Peon's Place

The music industry has dealt a major blow to illegal music downloads in the United States, winning a copyright lawsuit against the operators of LimeWire.

Lime Group and founder Mark Groton faced claims of copyright infringement, unfair competition and inducing copyright infringement in a battle with the Recording Industry Association of America. CNet reports that U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood issued a summary judgment in favor of the RIAA, ruling thatt LimeWire’s operators optimized their software to ensure that users could download music, most of which was copyrighted. She also noted that LimeWire advertised in Google to people who searched for terms like “replacement napster” and “kazaa morpheus,” reports All Things D.

From here, the RIAA will likely seek a primary injunction against the LimeWire software, disabling its file-sharing features. The group could also seek statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each of the millions of copyrighted downloads facilitated through the software.

LimeWire rose from the rubble of Grokster, Kazaa and Napster to become the premiere vessel for illegal file-sharing in the United States. The NPD Group estimated last year that 58 percent of people who said they downloaded music from peer-to-peer services used LimeWire. CNet notes that the software’s been downloaded 200 million times from its Download.com site, and nearly 340,000 times in the last week alone. The music industry is understandably giddy.

“LimeWire is one of the largest remaining commercial peer-to-peer services,” RIAA chief executive Mitch Bainwol said in a statement. “Unlike other P2P services that negotiated licenses, imposed filters or otherwise chose to discontinue their illegal conduct following the Supreme Court’s decision in the Grokster case, LimeWire instead thumbed its nose at the law and creators. The court’s decision is an important milestone in the creative community’s fight to reclaim the Internet as a platform for legitimate commerce.”

Though there are no solid plans in place yet for a Hugh Hefner biopic, director Brett Ratner thought it would be a good idea to get Hef’s approval on someone to play him before anything else.

Hef’s choice? Robert Downey Jr.

After a meeting that included Robert, Hef and Brett, the original Playboy has been at Robert to consider to role, bringing it up wherever the two stumble into each other, like the Iron Man 2 premiere just a few weeks ago.

Brett agrees and explains that he believes that Robert would do it, if the script is strong enough.

And there is the snag as there is so much to tell of the life in Hugh Hefner that it has been difficult for the writers to lock down the story.

YouTube now offers movies at its store, priced between 99 cents and $3.99 each, for the rental. The Google-owned video service dabbled with the idea earlier in the year by offering Sundance films for rental, but now decided on a different turn.

Rented movies can be viewed for 48 hours. All of the transactions are handled by Google Checkout.

The rental store features newer movies to  TV shows to selections for young children.

While, yes, we do have Pandora streaming on the iPhone / iPod Touch, there is one thing critically lacking; flash to play Netflix / Hulu content. YouTube doesn’t always cut it.

I enjoy being able to watch Netflix movies off of my Xbox 360 at home on my big screen, instead of on my smaller (22″) computer monitors, or my nifty new 15.6″ laptop. But now portability comes into play. Netflix streaming on my iPhone!

When connected to Wi-Fi only, Netflix will soon be able to allow you to view movies on your device; fun for a coffee shop sit, or while walking around cities which grant free Wi-Fi, such as Mountain View and San Jose. Even airplanes now offer free Wi-Fi.

For a further read-up on this amazingness, click here.

The battle for 3D in your home is on! Both Sony and Samsung are releasing 3D Television sets in your home. The starting price? Approximately 50% more than what you pay now for a big screen high definition set. With the limited content that is 3D available, I’d be hard pressed to purchase one of these in the next year or two.

However, Sony is working to improve the Playstation 3′s 3D compatibility and utilize it more, and movies such as Avatar being released on DVD/Bluray will certainly help the usage. Plus there are supposedly talks of ESPN releasing a 3D channel in the future. Sports in 3D? Sign me up!

Now, the set comes with two pair of 3D glasses; however soon the day will come when 3D is without the necessary facial hardware. After that, flying cars!

“Lastly, “Avatar” won for cinematography, a choice I’m conflicted about. Wasn’t much of the image creation done inside computers with CGI? Yes, the cinematographer had to fill needless scenes of actors before green screens, but the cinematography in “Inglourious Basterds” and “The White Ribbon” was so much more impressive.”

Read the remainder of the write-up here.

Oscar Wilde (one of my favorite people to quote from, I have him up on my profile) wrote a story about.. well.. “A tale of horror, it depicts the corruption of a beautiful young man pursuing an ideal of sensual indulgence and moral indifference; although he himself remains young and handsome, his portrait becomes ugly, reflecting his degeneration.” (Wiki)

Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot…

V: [Evey pulls out her mace] I can assure you I mean you no harm.
Evey Hammond: Who are you?
V: Who? Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man in a mask.
Evey Hammond: Well I can see that.
V: Of course you can. I’m not questioning your powers of observation I’m merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is.
Evey Hammond: Oh. Right.
V: But on this most auspicious of nights, permit me then, in lieu of the more commonplace sobriquet, to suggest the character of this dramatis persona.
V: Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition.
[carves V into poster on wall]
V: The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.
[giggles]
V: Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it’s my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.
Evey Hammond: Are you like a crazy person?
V: I am quite sure they will say so. But, to whom am I speaking with?
Evey Hammond: I’m Evey.
V: Evey? E-V. Of course you are.
Evey Hammond: What does that mean?
V: It means that I, like God, do not play with dice and I don’t believe in coincidences.

The Smurfs, or Les Schtroumpfs in French, are a fictional race of small blue creatures that live in a forest somewhere in Europe. The Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced Smurfs to the world, but English-speakers perhaps know them best from the animated television series from Hanna-Barbera Productions. The Smurf franchise has spawned movies, television shows, figurines, and countless other merchandise. How did Peyo come up with the name for his famous creatures? More…

I just finished watching Eurotrip. If you don’t mind mild nudity (definitely not a family movie), it’s funny as hell. Thanks cable TV!