Egypt protests face net clampdown

26 January 2011 Last updated at 05:39 ET By Jonathan Fildes Technology reporter, BBC News

Egypt appears to have clamped down on web services, such as Twitter, that have been used to help organise anti-government protests in Cairo.

Twitter confirmed that its service has been blocked in Egypt on Tuesday from around 1600GMT.

A Swedish mobile video site called Bambuser also reported that it had been blocked around the same time.

However, the Facebook page used to co-ordinate many of the protests has remained online.

Facebook has not said whether it has implemented any technical measures to keep the site up and running but a spokesperson said that it was "seeing consistent levels of traffic".

The social network, which has more than 600m users, recently was forced to intervene when it emerged that political protest pages in Tunisia were being hacked and passwords stolen, seemingly at the behest of the former government.

The site implemented a series of technical measures to counter the attacks, including encrypting all requests for the site from within Tunisia.

'Right to protest'

Details of the blocks in Egypt began to emerge on Tuesday afternoon, as thousands of people joined a "day of revolt" against the government of President Hosni Mubarak.

Initially it was unclear whether state authorities were blocking internet access or if mobile networks were simply overloaded by the numbers of people gathering in the streets.

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The BBC's Jon Leyne, who is in Cairo, said the protests like this in Egypt were rare

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Twitter were at first unwilling to comment, instead directing people towards Herdict, a website created by a group at Harvard University, which collects reports of websites that are down.

The site has seen a small spike in the number of reports about Twitter from Egypt.

But overnight, Twitter issued a statement..

"We can confirm that Twitter was blocked in Egypt around 8am PT today. It is impacting both Twitter.com and applications."

The block had previously been confirmed by BBC readers and telecom operator Vodafone Egypt, which sought to reassure customers that it was not responsible.

"We didn't block Twitter - it's a problem all over Egypt and we are waiting for a solution," it said.

Some Twitter messages - many tagged #jan25 to show they were in support of the demonstrations - seemed to have got through via text messages and some third-party applications.

Bambuser, a service that allows people to stream live video from a phone to a website or a Facebook page, also said that it had been hit by the ban.

"We are working hard to ensure access resumes for the Egyptian community and stand by them in their quest for the right to protest," it said.

Street ban

In support of the protests, a collective of online "hacktivists" known as Anonymous claimed to have taken down the Egyptian interior ministry's web page.

Anonymous came to prominence for its cyber-attacks on the websites of companies it deemed to be anti-Wikileaks.

It has since turned its attention to supporting the protests in Tunisia and Egypt.

The group uses so-called "denial-of-service" attacks, that seek to swamp websites with large volumes of traffic, until they are knocked offline.

The group was one of many that also offered advice to the protesters on how to evade blocks on sites and services.

However, some sites appear to have escaped the block.

Google-owned video sharing website YouTube, which has been used to share film of the protests, has seemingly not been blocked.

Protesters are also turning to other digital tools to help.

For example, a map has been set up by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, for people to report arrests, and harassment during the protests.

The digital blocks come as the government issued a ban on street protests.

Public gatherings, protests and marches are all now prohibited, the country's official news agency reports.

Are you in Cairo? Did you attend the protests? Send us your comments using the form below.

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

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Unified memory heralds green PCs

25 January 2011 Last updated at 06:21 ET

A new form of computing memory which could lead to faster starting, user-friendly computers has been developed by US researchers.

The device, developed by a team at North Carolina State University, claims to combine the advantages of two commons forms of memory used today.

The "unified" memory device, outlined in the journal IEEE Computer, is still undergoing testing.

But the team believe it could form the basis of PCs that start immediately.

Permanent speed

Currently, computers rely on two distinct forms of memory: volatile and non-volatile.

The type of memory used depends on whether data needs to be accessed quickly or stored permanently.

Volatile technologies such as random access memory (RAM) or its newer variation DRAM, store data in such a way that it can be read and written rapidly, making it ideal for rapid computations. But the data is lost when the power is switched off.

By contrast, non-volatile memory devices, such as the flash drives found in memory cards, USB dongles and MP3 players, can retain information for long periods without power.

But the device created by Dr Paul Franzon and his team combines the speed of DRAM while being able to switch to a more persistent mode of storage.

That would potentially enable computer makers to build machines that boot up almost instantly, as the information needed to start up the machine could be stored in fast memory, said Dr Franzon.

It could also lead to servers that can be powered down, when not in use.

Currently, the servers found in most data centres continue to slurp energy even when their processors are idle because the server memory cannot be turned off without affecting performance.

Lasting memory

The device developed by Dr Franzon's team - known as a double floating-gate field effect transistor - stores data in the form of a charge, like non-volatile memory but uses a special control gate to enable the stored data to be accessed quickly.

Today's flash memory devices use a single floating gate to store an electric charge, which represents data. "We realised that a second gate would allow us to transfer charges really quickly," said Dr Frazon.

His team have shown they can transfer charges - in effect change the data - in around 15 nanoseconds. "That's comparable with DRAM speeds," he added.

When in non-volatile mode, the data will be stored safely for a couple of years.

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Law firm stops chasing &#39;pirates&#39;

25 January 2011 Last updated at 03:43 ET By Jane Wakefield Technology reporter

A lawyer has dramatically withdrawn from pursuing alleged illegal file-sharers in the middle of a court case he brought.

The patent court in London is currently scrutinising 26 cases brought by ACS: Law on behalf of its client MediaCAT.

The law firm had sent thousands of letters to alleged file-sharers.

Those who received such letters may pursue ACS: Law for harrassment, said law firm Ralli, which represents some of the defendants.

In a statement read to the court, solicitor Andrew Crossley said he had now ceased all such work.

He cited criminal attacks and bomb threats as reasons.

"I have ceased my work...I have been subject to criminal attack. My e-mails have been hacked. I have had death threats and bomb threats," he said in the statement, read to the court by MediaCAT's barrister Tim Ludbrook.

"It has caused immense hassle to me and my family," he added.

In September, ACS: Law was the victim of a cyber attack and it accidentally exposed thousands of its e-mails online when its website went live again.

These e-mails detailed all the people it was pursuing and the pornographic films they were accused of downloading for free.

The data breach is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Information Commissioner, and Mr Crossley could face a hefty fine.

ACS: Law hit the headlines when it began sending thousands of letters to alleged file-sharers, on behalf of client MediaCAT.

Consumer group Which? has accused it of sending letters to innocent people, while some ISPs have refused to hand over details about their customers.

"It can be incredibly upsetting for people to recieve these letters and they may well have a claim in harrassment," said Michael Forrester, a solicitor at law firm Ralli, which represents some of the defendants in the current case.

Groups such as the BPI, which represents music labels, have criticised its methods.

Judicial scrutiny

Those methods hinge on a partnership between ACS: Law and MediaCAT, which in turn has signed deals with various copyright holders allowing it to pursue copyright infringement cases on their behalf.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

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The case of MediaCAT versus 26 alleged illegal file-sharers is proving as dramatic as a Dickensian court drama.

Judge Birss described the twists and turns as "mind-boggling" as more details emerge about how ACS: Law and its colourful solicitor Andrew Crossley went about chasing alleged pirates.

But among the debates about the competence of ACS: Law and its real motives, is some evidence which could provide an interesting test of such cases in the future.

Both barristers for the defendants have questioned whether IP addresses - the numerical code which identifies the network connection - can be used as evidence and Judge Birss has raised doubts about whether accusing someone of "allowing" their network to be used for illegal file-sharing is a watertight argument.

With the government pledging to get tough on net pirates, there will be many waiting to see what Judge Birss says when he delivers his judgement in a few days.

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• Net piracy gets its day in court

The court heard that copyright owners receive a 30% share of any recouped revenue while ACS: Law takes a 65% share.

Members of the public who received letters were given the choice of paying a fine of around �500 or going to court.

Detractors have accused Mr Crossley of seeking to make money with no intention of taking any cases to court.

In his statement, Mr Crossley denied this.

"It has always been my intention to litigate and, but for the fact that I have ceased this work, my intention was to litigate forcefully in these 26 cases," he said.

Mr Crossley is subject to an ongoing investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Even before Mr Crossley's statement, the court case had been highly unusual.

ACS: Law's client MediaCAT wants to drop the cases, and letters have already been sent to the defendants informing them that action against them has been dropped.

Not happy

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

I am getting the impression with every twist and turn since I started looking at these cases that there is a desire to avoid any judicial scrutiny"

End Quote Judge Birss

But Judge Birss said granting permission to discontinue the cases was not a simple matter, due largely to the fact that the actual copyright holders were not in court.

This meant that, in theory, these copyright holders could continue to pursue cases against the 26 defendants.

"Why should they be vexed a second time?" he asked.

Judge Birss also questioned why MediaCAT wanted to drop the cases.

"I want to tell you that I am not happy. I am getting the impression with every twist and turn since I started looking at these cases that there is a desire to avoid any judicial scrutiny," he said.

The case was made more complicated by the fact that a new firm, GCB Ltd, had begun sending similar letters, including one to one of the defendants who had been told just the day before that no further action would be taken.

Judge Birss said he was considering banning MediaCAT from sending any more such letters until the issues raised by the cases had been resolved.

Doing so, he said, would be a highly unusual move but one made more likely by the fact that Mr Crossley had said in his statement that there were "no new letters pending" and that GCB Ltd had also halted its work.

The judge was keen to find out what the relationship was between GCB and ACS: Law, something Mr Crossley sought to clarify in his statement.

He said that he had no connection with GCB Ltd beyond the fact that the founders of the firm had previously been employed at ACS: Law.

The case has raised some serious questions about how copyright firms pursue file-sharers.

Barristers acting on behalf of the accused questioned whether an IP address - a number assigned to every device connecting to the internet - could be used to identify the person who downloaded illegal content.

Barrister Guy Tritton also questioned the nature of the letters sent by ACS: Law, asking why it described MediaCAT as a "copyright protection society" - a title that he said was "misleading".

Judge Birss is expected to deliver his judgement on the case later in the week.

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Mobile phone to blast into orbit

23 January 2011 Last updated at 20:02 ET By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News

British engineers are planning to put a mobile phone in space.

The team at Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) in Guildford want to see if the sophisticated capabilities in today's phones will function in the most challenging environment known.

The phone will run on Google's Android operating system but the exact model has not yet been disclosed.

It will be used to control a 30cm-long satellite and take pictures of the Earth in the mission later this year.

Although mobile phones have been flown on high altitude balloons before, this would likely be the first time such a device has gone into orbit several hundred kilometres above the planet.

"Modern smartphones are pretty amazing," said SSTL project manager Shaun Kenyon.

"They come now with processors that can go up to 1GHz, and they have loads of flash memory. First of all, we want to see if the phone works up there, and if it does, we want to see if the phone can control a satellite."

High Street product

The venture is part of the company's quest to find more inexpensive, off-the-shelf electronics that can be used to lower the cost of its spacecraft designs.

The mission is known as STRaND-1 (Surrey Training Research and Nanosatellite Demonstration).

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

We're trying to use as much of the capability of the phone as possible"

End Quote Doug Liddle Head of science, SSTL.

It involves both the company and researchers from the local university's Surrey Space Centre (SSC).

Much of the development work has been done in team-members' spare time.

The mobile model being used will be a standard, sub-�300 ($450), smartphone available in High Street stores.

"We're not taking it apart; we're not gutting it; we're not taking out the printed circuit boards and re-soldering them into our satellite - we're flying it as is," Mr Kenyon explained.

"And, in fact, we're going to have another camera on the satellite so we can take a picture of the phone because we want to operate the screen and have some good images of that as well."

Eye on Earth

Critical to the whole endeavour is the phone's operating system.

Android is open source software which means SSTL's engineers can modify it to adapt the phone's functions.

The great swings in temperature and the harsh radiation found in space require the phone be placed inside the satellite casing to give it some protection.

A hole will have to be cut in the side of the casing therefore to allow the phone's camera lens to see out.

The phone itself will not "call home"; messages and pictures will come back via the satellite's radio link.

For the first part of the mission, the mobile will act as the back-up to the main computer on the spacecraft.

After a period of time, however, the phone will be put in charge.

"We're trying to use as much of the capability of the phone as possible," said Doug Liddle, head of science at SSTL.

"Ideally, the phone can take control and do the thinking."

Busy months

To precisely point and manoeuvre, the satellite will be incorporating advanced guidance, navigation and control systems including miniature reaction wheels, and a GPS receiver, as well as innovative pulse plasma thrusters to propel it through space.

The intention is that the phone be given the chance to oversee all these subsystems.

"The open source nature of the software is very exciting because you can see how further down the line, once we've got the phone working in orbit, we could get people to develop apps for it," Mr Liddle added.

Chris Bridges from the Surrey Space Centre commented: "If a smartphone can be proved to work in space, it opens up lots of new technologies to a multitude of people and companies for space who usually can't afford it. It's a real game-changer for the industry."

SSTL has earned a worldwide reputation for its small satellites. The company has managed to reduce the cost of its systems by incorporating components that were originally developed for consumer products such as laptops.

The coming months will see the company launch Earth observation spacecraft for Nigerian, Russian and Canadian customers.

It is also about to start building the spacecraft that will form the initial constellation of Galileo, Europe's multi-billion-euro answer to America's GPS network.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

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Facebook offering raises $1.5bn

21 January 2011 Last updated at 18:37 ET

Facebook has said it has raised $1.5bn (�900m) from investors, valuing the world's most popular social networking site at about $50bn.

About $1bn of the total came from overseas clients of Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment bank handling the share sale.

The remaining $500m came from Goldman itself, and Russia's Digital Sky Technologies.

Facebook said it could have raised more money from the oversubscribed offer.

"Our business continues to perform well and we are pleased to be able to bolster our cash position with this new financing," said David Ebersman, Facebook's chief financial officer.

"With this investment completed, we now have greater financial flexibility to explore whatever opportunities lie ahead."

The company said that it had "no immediate plans" for the proceeds from the fundraising, but would "continue investing to build and expand its operations".

It added that it would begin filing public financial reports on 30 April next year.

The New York Times reported the Goldman and Digital Sky Technologies investment earlier this month.

At $50bn, Facebook would be worth more than eBay and Time Warner.

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Lush hackers cash in stolen cards

21 January 2011 Last updated at 12:48 ET

Cyber thieves are cashing in after stealing credit cards in a hack attack on the website of cosmetics firm Lush.

The online shop was shut down on 21 January and its home page replaced with a message revealing the attack.

Lush said anyone who placed an online order between 4 October and 20 January should contact their bank in case their card details had been compromised.

Many Lush customers have reported that their cards have been used fraudulently.

Comments posted on the Facebook page of Lush revealed that many customers were angry about the security lapse that may have spanned four months.

Many said they had lost money or had to cancel cards in case they were about to be abused. Some said Lush should have noticed the problem earlier and called for compensation for the money they have lost.

Security expert Rik Ferguson from Trend Micro said the sums of money the hackers were taking could be significant.

"I was initially alerted to the attack by one of my own friends whose card, along with her husband's, have subsequently been used to make fraudulent purchases totalling almost �6000 from well-known online retailers," wrote Mr Ferguson on the Trend Micro blog.

"The risk of these stolen card numbers being used by criminals has already moved from the theoretical to reality," he said.

Hilary Jones, ethical director at Lush, said the firm became aware of problems on Christmas day when hackers were discovered to have penetrated the site.

The site was taken down and did little trade between Christmas and New Year while Lush investigated to see if the hackers were merely mischievous or out to make money.

It became obvious that the hackers were after cash as European customers began reporting small purchases made with credit cards that had been used on Lush and other web shops.

Ms Jones said the small transactions were "test" purchases that thieves do to see if a stolen credit card is still live.

She said that when it became obvious that a lot of test purchases were being made and the Lush site was the key, the company shut down its store and told customers what had happened.

"As an ethical company we could not keep that information to ourselves," said Ms Jones. "We had to tell a huge raft of customers."

The four-month window that people needed to check was a safeguard to ensure all at-risk customers were covered, she said. The site was not vulnerable throughout that time.

"We really want to make sure we cover all possibilities," said Ms Jones. "We wanted to tell more customers than less."

The Lush website has been "retired" and a new online shop is set to appear in a few days but will initially only accept payment through Paypal.

Ms Jones said a forensic investigation was underway to find out how the thieves broke into the site.

Hack attack

At the same time, Trapster in the US has reported that it too has been hit by hackers.

The site, which helps people avoid speed cameras and road hazards, issued a warning to its 10 million users saying their e-mail addresses and passwords may be in the hands of attackers.

It said the attackers breached the site once and managed to get away with the data. Trapster's warning triggered a similar one by Twitter advising people to change their password and avoid using the same one on different sites.

The attack could mean that accounts on other sites get taken over by spammers and used to send junk mail.

In mid-December Gawker Media's revelation that its servers had been hacked and 1.3 million accounts had been compromised gave rise to warnings from Yahoo, Twitter, LinkedIn and World of Warcraft maker Blizzard asking people to change login details.

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Scholar rejects Google &#39;attack&#39;

21 January 2011 Last updated at 06:04 ET

A researcher who has accused Google of bias says the internet giant is now waging a campaign to discredit him.

Ben Edelman, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, published a study this week claiming Google boosts its own products in search results.

The Californian company responded by suggesting he was actually working on behalf of its rival, Microsoft.

But Mr Edelman told the BBC that Google was launching "personal attacks" to distract people from its own behaviour.

"I don't mind personal attacks, to be honest, because I think it shows they can't argue against the research," said the associate professor.

"That's what they've done to most of my recent research."

His study, "Measuring Bias in Organic Web Search", was conducted in August last year alongside Harvard colleague Benjamin Lockwood and published on Wednesday.

It found that Google gave undue prominence to its own sites across a number of popular search terms, such as e-mail, video and chat.

Under a search for "e-mail", for example, the study found that Google's top result is its own Gmail service - despite the fact that almost twice as many people searching the site subsequently clicked on the second result, Yahoo Mail.

The company responded angrily to the study, issuing a statement that accused him and his methodology of deliberate bias.

"The report is highly biased, ignoring contrary examples like "search engine", "book flights" or "directions", and failing to account for other reasons why certain sites rank highly," it said in a statement.

It was also unimpressed by the author's credentials.

"Mr Edelman is a longtime paid consultant for Microsoft, so it's no surprise that he would construct a highly biased test that his sponsor would pass and that Google would fail," it said.

"Google never artificially favours our own services in our organic web search results, and we perform extensive user testing to ensure that search results are ranked in a way that provides users with the most useful answer," it added.

Antitrust investigations

The issue strikes at the heart of Google's multibillion dollar search business, which it has always said is based on a neutral, automated system that merely reflects how popular a site is online.

That claim is already being questioned by regulators in Europe and America, following complaints from some services who feel they have been deliberately excluded.

In November, the European Commission announced that it was launching an investigation into whether the company was abusing its dominance.

Earlier last year, meanwhile, the attorney general of Texas said he was looking at claims that Google manipulates results to boost its own products and therefore make more profit.

Mr Edelman said his work was a thorn in Google's side because it backed up those criticisms.

"I can see why it would hit home for them - they're under antitrust scrutiny on at least two continents," said Mr Edelman. "Their approach of asking people to trust them seems to be wearing thin."

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

"I can see why it would hit home for them - they're under antitrust scrutiny on at least two continents."

End Quote Ben Edelman Associate professor, Harvard Business School

Mr Edelman told the BBC that the study could have been improved with more information and time.

He said its data could have been more recent and the search terms could have been independently chosen. But, he added, the numbers were sound and that he stood by his conclusion.

Not everyone agrees with Mr Edelman's analysis, however.

Danny Sullivan, the editor of the Search Engine Land website, has defended some of Google's practices in the past. He said the Harvard study did outline some "odd" behaviour but said the figures could also be used to show that Google was less biased than might be expected.

"Statistics can easily be turned to whatever you want them to be," he wrote. "I feel like Edelman is turning his study into the most negative view possible."

Responding to Google's claims of bias, Mr Edelman said that he had been a paid consultant for Microsoft in the past, a fact openly disclosed on his website.

However, he added, the research - which also looked at Microsoft's Bing service and found it was less skewed than Google - was not deliberately designed to produce such a result.

He added that he had also given free advice to Google in the past as well as other companies, including the BBC.

He also said that the company supported him when he criticised the behaviour and bad practices of Yahoo, which was Google's main rival at the time.

"When Google didn't have as much market power as they do now, they consulted with me on some projects," he said. "How quickly Google forgets."

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Larry Page to become Google chief

20 January 2011 Last updated at 17:18 ET

Google co-founder Larry Page is to become chief executive of the US internet search giant in April.

He will take over from Eric Schmidt, who has been in the job for a decade and will become executive chairman.

Google said Mr Schmidt would focus on "deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships".

The surprise news came as Google unveiled strong net profits in the last three months of $2.54bn (�1.6bn) on revenues of $8.44bn.

Mr Page, 37, is reclaiming the job he relinquished to Mr Schmidt, 55, when investors called for a more experienced business leader.

"In my clear opinion, Larry is ready to lead and I'm excited about working with both him and Sergey [Brin] for a long time to come," Mr Schmidt said in a blog posting. Mr Brin, also 37, is Google's other founder.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

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It's just under 10 years ago that Eric Schmidt joined Google, and what a ride it's been. He was brought in as the "adult" to complement the search company's young leadership team. He had plenty of experience: at Bell Labs, Xerox, Sun and Novell. His job: to reassure investors and manage growth.

Mr Schmidt has delivered, and more. His biggest achievement is how he bonded with Google's two founders; as an executive triumvirate they appear to have managed the company with little internal friction.

In corporate terms, Larry Page and Sergey Brin have been grown-ups for quite a while. Now they are taking charge at the company that is rightfully theirs.

But Google has lost momentum recently, especially in competition with Facebook. Key staff are leaving. It will be Larry Page's job to re-energise the search giant.

Still, shareholders will feel a tad safer in the knowledge that Eric Schmidt will carry on as the founders' mentor.

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Mr Schmidt said the management changes, which take effect on 4 April, were part of a plan to "streamline" decision making and create clearer lines of responsibility and accountability.

"We've been talking about how best to simplify our management structure and speed up decision making for a long time," Mr Schmidt said.

He added: "Larry will now lead product development and technology strategy, his greatest strengths... Sergey has decided to devote his time and energy to strategic projects, in particular working on new products. His title will be co-founder."

Caution

Analysts said that Mr Page was now more experienced, and would carry more weight with investors on Wall Street than he did 10 years ago.

But Brian Pitz, analyst at UBS, added a note of caution. "The Street will think it's a negative, that there is probably some issue going on. Google is trying to get more efficient and trying to get a tech guy in the seat to compete with Facebook.

"I don't think it changes anything strategically where the company is headed," he said.

The surprise news overshadowed strong fourth-quarter profits that were well ahead of analysts' estimates. The $2.54bn profit compares with $1.97bn made in the same quarter the year before.

Analysts said Google appeared to have strengthened its internet advertising machine during the pre-Christmas shopping season, sparking a 26% surge in revenues to $8.44bn.

After subtracting the commissions Google pays to advertising partners, revenues were $6.37bn, about $300m more than analysts had forecast.

Mike Hickey, analyst at Janco Partners, said: "When you see an executive change, you hesitate because generally, it's a disruption at the top. Obviously the numbers look good, so it's a balance between the two."

Shares of Google rose about 2% to $639 in after-hours trading on Wall Street. The company now has a market value of about $200bn and has turned the co-founders and Mr Schmidt into billionaires.

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Illegal gamers costing &#39;billions&#39;

By Dan Whitworth
Newsbeat technology reporter <!-- Empty - Wide embedded hyper -->

People who play illegal copies of video games on chipped or modified consoles cost at least �1.45 billion in lost sales in 2010.

The Association of UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE), which speaks for the games industry, says it's not just money that's being lost.

It also estimates that it's resulted in 1,000 fewer jobs in the industry.

One pirate told Newsbeat that games are too expensive and the companies behind them make enough money as it is.

Continue reading the main story

They want to bring the prices down and then maybe people would stop doing this

Martin, 25, from Scarborough on illegal gaming

Piracy is traditionally more commonly associated with music or films.

But 25-year-old Martin, from near Scarborough, says that's not the case.

He's been modifying consoles for a year and says he's adapted, otherwise known as 'modded', 'chipped' or 'flashed', around 60.

"I can pretty much modify anything," he admitted.

"Xbox 360s and there's a new hack for the PS3, Wii, DS and PSP."

Sony takes PS3 hackers to court

Pirated games

He charges around �40 to modify a console which makes it possible to then play pirated games on them.

They can cost anywhere from �1 to �5 per illegal copy.

UK software sales were down from �1.9bn in 2008 to �1.45bn last year

He said: "At the end of the day the video game industry makes as much as the film industry nowadays.

"So they (the industry) can't say they're losing masses of money over this.

"They want to bring the prices down and then maybe people would stop doing this."

That is a common argument used by pirates, that legitimate games which cost around �45 is too much for many people to pay.

"They want to bring the prices down and maybe people would stop doing this."

Sales down

As with many parts of the economy the video game industry is suffering at the moment.

Total software sales in the UK are down from �1.9 billion in 2008 to �1.45 billion last year.

It estimates that for every original game sold at least one is pirated.

Continue reading the main story

I think pirated games are a bad idea. It's stealing and it doesn't give revenue to the industry to be able to invest in future games, bigger game and better games

Luke Gourley, 19, from Sunderland

Video game bosses say that, like the music and film industry, it's a huge problem and that figure is a conservative estimate.

Michael Rawlinson, the Director General of UKIE, says it's a simple question of criminals breaking the law and posing a genuine threat to video game companies.

He said: "When people play a pirated game that money goes to a criminal, not to the industry.

"That takes away jobs from young developers and graphic designers, so it actually stifles creativity and stops new games coming out."

He says games aren't overpriced: "These big games, you get 20 to 50 hours game play, which is tremendous value for money.

"A game like Call of Duty could take two years to make and cost millions of pounds.

"So there are huge sums of money involved in individual games."

Luke Gourley, who's 19 and from Sunderland, agrees.

He said: "I think pirated games are a bad idea.

"It's stealing and it doesn't give revenue to the industry to be able to invest in future games, bigger game and better games."

Follow our technology reporter Dan Whitworth on Twitter

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Amazon buys Lovefilm DVD service

20 January 2011 Last updated at 06:47 ET

Amazon has agreed to buy online movie rental service Lovefilm.

The American internet retailer, which already had a significant stake in the London company, said Lovefilm had a "productive and innovative" future.

The move is largely seen as a defensive ploy against a planned international expansion by US video-streaming giant Netflix.

Lovefilm chief executive Simon Calver said the deal would help the company improve its online services.

He told BBC News that it did not matter that it was an American firm that had bought the company:

"It's not about location. The big question is who is going to be the best partner to work with. There are few that offer the expertise that Amazon do, which is why it is perfect for Lovefilm."

Defensive move

The service, which began as a pure DVD rental company in 2002, has more than 1.4 million members around the UK as well as significant interests in Germany and Scandinavia.

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Analysis

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Is this a good or bad day for the UK tech scene?

Lovefilm is one of the most impressive new media businesses to have come out of the UK in the last ten years.

Starting with a very simple idea - send DVDs in the post to people who watch them and then send them back - it has attracted 1.25 million paying customers across Europe.

It is now transforming itself into a digital delivery service, following the example set by Netflix in the United States - and it will be better placed to do that as part of a giant business like Amazon.

But some in the UK tech scene will be disappointed that Lovefilm could not carry on growing as an independent business.

They will point to the rumoured price tag - �200m - and contrast that with Netflix which is now valued at about $10 billion.

And they will ask the old question - why can't we in Britain grow our own world-beating technology businesses?

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For a monthly fee, subscribers can receive movies and TV shows through the post or watch them over a broadband internet connection.

Over the years the company has grown rapidly and increased its reach by acquiring rival services such as Screenselect and Video Island. In 2008, it bought Amazon's fledgling DVD service; in return, the US retailer gained a significant stake in Lovefilm's business.

The company has been adding more services, including games rental and, more recently, online streaming - but it has also run into trouble. A dispute with Universal Pictures blocked access to major films such as Bruno and Public Enemies.

In recent months insiders have made it known that senior executives and investors were agitating for a sale, with reports suggesting that negotiations between the two companies have been under way since last autumn.

The move could help guard against the possibility that US rival Netflix, which has more than 16 million subscribers, could invade the British market.

Last year Netflix - which has pioneered online video subscription - suggested that it was looking to expand internationally, and is believed to be targeting Europe.

"We're now talking about other regions in the world," a spokesman told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in December.

"Based on the early success of Netflix Canada, we're going to continue our international expansion next year and we're going to allocate significant dollars to it."

Investors in Lovefilm said the deal should be seen as a European success story.

"This is a great deal for Lovefilm and Amazon," said Dharmash Mistry, a partner at Balderton Capital, one of the company's backers.

"Lovefilm is the Netflix of Europe and it will be central to Amazon's European and global strategy."

It was a sentiment echoed by Mr Calver.

"It's an exciting day," he told BBC News. "We've demonstrated that you can take a business model, take an idea and grow a successful business and attract the attention of a truly global company like Amazon."

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