Sunday, May 27, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Torrent ban may result in better file-sharing sites
How old is file sharing?
The internet started as a network that enables its users to share data. All the early versions of the internet provided a mechanism by which users could share files without any centralised server.
For instance, ARPANET, the world's first packet switching network (the most dominant form of data transfer today), funded by the US department of defence developed File Transfer Protocol (FTP) by the early 1970s.
However in the first few decades of its development internet primarily served academic institutions or research laboratories and hence copyright infringement was never an issue.
When did copyright become an issue?
In the mid 1990s a new format of audio started spreading on the internet. MPEG Audio Layer III (MP3) changed the way music was consumed. In this format, songs could be compressed by factors of 10 to 14, assuring quick download and mass storage in personal computers.
In 1997, the Winamp audio player was released and MP3.com was launched offering thousands of free songs by independent artists. These events made the new format immensely popular. The game changer however came in 1999 when Shawn Fanning launched Napster.
Read also: File-sharing sites like Vimeo.com, Torrentz.eu & others blockage sets off torrent of abuse
A person downloading music from Napster was getting the data from the computer of another user. The utility became immensely popular with millions of active users. Napster faced several lawsuits and was eventually shut down and later sold.
What is the most common way of file sharing today?
The same period also witnessed introduction of BitTorrent files which enable the distribution of large amounts of data over the internet. The file, for example a movie, is divided into several pieces. A person downloading a movie will download its 'piece-1 ' from 'user A' , Piece-2 from 'user B' and so on.
He/she will simultaneously allow 'user X' to download 'piece 1' and 'user Y' to download 'piece 2'. The file is thus distributed by people who want to download it.
Is it legal to download copyrighted stuff through P2P ? The internet started as a network that enables its users to share data. All the early versions of the internet provided a mechanism by which users could share files without any centralised server.
For instance, ARPANET, the world's first packet switching network (the most dominant form of data transfer today), funded by the US department of defence developed File Transfer Protocol (FTP) by the early 1970s.
However in the first few decades of its development internet primarily served academic institutions or research laboratories and hence copyright infringement was never an issue.
When did copyright become an issue?
In the mid 1990s a new format of audio started spreading on the internet. MPEG Audio Layer III (MP3) changed the way music was consumed. In this format, songs could be compressed by factors of 10 to 14, assuring quick download and mass storage in personal computers.
In 1997, the Winamp audio player was released and MP3.com was launched offering thousands of free songs by independent artists. These events made the new format immensely popular. The game changer however came in 1999 when Shawn Fanning launched Napster.
Read also: File-sharing sites like Vimeo.com, Torrentz.eu & others blockage sets off torrent of abuse
A person downloading music from Napster was getting the data from the computer of another user. The utility became immensely popular with millions of active users. Napster faced several lawsuits and was eventually shut down and later sold.
What is the most common way of file sharing today?
The same period also witnessed introduction of BitTorrent files which enable the distribution of large amounts of data over the internet. The file, for example a movie, is divided into several pieces. A person downloading a movie will download its 'piece-1 ' from 'user A' , Piece-2 from 'user B' and so on.
He/she will simultaneously allow 'user X' to download 'piece 1' and 'user Y' to download 'piece 2'. The file is thus distributed by people who want to download it.
Although it's universally illegal to distribute copyrighted material, enforcement agencies have faced problems in enforcing this. Many experts cite the ambiguity in the interpretation of laws of different countries.
Also the millions of alleged violators are distributed across the world and mass usage of various technologies makes it impossible for companies to file lawsuits against every individual.
With the ever-improving internet, shutting down one utility has typically resulted in the creation of better protocols.
Market Round-up
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Monday, May 21, 2012
Pakistan blocks Twitter over blasphemous content
Pakistan on Sunday blocked access to Twitter in response to "blasphemous" material posted by users on the microblogging and social networking website, a senior government official said.
"This has been done under the directions of the Ministry of Information Technology. It's because of blasphemous content," said Mohammed Yaseen, chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
"They (the ministry) have been discussing with them (Twitter) for some time now, requesting them to remove some particular content," he said.
Pakistan blocked access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and about 1,000 other websites for nearly two weeks in May 2010 over blasphemous content.
Any representation of the Prophet Mohammad is deemed un-Islamic and blasphemous by many Muslims, who constitute the overwhelming majority in Pakistan.
PTA chairman Yaseen did not specify which users or messages had prompted the ban. The Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan said its members have been asked to block Twitter indefinitely, but no reason has been provided by the government.
Yaseen said the ban would be lifted after ongoing discussions between the Pakistan government and Twitter about the allegedly blasphemous material are resolved.
Officials from the Ministry of Information Technology and from Twitter were not immediately available for comment.
Twitter has become increasingly popular in Pakistan in recent years, its users including politicians and government officials.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Samsung to bring more RAM to every mobile
Samsung is about to help the whole of the mobile market, as it readies a new memory chip for handsets.
Not only is Samsung responsible for the likes of the Galaxy S2, Galaxy Note and most recently the Galaxy S3, it also produces a wide array of components which are used by all mobile manufacturers.
More speed, less power, smaller sizeIts latest development is 4 gigabit 20 nanometer low power DDR2 memory. For those of you lost in the gobbledygook, it means Samsung is producing a 2GB RAM chip for mobile phones.
To date, most next-generation handsets sport 1GB of RAM, including the Galaxy S3 and HTC One X, although you'll only find 512MB in the iPhone 4S and Nokia Lumia 900.
What will this extra memory give us? Well the latest crop of handsets, with their quad-core processors, are lightening quick, but Samsung claims it "will help the market to deliver advanced devices that are faster, lighter and provide longer battery life than today's mobile devices."
The new chip is reportedly 20% thinner than previous 2GB offerings, which will allow handset manufacturers to continue producing incredibly slender devices, able slide into the skinniest of jeans with ease.
Samsung predicts the new memory will begin to ship later this year, which means we could see handsets sporting the new RAM by Christmas, but 2013 is really the time when this technology will be fully implemented.
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