Piracy sites 'attract billions'

11 January 2011 Last updated at 10:42 ET

A study by anti-fraud firm MarkMonitor has offered a snapshot into the changing nature of online piracy.

It monitored illegal traffic levels on 43 file-sharing sites and found that they generated more than 53 billion visits per year.

The top three - RapidShare.com, Megavideo.com and Megaupload.com - generated more than 21 billion visits.

Such sites are becoming as popular as peer-to-peer methods of accessing illegal content.

The study only used a small sample of sites suggesting that the problem could be in fact much bigger.

"The numbers are staggering," said Charlie Abrahams, vice president of MarkMonitor.

The study was put together following requests from the US Chamber of Commerce to identify trends and rogue sites.

Very easy

Mark Mulligan, an analyst at research firm Forrester, points out that the numbers of visits does not necessarily equate to the number of downloads.

But it does show that commercial file-sharing sites, alongside other non-network based methods, are becoming as popular a way of sharing pirated music and films as peer-to-peer technologies.

"These upload sites index their files. It is very easy and convenient," he added.

"Upload sites, alongside instant messaging and blogs, are now on a par with peer-to-peer sites when it comes to piracy," he said.

What is more it is "proving difficult for content owners to do much about them", he said.

No filters

One of the sites highlighted by the study, RapidShare, has come under scrutiny from the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) which blames the Swiss-based file-hosting firm for carrying huge amounts of pirated content.

It and other content owners want the firm to install filters to police the illegal content changing hands via its site.

In Germany this week, that aim was struck a blow when the Higher Regional Court of Dusseldorf ruled that Rapidshare does not have to install such filters.

It found that the firm was taking "reasonable measures" to fight piracy.

The attempts to block the content being transacted over such sites brings back memories of the early attempts to shut down Napster, said Mr Mulligan.

"It is complete deja vu and it took a very long time to close that down," he said.

With legislation on dealing with peer-to-peer illegal file-sharing already looking out of date, it could be time to find other ways to crack the nut, he thinks.

"Illegal file-sharing is becoming incredibly complex and it is becoming over-burdensome to try and police it," he said.

Webmaster Forum | SEO Forum | Coding Forum | Graphics Forum

MySpace cutting workforce by half

11 January 2011 Last updated at 13:03 ET

Struggling MySpace is cutting almost half of its global workforce.

The social networking website is getting rid of 500 positions, or 47% of its employees.

The announcement comes as MySpace continues to be eclipsed by Facebook, and as it tries to reinvent itself as an entertainment website.

MySpace was bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation for $580m (�372m) in 2005, but it has struggled to make money for its parent company.

Mike Jones, MySpace's chief executive, said the job cuts were "tough but necessary", and had been taken to put the website on the path towards growth and profitability.

He added: "These changes were purely driven by issues related to our legacy business, and in no way reflect the performance of the new product."

Webmaster Forum | SEO Forum | Coding Forum | Graphics Forum

Court hears trio's Facebook case

11 January 2011 Last updated at 16:01 ET <!-- Embedding the video player --> <!-- This is the embedded player component -->

<!-- embedding script -->

<!-- companion banner --> <!-- END - companion banner --><!-- caption -->

The Winklevoss twins tell Rory Cellan-Jones in April 2010 that they will continue their fight

<!-- END - caption -->

<!-- end of the embedded player component --> <!-- Player embedded -->

Three men who say Mark Zuckerberg stole the Facebook concept from them have asked a US appeals court to re-open a $65m (�42m) legal settlement with the company.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and Divya Narendra argue Facebook undervalued its share price when they struck the deal.

With the company now valued at about $50bn, they charge the deception cost them millions and now want more money.

Mr Zuckerberg, who was at Harvard with the three men, has denied the claims.

In a courtroom in San Francisco, lawyers for the Winklevoss twins and Mr Narendra asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to allow them to re-open a $65m settlement forged in 2008 after they sued the company.

Facebook agreed to the settlement to end "rancorous litigation" but did not admit Mr Zuckerberg had taken their idea.

Senior Judge Clifford Wallace said on Tuesday that the twins had several lawyers representing them at the earlier settlement talks, and that that their father was a business expert, factors he suggested made it hard to believe that anyone took advantage of them.

Continue reading the main story

At the scene

<!-- pullout-items--> <!-- pullout-body-->

This long-drawn-out legal battle was immortalised by Hollywood in a hit movie last year.

Today, the drama enveloping Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss was played out in courtroom three of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

The identical twins in dark suits sat stony-faced in the front row as they heard their lawyer argue that they had been robbed of millions of dollars in the deal.

But Facebook lawyer Joshua Rosenkranz said the twins were never interested in pinning down a valuation for Facebook. "They were more interested in owning a portion of the world's hottest start-up," he said.

In what seemed like a less than sympathetic line of questioning, Senior Judge Clifford Wallace pointed out that the Winklevoss twins had several lawyers in the room at the time representing them in the talks.

<!-- pullout-links-->

"I agree my clients were not behind the barn door when brains were passed out," said Jerome Falk, a lawyer for the twins.

The three men are effectively gambling the $65m settlement, analysts say. If the court unwinds the agreement, Facebook will have to decide whether to offer more money or fight it out in court.

Facebook's lawyers have dismissed the claims as a case of "settlers' remorse".

In the 2008 settlement, the brothers received $20m in cash and $45m in stock, based on a $36 per share valuation, Mr Falk said before the hearing.

He argues Facebook had agreed to a $9 per share price in a compensation offer to employees, a price they say the company was obligated to disclosed.

"This was a highly material fact and the fact they didn't disclose it is a violation of federal security law," Mr Falk told BBC News.

He said as a result the brothers were due four times the 1.25 million shares they were awarded.

The $65m deal was made up of $20m in cash and $45m in shares now worth $140m. Had the lower valuation been used, the shares would be worth $600m today.

Facebook's legal team disagreed, arguing that the company was under no obligation to reveal an internal valuation.

The internal valuation was an opinion and there were other valuations out there that the twins could have used, lawyer Joshua Rosenkranz said.

After the hearing the Winklevoss brothers, who are elite rowers, declined to comment except to say they looked forward to the court's decision. A ruling is not expected for two to three months.

Webmaster Forum | SEO Forum | Coding Forum | Graphics Forum