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bittorrent

After a tough year, BitTorrent replaces CEO again

Those keeping track of high-profile tech companies highly affected by the economic downturn can add BitTorrent to their list.

The San Francisco backer of the popular open-source file-sharing protocol on Friday gave pink slips to about half of its staff--18 people--according to a source cited by The New York Times' Brad Stone, and replaced CEO Doug Walker. The company had already endured a 22 percent layoff in August, which reportedly affected its entire sales and marketing department.

Chief Technology Officer Eric Klinker, who has "two decades of networking, content delivery, and management experience" under his belt, according to … Read more

Windows 7 pre-beta hits BitTorrent

The pre-beta version of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system released to developers at the Professional Developers Conference has already made it onto prominent BitTorrent sites, where thousands of enthusiasts around the world are currently downloading it.

Well-known BitTorrent sites such as The Pirate Bay and Mininova were at the time of publication Friday hosting multiple downloads of the newly aired operating system--both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

On The Pirate Bay, one copy of the 32-bit build had more than one thousand people uploading it, and almost 7,000 people on the way to downloading it. The 64-bit … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 843: Nine legal uses for BitTorrent

We asked. You answered. Our listeners provided not seven, not eight, but nine real legal legitimate uses for BitTorrent. Plus Apple's getting into an old-fashioned spat with IBM. Just like 1979 all over again. Plus Rafe says stop whining about Windows 7. Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 843

National Novel Writing Month starts tomorrow http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Trojan virus steals bank info http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7701227.stm http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10079593-83.html

Apple hires top IBM chip designer and blade server guru http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10079494-37.html

More on … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 841: Real-time apocalypse

Microsoft is putting Office online. No time soon, but it will happen. Also Netflix will stream movies in HD. Not until mid-November. And only for Xbox Live paying members. But hey, why would we want to satisfy anyone now. Of course, quantum cryptography has also been hacked. So nothing's sacred. You still need to listen, though, to find out why Dolly Parton opposes Google. Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 841

Microsoft to offer Office online http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10077535-2.html http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081028-microsoft-office-will-float-to-the-cloud-with-office-web.html

MS offers peek through Windows 7 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7695933.stm … Read more

Vuze gets another makeover

Never let it be said that software publishers ignore the demands of their users, at least in the case of BitTorrent client Vuze.

Back in June, the popular BitTorrent client Azureus underwent some serious reconstructive surgery. The familiar layout of top buttons and a spreadsheet interface was wrapped up in a Web 2.0 package, tied off with a bow of peer ratings and reviews and an emphasis on video content. The old UI was kept but de-emphasized, and the application was renamed Vuze 3.1.

Although it kept Azureus' blue frog logo, fans were not amused. Vuze 4.0 … Read more

Man in China fined $277 for porn on drive, then forgiven

[UPDATE: I wrote the below before seeing an update on Danwei noting that the fine was canceled. This only underlines the power of online controversy, especially considering that the cancelation notice says the man was still guilty: they are merely using discretion in this case.]

Police officers who said they were investigating the distribution of "harmful information" from a new business' IP address found a 30-minute adult video on a hard drive and fined the owner 1,900 RMB ($277 USD), according to a reported translated by ESWN.

The crux of the legal claim appears to be the … Read more

Online TV viewing on the rise

Americans are watching more video on their PCs via broadband connections than ever before, according to a recent report published by market research firm ABI Research.

Over the past year, the number of U.S. consumers who had watched a video streamed through their browser doubled over the past year, going from 32 percent a year ago to 63 percent today. ABI analysts attribute the increase to more rich content available on the Web as well as faster speed Internet connections.

While sites like YouTube that offer short clips of user generated videos have gotten a lot of attention over … Read more

uTorrent for Mac leaked

A pre-release alpha version of a Mac version of uTorrent, the popular BitTorrent client for Windows, has been leaked to the public.

Available from the Swedish torrent Web site The Pirate Bay, the Cocoa-based client has been expected since 2006 when BitTorrent bought uTorrent and promised to develop a Mac version. There was little said since then, until this past August when uTorrent developer Greg Hazel announced that a Mac version would be ready ''in a few weeks,'' according to the torrent news Web site TorrentFreak.

Simon Morris, BitTorrent's vice president of product evelopment, responded to the leak by … Read more

Comcast appeals FCC traffic-blocking ruling

Comcast is appealing a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission that found the broadband provider had illegally blocked some customers' Web traffic.

The appeal, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington, challenges the FCC's ruling on August 1 that Comcast's throttling of BitTorrent traffic last year was unlawful--the first time any U.S. broadband provider has ever been found to violate Net neutrality rules. The FCC issued a cease-and-desist order and required the company to disclose to subscribers in the future how it plans to manage traffic.

"We filed this appeal … Read more