Most Popular Pirated Movies 2010

I was wondering what the popular 2010 searches were, though not on the Google search engine. I was wondering what people were searching for on the torrents. This follows up to my post about keywords people were using to find me.

So, I did manage to find a site that was referenced by Gizmodo, who I trust. The site TorrentFreak had a list of the top ten pirated movies of 2010.

The list is linked below, but I am not surprised that the most popular movie was Avatar. However, I was surprised that the movie Kick-Ass was second, though it was a low-grossing film. While Avatar made almost $2.8 billion, Kick-Ass brought in around $100 million. It's the second lowest grossing movie on the top ten list.

I was also surprised that Iron Man 2 was not higher up the list (it came in at number 5, after Shutter Island).

The sheer number of downloads (16.5 million of Avatar alone) makes it apparent why movie companies are trying to crack down. Then again, Avatar did make almost $2.8 billion dollars, so it is pretty doubtful the Internet cut in to the profits THAT much.

Kick-Ass and the Hurt Locker, on the other hand...maybe.

TorrentFreak's Top 10 downloaded movies of 2010

Joe Biden and the war on piracy

The Vice President of the United States is working with groups to fight piracy of music, movies, and software on the Internet.  According to the article linked below, he considers it theft.  A government officer issued a report that sounds like it actually included intelligent recommendations, including working with file sharing sites based out of the United States (and therefore, not subject to our laws).  For example, sharing copyrighted files here is illegal.  However, in other countries it may not be, so how can the United States prosecute people doing it elsewhere?  (Short answer: we can not as it currently stands).  However, they can collaborate with these countries (and put pressure on them too), which is apparently what this report recommends.

This is part of a more widespread intellectual property proposal that includes things like counterfeit pharmaceuticals and other such things.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20008432-261.html

Security Sense Summer 2009

My colleague David Csuha has posted his latest "Security Sense" newsletter. His newsletter promotes some good security habits, among other things.

I particularly love the section this month about peer to peer file sharing (Limewire, etc) put people's security at risk. This doesn't require any hacking skills. ANYONE with Limewire can do this. David shows a few things, including a bank vice president who is sharing her personal photos and credit reports, and a model sharing her resume and some, er, risque pictures.

He also discusses how Twitter is being used by places such as the New Jersey State Police to disseminate information in ways that Web sites or emails don't accomplish.

Read more...Summer 2009 Security Sense

Child porn in our library!

One of the great parts about our community college is that it is a relatively open environment. In other words, someone doesn't have to be a student to come on campus. This is a great way to serve the community, as a community college should do.

Of course, problem arise when someone decides to use those resources to do something stupid.

Someone (who was not a student by the way) was recently arrested in our school's library for downloading pornography in our library...and not only just pornography, but the most vile (and also illegal) kind, child pornography. He's apparently been doing this for five years. What I wonder the most is this - HOW DID NO ONE NOTICE THIS? Forgive the capital letters, but come on. The thing that should be done in this situation is that someone needs to say something. Just remember this - you have the right to not be subjected to this. People miss this idea - you have more of a right not to be offended than someone does to get their kicks looking at objectionable material in our public labs. Don't ever be afraid to say something.

What people do in their own homes, on the other hands, is another thing entirely.

Web Link:

• Child Porn @ PCCC library

Thanks to Sue for the heads up!

Identity Theft Made Easy on Limewire

Are you using Limewire or Ares or any of these file sharing networks?

Did you just click on "Yes" when it asked if you wanted to share everything?

Do you have a file on your hard drive with account numbers, school applications with your social security number, or a list of user names and passwords?

Ahem. That's not good.

David Csuha, a friend and one of the CIS department's part-time faculty, has an excellent "Security Sense" blog up, and he recently did a screen capture of what he found with no real effort on Limewire. It's great to see, at least, it's not only Americans that are lax about security - notice the address on the first file that is opened. If David can do this with the best intentions in mind, what can someone who wants to steal identities do?

(Answer: A LOT)

Oh, and this isn't hacking. This is the same thing as someone leaving a copy of your social security card on the copier for anyone to take. This is another example (like the Sarah Palin email situation) of how sometimes, no hacking tools are required to steal the most valuable thing you have - your identity and reputation.

Web Links:

• Identity Theft Using a Peer to Peer Network (Security Sense)

Free online faxing

Up until a few years ago, if I had to fax something, I'd bring it in to work with me (shhhh!). I am sure many of you do the same, if you can. The primary reason in my case was that I didn't have a fax machine at home, so places (such as my insurance company) who didn't want email would require me to print something, find a device I didn't have at home, send it to them, and hope it got picked up and delivered on the other end to the right person.

My solution? A multifunction device (fax, print scan, copy). Not this model, mind you, but it's a visual aid, and pictures are pretty after all.


Anyway, if you have a small fax to send, one alternative to this is to use faxzero.com - this Web site will allow you to send up to two documents a day, each with up to three pages in it. You can upload an existing document from your PC, or if you only need text, you can just type that in to their text box. The first page you send will have some sort of ad on it, but hey, for free, what the heck? It's better than paying to have it done at Kinko's or Staples...and better than waiting until Monday if you're not going to work for a few days. Plus, if you already have it electronically, it saves you printing pages you are going to turn around and throw out anyway. Thumbs up on this one, a good little site to bookmark.

http://faxzero.com/

Porn and the Military

A correspondent for the Washington Post is reporting that there is a growing problem in Iraq - soldiers purchase DVD movies ... um, of adult nature ... from local markets (souks), and many times get a little extra, in the form of a virus or some other software with bad intentions bundled in there.

Although I got a little chuckle out of this, this could present a legitimately serious security risk for the military in Iraq, especially if these viruses get on to secure computers.

Read on...

RIAA

I discussed the RIAA in a previous post at some point.

Basically, they are the folks that have sued normal people for large amounts of money. The interesting question has started to arise - what happens to the money they take from people they sue?

Well...it's starting to come out that it is NOT the music artists who are getting it. The RIAA is of course claiming that after legal fees there wasn't a lot of money left, but I am really suspicious of that, personally. They are in theory an organization that is supposed to protect the rights of musicians and such, but I wouldn't be shocked if the money was just kind of ending up in people's pockets.

http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-keeps-settlement-money-080228/

Child Pornography Ring broken up

In my CIS 152 course this semester, we've discussed some of the "threats" online. As someone who has an interest in things like hacking, I always look at things like hacking, phishing, and viruses first. However, in another example of me learning from my students, I've also become more aware of things like online predators and child pornography.

Recently, a ring of child pornographers was brought down. What makes this even more immoral is that some of the children were only 5 years old. They've found over 400,000 images, and thus far have identified 22 individuals as part of this ring, 12 of whom were Americans.

Definitely a very sobering reminder of the types of people out there. These things have always existed, but with the ability to transfer images easily, technology has definitely taken perversions like this to the next level.

Link to article

Thanks to Thelma for the heads up!

RIAA vs. You

The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is a group that fights for what it considers artists rights online. How does that affect most people? Usually, you will find that this translates to them suing people who do things that the RIAA does not want people doing. For example, it has a reputation for being particularly nasty when you share and/or download files illegally on the Internet and violate copyright laws.

This is an example from October 2007. They successfully sued a single mother of two for $222,000. How many hundreds of songs did she download, do you ask? The number was not in the hundreds. The number was only 24 songs.

The RIAA is really being very aggressive about suing people. In my opinion, it is quite a shame that it comes down to them suing their customers instead of working with them to find a way to make things work for everyone.

Link to article

File Sharing and You

I equate file sharing to speeding.

If you're doing 80 miles per hour on route 80, you're speeding. However, people will point to the fact that many other people are doing 80 miles per hour, so it's not like they are the only one breaking the law. It's true, but if a police officer pulls you over, it's not an excuse.

Same thing with file sharing.

Sharing and downloading music or movies on the Internet is illegal, if you don't have permission of the person who copyrighted that work. I'd guess that you probably don't have that permission.

Can you get sued? Yes. Can they catch you? Yes. Is it likely? Well, with all the people doing it, it's not likely, but it can happen.

Here's a partial list of people who have been sued:
A 12 year old girl from New York
A grandmother who doesn't know how to file share
Students at Arizona State U.; Marshall; North Carolina State; North Dakota State; Northern Illinois; Ohio U.; Syracuse; U. of Massachusetts, Amherst; U. of Nebraska, Lincoln; U. of South Florida; USC; U. of Tennessee, Knoxville; and U. of Texas, Austin.

Do they have the right to? Yes. When you go on the Internet, every computer is assigned a unique identifier called an IP address. You are assigned one when you connect to the Internet, so if you are online, you can be tracked. If they think you did it, they can get a court order and present that to your Internet service provider, such as Comcast, Optimum Online, or Verizon.

Example Comcast letter
Example Cox letter (another Internet service provider)

Keep in mind that your Internet service provider wants to protect you - after all, you are their customer, and if you broke, you won't be paying for Internet service.

File Sharing on College Campuses

I've discussed with various classes the stalemate (lack of a solution) with illegal file sharing. Congress has decided to get involved, sending 19 big universities, including UCLA, Columbia, Duke, and Vanderbilt, nasty letters saying that they need to stop illegal file sharing on college campuses.

Why is Congress getting involved? Well, that's another story. I always feel like they should have better things to do than this, but that's just my opinion.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/47988/