Earlier this week, TelecomsTech reported of telco giant British Telecom’s intention to bid for EE and/or O2’s mobile business in order to re-enter the consumer mobile network market and be in the favourable position to offer a complete “quad-play” solution to its customers. Reuters is reporting that Hutchison Whampoa, the owner of Three in the UK, is preparing to enter the ring and bid for EE or O2 by the end of the...
If you’ve been wondering whatever happened to TV Max, wonder no more. As you may recall, TV Max is the MVPD in the Houston area that – in the FCC’s view – broke the television carriage rules by retransmitting over-the-air stations without getting their permission to do so. If that doesn’t ring a bell, how about $2.25 million, which is the amount of the fine the Commission proposed to dump on TV Max in a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture...
Piracy is damaging. There is the argument that due to legal and licensing issues it sometimes leaves many people with the only way to access their favourite content – but it is harmful to the industry and takes money out of the pockets from the (already swindled) content creators behind whatever you’re currently enjoying gratis of charge.
Current statistics show that Pirates account for one in every four downloads and that number is only rising further. Needless to say, official bodies are looking...
A survey conducted by IT recruitment specialists CWJobs.co.uk shows that 70% of IT professionals believe that hiring ex-hackers could be the solution to security problems. After all, who better to protect against intrusions than the people who do it daily?
The most high-profile case in my recent knowledge was that of infamous iOS “Jailbreaker” and PlayStation hacker GeoHot; who was snapped-up by social networking giant Facebook not long after an intense lawsuit by Sony.
Whilst the most common...
One of the highlight features of Apple’s latest iPhone, the 5S, is the inclusion of a unique fingerprint scanner – futuristically hidden underneath the device’s iconic “home” button. But are we putting too much faith in Apple (and others') security features?
According to an NBC survey, iPhones make up 58% of usage within the House of Representatives in the US – important positions; which require high security.
Yet the U.S. military did not authorise the use of Apple’s...
Just under a fortnight ago, TelecomsTech reported on London-based MUSO’s request for Russian social network VK to clamp down on file-sharing. Whilst this helped reduce the damage by one rampant site, music is still illegally available – the UK government wants to further prevent this.
The voluntary code - which is being offered to BT, Virgin Media, BSkyB and TalkTalk - would allow inspection of downloading activity and could create a database of repeat...
The Pirate Bay ship has decided it will not be sunk by any of the legal battles it’s found itself in, and instead is continuing their illicit activities from the comfort of the Spanish and Norway seas (or skies as the cloud-based service may be.)
Whilst (currently) out of reach by the courts, it hasn’t stopped legislation such as that implemented in the UK which requires ISPs to block access to the file-sharing website.
As always with the pirates, they’ve found a way to step ahead –...
Piracy is an issue which has plagued studios of various mediums for years, and controversially, sometimes helps to push boundaries, as was the case with the music industry. Now Disney and Sony wish to do the same with film and are trialling streaming brand-new titles whilst they’re in theatres.
First, let’s take a look at how music rose, fell, and has got back stronger than ever.
When music had to be obtained from your local record shop; you had to think long and hard about which artist...
Three of the largest Belgian internet service providers (ISPs) have not been paying “copyright levies” according to authors’ association Sabam, whilst still offering access to protected materials.
Being taken to court are the ISPs Belgacom, Telenet and Voo. The call (if passed in favour) will mean each of the three companies paying 3.4% of their turnover towards copyright fees.
Sabam, the suing association, is an institution set-up to protect authors, composers, and publishers from having...
How self-destructive US policies are hurting hiring and industry
One of the biggest concerns regarding the passage of SOPA is that entire domain names could be blocked by federal authorities due to a single offending blog or web page. In this past week, major websites such as Wikipedia and Google engaged in an education campaign in order to have consumers put pressure on politicians who eventually reversed course on their support of the bill.
On a...
The founder of one of the world’s biggest file-sharing websites, Megaupload, has been arrested for running the website that breaks US online piracy laws.
Kim Dotcom (also known as Kim Schmitz) and three others now face extradition hearings and prison after the US Department of Justice sent New Zealand police to seize their 'playboy lifestyle' homes on Thursday.
More than $8 million in cash, luxury cars and guns were also seized after search warrants were granted around...
SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act, or House Bill 3261 and PIPA or the Protect IP Act are attempts by the entertainment industry to curtail the ability of individuals to visit websites that may be linked to suspicious content that...