I was tempted to put this one under "Pure Funny" but I guess technically it's more news than anything else. Basically the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) has donated $186,000 for 10 pole-mounted cameras so the LAPD can monitor movie piracy activity in the Fashion District on behalf of the MPAA.

The funniest stuff is in the MPAA's quotes about the move...

The MPAA says: "It is our pleasure to assist them with these cameras which will help them lift a rock and shine a light on rampant counterfeiting of DVDs which used to take place in the dark shadows."

Is that precious or what? (ominous voice) "In the past, DVD theft took place in the dark shadows of back alleys and caves filled with other miscreants like opium dealers." This sounds like it should be written in blood and followed by a scream in a cheap movie theatre.

Did I mention how scary this is? It reminds me of how the police are controlled by a corporation called OCP in RoboCop.

Posted by ZeroLogik at 7:57 AM | Permalink

If you didn't already know about this then here's a little background. Typically a number of spammers do their work by hijacking hundreds or thousands of computers with worms or viruses and then they send out their untraceable spam through these "Zombie" machines. Typically these Zombie computers are Moms, Dads, Grandmas and casual users who don't do enough to protect their already unsecured Windows computers.

Now the FTC wants to disconnect these users from the net until their computers are cleaned. Here's a quote from the Wired article:

"The FTC said it would ask 3,000 internet providers worldwide to make sure that their customers' computers haven't been hijacked by spammers who want to cover their tracks and pass bandwidth costs on to others."

Can you imagine these poor people who don't even know their infected, suddenly not being able to get online and then calling in to tech support. Then they're told this cryptic story about how they have an infected computer spreading something called "SPAM" and they need to clean their machines before they can get back online.

This is not only stupid, but scary. The government is going to have to "somehow" determine if a user's machine is exhibiting qualities of a hijacked machine and then issue a request to the ISP to disconnect that user. Then the ISP will have to staff tech support to accommodate all the added calls regarding the inability to get online.

This is just a huge mess waiting to happen. Of course it's also adding some kind of power to a government agency that I don't think anyone should have. Let the ISPs decide to do this on their own! I'm so tired of the government wanting to make rules, laws or policies to control everything.

Posted by ZeroLogik at 5:34 PM | Permalink

Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who chairs the Senate copyright subcommittee, made one of the most ominous statements to date about what might happen if unfettered piracy continues. "Before Russia enters the (World Trade Organization), many of us will have to be convinced that the Russian government is serious about cracking down on the theft of intellectual property," Hatch said during a hearing.

So now the US Government is going to enforce its copyright laws in other countries who do not have such laws. Wow. The sheer ego required to attempt this is baffling. I mean are the RIAA and MPAA really that powerful?

Posted by ZeroLogik at 8:00 AM | Permalink

So I've been using the newest OS X released from Apple in April and it's simply amazing. It never ceases to amaze me how Apple makes just the right tweaks and fixes and keeps improving the UI and overall user experience. You can check out all the new features here: Mac OS X Tiger

If you're not a Mac user then I highly suggest you make the switch now. It's true what you've been hearing. They're easier to use (if that's your thing) and powerful (if you want to configure your OS). They're beautiful, stable, long-lasting and yes, virus-free. Take it or leave it, but I'm getting my family to switch with their next purchase!

That's all the shit in my head right now.

Posted by ZeroLogik at 12:05 AM | Permalink