pirate. A pirate’s life in Wazzal is quite simple. You cruise around, you stop by planets to trade your goods. When you see a ship that you want? You attack it. Or when someone comes looking for trouble? You blast it. Then, after you have disabled the enemy ship, you go in and take your loot. After you get your loot, you go back to cruising around and trading. Isn’t life simple?

Quite simple it is. This is the 3 mode of gameplay in Wazzal. The cruising mode is where you explore the galaxy, directed by a very friendly navigation system. Any planet that you have business on is indicated in red. Without hassle, you get to your destination, and you trade. Keep in mind though, that different planets have different trade rates. An extra light-year may get you a better deal.

But a life of trade is a life of a businessman. A pirate fights! While cruising around the galaxy, you will often run into other ships. Yes, ships with lots of goods.. not to mension the ships themselves. So naturally, as a pirate you will attack it. This is the battle mode of the gameplay. Your ship and the enemy ship(s) is entered into a concealed battleground, where you bout untill the death. Becareful not to vaporize the enemy ship though. You’d only want to disable it so that you can loot the ship.

The ship is now disabled, and you go in to take your loot… but what do you find? You have company! The ship’s owner greets you with a squad of lazer gunmen. Throughout the game, the situation is always the same. 3 of your men against 6 or 7 of theirs. Of the 3, 2 are controlled by the computer and can only take out a few enemy gunmen at best. The rest is up to your marksmanship. Do not worry though, because you can strauf, and the enemy does not. But despite this obvious advantage, being outnumbered always is a challenge. And because you may or may not get the enemy ship depending on this, you will most likely find yourself sweating in the palms.

As you gain ships and get to know your way around the galaxy, you are pulled into the central storyline of the game. The event structure is somewhat like a role playing game in that it consists of a basic storyline and an unlimited set of subquests that can be obtained at any planet’s mission machines. But most of the story is based around battles and you will find yourself trying to find the best combination of ships and the number of ships to overcome such challenges.

Which brings us to the topic of game ballance. The ballancing between the ships that appear in Wazzal are superb. Of course the handling, speed, and weaponry are all considerably different, but what makes things interesting is the combination of the ships. A troop of the best ship can be beat by a troop of a mixture of ships. Most of the times, it is easier that way. And while managing what kind of ships your troop if made of, you have to think about how many ships you want. Because in Wazzal, the amount of enemies you have to blast depend on how many ships you have. For example, with 5 ships in your troop, you will probably go against a fleet of 7-8 enemy ships while with 3 ships, you’d go against only 2 ships. Playing battle after battle, experimenting with different combinations of ships and numbers, you’ll realize that the game balance is very perfected and fair.

Another aspect of Wazzal that seems perfected is the graphics. And oh am I serious here! This is no where within the range of most freeware games. We’re talkin’ 3D and particle systems! Wazzal’s games are all top down type views, but all objects are rendered in 3D, composited over sprites. Explosions, missile trails, jet exhausts are all done with particles which gives it a much more dynamic impression. The graphics are seriously good enough to compete with published commercial games.

The music and sound effects have an original feel to it that is sort of reminiscent of the mod tracker music days. A very creative reuse of samples keeps the download size to a surprising 5mb, despite its many patterns of music and sound effects. I wouldn’t say it’s the most proffessionally written score I’ve ever heard, but it does serve it’s purpose in creating the atmosphere quite well. I especially liked the creative use of a sample of a barking dog. Heck, it works in the music.

After finishing the game, I felt that Wazzal was a bit short. And that’s simply because it made me want to play it some more. If I were to add anything to this game, it would be a weapon upgrade system, and perhaps a bigger galaxy. The gameplay, story, and precisely high production values of this game makes it a perfect game for those 20 minute free times… Looking for a freeware game that kicks @$$? This one kicks galactic @$$!

Download Here!