Internet Evolution's IT Video Project

When I received this email, I immediately thought of Second Life and it's users.

From my email inbox:




Internet Evolution is about to embark on a truly groundbreaking new video project, and I wanted to see if you would like to get involved.

We're looking to create a video case study about a company embarking on an important new IT project in the second half of this year.

However, unlike most case studies (which take place after the fact) our case study will follow the project from planning, through implementation, to trouble shooting and completion.

Projects that we are highly interested in covering include: cloud computing; analytics; social media in a business environment; security; or an upgrade to a company's computing and middleware systems.

The core of the case study will be three short (five minute) documentaries covering the before, during, and after of your project. These documentaries will be filmed by our professional film crew on location at your company premises at a time that is convenient to you. Each one takes about a morning to film.

We'll also outfit you with a video camera and the training required to upload occasional project updates.

The purpose of the case study is to highlight the great work that IT professionals such as yourself do every day. Our goal is to highlight your success for others to learn from. And, of course, as well as making you a star (and a corporate hero!) we'll also compensate you for your time.

Interested? Please drop me a line at ferraro@internetevolution.com if you would like to know more about this exciting new Internet Evolution project!

Sincerely,
Nicole Ferraro
Executive Editor, Internet Evolution

Be a Fat Cat in the Social Media World - Buy, Sell, and Invest in Online Influence with Empire Avenue

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The Social Media Exchange

Empire Avenue is the Social Media Exchange, where you can invest in any social media profile by buying their shares, meet new people, unlock Achievement badges, and earn boatloads of virtual cash by being active and social online! Buy shares in your friends, your followers, people with similar interests, brands you love, celebrities – anyone! All using a virtual currency and all for free!

Be Social, Reap the Rewards

When you join Empire Avenue, you can connect your Social Networking accounts, and we’ll score activity and engagement in each account and give you a virtual share price. The connections you make on Empire Avenue create "value-based" relationships, a deeper relationship than simply "following" someone, in a completely less intrusive context than becoming "friends."

Every day, you're on Twitter, talking to friends on Facebook, uploading videos or photos, and writing blog posts. Just for doing that stuff, you'll earn Eaves – our virtual currency – and we'll dish out some more virtual cash to your shareholders. Along the way you'll have a bit of fun, make new connections, learn about different people, and learn about social networking and the value of your network! Use your Eaves wisely and you might just become a virtual millionaire... or billionaire (insert evil, world-dominating laugh)?

Check out Empire Avenue

Social Media Revolution 2 (video)

Social Media Revolution 2 is a refresh of the original video with new and updated social media and mobile statistics that are hard to ignore. Based on the book Socialnomics by Erik Qualman.

How To Promote Your DJ Mix On Youtube

How To Promote Your DJ Mix On Youtube

By Muxx

Promotion is an essential skill for every beginner DJ that wants to become successful.

Promotion allows a beginner DJ to make their way from the bedroom to the real events at clubs and festivals.

The internet gives the beginner DJ great opportunies which were once a hassle and downright cutthroat.

By promoting your mixes on Youtube, you will be able to gain a broad audience and following, eventually guaranteeing your success.

This post shows you a few tips and tricks on how you can promote your DJ mix on Youtube.

Check out the full article HERE

This post includes:

• Piggybacking off other popular videos with video responses
• Linking your videos on your own blog and sharing it on social media such as Facebook and Twitter
• Promoting your video with Youtube ads and promoted videos
• Proper video optimization

PBS Frontline Digital_Nation, Rachel Dretzin, and Douglas Rushkoff Present: *Distracted by Everything*

Does the Internet promote freedom of expression and communication, making it a catalyst for democracy and activism? Is the net tilted towards Democracy and participatory society? Meanwhile, do services like Facebook and Twitter encourage virtual and superficial involvement over dedication to the kind of activism that makes a difference? Does it just take people off the streets, blogging safely in their homes where they no longer threaten repressive regimes?



Digital Nation – Life on the Virtual Frontier (2009 – 2010) is a documentary film by Rachel Dretzin and Douglas Rushkoff that thematizes the media issues in the context of our virtual lives, tech development, networking and multitasking.

Chapter 1: Distracted by everything. M.I.T. students are among the world’s smartest and most wired. They constantly multitask with their tech tools.

Chapter 2: What’s it doing to their brains. Tests given Stanford’s multitaskers yield troubling discoveries. Other research into Net use and the brain raises more questions.

Chapter 3: South Korea’s gaming craze. Some cautionary lessons from a country where Internet addiction has become a health crisis.

Chapter 4: Teaching with technology. Teachers are embracing digital media–’it keeps students engaged; new skills are needed for a new age.’ But is there a catch?

Chapter 5: The dumbest generation? The debate has just begun on whether we are losing as much as we’re gaining in 24/7 wired world.

Chapter 6: Relationships. Millions of people are inhabiting the Net as it were a real place, satisfying the urge to connect to others in online games, virtual worlds.

Chapter 7: Virtual worlds. Second life offers a totally new reality for humans, says it’s creator–and IBM has begun shifting it’s meetings into this virtual space.

Chapter 8: Can virtual experience change us? The U.S. military is using virtual spaces for PTSD therapy and for flying drones in Iraq while based in a room in Nevada.

Chapter 9: Where are we headed? A school is organized around learning through video games–may be it’s students are getting something we aren’t yet able to measure or recognize.

[Thanks Body Pixel]

Frontline: Digital Nation - 90 minute Documentary airs Tuesday, February 2nd

Ark Media and PBS-FRONTLINE: our 90-minute documentary "Digital Nation" will be airing on PBS on Tuesday (February 2) at 9 PM EST (check your local PBS listing). 

This unprecedented FRONTLINE project tackles what it means to be human in the digital age, from the way we think, work, interact and connect to the way we fight wars. We visit lots of places -- labs performing fMRIs on heavy multitaskers to a wired middle school in the south Bronx; an internet addiction boot camp in Korea to a massive American corporation holding meetings via avatars; a controversial Army recruiting center outside Philly to an Air Force base in the Nevada desert where pilots fly planes remotely.

We have an extremely rich and robust website, full of content we've been gathering over the past eighteen months as well tons of videos sent in by people across the globe. It's unlike any FRONTLINE website before, and we hope you can check it out after the broadcast. Douglas Rushkoff, one of our correspondents, will be hosting an online roundtable with many of the people you'll see in the documentary. We'll also continue to update the site with fresh video, and as always we invite any and all comments about any part of the site or the documentary.  pbsdigitalnation.org

Cheers,
Ark Media 

Audio Broadcast Streams - Musicians, Singers, & DJs: Perform Live Online to an Audience Around the World and in to Second Life & Virtual Worlds (updated Jan2010)

Ravelong Broadcast Stream Rentals
for Virtual Worlds and the internet. (Shoutcast)






To inquire, get more info, or to purchase a stream:
Email DJDoubledown@gmail.com or visit Ravelong Productions in Second Life
(inSL, contact Doubledown Tandino)

===

The concept:
It is possible to perform live music, sing, and DJ from your real life home.  Many people from around the world can tune in and listen.  Anyone can tune in to a live broadcast stream provided they have a broadband connection, meaning, listeners can tune in from the internet, from their mobile device such as a phone and avatars in-world can tune in too.

How DJing over the internet and into a virtual world works:
The DJ or musician plays/performs (in any computer software music player, external live instrument or DJ equipment). A program (Shoutcast, Simplecast, SAM, etc) on your computer then sends out any sound going through your computer's sound card. Your broadcast reaches a server relay and this is what is needed to stream music live at HIGH QUALITY.  The stream comes with a listener link. Any listener may hear the music you play LIVE. (For Second Life or a virtual world, that link goes into the land's music/audio link in order for inworld avatars to hear your broadcast.

Why rent one of your audio streams and not use some free streaming site?
Free streaming sites are low-quality sound.  You could be performing the greatest set of your life, and it sounds great to you in your home studio, however the listeners hear poor, lower than radio quality sound.  Dropouts, cut-offs, unstable, inconsistent low-quality sound is what you ALWAYS get with free streaming (for example: Ustream, Livestream, Tinychat, etc).  Free streaming sites and video conferencing sites were meant for voice discussion, and low-quality audio (at audio qualities of 32kbps or 64kbps which is worse than radio).  To perform an excellent pristine audio quality live show, you will want to make sure your audience hears what you hear, at CD-quality sound or above.

Free streaming sites do not come with customer service, technical support, troubleshooting, and emergency backup.  I do.   Now, with our 2010 improved servers and ISP, we are running at 100% uptime. Some clients that have relied on my streaming service have included IBM, Playboy, and many individual performers.  ALL have been with me (some for several years) because of my customer support AND quality of service.

OK, so, how much is this going to cost?
Less than you think it would.  Other companies try to rip you off.  If you were to do a search on the internet now, lets say on shoutcast.com for example, they are looking to charge at $50-$100 or more USD monthly!  That's insane!!  I charge what it really costs.  Depending on your package, it will cost $12-$15usd monthly (approximately $3800L/month).

Lets discuss your plans and expectations, and I'll be able to determine what is right for you as a live music performer.

-Doubledown Tandino
DJDoubledown@gmail.com

The Problem With Internet (and Virtual World) Girlfriends

The Problem With Internet (and Virtual World) Girlfriends
(Click the image to enlarge)

[VIA Kontraband]

Net Neutrality FAQ: What's in it for You

Net Neutrality FAQ: What's in it for You
by Tim Greene, Network World of PCWorld.com

The FCC has approved a notice of proposed rule making on the subject of net neutrality, and here are a few questions and answers to help shine a light on what that means.
(See "FCC takes first step toward net neutrality rules")

What exactly did the FCC do?
The FCC agreed to consider what regulations, if any, to impose on ISPs about the applications and services that they allow, ban or rate limit. The process calls for formally proposing rules and holding public hearings on them. A vote about the rules themselves will take place sometime next year.

What is net neutrality anyway?
It is the common name for creating and preserving what the FCC calls the "open Internet".

The FCC is trying to write rules that enforce six principles it says ISPs must uphold to preserve what the commission calls the "open Internet." These rules would tell ISPs to:

• allow sending and receiving all lawful content.
• allow all lawful applications and services.
• allow all lawful devices that don't harm the network.
• allow access to all network, application, service and content providers.
• ensure there is no discrimination against particular lawful content, applications, services and devices.
• reveal practices necessary network management that might limit the other five principles.

Who wants it?
A majority of the FCC, Google and other Internet-based companies, consumer advocacy groups and Internet luminaries such as Vinton Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee. They fear that without rules, ISPs will impose tiered service levels, making the top-level services so expensive as to rule out their use by innovators trying to start Internet-based businesses. They are also concerned that selectively banning certain applications such as VoIP will reduce consumer choice about how to make voice calls. There have been cases where ISPs blocked VoIP and rate-limited peer-to-peer traffic like that used for gaming and file sharing.

Who's opposed to it?
The loudest opposition comes from AT&T, Verizon and other Internet providers. They say the rules would block charging extra for premium services, the financial incentive they need to invest in network upgrades that keep traffic running smoothly. They say the rules would unfairly restrict what they call differentiating services that might justify higher rates than competitors charge. They say the consequences of net-neutrality rules would be one of two things: higher flat rates for services or paying by the byte for Internet traffic.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) also has introduced a bill to block the FCC's net neutrality rules.

What does it mean to businesses?
If net neutrality prompts higher Internet access rates for all-you-can-eat ISP services, businesses would have higher ISP bills. Usage-based fees might or might not increase costs to individual businesses depending on how much they use the Internet. Businesses that rely on the Internet to provide services might face decreased demand if their customers are forced to buy more-expensive services in order to consume their products. For example, a business that sells HD video downloads over the Internet might sell less if customers have to buy premium Internet access in order to enjoy a movie.

What does it mean to carriers?
Carriers fear net neutrality will restrict their ability to make money off their networks to the point that they will slow the rate at which they invest in network improvements that boost Internet performance. They also say they buy into the principles of an open Internet and that no rules are needed.

What does it mean to residential Internet users?
Flat monthly rates that are common now would likely remain, but ISPs might charge more for them. Or they might shift over to billing for the amount customers download, forcing customers to think twice about what they use the Internet for. At the same time, they would be able to use the Internet to make phone calls without worrying that the traffic would be blocked.

The rules would have the biggest impact on what services?
Without rules, ISPs are most likely to limit bandwidth hogs – gaming, streaming video - and VoIP. Many large ISPs such as AT&T and Verizon are also voice carriers, so VoIP riding the Internet is a threat to their revenue streams. The flip side is that providers of VoIP services that rely on the Internet ought not to be hindered by the ISPs.

----

See Also: Jon Stewart on McCain's Anti-Net-Neutrality Bill

Jon Stewart on McCain's Anti-Net-Neutrality Bill

From Here to Neutrality

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
From Here to Neutrality
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

In case you're wondering, yes, this exists. As does this. But not this.

Facebook - The Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game

Brad Reason | Create Your Badge


Brad Reason | Promote Your Page Too

Is Intel trying to steal Second Life though an expensive advertising campaign?

I don't even know what to make of this; Intel has decided to release a full-on internet advertising campaign sponsoring many websites, which all leads to this video.   To me, and everyone else in Second Life, and everyone else using Open Grids (Open-source OpenSim http://opensimulator.com) , and everyone else in the world that hasn't been living under a rock for the past half-decade... um, Intel, we know you're trying to steal Second Life.   Calling it Intel's "3D Internet", and obviously ripping off Linden Lab's Second Life, how foolish.

UPDATE:  Since this post Intel has conveniently changed the title of the video, changed the description of the video, and has changed all of the information on their Youtube page.

Cartman and South Park conduct a website review meeting

I couldn't help but think that this may resemble a Linden Lab meeting discussing their new website look and interface. And oh yeah.... Second Life has a new website interface.

Doubledown Tandino's Diggs of the Week - Australia Gaming and Net Censorship? - June 2009

Australia to Begin Filtering Online Games incl Second Life

escapistmagazine.com — Australia plans to filter internet sites offering games and online gaming content that exceed the MA15+ age rating, including downloadable and Flash games as well as sites that sell retail games online.

Australia to Ban Second Life? | Dusan Writer’s Metaverse

dusanwriter.com — According to the Inquisitr, new laws in Australia will mean that Second Life is banned on that continent. Thoughts, comments, discussions with Dusan and members of the virtual worlds.

Australia Govt to block websites offering banned games.

gamespot.com — Australian gamers are probably well aware of their country's strict games classification system, with the lack of an R18+ rating meaning any title not fitting under the MA15+ rating is automatically banned from sale down under. This means it is illegal to sell a game which has been refused classification in Australia.

Australia to Block Online Access to Games with 15+ Content

gamepolitics.com — Australia's federal government said yesterday that it plans to block access to websites which host and sell games with content edgier than what is allowable under an MA-15+ rating. The unprecedented censorship policy will apply to Australians of all ages.


Australian network filtering promises to block Online Games

massively.com — Australian Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, has promised to extend Australia's proposed network-level content filtering regime to block games, online games, downloadable games, and websites that sell or allow download of games that are deemed not to be suitable for a 15-year-old audience.


Australia: Bans, Filters and Government 2.0 Taskforce

laurelpapworth.com — with regards to online games, some are boxed (closed systems such as Grand Theft Auto), some are box and server (multiplayer such as World of Warcraft) and some are downloadable clients or simply web based clients to a hosted server (Second Life, Habbo).


Who is Responsible for Assuring Freedoms in Virtual Worlds

metanomics.net — Recent developments in a discussion regarding human rights on the web are forcing the consideration of a complex set of issues related to virtual worlds.


Net filtering and virtual worlds: reactions

metaversejournal.com — After last night’s story on the Australian Government’s internet content filtering legislation and its potential impact on virtual worlds, the response has been astounding. Today has seen the largest ever traffic on The Metaverse Journal. Like any issue, there are a few camps of thought:

** NO CLEAN FEED | Stop Internet Censorship in Australia

nocleanfeed.com — The Australian Federal Government is pushing forward with a plan to force Internet Service Providers [ISPs] to censor the Internet for all Australians. This plan will waste tens of millions of taxpayer dollars and slow down Internet access.

Rumors of Australian Second Life Censorship Seem Rumurish

nwn.blogs.com — Over the last 24 hours I've been peppered with links as here and here which seem to suggest the Australian government is imminently planning to block access to Second Life from that country. It has to do with a recent Aussie Communication Ministry proposal to filter the online distribution of computer games not rated acceptable for teen play.

Second Life Banned in Australia? Not So Fast...

gamepolitics.com — As GamePolitics reported last week, the Australian government is moving to block online access to games containing content which would exceed the country's MA-15+ rating. The proposed filtering scheme would affect online retailers selling such games as well as games played online such as MMOs.

Doubledown Tandino's Diggs of the Week - June 2009-1

Doubledown Tandino's Digg It Favorites of the Week:

20+ best sites to submit your news | INDEZINER - Every webmaster knows that site promotion is vital on the internet. There are many ways to do that. One viral marketing technique is also public news promotion. We searched for you and find out some great websites that are featuring community news.

Metaverse Week in Review | Live Show about Virtual Worlds - Metaverse Week In Review airs live right here every Sunday, starting at 12 pm SL time/8pm UK time. Archives of past shows are available by clicking the “On Demand” button.

Avatars United | www.AvatarsUnited.com | world MMO community - Welcome to the world’s open community for MMOs! Register today, hook up with your friends and improve your virtual life… one application at a time! " It's like Facebook for your virtual personas.

LIVE. Music electronic on USTREAM, most-popular Live Streams - Electronic Music Ustream Shows Broadcasting Live including electronic music DJs mixing live online.

ARhrrrr - An augmented reality shooter - ARhrrrr is an augmented reality shooter for mobile camera-phones, created at Georgia Tech Augmented Environments Lab and the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD-Atlanta). The phone provides a window into a 3d town overrun with zombies. Point the camera at our special game map to mix virtual and real world content.

Case Studies Real Organizations Find Success in Second Life - Real Organizations Find Success in the Virtual World There are hundreds of organizations currently in Second Life, including many Fortune 1000 companies and government institutions.

Marketing and Networking in the Second Life Art Scene - In this article, we’re going to explore some ways you’ll be able to hit the ground running with marketing yourself in SL’s virtual art scene. There are many similarities to real life when it comes to presenting yourself to the inworld audiences of curators, collectors and other artists.

RJDJ Scripting reality – music is everywhere… Dizzy Banjo - RjDj is an amazing iPhone application which creates mind twisting hearing sensations by weaving your environment into reactive music. Voices, cars, your walking speed.. these and many other things can be used to shape your experience. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, try it!

SelfControl - Program to block internet distractions - Is email a distraction? SelfControl is an OS X application which blocks access to incoming and/or outgoing mail servers and websites for a predetermined period of time. For example, you could block access to your email, facebook, and twitter for 90 minutes, but still have access to the rest of the web. Hope you enjoy my selections.

- Each week I hope to bring you some interesting stuff for my Doubledown Tandino's Digg It Favorites. Make sure to DIGG the articles that interest you and make sure to connect with me on Digg & on Twitter : @Doubledown_inSL @Ravelong

---

Doubledown's Note about Digg: I have been heavily using Digg (http://digg.com) for my daily website surfing and bookmarking. It's been useful to me in three ways:

1) Any website I come across that interests me, I want to save & share, I'm now using Digg to bookmark the site instead of saving the link to my web browser's bookmarks. Going to my own profile to see an easy access list of links I wanted saved has been working well.

2) Digg has a great community of site sharing people. I can go to Digg, without having something specific I'm looking for, and find interesting news and articles just by parusing the digg site.

3) Digg and Twitter combo with these tools: http://twiggit.com and http://twitterfeed.com
my Digg submission feed is: http://digg.com/users/BradReason/history/submissions.rss
(You are more than welcome to set your twitterfeed to send my digg links through your twitter if you enjoy my selections.)

See ya around Digg: http://digg.com/users/BradReason

10 Signs You Really Need To Get A Life

10 Signs You Really Need To Get A Life
by Twinster

Introduction
We have all felt it. We have all been thinking about it. The, in some cases, harmful amounts of man years we spend deciphering the ones and zeros by simple clicks on a computer screen. Too much time spent on something can drive some people to the very edge of insanity. So close to it that it no longer makes any sense. Not even in the slightest bit of clarity.

If you look at these 10, obvious, cases thinking -”That could so be me!” then you are truly in need of help. A lot of help!WARNING: Pure Awesomeness Ahead!Buckle up and hope for the best!

1. World of Warcraft

Do you play WoW (World of Warcraft)? Do you frenetically try to gain those extra gold bars in order to win that epic sword auction at the dwarf’s underground city? Do you crave it so much you skip a few hours of sleep just to get it. Well, in all fairness, you are safe and seemingly human. If your desk however looks like this…SEEK HELP!

read more | digg story

We Didn't Start the Flame War

We Didn't Start the Flame War



I found this reading a not-too-interesting article about a dude and his discovery of internet memes a few years too late:
The Culture of the Internet
Pogue’s Posts - NYTimes.com

The YouTube Symphony Orchestra

Following the heals of THRU YOU | Kutiman mixes YouTube comes

The YouTube Symphony Orchestra

Play your part in music history.

We called for professionals and amateur musicians of all ages, locations and instruments to audition for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra by submitting a video performance of a new piece written for the occasion by the renowned Chinese composer Tan Dun.

Finalists are selected by a judging panel comprised of the world's most renowned orchestras. Vote for your favorite instrumentalists on YouTube from February 14-22.

Winners are announced on March 2nd and will be invited to travel to New York in April 2009, to participate in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra summit, and play at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.

All the Tan Dun submissions will be compiled into a mashup video which will be premiered on this channel on April 15th.

Website URL: http://www.youtube.com/symphony

What I found most interesting was this page which shows the orchestra, when you click on a section, you can play each individual's youtube submission which they used to mash up the symphony.

RIAA, MPAA Copyright Warnings: Facts and Fiction

RIAA, MPAA Copyright Warnings: Facts and Fiction

Written by Ernesto on March 28, 2009

This week several scary stories surfaced about how the MPAA and RIAA are negotiating with ISPs on how to deal with copyright infringers. Even though it was often presented as news, those who look deeper will realize that this is nothing new at all, just the same old threats dressed up in a new jacket.

It’s has been a good week for the entertainment industry lobbyists. Hundreds of news outlets wrote in detail about how the RIAA and MPAA are negotiating with Internet service providers to warn alleged copyright infringers. No one seemed to notice that this isn’t really news as they’ve been working together for years, with ISPs passing on warnings to their customers on behalf of the studios.
It all started with rumors about two US ISPs, Comcast and AT&T, who were said to be doing a three-strikes deal with the RIAA. It soon became known that this rumor was completely fabricated, but not before hundreds of other news oulets reproduced the story. At the end of the week it turned out that there was no news at all.
Yes, the RIAA, MPAA and other outfits do plan to send copyright infringement warnings to ISPs, but they’ve been doing so for at least half a decade. Every other month these Hollywood lobbyists pitch their anti-piracy efforts to the public, and that’s exactly what they are paid for. This doesn’t mean, however, that something is about to change.
The anti-piracy outfits are happy with all the free publicity of course, that is exactly what they are after. Their purpose is to scare people. In this post we hope to clear up some of the misunderstandings, as we show that the scary stories published this week have no substance at all.

Copyright infringement warnings?

For years, content owners such as record labels or movie studios have been sending copyright infringement notices to ISPs, who are legally obliged to forward these to their customers. Some ISPs simply ignore them, while others faithfully forward the emails to the customer account associated with the infringing IP-address. Many ISPs don’t keep records of these events.

So, is my ISP spying on me?

No. This is a common misunderstanding. ISPs don’t look into your specific downloading behavior, they never have and there is no indication that this will change anytime in the near future. All the ‘evidence’ comes from organizations that work for the copyright holders.

What do they know about me?

If you receive a warning, all copyright holders know about you at this stage is your IP-address and what files were (partially) shared via your account, or more accurately - the bill payer’s account. The MPAA, RIAA and others don’t know your name and they never will unless they get a court order forcing your ISP to hand over the information. In the bigger picture, this is very rare.

How did they track me down?

The copyright holders hire companies such as BayTSP and DtecNet to track down people who share certain titles on BitTorrent and other file-sharing networks. They join the swarm and request files from others. When someone shares a piece of the file with them they log the IP-address, look up the ISP and send out a copyright infringement notice automatically. Unlike the file-sharers, these companies are authorized to download these files, so they are not infringing copyright themselves.

Will I get sued if I receive a warning through my ISP?

No. These copyright infringement warnings are not related to any legal action. Copyright holders do go after people who share their work on file-sharing networks, but this has nothing to do with the warnings they send out via ISPs.

Will they take my Internet away?

No. Although there is a lot of talk about “three strikes” policies, no ISP has agreed (or was forced) to disconnect users after they receive their third warning. In New Zealand they came close to implementing a law that would require ISPs to do this, but this proposal was pulled.
In France they are also considering three strikes legislation, but this has not passed into action yet. In Ireland the largest ISP Eircom said it would disconnect repeated infringers only if they receive a court order.
It is worth mentioning though that ISPs may cut off people whenever they think it’s necessary. Cox does this in the US for example, without an agreement with the MPAA or RIAA. ISPs have terms and conditions and most forbid copyright infringement, but really this is just to cover their own backs under the law.

Do I have to be worried?

Receiving a regular infringement notice is nothing to be worried about. However, if you download copyrighted files without authorization from the copyright holder you are breaking the law in some countries. If you receive a warning without having shared anything yourself (which happens quite often) then there’s nothing to worry about.

Can I protect (hide) myself?

If you don’t want to be spied on when using BitTorrent the best option is to hide your IP-address. You can do so by subscribing to a VPN service or by using software such as TorrentPrivacy. Blocklist software such as PeerGuardian is often recommended, but it is also highly ineffective as the lists are never fully up-to date or accurate.

What’s the point in all this?

The MPAA and RIAA don’t want their products on file-sharing networks and they use these warning emails to deter people from sharing these files with others. Since it’s much cheaper (and effective) than suing people, this is now their strategy of choice. Using news outlets to spread their doom and gloom scenarios is just part of their operation.
In the future the amount of warnings they send out to alleged infringers will increase and the studios and ISPs will work together to keep the associated operating costs down, if that’s not what they’ve already been doing in their recent meetings. It’s just the old model, scaled up with a rumor or two on top.
Let’s move on already.
read more | digg story

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Doubledown's Note: To me, this all rings true in relation to the gray area involving live music streaming into Second Life and the licenses we may or may not need.

Happy Rezday to Me - Happy Rezday to Me

Three years old.... I am geriatric... In the world of Second Life.

Here's my random happy newbish rezday to me blogpost filled with some funny things that still always make me smile.

United Beats SESSION ONE Club is having a party for me today starting at 10am (slt)













That's all for now... more randomness coming on here today.