blackouts

Anti-SOPA blackouts planned for tomorrow by sites like Wikipedia, Boing Boing, Reddit, and others are "stunts" that are "dangerous and troubling," Hollywood's chief lobbyist said.

In a statement issued today (PDF), MPAA chairman and CEO--and former U.S. Senator--Chris Dodd railed against the blackouts, calling them "an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on [the sites] for information and [who] use their services."

Dodd also said that the blackouts are "an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It's a dangerous and … Read more

When Jimmy Wales announced that Wikipedia will go black tomorrow in the United States in solidarity with the anti-SOPA protest movement, it was not a decision taken lightly. It might have even surprised many who thought the popular free encyclopedia Wales founded would be adopting a less stark way of protesting the Draconian copyright act. (See CNET's FAQ on SOPA.)

After all, Wikipedia is one of the most popular Web sites in the world, and a major source of information for millions of people.

But fret not. Thanks to some clever advice from Andrew Lih, the author of The Wikipedia Revolution, … Read more

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has decided to shut down his site on Wednesday to protest SOPA.

Calling it a "decision of the Wikipedia community," Wales said he plans to join other Web sites in ceasing operations to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act, a controversial antipiracy bill being debated in Congress. "Final details under consideration but consensus seems to be for 'full' rather than 'soft' blackout!"

Last week, the news site Reddit announced it would shut down for 12 hours on Wednesday to express its displeasure with SOPA and Protect IP, its Senate sister. Other sites, … Read more

It's now becoming increasingly clear that the global supply chain for electronics is going to be far more affected by the earthquake-tsunami-nuclear crisis still unfolding in Japan than previously thought.

Take for example the attention today on lithium ion batteries used in notebook PCs. Demand right now is not terribly high--it's a time of the year when consumers are buying fewer PCs--but consider what happens if the crisis persists. As Taiwan's Digitimes observes, a good bit of the world's production ecosystem for lithium ion batteries used in notebooks are not only located in Japan, but many … Read more

On the heels of Verizon's announcement of a special press conference on January 11, Boy Genius Report says a source has confirmed that Apple has blacked out retail employee vacation time for February 3 to February 6, covering a possible Verizon iPhone launch weekend.

When I was a manager at an Apple Store here in Portland, this was a fairly common occurrence for big launch days. Generally these employee vacation blackout days would come months in advance, allowing our staff to make plans around those dates.

This of course is only a theory, but in my experience we never … Read more

The Pirate Bay, the highly controversial BitTorrent search engine, re-emerged Tuesday in typically defiant fashion after Hollywood film studios helped trigger a day-long blackout of the site.

The Web site, which is targeted for elimination by content owners nearly the world over, presumably has found a new bandwidth provider. The service, which has helped millions of people locate and eventually download scores of pirated films, had been temporarily subdued Monday after German authorities ordered its then-Internet host to cease providing Web access to the site.

On Tuesday morning, the Pirate Bay posted a photo of a cat and a note--in … Read more

After Apple introduced iPhone OS 3.1.3, complaints surfaced about the iPhone battery and problems with playlist syncing. Now, users are encountering a new set of problems and airing their complaints in Apple Discussions.

Random freezes or shutdowns

Random freezes and shutdowns were a major complaint for some users after upgrading to iPhone OS 3.1 last fall. The problem was the source of heated discussions within a huge Apple discussion thread containing nearly 900 posts. This problem now seems to be making a comeback, although it may be less widespread this time.

The problem seems to manifest itself … Read more

Of all the sports leagues, Major League Baseball has the reputation of being the most technologically savvy. On Thursday, MLB proved it by winning its first tech patent.

The league's digital unit, Major League Baseball Advanced Media(MLBAM), announced on Thursday that it was granted patent No. 7,486,943 for a system that helps determine a subscriber's geographical location. MLBAM oversees MLB.tv, the online video distribution service that streams live and on-demand games, and is widely considered to be the most successful subscription business on the Internet.

Pinpointing where a subscriber is located when he or … Read more

Imagine coming back from two weeks in Maui with a perfect tan, thanks to the "PODillow." The healing effects of your vacation in nirvana are rapidly fading away, and you'll do anything to salvage even a shred of that tropical antidote.

Enter the "Memory Foam MP3 Blackout Shades" from Smarthome. It won't retain that George Hamilton glow (which will please your dermatologist), but Red Ferret says you can still be "blissfully submerged" in a blend of music and soothing darkness while your MP3 player is plugged into its built-in speakers. That may … Read more