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Pirates hijack 3 ships off Somalia
Pirates hijacked three ships off the coast of Somalia on Thursday in the "worst number of attacks" in one day in many years, an international maritime watchdog said. Pirates hijacked three ships off the coast of Somalia on Thursday in the "worst number of attacks" in one day in many years,... more
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Pirates seize Japanese, Iranian ships off Somalia
Armed pirates hijacked a Japanese-operated tanker and an Iranian ship off Somalia's coast Thursday, the latest in a series of attacks that have sent jitters among seafarers in an area known for its lawlessness.
He said there has been no communication so far with either vessel, but a multi-coalition naval force in the areas has been informed, and "is taking action." The naval force includes the United States, France, Germany, Pakistan, Britain and Canada, which currently holds the rotating command. Armed pirates hijacked a Japanese-operated tanker and an Iranian ship off Somalia's coast Thursday, the latest in a series of att... more -
Pirates seize Japanese, Iranian ships off Somalia
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Armed pirates hijacked a Japanese-operated tanker and an Iranian ship off Somalia's coast Thursday, the latest in a series of attacks that have sent jitters among seafarers in an area known for its lawlessness.
The hijackings came after a Malaysian palm oil tanker with 39 crew was seized in the same area late Tuesday. The latest attacks raised to six the number of ships hijacked in the Gulf of Aden since July 20.
In the first incident Thursday, pirates "continuously fired" on the Iranian bulk carrier before boarding and commandeering it, said Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau in Kuala Lumpur.
Less than an hour later, a Japanese-operated tanker with 19 crew was also attacked and seized in the same area. KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Armed pirates hijacked a Japanese-operated tanker and an Iranian ship off Somalia's coast Thursday,... more -
Pirates 'seize ship' off Somalia
Pirates have hijacked a tanker with more than 20 crew on board in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia, a global maritime watchdog has said.
A distress signal was received and the ship is now thought to be en route to coastal waters near Somalia.
The Malaysian-owned tanker is carrying crude palm oil and is thought to have a mostly Malaysian and Filipino crew.
Pirate attacks on vessels and yachts sailing the major shipping route close to Somalia have surged recently.
No direct contact has been made with the captain of the ship, said the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre.
But the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation, which owns the vessel, is said to be expecting a ransom demand once it is anchored in coastal waters.
Tuesday night's hijacking was the fourth in this area in the past few weeks, the International Maritime Bureau said.
Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991 and has suffered continuing civil strife.
In June, the UN Security Council voted to allow countries to send warships into Somalia's waters to tackle piracy. Pirates have hijacked a tanker with more than 20 crew on board in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia, a global maritime watchdog has said. ... more -
Australian ISPs Still Rejects Idea of Becoming Copyright Police
Trying for force ISPs into becoming copyright police seems to be a hot trend for the copyright industry these days. Then again, ISPs rarely are willing to go for the idea of solving another industries problem and Australia is no exception.
There's a report from ABC Australia which highlights an ongoing issue in Australia where anti-piracy outfits and the copyright industry are trying to get ISPs to become copyright police. The Australian ISPs aren't budging on their firm "no" response.
This time, the calls to get ISPs to become copyright police comes from Australian anti-piracy outfit AFACT (Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft) Australians may know these demands have been going on for some time now, but the circumstances internationally have changed. In Britain, the British ISPs caved to pressure and agreed to become copyright police. Details of that deal aren't yet fully known. No doubt this has gotten AFACT to redouble their efforts to pressure ISPs to change their mind.
Unfortunately for AFACT, they are working against ISPs who are aware of what filtering technology is not capable of doing. It was only a few days ago that a local study pointed out that ISP level filtering technology does not adequately work on file-sharing protocols. The technology has been tested and retested and still comes out with the same results - they don't work.
Filtering technology, though, isn't the only option on the table, but Australian ISPs aren't exactly willing to use the other possible methods either. From the report:
Peter Coroneos from the Internet Industry Association says ISPs have a number of concerns about AFACT's proposals.
"The precedent that this creates for ISPs in other areas, and [also] the fact that disconnecting people from the internet is not - in our view - a proportionate response to copyright infringement," he said.
"ISPs, I think quite legitimately, argue that it's only when a court pronounces that an infringement has occurred that regard should be had for the complaint," [Mr Coroneos] said.
"But for someone to simply compile lists of IP addresses, fire them off to ISPs on a weekly basis and expect action to be taken on that basis is really going beyond what even the copyright law in Australia would require."
Judging by this, Australian ISPs seem satisfied of the whole idea of 'come back with a warrant, then we'll talk'. Seems like a reasonable argument that one industry shouldn't be responsible for another industries problems. Should the electric industry deal with the problems of the candle industry?
It's worth noting that the copyright industry demanding that ISPs should be the copyright police isn't unique in Australia in recent times. In the United States, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is hoping that ISPs in the US will also become copyright police. That was after British ISPs caved to pressure and France pressuring Europe to follow similar action. Trying for force ISPs into becoming copyright police seems to be a hot trend for the copyright industry these days. Then again, ISPs r... more -
African Drug Cops to Go After Pirates
So very interesting tactics going on here...so piracy is like taking or smuggling drugs? LOL.....
In the past, parallels between narcotics enforcement and copyright enforcement may have been drawn, but in one country parallels are out of the window, as copyright and trademark enforcement will now be treated as drug trafficking.
There is a growing trend towards trying to treat copyright infringement in the same way as narcotics, right around the world. There are restrictions on obtaining large numbers of DVDs, as there is for ephedrine. There are even sniffer dogs looking for pirated CDs and DVDs (although their effectiveness is highly debatable). It was only a matter of time until someone decided to lump it in with drug enforcement. That someone was President John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana.
In some ways, Ghana could be the US of the future. Like America, they have a presidential election at the end of the year to replace a president that can not run again, having had two 4-year terms in office. They were once a colony of the UK, and politicians reportedly take bribes, just like the US. At the same time, they are quick to crack down on anything that seems to affect their backers, as a push to deal with counterfeit goods and ‘piracy’ has been proposed by the government.
“This insidious crime of product counterfeiting has become a global phenomenon; it’s no longer the canker of the under-developed or developing world,” president John Agyekum Kufuor said in a recent statement“The developed world is also battling with counterfeiting products albeit at a scale lower than in our part of the world”.
It would also seem that the president had been reading the recent BSA report, and following its (severely flawed) economics, when he noted “that counterfeit products denied genuine products of the rightful market share, costing governments significant amounts in lost tax revenues as well as threatening jobs”. Perhaps he missed how money spent locally stays in the local economy, but money spent on outside goods leaves the country. This money can’t be used elsewhere to generate MORE tax, and keeping jobs going.
What, though, is their ’solution’? As the Ghana News Agency (GNA) put it in a July 23rd report, the Criminal Investigation Department of the police, will “handle counterfeiting and piracy crimes as drug trafficking.”
As anyone that lives in the real world knows, decades of treating drug trafficking as drug trafficking hasn’t exactly limited it. Moreover, while ownership of something like cocaine is illegal pretty much anywhere in the world, and has a distinctive smell, counterfeit goods by their nature look like legitimate items. Piracy is even worse, in that what some consider criminal, others consider a civil offence, and yet others see no problem at all. In some instances what may be an infringement of copyright, may be a legitimate fair use, depending on circumstance.
Can it succeed? As already noted, the approach hasn’t worked for a rigidly defined area such as narcotics, why should it in the legal miasma that is copyright and patent law. What it appears to be is another attempt to treat the symptoms, and although that works in some cases (Cholera for instance), it doesn’t in this case. So very interesting tactics going on here...so piracy is like taking or smuggling drugs? LOL..... ... more -
VIII: Thou Shall Not Steal (Is Free, Open-Source the Solution to the Sin?)
We've been stealing software ever since companies began charging for it.
Not that there's anything right with that. Just because someone decides to demand $50 -- or $500 -- for something we want or need doesn't mean we can just take it.
Except ... that it kind of does. Making things easy to steal makes them more likely to be stolen.
The music industry learned that. The lengthy boom they enjoyed by digitizing their entire catalogs for CDs in the '80s only meant that people would swap those digital bits incessantly once technology (broadband Internet, writable CDs) allowed them to do so.
Computer software used to be what companies bundled in the box so they could sell their hardware.
Apple still pretty much works this way. The company's software -- OS X, iTunes -- is brilliant, but it's only there to get you to buy Macs, iPods and ... digital music.
See, in this case a brilliant software product, combined with equally brilliant hardware, has somehow made a market for legitimately sold digital music.
But we're still stealing.
Since the first computers came as a complete package -- hardware and software -- we were conditioned to pay for one and not the other. Most of us aren't about to march into Wal-Mart and carry out a large computer box without paying for it. That's shoplifting. And that means getting caught.
But installing Microsoft Relevant Products/Services Office from our friend's disc is also stealing. It's easier. We're not likely to be arrested. MS Office is wicked expensive. We don't use it all that much ... but need it sometimes.
I did it, too. Everybody needs to generate Word-compatible documents, Excel-compatible spreadsheets, and now PowerPoint- compatible presentations. (PowerPoint is evil, but that's another column for another day.)
I used to maintain that huge software behemoths like Microsoft wouldn't be subject to so much thievery if they just lowered their prices.
It's not that simple. Microsoft charges what it does because that's what the corporate market is willing to pay. And if the average guy sitting at home can pay hundreds of dollars for software, they'll take his money, too.
To a company like Microsoft, they'd prefer that home users steal its software and become familiar with it rather than use anything else. That way, when those same people go to work, they'll demand their bosses pay for the programs they know.
Long ago, I began moving all of my machines over to as much free, open-source software as I could. I use the OpenOffice suite, the lightweight AbiWord word processor Relevant Products/Services, the excellent Notepad++ text editor, FileZilla for FTP file transfers over the Internet, the GIMP to edit images, and the Pidgin IM program to bring my Yahoo, AOL and Google instant-messaging accounts under one application.
I still use some programs that are free but not "open source," meaning you can't see the code behind them, nor can you modify it. The great IrfanView image editor, Avast's antivirus program and the online Google Docs office suite are among those.
And while I spend time in Windows and OS X, more and more of my computing is done in free Linux-based operating systems. Again, another column for another day. We've been stealing software ever since companies began charging for it. ... more -
Kid Rock Encourages Stealing From Everybody in PSA
Kid Rock has stepped up yesterday’s endorsement of stealing music with the above PSA. Yesterday, Rock told the BBC that not only should people steal songs but also “steal everything,” including gas. Kid Rock has stepped up yesterday’s endorsement of stealing music with the above PSA. Yesterday, Rock told the BBC that not only shoul... more
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UK government wants to cut illegal filesharing 80% by 2011
"The government has set a secret target to reduce illegal filesharing of music and films by up to 80% over the next three years, MediaGuardian.co.uk can reveal. The goal was outlined in a letter by Baroness Vadera, the business minister, relating to the agreement the government struck with internet service providers and the film and music industries to curb illegal filesharing.
The leaked letter, dated July 22, was sent to all the proposed signatories of the memorandum of understanding which proposes to "significantly reduce" illegal filesharing in the next two to three years.
"Although this letter has no effect on the agreement, which stands in its own terms, this may help to ensure all signatories have the same expectations," Vadera wrote. "I would regard a reduction as 'significant' if it had reduced the number of people filesharing unlawfully in the UK by well over 50%, and we hope in the region of 70%-80% from a baseline to be agreed, with work to start immediately, rather than waiting for legislation."
But Vadera's target did not form part of the memorandum of understanding, released yesterday and other parties to the agreement have not signed up to it. Industry estimates put the number of illegal filesharers in the UK at between 6 and 7 million people.
"Success will significantly depend on the effectiveness of the letter writing, awareness raising and other measures," Vadera adds.
Part of the memorandum requires the UK's six biggest ISPs - BSkyB, Tiscali, BT, Orange, Virgin Media and Carphone Warehouse - to send out 1,000 letters a week to subscribers identified as having engaged in illegal uploading or downloading of music. Following the three-month trial, media regulator Ofcom will agree an "escalation" in the number of letters and broaden the campaign to target other content being illegally shared, such as films. Ofcom will look to use other measures to deal with repeat offenders, including slowing internet speeds or blocking content. Rights holders will consider prosecuting "particularly serious infringers".
Some analysts are sceptical that the government's goal can be achieved without heavy measures being introduced.
"I think trimming off a million filesharers from the total number in the UK would be a great measure of success for this letter campaign, but even that would be an unprecedented success in tackling global file sharing," said Mark Mulligan, a vice-president at analysts Jupiter Research. "In the US, where the Recording Industry Association of America has been very aggressive, the result has predominately been one of containment."
The BPI, the body that represents record labels, is keen on a three-step procedure to tackle illegal filesharers. First, an "educational" letter would be sent to customers explaining the account abuse. If a customer was identified a second time, their account would be suspended until an undertaking promising no more illegal use was signed. A third breach would result in cancellation of their internet account. "The government has set a secret target to reduce illegal filesharing of music and films by up to 80% over the next three years, ... more -
U.S. targets Somali pirates
More than half of the world's pirate attacks take place off the African coast.
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Study Claims 1 in 3 are Pirating DVDs
Respondents in both the US and UK admitted to making unauthorized copies of DVDs in the last 6 months, up from just over a quarter of respondents in 2007.
The second annual study by Furturesource Consulting, a research and analysis firm, called "Consumer Home Piracy Research Findings," once again surveyed respondents in both the US and UK to gauge the levels of which consumers are making unauthorized copies of DVDs.
The online survey took place in May 2008 amongst consumers in the USA (3,613) and in the UK (1,718) and asked respondents about their home piracy habits of the last 6 months.
Around one third of all respondents in both countries admitted to making unauthorized copies of DVDs, up from just over a quarter of respondents in 2007. They pirated an average of 12 titles in the US and some 13 titles in the UK. It is 18-24 yo males who are most likely to pirate DVDs, but it is the 25-24yo combined age group that copied the most titles overall.
In both countries the most popular source for copying DVDs was rented or borrowed discs, and the most common method of copying was either from a DVD player to a DVD recorder, or using PC software for burning DVD copies.
Asked whether they would have purchased the films had they not been able to copy them, 63% of respondents in the UK and 77% in the U.S. said they would have purchased all, some or at least a few of the titles, "clearly indicating the scale of the lost revenues to the home video industry from home copying," said the study's conclusion.
Moreover, I think trying to take a few thousand respondents and trying to extrapolate to populations that number in the tens and hundreds of millions will always be a flawed proposal no matter how skilled the researchers claim to be. I just don't buy it. Also, the study was funded by the Macrovision Corporation which specializes in developing and marketing DRM technologies for companies concerned with things like DVD piracy.
Either way, the study fails to say how many people simply made backup copies of preexisting DVDs they owned or borrowed from family and friends, both of which seem like harmless enough practices unless your a multibillion dollar corporation trying to make sure everybody shells out $20 bucks for crappy titles like "Inspector Gadget" or "Gigli."
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9626/Study+Claims+1+in+3+a... Respondents in both the US and UK admitted to making unauthorized copies of DVDs in the last 6 months, up from just over a quarter of ... more -
Pirates Capture Tourists!!!!
pretty insane. A family of European Tourists were taken hostage (along with their captain) by pirates off the coast of Somalia after their ship ran out of fuel.
The pirates took them to the hills around the fishing town of Los Qoary.
The Horn of Africa has seen about two dozen other pirate attacks in 2008. None of which were deemed "sucessful"
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what would blackbeard think.
and are these pirates working for countries (like most back in the day) or for themselves?
hm.. pretty insane. A family of European Tourists were taken hostage (along with their captain) by pirates off the coast of Somalia after t... more -
Pirates grab cargo ships off Somali coast
Two cargo ships have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, a Kenyan maritime official said Thursday.
"The ill-fated vessels under captivity are MV Lehmann and MV Arean," Andrew Mwangura of the Kenyan Seafarers Association said.
The ships were taken Wednesday in "roughly the same" area where the Dutch-owned MV Amiya Scan was hijacked Sunday, he said.
Mwangura did not know who owned the ships and had no more details on the hijackings. Video Watch the hurdles facing pirate hunters »
The Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, has become a treacherous stretch for ships, particularly along the Somali coast.
On Sunday, an unknown number of pirates hijacked the MV Amiya Scan as it traveled through the Gulf of Aden en route from Kenya to Romania.
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Lars Walder, a spokesman for Reider Shipping BV, the ship's owner, said he spoke to the crew Wednesday, and they told him they still had not gone ashore.
The crew of four Russians and five Filipinos had not been harmed, he said. Two cargo ships have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, a Kenyan maritime official said Thursday. ... more -
"The Black Swan" sunken treasure
Drivers find a booty of gold and other treasures worth over 500 million dollars. http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/6997.html
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Pirates Seize Spanish Fishing boat near Somalia
The BBC Reports:
A Spanish naval frigate is heading for the area off Somalia where pirates seized a Spanish fishing boat with 26 crew on board, officials say.
FACTS:
The Playa de Bakio - a Basque tuna boat - was attacked about 250 miles (400km) off the coast on Saturday.
Somali coastal waters are among the most hazardous in the world.
The Spanish trawler's crew consists of 13 Spaniards and 13 Africans.
The Spanish government is now trying to locate the boat.
A Basque regional government source said the trawler was in "international waters" when it was attacked. The BBC Reports: ... more -
Pirates seize Spanish boat
For the second time in months, Somali pirates took over a European boat. The Spanish fishing boat has 26 crew members. As of now there are no reports of injuries. For the second time in months, Somali pirates took over a European boat. The Spanish fishing boat has 26 crew members. As of now the... more
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Six Pirates Captured in Somalia Yacht Hijacking
French officials on Friday said six pirates have been captured in connection with a Somali hijacking.
The French president's office says the pirates are now being held on a French Navy vessel. The president's office made the announcement Friday.
Pirates earlier had freed 30 hostages held aboard a French tourist yacht off Somalia's coast for the past week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday.
In a statement, Sarkozy thanked the French army and other French agencies "that allowed a quick end" to the hostage-taking. The statement did not elaborate on the role of the French military, but said the hostages were freed "without incident." French officials on Friday said six pirates have been captured in connection with a Somali hijacking. ... more -
Playmobile Pirate Music Video
All though Legos > Playmobile, this is pretty awesome.
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Pirates Hijack French Yacht Off Africa's Eastern Coast
An aerial photo from France's military shows gunmen aboard the yacht Le Ponant Friday. Pirates seized the vessel off Somalia's coast, taking 30 crew members hostage. A French warship was tracking the yacht, but Prime Minister Francois Fillon said he hoped to avoid using force.
MOGADISHU, Somalia (April 6) - France has made contact with pirates who hijacked a French luxury yacht off Africa's eastern coast with 30 French and Ukrainian crew members on board, the French foreign minister said Sunday.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told France-Inter radio that France was in contact with the pirates.
"We have established contact, and the case may take a long time," he said, without providing more details. Asked whether France would consider paying a ransom, he responded, "We'll see."
"We have to do everything to avoid bloodshed," Kouchner said.
*The U.S. Navy has led international patrols to try to combat piracy in the region. But an increase in naval patrols has coincided with a rash of kidnappings of foreigners on land.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Does the threat of Pirate Hijackings affect your summer yachting plans? An aerial photo from France's military shows gunmen aboard the yacht Le Ponant Friday. Pirates seized the vessel off Somalia'... more -
Pirates Seize French Cruise Ship
Pirates off the Somali coast in the Indian ocean took over a French Cruise ship. At this time information about how many passengers and crew members aboard the cruise ship is not being released. The Somali Coast is plagued by pirates and the U.S. navy has ships in the area trying to prevent issues like this. Pirates off the Somali coast in the Indian ocean took over a French Cruise ship. At this time information about how many passengers a... more
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