IFPI complains The music industry has said that while it has started making money from music downloading, more than 90 percent of downloaded music is illegal.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, or IFPI, said record companies’ revenue from digital music sales rose 40 per cent to US$2.9 billion over the past year. This growth is not covering losses from collapse of international CD sales, the music industry’s global trade body said.

CD sales fell 11 percent between 2005 and 2006, and were likely to drop further in 2007. Unfortunately, the music industry has been known to inflate the impact of music piracy to almost comedic proportions to plead its cause.

Pakistan test fires nuke-capable missile

 

By MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 8 minutes ago

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan on Friday successfully test-fired a medium-range, nuclear-capable ballistic missile, an event witnessed by the nation’s new army chief, the military said.

The Strategic Missile Group launched the Shaheen-1 missile from an undisclosed location at the conclusion of the army’s annual field training exercises, a statement said. The missile has a range of 420 miles.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan routinely tests the various missiles in its arsenal, designed to match that of neighboring archrival India.

Friday’s launch was witnessed by army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, who congratulated the troops on achieving “high standards of training and excellent results” during the exercise, the statement said.

Kayani recently took over as army chief after President Pervez Musharraf gave up that role in the face of Western and domestic pressure.

The statement quoted Kayani as saying that Pakistan’s armed forces were a “highly professional, motivated and well trained force” and were “capable of safeguarding and securing nuclear assets against all categories of threat.”

Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and they have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

However, relations between them have improved since 2004 when they started a peace process to resolve all disputes, including their competing claims to the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir.

Pakistan became a declared nuclear power in 1998, when it conducted underground nuclear tests in response to those carried out by India. Pakistan also tested its first missile the same year.

Source: Yahoo! News

Nvidia’s Hybrid SLI May Not Be Suitable for Business Users, Serious Gamers.

Nvidia’s Hybrid SLI Graphics Core Cannot Drive High-Resolution Displays – Report

Despite of hype, Nvidia Corp.’s Hybrid SLI technology that can reduce power consumption of high-end multi-GPU systems as well as improve 3D graphics performance on entry-level computers with integrated graphics core (IGP) has several serious drawbacks that are likely to prevent the current implementation from going into systems of serious gamers or professionals.

Nvidia’s new Hybrid SLI technology has two modes that target different applications and usage models. The HybridPower mode switches off discrete graphics core or cores and uses only integrated graphics engine when high performance is not needed, thus, cutting power. The GeForce Boost mode make integrated graphics processor (IGP) assist discrete graphics processing unit (GPU) and boost performance when it is required. In both cases computer monitor has to be plugged to video output of mainboard’s IGP.

Apparently, the first implementation of Hybrid SLI technology not only does not support multi-monitor output capability, but also does not support dual-link DVI output, which means that such a system cannot support 30â€? high-end displays with resolution of 2560×1600.

Multi-monitor support is crucial for business and professional customers, who utilize two or sometimes even more displays to simultaneously access necessary information with their eyes without necessity to switch windows. In fact, multi-GPU SLI technology itself, designed strictly to boost graphics performance for gaming also does not feature multi-monitor capability, but since not many gamers require it, this was hardly a substantial disadvantage.

Perhaps, a more important drawback in the current implementation of Hybrid SLI technology is the lack of support of dual-link DVI output. The latter is needed to transfer data to monitors that have resolution of higher than 1920×1200 at 60Hz, which means that owners of high-end 30â€? monitors are not able to use native 2560×1600 at 60Hz resolution in case they use Nvidia Hybrid SLI system. Given that many gamers who utilize high-end graphics cards or 2-way or 3-way multi-GPU SLI systems also have 30â€? screens, despite of promises, will not be able to reduce power consumption of their systems by using Hybrid SLI technology.

When asked for a comment on the matter, Drew Henry, general manager of media and communication processor business at Nvidia Corp. said that didn’t “see the first generation of this product as an all encompassing solution�, but saw it “as an ongoing development process�, reports Bit-tech web-site. Mr. Henry confirmed that there was still “a hell of a lot of development work to be done on Hybrid SLI� and implied that it might be 24 months before Nvidia is truly happy with this technology. Launching the Hybrid SLI now will allow Nvidia to get additional feedback from end-users and design future implementations without the drawbacks.

Nvidia did not unveil any technology-related reasons that prevented it from implementing multi-monitor support as well as dual-link DVI output.

 

aXXo’s Pirated Movies Used to Promote the iMac

The DVD ripper aXXo is without a doubt one of the most popular DVD-rippers. Even though he hasn’t been active since November 2007, his rips are still widely used, even by commercial outlets such as the John Lewis store. They must have thought, “Why use a real DVD if we can use a pirated movie for free?�

The aXXo rip was shown on an iMac displayed on an Apple stand at a John Lewis store. A member of the Hexus forums discovered this remarkable promotional material, and writes: “So I was in my local John Lewis store a week or so back, and I was checking out their new little Apple mac area, which had lots of Macs on display, with some desks setup and other accessories. They also had some wall mounted iMacs. Imagine my surprise when getting closer to one of them to see ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest’ - ripped by Axxo playing.�

Using a ripped DVD is bit odd because this is certainly not the best promotional material. Regular DVDs or free HD-content looks much better on an iMac monitor. One thing is clear though, aXXo’s presence has now moved beyond the Internet, and for him it must be flattering to see that commercial outlets appreciate his work. Perhaps this might motivate him to return? The last official aXXo torrent was uploaded November 11, after that it has been awfully quiet. There were rumors that he got caught, others said he had an accident. However, the official statement is that he decided to take a break.

John Lewis was not available for comment, the MPAA probably wont appreciate it that much, but they have our support.

[Via Hexus.net]

AMD unleashes the New Radeon Cards

 

AMD today announced the introduction and availability of the ATI Radeonâ„¢ HD 3400 and ATI Radeonâ„¢ HD 3600 series, the leading-edge entry-level and mainstream graphics processors (GPU) in the ATI Radeonâ„¢ HD 3000 series.

Ranging in price from USD $49-$65 suggested e-tail pricing for the ATI Radeon HD 3400 series and USD $79-$99 SEP for the ATI Radeon HD 3600 series, the new graphics solutions deliver unmatched value to the consumer.

Both series continue to advance AMD’s leadership by delivering display connectivity through DisplayPort™ integrated into the GPU, allowing AMD to exceed current manufacturing expectations in the industry. As part of the first family of graphics cards built using 55nm process technology, both series provide exceptional performance-per-watt for a quiet and power-efficient experience at unbelievable price points.
Blu-ray or HD DVD disc playback can be enjoyed in full HD glory (1080p)[iv] thanks to AMD’s proprietary unified video decoder (UVD) technology found on the ATI Radeon HD 3400 and ATI Radeon HD 3600 series, ensuring movies play back smoothly and with incredible detail. Immersive home theater environments can be created using the built-in support for six channel (5.1) Dolby Digital® surround audio transmission through HDMI. In addition, the ATI Radeon™ HD 3450 will support fully silent (passive) cooling, delivering the ideal solution for home theater PCs.

“With the ATI Radeon HD 3400 and ATI Radeon HD 3600 series, AMD is delivering outstanding graphics performance to the mainstream,� said Rick Bergman, senior vice president, AMD Graphics Products Group. “AMD is leading the industry by delivering top-to-bottom DirectX® 10.1 support with modular graphics capabilities for easy upgradeability. It’s part of our commitment to deliver The Ultimate Visual Experience™ to more users than ever before.�

AMD continues its display leadership with both series by offering the world’s first GPUs with integrated DisplayPort support. DisplayPort offers twice the bandwidth of DVI, and is poised to deliver low-cost high resolution and bit-depth panels.

“Dell and AMD have been leaders in driving the DisplayPort standard since its inception�, said Bruce Montag, office of the CTO, Dell. “AMD is demonstrating its technology leadership with the introduction of dual integrated DisplayPort capability in the ATI Radeon HD 3400 and ATI Radeon HD 3600 series graphics.�

Gamers looking for graphics processors that allow for further scalability will find that both series boast ATI CrossFireX™, which delivers the option of multi-GPU upgradability. ATI Hybrid Graphics will allow users to combine an ATI Radeon™ HD 3400 GPU with a compatible AMD 7-Series chipset to provide exceptional 3D performance as part of AMD’s upcoming mainstream high-definition desktop platform, adding further value to the gaming experience. With support for Microsoft® DirectX 10.1 support, gamers can play the top HD games with life-like 3D graphics, stunning realism, and great shading effects. Full support for PCI Express® 2.0 technology allows for twice the throughput of current PCI Express cards[v], which means gamers will be ready for demanding graphic applications.

The ATI Radeon HD 3400 and ATI Radeon HD 3600 series have already enjoyed broad customer adoption and are designed into a significant number of major OEM mainstream and entry-level PCs scheduled to be shipped in 2008. The official launch event, highlighting both series in depth, will be held in Beijing, China on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008.

Source : AMD

MySpace, BBC Reach Global Video Deal

 

The online community MySpace is partnering with the BBC to bring some of the British broadcaster’s programs to a worldwide audience in the site’s first global content deal involving a major network. The move, to be announced Thursday, continues MySpace’s push to become a hub for video, music and other content and more similar to Internet portals like Yahoo Inc. By contrast, MySpace’s chief rival, Facebook, has largely focused on messaging, networking and other social tools.

MySpace, owned by media conglomerate News Corp., will present selected BBC programs through its video platform, MySpaceTV. The clips are to include interviews with celebrities, comedy sketches and classic series such as “Doctor Who” and “Robin Hood.” The BBC already has a deal with Google Inc.’s YouTube allowing the popular video-sharing site to show excerpts of news and entertainment programs. Visitors to MySpace will be able to share clips with friends through such means as embedding them into their personal profile pages. “With the global nature of the deal, this is a great opportunity to put the best shows from the BBC in front of new audiences,” Simon Danker, director of digital media for BBC Worldwide, said in a statement.
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Microsoft: $16.37 Billion Revenue in Record-Breaking Q2

Microsoft Corporation has announced second quarter records for revenue ($16.37 billion, a 30% increase over last year’s period), operating income ($6.48 billion, a 87% increase) and diluted earnings per share ($0.50, a 92% increase). During the quarter, Microsoft rolled out new consumer focused offerings such as Windows Home Server, new versions of the Zune media player and the next generation of Windows Live Online Services. Sales to business customers remained brisk in the quarter with Microsoft Business Division and the Server and Tools business each experiencing double-digit revenue growth rates over the prior year and together increased revenue over $1 billion versus the comparable quarter last year.

“We are in the midst of another strong year with great momentum heading into calendar year 2008. We continue to see healthy demand from both businesses and consumers in the United States and our growth in emerging markets is especially strong. Looking across Brazil, Russia, India and China, our field revenue reached a combined growth rate over 65% this quarter. As we look ahead, our Windows Server 2008 launch, with our virtualization solution, will further our quest to bring exceptional value to our customers,� said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft.

Scandal: Four People, jailed in Lebanon for Facebook comments

 

On January 10, four young men from Université Saint-Joseph’s Zahle campus were held in Zahle prison for a week on charges of making crude and harassing remarks on a Facebook group dedicated to a female student at the university. Another underage female student was also named in the complaint but was released to the custody of her father. The plaintiff has accused the other students of defaming her, a criminal charge in Lebanon.

The bizarre case highlights the ease with which the average Lebanese citizen can find him or herself sharing cell space with dozens of serious criminals, as well as the legal confusion that the internet has introduced here just as it has in the West. With more and more Lebanese both publishing and socializing online, the ambiguous and at times arbitrary legal framework may have a profound chilling effect on the freedom of expression that the country is rightly so proud of.

Crime and punishment:

The individuals involved were careful about giving their own accounts while the case is still open, but what does seem clear is that the Facebook group began as a collection of juvenile jokes revolving around a fellow student. After complaining to university authorities and being told that the matter was not a university concern, the woman took her case to the Zahle attorney general, Abdullah Bitar. When Bitar advised her to come back with evidence of a crime, she and a friend monitored the site for a few weeks and returned to Bitar with printed transcripts of “wall� conversations. (“Walls� are the space on each Facebook member and group profile that allows friends to post public messages). After reviewing the transcripts, Bitar called the students in for questioning.

The students were interrogated from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 10. At 2:00 p.m., the courts close, but Bitar ordered that they be held for further questioning. The next day, the attorney general declared that he had enough evidence for an arrest and transferred the four men to Zahle prison. With the court offices closed on Saturday and Sunday, the young men were kept in prison until Monday, at which point a hearing was set for later that week. On Thursday, January 17, the judge at that hearing released each of the four on LL 500,000 bonds and set a final hearing for February 28.

Improvisiong Online:

Speaking to NOW Lebanon, friends and family of the four were dumbfounded. “We want to know, ‘How would Facebook get you in jail?’� exclaimed one. Lebanon has no laws governing internet usage as such, so any legal disputes involving online activities require judges to improvise new interpretations of existing laws. According to sources familiar with the proceedings, when the students’ families protested their incarceration, “the court director referred to the law governing print media.�

Viktor Harmoush, a lawyer for Anthony Jleylati, one of the students, said, “[Bitar] referred to four articles: 531 and 533 of the penal law, and 582 and 584. With 531 and 533, the judge can issue a sentence of one year in prison, or a fine. For 582 and 584, it’s six months, or a fine.� The articles in question deal with slander and libel in print media. They also deal with defamation and, in this regard, they do not specify a medium of expression.

Legal expert Ziad Baroud told NOW Lebanon, “Journalists can be sued on the basis of defamation, but they are never arrested. Journalists have this privilege in the law itself, not to be arrested before the final judgment. But this is not the case for everyone else.�

In many countries, slander and libel suits are civil matters, involving one party suing the other for damages. In Lebanon, “defamation� is a penal matter. The application of the law, however, varies depending on the circumstances and the discretion of the judge. Baroud said, “In Lebanon, the internet and emails are considered ‘publishing.’ I believe they were prosecuted on this basis. It was weird to see it handled this way, but strictly speaking, it was legal.�

Politics and intimidation:

Harmoush challenged the legality of his client’s imprisonment, however, saying, “Mr. Bitar made an illegal decision. It is not legal to hold the boys.� Indeed, while Lebanese law allows for imprisonment if convicted of defamation, it does not allow for “cautionary arrest,� or holding the accused pending trial.

Convalescing at his family’s home in Zahle, Anthony Jleylati was visibly traumatized from his weeklong stay in Zahle prison, which a lack of heating and overcrowding has made one of the worst prisons in Lebanon. “We had to stay together for protection. There were drug dealers and murders, and they offered us cocaine and other things. What’s more, we missed all of our exams, and now we’ve lost our whole last year of university,� lamented Jleylati.

Facebook’s “terms of use� specifically forbid users to “upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available any content that we deem to be harmful, threatening, unlawful, defamatory, infringing, abusive, inflammatory, harassing, vulgar, obscene, fraudulent, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable.� To get rid of the objectionable content, the plaintiff could easily have complained to Facebook and, very likely, had everything promptly removed. Indeed, once the group participants learned of the legal action being brought against them, they deleted everything themselves, but the plaintiff pressed her case anyway.

Friends of the students noted that the plaintiff’s father is a general in the army, and they believe that the court let his position influence its decision. “The judge himself didn’t understand the charges. And when they confronted him, he asked, ‘Are you going to teach me law now?’� said a friend of the family, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

“It’s an obvious case of intimidation. Because they cannot pin anything on them, they will impose this kind of hardship,� said Wa’il Kheir, managing director of the Foundation for Human and Humanitarian Rights in Lebanon.

He added, “These kinds of things happen quite often; it’s very unfortunate. In many cases, I know very ethical judges who will not accept to be part of this. But others, because of pressure or I don’t know what, they might be.�

Baroud added, “Unfortunately, this is what the law allows. This is what the prosecutor can do, for a brief period of time.� The tactic is almost impossible to challenge, and it is generally very difficult to prove that this sort of imprisonment was done intentionally.

New Rules:

The case now awaits a final hearing on February 28, and Harmoush maintains that his client, at least, will be declared innocent. Yet the questions raised will not be so easily resolved. While there is a relatively straightforward translation of legal rights and privileges between traditional print media and online media such as NOW Lebanon, there are 200,000 profiles in the “Lebanon� Facebook network today, and many more Lebanese that have not even registered with the country’s network. As they socialize with each other, exchanging the same kind of news and gossip and bawdy jokes that they would in person in cafes or bars, what are their rights? What of those who exist somewhere in between journalism and online communities, such as bloggers or website commenters?

These are questions that countries all over the world continue to wrestle with, as technology outpaces policy and legislation. The issues are complex, and there are few points of reference for judges or legislators in need of guidance. Naturally, recourse is necessary for anyone unfairly attacked or maligned, whether online or off. In Lebanon’s more traditional society, women are especially vulnerable to the damage that innuendo and rumors can do to reputations. But some balance will have to be found, and fast. If even allegations of ribald commentary insults could conceivably land one in jail, the effect on free speech in general can only be devastating.

Users want e-mail and social networking on basic mobile phones

E-mail is the most desired service for mobile phone users, with a third wanting their messages on the move if speed and quality was not an issue using a basic mobile device.

A survey of over 1,000 mobile phone users by online usability and accessibility consultant Webcredible into desired mobile services, found that access to social networking followed closely behind e-mail, with 25% of the vote.

In addition, 20% of those surveyed also highlighted a preference for using their phone to access information about their surroundings, and 13% said that they would use their phone to obtain travel and route planning information.

Trenton Moss, director at Webcredible, said, “The ease of use with regard to accessing e-mail via a Blackberry or PDA device has caused a groundswell in consumers who want the ability to e-mail on the move through a basic mobile device.

“What I find interesting though, is the speed with which social networking is becoming a must have function on a mobile.”

Just 9% said that they would like to be able to shop online. Moss said, “Usability is a massive function and one which is difficult to overcome if shoppers want to view a good quality image of what they are buying. There is also still great uncertainty among the public about the data security of shopping through mobile phones.”

The personal medical records of 4,000 NHS patients have been lost by Stockport Primary Care Trust, but health managers have chosen not to inform the individuals involved.

The records were on a USB stick clipped round the neck of an NHS employee when they were lost. They contained the names, dates of birth and details of medical conditions of patients of Stockport Primary Care Trust, as well as their NHS and trust numbers and details of their GPs.

The trust has since informed the Department of Health and GPs about the loss, but news only came to light publicly following a freedom of information request.

Stockport PCT chief executive Richard Popplewell said steps were taken to search for the device by retracing the path of the staff member. But it has not been found.

Popplewell said the loss was an accident rather than any systematic failing in management. He said the security of the information had been considered and the data was being carried personally to avoid having to be sent via email.

Popplewell said a balance had to be drawn between being open with patients and protecting them from unneccesary concern.

Paul Vlissidis, technical director of ethical security testing at IT consultancy NCC Group, said, “With such high levels of vulnerability there is a high chance of becoming a victim of certain threats, and any organisation that holds critical, confidential information about their customers and staff must ensure their networks are secure.

“It is a common mistake of any organisation to assume they have no enemies, but anyone could have been interested in the data they hold.”

The Stockport USB stick loss follows a similar loss at a Nottingham hospital last year. That loss only came to light when a doctor revealed the incident in the British Medical Journal.