That's true. There are other sites that use data from tweets too, so maybe they need your permission to do so, or will need to remove content if you claim copyright infringement. Maybe you could get a recommendation for a lawyer from the RIAA...

Sounds like they get to have their cake and get to eat it too. They get all the benefits of using user generated content any way they want but have none of the liability. Good for them.

if you have problems with facebook apps like Mafia Wars and Farmville all you have to do is block the app and then it goes away. Not too hard...

What makes you think that a world leader would not be suicidal? What makes you think that it takes a world leader to detonate a nuke?

World Peace is entirely achievable. All it would take is the extermination of every human on earth. So, maybe the day after Armageddon we could see this happen and since Armageddon was not on the list of unlikely choices, I would assume that people believe that ... well, that it's bound to happen.

If so, we get world peace too. :) BONUS!

the Dharma Initiative people could do it, why can't we?

Now we just need a way to rip the video to DivX and put it in a torrent on The Pirate Bay!

Who pays them now? these H4x0rZ just do it for fun. Didn't you watch The Scene (season 1)

mod parent up. :)

then people would just start stealing broadband. ;)

Not true, they still have a valuable and well recognized name. It is probably just of zero value to you. ;)

I doubt that they are actually seeing any of that money. A more correct statement would be: "the copyright holders are now getting judgements of ..."

The amount is so ridiculously high that I doubt they are seeing that money.

Sure, but the point is that TPB is well known and everyone's mom is getting some kind of something from there. I am sure that if just 5 nerds got together we could compile a bah-ton of crazy files.

Personally I use Beyond TV to record HD shows and it then converts the files to DIVX. I can keep a couple of TB of shows and movies without batting an eye. I am sure that I could (if I wanted to) put these in a torrent automatically as they finished and share that with some kid that works for Redbox and rips movies all day long... We could amass bah-thousands of video files and probably never have anyone the wiser.

The point is, TPB is all over the place and everyone knows about it. It will likely turn into something like Napster. Everyone used it for a few years and now hardly anyone does, but they must be making some kind of money to still be around.

Truthfully, it sounds like their business model is more close to a cross between YouTube and Pandora or Slacker. They are just going to assume that it is all good, pay people if it is not and remove content if someone wants them to.

Also, if TPB goes away, then MPAA and RIAA will claim victory and maybe chill out a little and quit taking old grandmas to court.

I always thought that in the future we would all be wearing VR goggles and flying through strange landscapes of flying numbers and other weird futuristic landscapes. That's what I was promised in the 90's!

I have had the same experience. I spent over a year working for myself out of my home and found that when I was not bound by the rest of the world's idea of time, that my "days" shifted by being extended about 2 to 3 hours each "night". It did not really bother me, but it was kind of a pain when my "afternoon" started at 5:00 in the A.M. and I could not order a pizza or I had to set my alarm so that I could make it to the post office before they closed. Over all, I found that I was much more productive for longer periods of time and never had that butt dragging feeling that I get in my cubicle cage. I totally need 8 to 9 hours of sleep though.