Archive for the ‘Media’ Category

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Email to IRMA

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Dear Sir/ Madam,

I am writing to you in relation to recent reports that you have written to Irish ISP’s requesting that they block websites that you deem to be responsible for illegal file sharing, or face court action for failing to do so.

In the public interest, I would appreciate it if you could answer the following questions for me:

  • Why does IRMA believe that it has the right to force companies independent of IRMA to censor the Internet?
  • Would it not be better for IRMA, and by extension those that it purports to represent, to educate the general public regarding the legalities of file sharing, rather than blocking the parts of the Internet it does not agree with?
  • How will IRMA compile the list of websites that it wishes to see blocked?
  • What criteria will be used to judge if a site is responsible for illegal file sharing?
  • Will IRMA require that all search engine results for search terms such as “illegal file sharing”, “p2p”, “bittorrent”, etc also be blocked?
  • Is IRMA aware that circumventing an ISP block is as simple as using a proxy server? Therefore, will IRMA also require ISP’s to block access to proxy servers?
  • Is IRMA aware of how the Bittorrent protocol works, and that .torrent files do not contain any copyrighted material?
  • Do IRMA believe that this action will achieve any other purpose then to highlight the fact that this material is available online and severely harm IRMA’s reputation?

I would appreciate a reply at your earliest convenience, and please note that I intend to publish your reply online.

Yours faithfully,
Paul McCarthy.

Lets see if I get a response.

Update

As per James’ comment I have also emailed Eamon Ryan, Minister for Communications. Below is a copy of the email I sent.

Dear Minister,

Please find enclosed a copy of an email I have sent to IRMA in relation to their request that Irish ISP’s censor the Internet on IRMA’s behalf.

As the Minister for Communications, I would appreciate it if you could make a response in relation to this situation.

I would also ask you to respond to the following questions:

  1. Do you believe that IRMA should be allowed to dictate what websites are available to the Irish public despite the fact that they are a commercial enterprise and are using Eircom’s decision to settle with the music labels to further their own commercial aims to the detriment of the Irish public?
  2. As the Minister for Communications, do you feel that IRMA’s attempts to censor the Internet to further their own commercial objectives reflects well on this country on the international stage?
  3. If IRMA is allowed to pursue this course of action, will the Irish Government stand by and allow an unelected corporate entity to decide on issues regarding free and ready access to the Internet for Irish citizens?
  4. Is the Minister aware that while the first site targeted by IRMA (thepiratebay.org) is known to facilitate illegal file sharing, that the site itself does not contain, host or provide any copyrighted material?
  5. Is the Minister concerned that IRMA are deciding on which sites to block without any oversight?

While I do not condone illegal file sharing, I do firmly believe that no commercial entity should be given a carte blanche to censor what they perceive to be a unfair competition.

If IRMA are allowed to continue in this action, then it cannot be long before other companies will use the same methods to deny the Irish Internet community access to their competitors websites.

Yours faithfully,
Paul McCarthy

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Posted in Communications, Internet, Media | 7 Comments »

A TV Ad To Make You Smile

Saturday, January 17th, 2009

Thanks to Darragh for this one. A TV ad that will make you smile. More after the fold.

(more…)

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Posted in Internet, Media | Comments Off

Richard Stallman on Bill Gates

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

The BBC have an article from Richard Stallman, (he of the Free Software Foundation), regarding Bill Gates recent departure from Microsoft. As with all of Stallmans articles, it’s a pitch for freedom of software. The article is released under a Creative Commons NoDerivs license, read it in full below the fold.

(more…)

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Posted in Copyright, Linux, Media, Microsoft, Politics, Software, Technology | 2 Comments »

RTE Digital Radio Now Online

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Via Rick O’Shea, RTE have launched their new digital radio stations online. At the moment, they’re only available in RealPlayer format – though there are links to the non-existent Windows Media streams.

The RTE “How to Listen” page also contains links to the normal broadcast radio stations and podcasts.

I’ve played around with it for a while, and although the quality isn’t bad, the connection keeps dropping with server errors – obviously there’s still a few kinks to be ironed out.

It’s a step in the right direction, but not a huge one. I’ll be much happier when I see RTE implement something along the lines of the BBC iPlayer.

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Posted in Communications, Internet, Media | Comments Off

Limbo of the Lost

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

There’s a fantastic new game available at the moment, but it may not be around for long. In the last day or two, it’s popularity has gone threw the roof.

It’s called “Limbo of the Lost” and it’s yours, if you can find it, for the tidy sum of GBP£24.99. The best thing is that you don’t get just one game. No, you get 15 games and 4 movies! To keep. Yours forever.

How fantastic is that? Sounds too good to be true? Well, unfortunately, it is. You see you don’t get 15 full games and 4 full movies. You get bits and pieces of 15 games and a couple of scenes from each movie.

Despite being in development for 17 years, the writers obviously thought that they needed to flesh out the game a bit. So they borrowed bits and pieces from other games. It may have been an homage to some of the best games on the market, but who’s to know?

The distributors, Tri Synergy, don’t know as they’ve been unable to contact the developers. (Funny that.) In the meantime if you see these guys, shake their hands and say “thank you”, because how else would you get the opportunity to play so many of the top titles in one go?

Limbo of The Lost Developers

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Posted in Copyright, Media, Software, Technology | Comments Off

Manhunt 2 To Be Released in the UK

Friday, March 14th, 2008

The controversial video game, Manhunt 2, is set to be released in the UK after the British Board of Film Classification, (BBFC), was forced to issue the game an 18’s certificate.

Following two previous rejections, the game developers, Rockstar Games, appealed the BBFC decision to the Video Appeals Committee. The appeals committee upheld a previous decision that an edited version of the game could be released. Based on this latest decision the BBFC had no choice but to issue the certificate that allows Rockstar to start selling Manhunt 2.

While the game may now be legal to sell in the UK, there still remains the issue of which retailers will be prepared to carry the title. Given the previous publicity about the level of gratuitous violence in the game, many of the larger game sellers may refuse to stock Manhunt 2.

This latest twist to the Manhunt 2 saga also raises issues for the Irish Film Censor: if the game is now “acceptable” within the UK, should the IFCO reconsider their decision to ban the game in this country?

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Posted in Media, Software, Windows | 2 Comments »

Early Sesame Street Episodes: For Adults Only

Monday, November 19th, 2007

OK, so the title may be a bit misleading, but that doesn’t make it any less true. The first episodes of Sesame Street have been released on DVD, but with a warning: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.â€?

Apparently Cookie Monster teaches kids to over-indulge in biscuits, Oscar was depressed, Ernie was slow and Big Bird was hallucinating. (LSD perhaps?).

So now I know why I’ve turned out the way I have. It was all those episodes of Sesame Street that did it.

Just as well that the politically correct brigade is out there protecting the kids of today. Imagine the lunacy that would be unleashed if just one 4 year old caught a glimpse of an early Sesame Street episode? It could devastate our entire society. Governments could fall, empires collapse and the developed world could become a cultural wasteland.

Please, think of the children. Be careful of when and where you watch Sesame Street. And remember, Bert is Evil.

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Posted in DVD, Humour, Media, Rant | Comments Off

Streaming Media for the Wii

Sunday, August 26th, 2007

While the Wii has become the gaming sensation of the year, it hasn’t been without it’s detractors. One of the problems frequently levelled at the Wii is that it doesn’t play DVD’s, or any other media. A company called Orb has come up with a solution to the problem.

The process is fairly straightforward:

  1. Download the Orb software to your Windows PC,
  2. Follow on the on-screen instructions and install the Orb program,
  3. Set up a login account,
  4. Start the Internet Channel on your Wii and go to mycast.orb.com,
  5. Login to your Orb account,
  6. Browse for the audio, video or photos that you want to play.

In order to get the best from Orb, you do need a broadband connection, and your Wii needs to be connected to the Internet. Although it does work, I found that watching videos through the Orb interface is patchy, but that is more than likely down to the fact that my upload connection is terrible. Another thing – at the moment the Orb software is Windows only, but apparently they will be releasing beta versions of the platform for Mac OS and Linux next year.

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Posted in Broadband, Internet, Linux, Mac, Media, Technology, Wii, Windows | Comments Off

Manhunt 2 Banned in Ireland, UK

Wednesday, June 20th, 2007

Manhunt 2, published by Rockstar Games, has become the first game to be banned in Ireland. It’s also become the first game to be banned in the UK.

In his decision the head of the Irish Film Censors Office, (IFCO), John Kelleher stated that “in certain films, DVDs and video games, strong graphic violence may be a justifiable element within the overall context of the work. However, in the case of Manhunt 2, IFCO believes that there is no such context, and the level of gross, unrelenting and gratuitous violence is unacceptable.”

The Director of the British Board of Film Classification, (BBFC), David Cooke stated that “Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game.”

The original game in the series caused a furore in the UK, when the parents of a a murdered school boy blamed Manhunt for the death of their son. Following the murder, some of the largest retailers in the UK withdrew the game from their shelves.

Rockstar games have 6 weeks to appeal the decision in the UK.

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Posted in Media, Shopping, Technology | 1 Comment »

Piracy and the Guilt Trip

Wednesday, June 6th, 2007

I buy a lot of DVD’s online. I support CD-Wow’s position against the recent BPI ruling. I have watched pirated DVD’s. I could download them if I wanted to, but generally I prefer to buy my movies. One of my recent purchases was Superman Returns. An OK movie, one worth having, but this isn’t a movie review.

As I was waiting for the usual “piracy is a crime” ads to play through, I had a look through the junk included with the DVD. And I came across this:

“Immigration Crime

By rejecting DVD piracy you’re helping us tackle it

You may remember the 21 Chinese illegal immigrants who tragically lost their lives whilst picking cockles in Morecambe Bay. Investigations by Lancashire Police led to the houses of the men responsible for their deaths. There they found over 4,000 counterfeit DVDs and computers containing counterfeit material.

Lin Liang Ren and Lin Mu Yong were charged with 21 counts of manslaughter, perverting the Course of Justice, assisting and facilitating illegal immigration and manufacturing of false work permits. They received a total of 23 years imprisonment between them.

DVD piracy costs too much.
Don’t support it. Report it.”

While this pamphlet doesn’t explicitly state it, the implication is that there’s a link between DVD piracy and trading in human lives. What happened at Morecambe Bay was a tragedy. One which should not have been allowed to occur. Those responsible should pay for their actions, and pay severely. To link this loss of life to DVD piracy is reprehensible.

As the law stands, piracy is a crime. But is it a crime in the same sense that leaving 21 people to die in the cold and dark of Morecambe Bay is a crime? Linking the fact that counterfeit DVD’s were found in the possession of those responsible, to the fact that they left 21 people to die does not elevate the crime of piracy to the same level as the crime of murder. It shows a complete lack of ethics and morals, and more importantly, empathy for those who died at Morecambe Bay.

While I wouldn’t be so stupid as to condone the illegal copying of DVD’s in a public forum, I will say this: I wouldn’t be surprised if there are other people out there, who feel as outraged as I do, and will go ahead and download as many DVD’s as they can. Just to prove a point of course.

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Posted in Media | Comments Off

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