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Filed under: Internet

Beginning of the end for the Internet in the UK

Often lauded as the 'CCTV state' and 'the most surveilled country in the world', the UK may soon deliver a killing blow to the Internet as we know it. Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing is reporting some leaked legislation from the UK government that would remove any kind of freedom or privacy that the Internet grants its users.

The proposed amendments to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act would allow the Secretary of State (or 'Pirate-Finder General') to alter the law on an ad-hoc basis without approval by Parliament (the UK's Senate).

Cory goes on to site the potential repercussions of these proposed changes:

1. Immediate remedies for copyright infringement -- jail sentences and removal of Internet access can be meted out purely at the discretion of an unelected official (that is most likely under the sway and pay of media lobby groups).

2. The raising of pirate-hunting militia -- the Secretary of State could "confer rights" to music labels and movie studios to help them protect their works. It would be within the rights of the copyright owners to compel ISPs, schools and businesses to hand over details of those using their network for 'nefarious' purposes.

3. Pirate-hunting duties could be forced upon ISPs -- not merely content with perusing ISP records, the Secretary of State could force ISPs to act as gatekeepers. You can imagine how it might impact your surfing experience if a copyright lawyer is forced to peruse each and every one of your emails to check for plagiarism...

Cory goes on to cite other implications, but you should probably just go and read the article itself. And as he says, if you're a Brit, or even if you know a Brit -- this is serious news. You can't really expect something like this to make it through government... but really... who knows?

[via Boing Boing]

Filed under: Games

1 in 5 UK gamers prefer to download their games

Findings in a recent report presented at the London Gaming Conference last night show that 7% of console - and 14% of PC-gamers prefer to download their games in digital, no-box-or-paper-instruction-booklet format.

This isn't as big news as it seems though, as many PC owners also own consoles, and vice-versa -- and I bet there's some cross-over in the demographics.

But, with the recent take-off of digital-only download services like Direct2Drive, Valve's Steam, and Microsoft's LIVE Marketplace, it's no surprise that gamers have been enjoying the lower prices and quicker delivery times inherent to such services. As game developers continue to jump on-board with these services and reap the higher profit margins, we can expect the trend to continue.

As always though, when there's a shift in sales, someone has to lose out -- even if it's not the customer.

In this case it's the real-world shops like EB Games and Game. They've often relied on value-added deals to turn a decent profit -- buy two games, get a third free, that kind of thing -- and with more and more people staying home (really, the number of reasons to leave your home is getting quite low...), I think game stores will soon have to mix things up, or die.

[via Neowin]

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

How to make a DVD of that student-only Windows 7 you bought for $29.99

So you're a student who has taken advantage of the crazy upgrade deal from win741.com but instead of looking at a nice, shiny ready-to-install ISO of Windows 7, Digital River sent you a handful of random files and no ISO! Fortunately, it's very easy to turn them into an installable ISO! Follow this very quick guide to get Windows 7 installing right away.

To start with, make sure your downloaded Windows 7 files (the 'expandedSetup' directory) is unzipped into C:\ -- it'll make things easier later.

1. Download this tool -- alternatively you can obtain the official pack from Microsoft, but that's a whole darn gigabyte.

2. Unzip and move oscdimg.exe to your System32 directory (likely to be C:\Windows\System32)

3. Open an elevated command prompt. In Vista you do this by typing 'cmd' into your 'Start Menu' and hitting ctrl+shift+enter. In XP, just type 'cmd' into the Run dialogue (Windows Key+R or from your Start Menu).

4. Type (or copy and paste) the following into your command prompt (this will vary a little, depending on where you've put your expandedSetup folder):

oscdimg.exe -u2 -b"C:\expandedSetup\boot\etfsboot.com" -h "C:\expandedSetup" C:\WIN7.ISO

5. Ta'da! You've got a burnable ISO!

All you need to finish the job is a good burning application like ImgBurn, CDBurnerXP, or InfraRecorder. For this particular task I'd recommend ImgBurn - then just right click the ISO file and start the burn from your context menu. Or launch ImgBurn and choose "write image file to disc" -- your choice!

No DVD burner? If you have a 4GB USB flash drive handy, check out this app!

Big thanks to Brian Wasylkoski, who was kind enough to let me harass him while he went through this process at the University of Manitoba. --Lee.

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Impending postal strike means early Windows 7 for some Brits


While some people still think Windows 7 could be a big ol' flop (hello, Randall C. Kennedy), Microsoft is doing everything it can to make sure launch day is a smashing great success.

In the UK, that has meant moving ahead shipments of preorders so customers receive their copies before a possible postal service interruption occurs. As it turns out, Royal Mail workers have pegged October 22nd as the start date for a 48-hour strike.

Microsoft told The Register "[We are] aware of the planned postal strike and has taken action to minimise impact on those customers who pre-ordered their copies of Windows 7. As a result, some customers may receive their copy of Windows 7 a day or two early."

A nice side effect? Enthusiasm.

Nothing gets people worked up about a preorder item like receiving it a few days early. Even if that wasn't an intended result, getting the OS to a few customers in advance of launch day is sure to add to the Windows 7 buzz.

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

UK Windows 7 price to be 50% of US price

Windows 7 UK pricing at the Microsoft Store
Now here's something you don't see every day. A piece of technology that's going to be cheaper for UK customers than those in the US. Typically UK shoppers end up paying more for computers, gaming consoles and software than their US counterparts.

But CNET has discovered that Microsoft is charging just £65 for a full version of Windows 7 Home Premium. That's about $107 US, while Americans will have to pay about $200 to get a full version. Heck, even the upgrade version of Windows 7 Home Premium will run $120 in the US.

The Microsoft UK store lists the price a bit higher at £79.99 or about $131 US, but you can find the operating system for £65 at Amazon.

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows

Windows 7 now available for pre-order in the UK

Windows 7 E
Microsoft has started taking pre-orders of Windows 7 in the UK. Windows 7 Home Premium E is available for pre-order for £49.99, while Windows 7 Professional E will set you back £99.99.

Pre-orde pricing will be available until August 9th, or while supplies run out, whichever comes first. Of course, Microsoft isn't actually going to run out of pre-order licenses. It's software, after all. But the company has decided how many pre-orders to take, and hasn't bothered to tell the rest of us what that number is.

The BBC is reporting that Amazon UK sold more copies of Windows 7 in the first 8 hours that the operating system was up for pre-order than it sold of Windows Vista pre-orders in the 17 weeks it was available for pre-order. Whether that's entirely due to the positive buzz Windows 7 has been getting, the discount pricing, or some huge surge in the popularity of buying software from Amazon in the UK isn't entirely clear.

[via Engadget]

Filed under: Internet, Video

Hulu to add British TV... for US viewers only

Hulu
Hot on the heels of the announcement that Hulu has hired a new VP in charge of international business, paidContent is reporting that Hulu has signed a deal to distribute several TV shows from the UK's Channel 4. But for now, they'll only be available to US viewers.

The deal covers several programs including Peep Show, Rude Tube, Queer as Folk, Green Wing, and Underbelly. The shows aren't available on the web site yet, but they should begin showing up soon.

There's still no word on when Hulu will launch in the UK, or why Hulu couldn't at least work out a deal to stream TV shows purchased from that country in Britain.

Filed under: Google, Web

Google Street view goes live in the UK

Google Street View UK
Google has launched Street View in the UK. Street View lets Google Maps users see photographs of streetscapes photographed by Google vehicles. At launch, you can see imagery for 25 cities in the UK including London, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Glasgow, and Sheffield and Southampton.

Overall, Google Maps has pictures of more than 22,000 miles of streets in the UK.

When the service launched in the US, it raised some privacy concerns. The UK is already light years ahead of the US when it comes to government surveillance cameras. But the BBC reports that Google did take some steps to ensure privacy in the UK version, including blurring faces and automobile license plates.

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Google, Web

YouTube blocks music videos in the UK

YouTube Music
Google and the group that licenses music videos in the UK have hit a stumbling block in negotiations. And that's led Google to block UK users' access to premium music videos. That covers music that has been uploaded by artists and record labels for which Google pays a licensing fee, as well as user uploaded videos that have been claimed by copyright holders.

In other words, the only music videos you'll be able to watch in the UK now are for artists that aren't covered by the PRS agreement in the first place -- or music videos that have been illegally uploaded by fans and which haven't been flagged as infringing on copyright yet. It's just like the YouTube of yesteryear.

Without delving too deeply into the Google said, PRS for Music said, the two sides are pointing their fingers at one another accussing each party of being too greedy. But negotiations are continuing, so the music videos could return soon.

[via Techmeme]

Filed under: Audio, Internet

Amazon MP3 could launch in Britain soon

Amazon MP3Amazon offers one of the most compelling iTunes competitors around right now. The online retailer offers music downloads from all four major labels. And unlike Apple's iTunes, Microsoft's Zune Marketplace and other digital music stores, Amazon MP3 offers DRM-free music at reasonable prices. There's just one problem -- the service doesn't work outside of the US. Yet.

For months, Amazon has been saying that it plans to go international. Now it looks like the company is taking the first steps. The Telegraph reports that Amazon MP3 officials visited London last week to meet with record label execs. It's possible that Amazon could launch a UK version of its MP3 music store by the end of the year.

[via Engadget]

Filed under: Internet, Video

BBC to broadcast live TV streams on the internet

BBC One
First came pirated copies of TV shows being traded over the internet by fans the BBC iPlayer service which lets UK residents watch any TV program that's aired in the last seven days. Now the BBC plans to stream BBC1 content live over the internet.

The new streaming service will go live sometime int he next few months. The BBC already streams content from several of its news channels live, but this will be the first time you'll be able to watch live TV from the BBC's flagship channel on the web.

You'll need a broadband internet connection to watch. And you'll also also need to pay the same £139.50 annual license fee that you pay to watch television in the UK. Critics complain that it could be tricky for the BBC to enforce that policy, which means that television owners could wind up subsidizing the content watched by people who own a computer but no television set. But officials charged with enforcing the TV licensing policy say they have ways to catch moochers. All of which means that we probably won't be tuning into BBC1 over the internet in the US any time soon.

thanks Omar!

Filed under: Finance, Internet, Google

Google Finance launches in the UK

Google Finance to the UKFor those of you that have been itching to get a pulse on more European company information and UK mutual fund data, Google Finance has just opened Google Finance UK.

Following in the footsteps of Google Finance Canada, the Google Finance Blog states that this is another implementation of a series of sites that will aim to bring localized financial information to users.

Although there aren't any hints of which country will be graced with the next Google Finance localization, 2008 will supposedly see some new features. Hopefully, the people that have been having issues with Google Finance's lack of dividend information will have their wish fulfilled.

[via Googlified]

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Apple

European music update: Apple announces uniform pricing, UK to legalize CD ripping

iTunesWe have two bits of probably unrelated news about digital music in Europe to share today. First up, Apple has announced plans to establish uniform pricing for iTunes downloads throughout Europe. Right now, UK residents are paying more for their music than customers in any other country in Europe.

The reason for that is because Apple has to pay record labels more money to distribute music in the UK than in other countries, but Apple is hoping to force those labels to lower their rates.

In other news, British regulators are considering legalizing CD ripping. That's right, up until now, it's been considered illegal to buy a CD, stick it in your computer and create MP3s that you can put on an iPod or other portable media player in the UK. Of course, everyone does it anyway, which is probably why Britain is thinking about legalizing the act.

Do these two announcements have anything to do with one another? Probably not. But we can't help but ponder that the only way to legally load up your iPod in Europe right now is to buy digital music online from stores like iTunes. If there's a handful of people who are steadfastly avoiding ripping CDs for fear of spending the rest of their natural lives in jail, any change in that law could cause them to give up iTunes. And Apple could be trying to lower its prices in an effort to keep those paying customers.

Filed under: Audio, Internet

Pandora forced to pull the final plug on UK service

PandoraAttention UK Pandora users: as of January 15, 2008, Pandora will stop streaming its Internet radio content. This comes more than six months after Pandora was forced to shut-down service to most non-US users and is the latest in the continually messy battle over licensing Internet radio.

A reader just forwarded us an e-mail from Pandora, explaining the situation. Here are the pertinent bits:

...As you probably know, in July of 2007 we had to block usage of Pandora outside the U.S. because of the lack of a viable license structure for Internet radio streaming in other countries. It was a terrible day. We did however hold out some hope that a solution might exist for the UK, so we left it unblocked as we worked diligently with the rights organizations to negotiate an economically workable license fee...

The message goes on to describe some of the problems Pandora has had trying to work out licensing agreements with UK licensing agencies that were financial suicide. Suffice to say, nothing could be worked out:

...
Pandora will stop streaming to the UK as of January 15th, 2008.

Just when we think the music industry might finally be taking steps - small as they may be - to stop fighting against technology, and instead work with technology, something like this happens, and we are reminded once again that this is an industry doing anything and everything in its power not to evolve. Although the RIAA has been the most vocal in its lobbying efforts against the removal of DRM and against fair Internet radio rates, this incident proves that it is not just American record executives; it is the industry as a whole.

Never mind that forcing unfair licensing terms on Internet radio stations and riddling files with DRM hasn't worked (US album sales, even with digital sales tallied, declined by nearly 10 percent in 2007), let's just continue to refuse to face reality while the market and business model quickly disappear and change irrevocably.

Thanks Gordon

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Filed under: Business, Apple, iPhone

UK iPhone reactions mixed, loud


With UK-based Carphone Warehouse estimating first-day sales of Apple's iPhone at 10,000 or more, observers in England are beginning to gripe about the same things American iPhone consumers have been griping about since last spring. Where to begin? The servers used to activate the phones can't handle the massive swell of eager consumers unboxing and activating their iPhones. There's no Skype. Lack of 3G network support. Incomplete Bluetooth support. A persistent inability to develop anything besides web-based apps for the thing.

Apple took steps to rectify at least some of these concerns by announcing a Software Developer's Kit, a seemingly tardy bit of news. Some believe this tardiness had more to do with the timing of Leopard's release than with the eventuality of third-party apps on the iPhones. We just think Apple got caught off guard and made an error in judgment by telling the world, "hey, it has Safari and that's enough." (As if.) Apparently, even Chinese phone hackers demonstrate that a better development environment is needed, despite having no 'official' network to connect their iPhones to.

Now the rumor mill is really crackling with promise, though. It seems that O2, the mobile operator who plays AT&T in the British iPhone analogy, may not be gifted with the same tolerant regulatory attitude that greeted the exclusive AT&T deal in the United States, meaning there are people in the UK pushing for an actual legislative termination of the O2 exclusive. And, while everybody's been waiting to hear what content partnerships Apple has up its sleeve for this touchscreen-enabled golden goose, it appears YouTube may be among the first to pony up a tasty third-party add-on for the iPhone.

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