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Movies

DRM Flub Prevented 3D Showings of Avatar In Germany 386

Fraggy_the_undead writes "According to German IT news site heise.de, yesterday several 3D showings of Avatar couldn't take place (German; Google translation to English), because the movies were DRM protected such that there had to be a key per copy of the film, per film projector, and per movie server in the theater. The key supplier, by the name Deluxe, was apparently unable to provide a sufficient number of valid keys in time. Moviegoers were offered to get a refund or view an analogue 2D showing instead."
Bug

Saboteur Launch Plagued By Problems With ATI Cards 230

An anonymous reader writes "So far, there are over 35 pages of people posting about why EA released Pandemic Studios' final game, Saboteur, to first the EU on December 4th and then, after knowing full well it did not work properly, to the Americas on December 8th. They have been promising to work on a patch that is apparently now in the QA stage of testing. It is not a small bug; rather, if you have an ATI video card and either Windows 7 or Windows Vista, the majority (90%) of users have the game crash after the title screen. Since the marketshare for ATI is nearly equal to that of Nvidia, and the ATI logo is adorning the front page of the Saboteur website, it seems like quite a large mistake to release the game in its current state."
XBox (Games)

Modded Xbox Bans Prompt EFF Warning About Terms of Service 254

Last month we discussed news that Microsoft had banned hundreds of thousands of Xbox users for using modified consoles. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has now pointed to this round of bans as a prime example of the power given to providers of online services through 'Terms of Service' and other usage agreements. "No matter how much we rely on them to get on with our everyday lives, access to online services — like email, social networking sites, and (wait for it) online gaming — can never be guaranteed. ... he who writes the TOS makes the rules, and when it comes to enforcing them, the service provider often behaves as though it is also the judge, jury and executioner. ... While the mass ban provides a useful illustration of their danger, these terms can be found in nearly all TOS agreements for all kinds of services. There have been virtually no legal challenges to these kinds of arbitrary termination clauses, but we imagine this will be a growth area for lawyers."
Media

Danish DRM Breaker Turns Himself In To Test Backup Law 466

coaxial writes "In Denmark, it's legal to make copies of commercial videos for backup or other private purposes. It's also illegal to break the DRM that restricts copying of DVDs. Deciding to find out which law mattered, Henrik Anderson reported himself for 100 violations of the DRM-breaking law (he ripped his DVD collection to his computer) and demanded that the Danish anti-piracy Antipiratgruppen do something about it. They promised him a response, then didn't respond. So now he's reporting himself to the police. He wants a trial, so that the legality of the DRM-breaking law can be tested in court."
Games

Games Workshop Goes After Fan Site 174

mark.leaman writes "BoingBoing has a recent post regarding Games Workshop's aggressive posturing against fan sites featuring derivative work of their game products. 'Game publisher and miniature manufacturer Games Workshop just sent a cease and desist letter to boardgamegeek.com, telling them to remove all fan-made players' aids. This includes scenarios, rules summaries, inventory manifests, scans to help replace worn pieces — many of these created for long out of print, well-loved games...' As a lifelong hobby gamer of table, board, card and miniature games, I view this as pure heresy. It made me reject the idea of buying any Games Workshop (read Warhammer) products for my son this Christmas. Their fate was sealed, in terms of my wallet, after I Googled their shenanigans. In 2007 they forbid Warhammer fan films, this year they shut down Vassal Modules, and a while back they went after retailers as well. What ever happened to fair use?"

Comment Re:If True, Fascinatingly Bizarre Logic (Score 5, Insightful) 720

Some of us do not want the companies to do whatever they want with their own money, it is true! They cannot mine everywhere, because we prefer unmined land, and they cannot pollute as much as they want, because we prefer unpolluted land! So, how do we decide how much companies get to exploit the world for their own profit? We get together and vote. It turns out the current majority of our population does NOT WANT more CO2 producing fossil fuel extracted, while creating a non-trivial mess in the process. The free market is a means to an end, and that end is a good life with personal liberty etc. The free market itself is not the end.

Comment Re:Why bother? (Score 1) 1172

Really? An interview that starts with "I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.'" You failed to hear the condescension and sarcasm in his explanation. He's using very careful language to imply that muslisms, by not condemning muslim extremists, are de facto supporting terrorism. Of course, we all know that muslim extremist is code for muslim terrorist. "Christian extremist" is never used. Instead we say "Christian fundamentalist," and talk about the IRA without mentioning Catholicism. Remember that Beck is not speaking to an impartial audience, but to one already primed to believe that all terrorists are muslims, and some who will confuse that with "all muslims are terrorists." You may also not appreciate that the interview is not just with "a muslim congressman" but with "the only muslim congressman." Try walking up to the only FLDS in the room and asking him loudly to condemn polygamy. If he does, everyone thinks he's just playing to audience. If he doesn't then he must support polygamy.

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