ips

A California judge has dismissed 15 lawsuits against John Does accused of sharing pirated adult movies on BitTorrent, saying the court lacks jurisdiction because the geolocation tools relied on don't always accurately identify the state in which the IP address is located.

In order to serve Internet service providers subpoenas to find out which individuals are behind IP addresses linked to alleged pirated content on BitTorrent, the lawyers for plaintiff Celestial needed to convince the judge that the IP addresses are located in California. But the judge said he was not persuaded that the geolocation tools had a high … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week people wrote in with questions on how to tackle an IP address conflict error, an issue with Apple's Hardware Test suite not loading, and whether or not Time Machine backups need to be started from scratch when attaching the local Time Machine disk to an Airport Extreme router. We welcome alternative approaches and views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, post them in the comments!

Question: Tackling a duplicate IP address error MacFixIt reader … Read more

In a likely setback to the MPAA and RIAA's antipiracy efforts, a federal judge has ruled that an IP address alone is not enough to accuse a specific individual of illegal downloads.

An IP address only identifies the location at which any number of Internet-connected devices may be located, much that a single telephone number can be used by many telephones, Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York said in a ruling earlier this week.

"Thus, it is no more likely that the subscriber to an IP … Read more

Things I didn't know existed until just recently: the Obihai OBiTalk, a gizmo that plugs into your router and pairs with SIP-based voice-over-IP services like Google Voice; and GVJack App, a Windows utility that links a MagicJack to your Google Voice account.

Why are these products significant? Simple: Google Voice offers free local and long-distance calling -- through the end of 2012, at least. After that, it's anybody's guess. Google might continue the free-phone goodness, or it might start charging for service. (If the latter happens, it's a good bet it'll be cheap.)

Whatever the … Read more

I don't get nearly enough press releases detailing the announcement of a new In-Plane Switching (IPS) monitor. All else being the same, IPS monitors are so much more satisfying and exciting to write about than their Twisted Nematic (TN) counterparts.

Much to my relative pleasure (IPS monitors are more exciting, but come on, they're still monitors), today Acer announced the release of its new IPS monitor, the Acer B243PWL.

The monitor is available now, starting at $329 and comes with Acer's standard three-year warranty.

The 24-inch monitor has a native screen resolution of 1,920x1,200 pixels, … Read more

A simple Skype exploit can reveal IP addresses -- remote and local -- of any user.

A blog post by skype-open-source runs through the process of obtaining a user's IP address. Essentially, all a person has to do is start the process of adding a contact with a specific user name. Instead of sending a contact confirmation, the person can click on the information card to obtain the IP address of that particular user.

The process only works if the other user is online. The only method of protecting against this is to log off of Skype when you'… Read more

Microsoft has signed up Pegatron to license undisclosed Microsoft patents so as not to run afoul of Redmond with its Android and Chrome based e-readers, tablets, and smartphones.

Pegatron is paying Microsoft an undisclosed amount as part of the deal. No further information about the terms of the agreement are being shared, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft is now touting the fact it has licensed four of the top five Taiwanese original design manufacturers (ODMs) as part of its patent-licensing strategy. "More than 70 percent of all U.S. Android devices are covered under the company's portfolio," according … Read more

Yesterday I wrote about the Ooma Telo phone system, which for $109.99 allowed you to ditch your landline and make nearly free phone calls for life. (Your only obligation: a few bucks' worth of monthly taxes and fees.) Alas, it sold out quickly.

More than a few commenters suggested an alternative: the Obihai OBi100, which can pair with Google Voice (among other services) for totally free calls. And talk about a cosmic coincidence: today the sucker's on sale.

Specifically, Amazon has the Obihai OBi100 VoIP phone adapter for $39.99 shipped. That's $20 off the regular price … Read more

The new Sony Nasne tuner and media device, due in Japan on July 19 for 16,980 yen ($209), sort of looks like a miniature PlayStation 3. However, don't let the aesthetics fool you: Nasne contains many features the game console lacks, such as a built-in 500GB hard drive for recording content from digital terrestrial or satellite TV broadcasts. … Read more