pirate

SOPA backers: It's needed to take down The Pirate Bay

Large copyright holders are warning that a new proposal called the OPEN Act is ineffective because it would do nothing to thwart what they view as the Internet's most notorious Web site: ThePirateBay.org.

The owners of the popular BitTorrent search site make money by running advertisements along links to not-exactly-legal versions of movies including "Transformers 3" and "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn."

Because the advertisements are placed by two Israel-based ad networks, they would likely not be affected -- meaning The Pirate Bay's revenues wouldn't be affected -- by an order under … Read more

App turns you and your pals into pirates, ninjas

Now that Apple's opened up facial recognition as a public developer API for iOS 5, one of the first apps to result is a photo-sharing app that overlays pirate hats and ninja masks on pics.

Pirate Ninja uses an algorithm to recognize your eyes and the way your head is tilting in the photo, so the pirate hat and ninja mask can be properly placed. A pirate hat's got to sit just right, you know.

I gave the 99-cent app a shot, snapping a photo with a friend while I was on a plane and uploading the photo to Pirate Ninja. As expected, the app gave us pirate hats, but the app isn't perfect. In some cases, it didn't recognize my friend's face or placed an extra pirate hat on his chest. In all cases, it measured my face just fine.

When I shared the picture privately via e-mail, the automatically generated subject line read: "ARRR!" Cute, but probably not something I'd post all over Facebook or Twitter.… Read more

Casting about for actor to play Jobs

Who would you pick to play Steve Jobs in a feature-length fimic biography of the tech titan?

You can bet that question is being pondered mightily by producer Mark Gordon and his production entity MG360, who, along with Sony Pictures, may eventually bring such a biopic to the screen. (And you can bet an actor or three is howling at his agent to "Get me that part!")

We're wondering if Noah Wyle is possibly in the running. As you may recall, the "E.R." star played Jobs in the 1999 made-for-TV flick "Pirates of … Read more

Pirate game not worth the doubloons

Backstab is a loosely pirate-themed third-person action-adventure game with promising potential but frustratingly flawed execution given its price.

Backstab advertises an "unprecedented story" and a "blockbuster production with the best graphics." Unfortunately, the story is highly precedented (and told unevenly, with spotty voice acting and wooden animations) and the graphics--while somewhat impressive for a mobile device, especially given the game's limited sandbox environment--are far from the best. Backstab evokes derivative late '90s console games, although with more-frustrating controls: what should be an intuitive camera system (you swipe the screen to rotate the camera) is anything … Read more

ILM reveals mermaid secrets for 'Pirates 4' Blu-ray

SAN FRANCISCO--Disney spent the last couple of decades making mermaids into friendly, lovely creatures bursting with curiosity and love (see "The Little Mermaid" and "Splash"). It took about a year's work from the visual-effects pros at Industrial Light and Magic to return the fair ladies of the sea to their classical, bloodthirsty ways.

To show off the effects studio's work on the billion-dollar-grossing "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" as it arrives on Blu-ray next month, ILM's Ben Snow (visual-effects supervisor) and Aaron McBride (art director) sat down with reporters at George Lucas' Presidio compound here earlier this month to discuss the challenges of creating mermaids beautiful enough to lure Johnny Depp to water and ferocious enough to devour him.

"Classically, mermaids were beautiful but deadly creatures," Snow said. "We were excited to bring them back to that tradition. But the challenge was developing creative concepts that preserved their beauty while making them scary again." … Read more

Best iPad game you've never tried: Crimson: Steam Pirates

I don't know if a game about pirates and warships can "fly" under the radar, but that's what happened when Crimson: Steam Pirates made its debut a few weeks back. And that's a shame, because it's one of the best iPad games I've played--and definitely worthy of a spot on Scott Stein's best free iPad games list. That's right: Steam Pirates is a freebie.

Well, partially free, and partially freemium. The game starts you off with Chapter 1 of the "Tales of Captain Blood" saga; Chapter 2 will run … Read more

Four-deal Friday: iPods, Kinects, and pirates, oh my!

After the alliterative disaster that was five-deal Wednesday, I couldn't let Friday go without correcting that disturbance in the Force. Plus, a lot of really good deals appeared on my radar today.

Many of them are today-only and/or limited-time, but all of them are still available and in stock as I write this. In no particular order:

1. Newegg has the 32GB iPod Touch (4th gen) for $269.99 shipped when you apply coupon code EMCKAHG29 at checkout. To clarify, this is the latest model, the one with the retina display and built-in cameras. And it'… Read more

The 404 907: Where we 'stiL be making bank' (podcast)

The existence of the @Qwikster Twitter account proves that even the biggest dummy with Internet access can accidentally stumble into a squatting payout. Jeff dons his reading glasses today to give a dramatic reading of some of our favorite tweets from Mr. Jason Castillo.

We're also looking forward to Facebook's F8 developers conference on Thursday, during which the company is rumored to announce its hyped-up media streaming platform as part of a "major" profile redesign.

Like it or not, Facebook is pushing more for e-commerce and TechCrunch's Leena Rao thinks we'll see more buttons popping up to give users more specific sentiments like "Listened," "Watched," "Read," and maybe even "Want."

Along with a story about girls not using BitTorrent, we'll also report on a story update from three years ago about Heinz's new "Dip and Squeeze" ketchup packet.

Since everyone consumes ketchup differently, Heinz developed a packet that lets the consumer decide whether to squeeze out all the ketchup, or peel back the lid for dipping. And with three times more ketchup per packet than the old design, it might be a sign that Heinz could care less about this country's fight with obesity.

But at least this country earns the top spot in something. We finish the show with a group groan about our country's dismal Internet speeds. According to an article in "The New York Times" last week, the U.S. dropped to 25th in the global ranking of Internet speeds, just behind Romania and the Czech Republic. It could be worse for New Yorkers, however--the report also blasts Idaho for its 318 Kbps "speeds."

Enjoy today's show, and leave us a voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET--we're running low!

The 404 Digest for Episode 907

Twitter's Qwikster wants money from Netflix. Talk of 'major' redesign of Facebook profiles as F8 nears. Facebook to launch Read, Listened, Watched, and Want buttons. Button fatigue settling in at Facebook. Welcome to your Hungarian Internet. For Idaho and the Internet, life in the slow lane. Old Ketchup packet heads for trash. Girls are not into The Pirate Bay, or BitTorrent. Bathroom break video of the day: Flying lawnmower.

Episode 907 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1555: Netflix to Qwikster to Regretflix? (Podcast)

Netflix rocks our world with the news that they're splitting up into two separate companies: Netflix for streaming and embedded media delivery, and Qwikster (yeah, seriously) for DVD delivery. Best part? Two Websites, two accounts, two queues! What's not to love? Also, Google Wallet and AT&T LTE arrive, Molly tees off on the Droid X again, and be warned, mateys: we do talk like pirates.

EMI v. MP3tunes decision leaves much undecided

MP3tunes.com founder Michael Robertson claimed a victory yesterday in his copyright fight with record label EMI, even though Robertson could be forced to pay as much as $75 million to EMI in damages.

EMI also ballyhooed a triumph in the case, despite failing to convince the judge to bar MP3tunes from safe-harbor protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. EMI filed a copyright suit against MP3tunes in 2007, accusing that company and sister service Sideload.com of enabling users to search for copies of pirated music and then store them in MP3tunes' locker service.

The truth is that neither … Read more