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First off, the Copyright Review Board just recently made several exemptions, one which included the “jailbreaking” of iPhones by end users. Point in fact, declaring the device a purchased product, covered under first sale doctrine, and legal ownership of said device. When I was younger, my VCR broke, it was a minor issue, one of the rubber belts just broke. So I got several rubber bands and replaced the belt and the VCR worked fine. I also own a vehicle that I decided to run different tires and rims on it, other than what came from the factory when I purchased the vehicle.

How are these ownerships different? I own a PS3, actually, I went and bought one right after I heard about George Hotz and the ability of making Home Brew (copies of games authenticated with Geohot’s firmware, and if there was a significant interest in the file sharing world. What I found was incredibly easy. I got Geohot’s firmware file from usenet, watched the YouTube tutorial using a VPN, went thru it step by step, and had FTP access to the PS3’s HDD in less than an hour. But I am getting off-topic.

I don’t understand why I can change my own oil, add a better graphics card to my computer, and yet be unable to modify the operating system and hardware of a PS3 that I PURCHASED! This whole charade was kicked off when SONY found out the likes of the United States Air Force were using rooms of PS3s running Linux and linked in parallel creating supercomputer capabilities for fractions of the costs, and they wanted a cut.

Hilariously, in compliance with the “please upgrade” annoyance from SONY, the USAF promptly brought their supercomputer to a screeching halt, as the upgrade removed the functionality that supported the otherOS option of the PS3.

SONY apparently had plans to “enable” the functionality again, for a price, of course. Simple upgrade, thats all, nothing more, oh, and a big fat check, thanks. It’s amazing to see SONY put profits before human lives. How severe was the effect on the military upon removing this option? Were aircraft tracking systems in Alaska for the early warning systems affected?

SONY’s entire argument is that you are only licensed to use the equipment and may not circumvent the digital locks to re-enable functionality that was removed after you purchased it. It would be like the dealership coming to my house and removing the brakes from my brand new car, because it’s an “option”.

What they really don’t want is what I am seeing now in the file sharing world. An absolute abundance of games for the PS3, including zero day releases. They are large files, but the industry doesn’t understand anything about the internet and how it works. The music industry is in a big tizzy over their music being shared, awww, boo hoo, that is small potatoes, tiny files. The movie industry doesn’t realize that they are even worse off than they think. Movies in HD 720p high quality are only about 5Gb, an easy 15 minute download. PS3 games are even larger, closer to 16Gb and takes about an hour.

I bought it, its mine SONY. I learned how to FTP anything on or off of it, including installing Linux on a partition. I would not consider myself the only one that despises your anti-consumer tactics SONY.

Thanks George.

surfer – p2pnet
Share the wealth

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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

World War III will be a global information war with no division between civilian & military participation ~ Marshall McLuhan

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“People who play FarmVille actually spend real money to buy virtual food or whatever it may be for their pig. Most people don’t but enough do so that it’s a real business.”

Yep. Tragic, but true. Millions of people around the world — many (most?) of them children — use Fa$ebook and its partner, the disgusting Zynga, to feed fake food to fake animals, literally paying for the privilege.

And not only the addictive FarmVille.

There’s also YoVille, a world where “you can buy new clothes for your player, purchase items for your apartment, go to work, and meet new friends,” said Facebook.

“It’s also a place where kids can pretend to get drunk and where they can be picked up by sexual predators”, noted p2pnet a couple of years back.

Having failed at MySpace, News Corpse is now taking a hugely belated stab at social networking to get into punter’s pockets.

Speaking at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit, Miller “dismissed interest in buying a company such as Zynga”, saying it’d “prefer to build a social gaming business organically” to “also integrate existing assets IGN and Making Fun, which it had acquired over the last few years but has done little with.

“We’re putting a toe and then a foot in the water and we’ll see how that goes,” The Register has him declaring, adding News Corpse “could use its film and television titles to attract players.”

And by the way, “My Space would not be part of the social gaming equation”.

No need to stay tuned.

(Cheers, Filip)

Follow me on Twitter.

The Register – News Corp to trade music for games, readies MySpace sale, March 15, 2011
Fa$ebook and its partner – New York Times touts Zynga PR puff piece, June 9. 2010
IT Wire – ‘Piracy’ studies part of a bigger game, March 14, 2011
addictive FarmVille – Mum killed baby while she was playing Farmville, October 26, 2010
p2pnet – Is Zynga’s YoVille OK for kids?, March 17, 2009

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

World War III will be a global information war with no division between civilian & military participation ~ Marshall McLuhan

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“So be careful from now on.”

“Some of you may remember that graf_chokolo promised if he was pushed, that he would release all of his PS3 hypervisor knowledge to the world”, says PS Groove.

“He kept good on this promise releasing what is being dubbed as the Hypervisor Bible. ‘The uploaded files contains his database which is a series of tools for the PS3’s Hypervisor and Hypervisor processes. It will help other devs to reverse engineer the hypervisor of PS3 further’.”

On psx-scene, graf_chokolo states >>>

February 23, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Guys, i don’t joke, it’s serious.
And to prove it, i kept my word and uploaded all my HV reversing stuff.
Upload it everywhere so SONY couldn’t remove it easily. Grab it guys, it contains lots of knowledge about HV and HV procs.

Here is my HV bible: Sendspace.com upload.com 2shared.com <- Coolstuff.rar [164mb]

And >>>

February 23, 2011 at 12:51 pm
IDA database is the documentation, it contains all my knowledge, Linux booting is also there.

graf_chokolo “has contributed countless things to the PS3 scene”, says PS Groove.

Sony, on the other hand, merely takes.

graf_chokolo PS3 Linux And Hypervisor Reverse Engineering Blog

Stay tuned.
Follow me on Twitter.

psx-scene – Sony moves to the next level, police raid graf_chokolo home!, February 23, 2011
PS Groove – Police Raid Graf_Chokolo’s House – Then He Releases Hypervisor Bible, February 23, 2011

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

World War III will be a global information war with no division between civilian & military participation ~ Marshall McLuhan

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Wazzat?

46 DC EA D3 FE 45 D8 09 23 EB 97 E4 95 64 10 D4 CD B2 C2 on Kevin Butler’s Twitter Page.

Strange.

“Sony Marketing Man, Kevin Butler’s official Twitter feed retweets a post by @exiva that posts the PS3 Master key”, says a Slashdot post.

“Kevin Butler who has over 69,000 followers tweet read (The tweet now deleted): ‘@TheKevinButler Lemme guess… you sank my Battleship? RT @exiva.”

Current post?

“#Loveis knowing how many freakishly awesome games are coming out this year on the PS3.”

heh

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Slashdot – Sony Marketing Man Tweets PS3 Master Key, February 9, 2011

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

World War III will be a global information war with no division between civilian & military participation ~ Marshall McLuhan

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Motion For TRO

Proposed Order

Complaint

old front page is here

contact me geohot … gmail

any legal fund donation things you see are 100% fake as of now, don’t get scammed

That’s from George Hotz, aka Geohot, here.He’s been hit by corporate MAFIAA mobster Sony.

“George Hotz, or, as he is known on the internet, GeoHot, has been served court papers“, explains Kayot on Slashdot, going on >>>

Shorty after Team fail0verflow discovered faults in the PS3’s TPMs, Geohot and others figured out how to extract the long sought after holy grail encryption keys. Apparently Sony is not pleased and is very keen on defending their poorly defended system with the US legal system.

The basis is that GeoHot released programs that allow the signing of homebrew which can be used to make PSN-like games out of normal PS3 games. However GeoHot has never supported any form of piracy and in fact has taken a constant stance against it.

But, “Doesn’t matter if they flash the bright light”, says ieder-zijn-meis on Gamefreax, pointing out >>>

The important info is scattered all over the internet by now (and only gets more exposure > Streisand Effect)!

Numbers don’t have protection by I.P. laws
Afaik, his publishings are allowed even by strict DMCA.
His PUP doesn’t contain © Sony code, PoC wasn’t compiled by © Sony SDK
Oh, well. No more holidays in the USA for Geohot. Not like he should care or miss anything about that imo.

But don’t forget fail0verflow, mentioned in the legal documents @ http://geohot.com/Motion%20For%20TRO.pdf & http://geohot.com/Proposed%20Order.pdf
__________________
erk: C0CEFE84 C227F75B D07A7EB8 46509F93 B238E770 DACB9FF4 A388F812 482BE21B / riv: 47EE7454 E4774CC9 B8960C7B 59F4C14D / public: C2D4AAF3 19355019 AF99D44E 2B58CA29 252C8912 3D11D621 8F40B138 CAB29B71 01F3AEB7 2A975019 / private: 00C5B2BF A1A413DD 16F26D31C0 F2ED4720 DCFB0670 / curve_type:0×20

Stay tuned.

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George Hotz – Secret Sony PS3 master key online, January 6, 2011
Slashdot – Sony Files Lawsuit Against PS3 Hacker GeoHot, January 12, 2011

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

World War III will be a global information war with no division between civilian & military participation ~ Marshall McLuhan

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Then he published it online.

PlayStation 3’s security has been broken, potentially allowing anyone to run any software, “including pirated games”, on the console, says the BBC, going on >>>

“The complete console is compromised – there is no recovery from this,” said pytey, a member of the fail0verflow group of hackers, who revealed the initial exploit at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin in December.

“This is as bad as it gets – someone is getting into serious trouble at Sony right now.”

The group, which has previously hacked Nintendo’s Wii and says it is vehemently against games piracy, said that it had developed the hack so that it could install other operating systems and community-written software – known as homebrew – on the powerful machine.

“The details we provided and information and techniques we disclosed would have been enough to install Linux,” he said. “We have no interest in piracy.”

Hotz who, on his Fa$ebook page, describes himself as “an American student known for publicizing the collaboration leading to a procedure for unlocking the Apple iPhone, allowing the phone to be used with other wireless carriers, contrary to AT&T and Apple’s intent”,  previously hacked parts of the console, says the story.

“This formerly secret number is used to ’sign’ all games and software that run on the system, to authenticate that it is genuine and approved by Sony”, says the Beeb, observing, “However, once the key is known it can be used to sign any software – including unofficial software and games.

But, “I hate that it enables piracy,” it has Hotz stating.

“The publication of the key is more academic than anything else.”

The number also works for Sony’s handheld console the PlayStation Portable, he said.

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unlocking Apple’s iPhone – Apple iPhone. Unlocked. Again., October 13, 2007
BBC – iPhone hacker publishes secret Sony PlayStation 3 key, January 5, 2011

World War III will be a global information war with no division between civilian & military participation ~ Marshall McLuhan

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“Stamford-based Walker Digital, an invention firm and parent of discount airfare site Priceline.com, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Zynga and Activision Blizzard over a gaming patent for distributed electronic tournaments”, says Gamasutra, gong on:

“The claim centers on a U.S. patent for a ‘database driven online distributed tournament system’ that was issued to Walker Digital in 2002″, says the story, going on:

“The lawsuit alleges that Activision Inc., Activision Publishing, Activision Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, and Zynga have released a total of 24 products infringing on that patent, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1 and 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: World at War, Blur, Wolfenstein, DJ Hero 2, Golden Eye 007, World of Warcraft and its expansions, Mafia Wars, and many others.”

Walker Digital now wants compensation for damages from Zynga and Activision’s alleged infringements, says the post, adding:

“This complaint follows just a month after Walker Digital filed a suit against Facebook, in which it accused the site of infringing its patent on a system for users to manage and restrict the release of information about themselves or their identities to friends and strangers.”

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highly addictive – Facebook user sues Zynga, October 20, 2010
reputed Russian mobster – Facebook, Goldman, Sucks, January 5, 2011
Gamasutra – Walker Digital Suing Zynga, Activision Blizzard Over Gaming Tournament Patent, January 5, 2011

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It’s a “way for younger generations to learn about Germany’s history during the Cold War”, Deutsche Welle has him stating.

And he says it turns the concept of  traditional ’shoot-’em-ups’ on its head.

‘1378 km’ was the length of the boundary dividing East and West Germany. The game was held back from its planned launch on Germany’s anniversary of reunification, October 3, following heated criticism, says the story.

The difference between it and traditional games of this type is: “You shoot, you lose”, as Stober puts it.

“East German guards who catch a player trying to flee have three options: imprison him, escape with him, or shoot him”, says the post. But Stober says points are deducted, instead of awarded, “when players take aim at escapees”.

However, Rainer Wagner, head of the UOKG, a Berlin-based umbrella group for victims of the communist dictatorship, called on the university in Karlsruhe not to release the game, says Deutsche Welle, continuing >>>

Referencing his own attempts to flee the inner-German border, which twice landed him behind bars, Wagner said “1378 km” would only serve to traumatize victims once more.

More than 100,000 East Germans attempted to flee East Germany between 1961, when the border was built, and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

According to the Center for Contemporary History in Potsdam, 136 people were killed trying to flee along the Berlin Wall alone, with estimates ranging from 270 to 780 people dead along the entire border.

“Don’t put the game on the Internet, and don’t allow for the shooting of escapees,” Wagner said.

Stober has said he’ll make changes in the coming weeks, “but that he has no plans to remove the border soldiers component, calling it the ‘foundation of the game’,” says the post.

Meanwhile, “1378(km) will be released!” says the game site, going on >>>

A Beta version will be released in an initial test phase for players 18 years and over, with the aim of improving the game through feedback. The final version will be released accompanied by a public discussion with dignified guests at the Karlsruhe University for Arts and Design at the beginning of December.

The BILD newspaper’s indictment of the game as “revolting” (”Will the revolting East German shoot-’em-up be banned?”, German title “Wird das widerwärtige DDR-Ballerspiel verboten?”, BILD-Online, 29.09.2010) means that the intended release and presentation date of October 3 is no longer realistic, since an objective discussion of the game is presently impossible.

A large part of the criticism is a consequence of my chosen medium, the computer game. Computer games as a medium are often quick to be judged without being more closely examined, as was also the case with my art project. It was designed to enable a younger generation to access information on recent German history using a medium familiar to them. I have been pleased about the lively discussion about the game, and about the positive feedback and encouragement from which the game can only profit.

On that point, it should also be noted that 1378(km) is a modified version of “Half-Life 2: Deathmatch” that is freely available, and upon which the censorship recommendation of 18 years and over is based.

In this computer game – which would not be the case in, for example, a documentary film – I personally have the control over my behavior and my reactions, which take place in real time and in changing situations. The game 1378(km) does not force someone playing the “border soldiers” to shoot the “refugees”. Players are left with the freedom of choice. You are only able to win 1378(km) when you do not shoot. The rules of the game are inspired by the situation at the former Inner German Border. Border camps, death strips, and orders to shoot are what make the game brutal.

“I deeply regret that the victims of the former border and their families and relatives have felt cause for injury”, says Stober, adding:

“This was never part of my intention.”

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Deutsche Welle – Controversial East German-themed computer game finally goes online, December 14, 2010

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

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They got it anyway when they licensed Gimme Shelter as the soundtrack for Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Op video war simulation.

It hit the shelves on November 9, “But more than a week earlier, on Oct. 31, Santa Monica, Calif.-based publisher Activision released an ad for TV and the Internet featuring a montage of the game’s cinematic cut scenes with the Stones’ ‘Gimme Shelter’,” says Billboard.

“The ad appeared during several prime-time TV shows and on several game enthusiast websites, garnering more than 3 million views on YouTube alone”, it says, going on Gimme Shelter “jumped from slightly more than 2,000 copies the week of Oct. 31 to 5,000-plus for the following week, then doubled to nearly 11,000 for the week ending Nov. 14, according to Nielsen SoundScan”.

New York-based ABKCO Music & Records holds the rights to the song and “for the first time in Activision history, it allowed another company to make edits to the ad itself in order to obtain approval from the band members as well”, says the story.

“We had to fly out for it,” it has Activision’s Tim Riley stating. “They certainly say ‘no’ more than they say ‘yes.’ It’s the Rolling Stones. It’s not like they need the money.”

The Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil is also “background music for a scene inside the game as well, which helped double that song’s weekly sales to nearly 5,000 for the week of Nov. 14″, says Billboard, adding, “And it won’t be the last, either.”

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Billboard – Rolling Stones Team Up with ‘Call Of Duty: Black Ops’ Videogame, November 19, 2010

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

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There’s nothing subtle about it: a Mac with the glaring white Apple is repeatedly shoved in your face.

One of the most painful examples of this came in 2008 when Apple products and were apparently written right into a House script, as losanjealous.com pointed out.

And games would make a similarly attractive advertising vehicle, thought Massive Inc four years earlier.

A captive audience.

“You know when you’re watching a flic and the hero lights up, carefully – and very obviously – slipping the cigarette package into his top pocket so you can clearly see the brand?” – p2pnet posted six years ago, going on, “Or when the heroine gratefully builds herself a drink from a bottle whose label is full-front closeup for a few seconds? Or when the hero zooms off in a (name your favourite car make)? Or when the heroine … ?

“Well, now it’s all coming to a video game near you” because Massive Inc. and InGamePartners will soon be plugging dynamic real-time ads into both online games and games connected to the Internet through Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation 2, and Nintendo GameCube consoles.”

Online gaming is big business. And that makes it ideal for advertisers.  Or so Microsoft thought, snapping up Massive in a bid to get into the game. Literally.

But it didn’t happen. Instead, “game publishers have turned more to offering downloadable content (DLC) to their games to extend the stream of revenue it earns after the game itself is sold”, says TG Daily.

Now Microsoft has abandoned the company it “acquired to bring dynamic advertisements in video games”, says the story, continuing, the “Microsoft had reportedly been looking to sell off the company but to no avail”.

It “appears it will just completely dissolve Massive and spread out whatever employees it can to the rest of the company”.

Oh well …

Follow p2pnet on Twitter.

losanjealous.com – Apple Product Placement All Over House, January 30, 2008
p2pnet – Pumping adverts into games, November 12, 2004
TG Daily – Microsoft shutters Massive in-game ad unit, October 11, 2010

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It`s really easy!

She went on >>>

These changes will not be retroactive, meaning that the thousands of existing posts on the online discussion forums will not be affected. Parental controls will allow parents to prevent minors who have signed up for Real ID on the game from posting to the forums, if they so choose.

Why is Blizzard taking such an unprecedented step? Unpleasantness. “The forums have…earned a reputation as a place where flame wars, trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild,” writes Naethera, a Blizzard employee who will soon be posting under her own full name. “Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment [and] promote constructive conversations.”

Blizzard appears to have subscribed to the colorful Greater Internet F***wad Theory, which posits that perfectly normal people, when faced with an audience and total anonymity, can become flaming jerks.

That was in July.

Now, “We’d like to make you aware of the new Real ID-related privacy options we’ve introduced to Battle.net”, says Blizzard, continuing:

“These options provide Real ID users with additional tools for customizing the service based on their preferences, enabling the ability to opt in or out of the Real ID ‘Friends of Friends’ and ‘Add Facebook Friends’ features —-”

—- Or turn off Real ID altogether.

“To access these settings, log in to your Battle.net account at http://www.battle.net/account“, says the post, adding:

“From there, click on the ‘Settings’ tab located at the center of the Account Management menu and select ‘Communication Preferences’ from the dropdown list. The new settings can be found in the ‘Privacy’ section of the Communication Preferences page.”

Now you know.

Follow p2pnet on Twitter.

p2pnet – Will Blizzard forums become ghost towns?, July 19, 2010
Deep Links – New Blizzard Forum Policy Will Require Posters to Use Real Names, July 8, 2010
Blizzard – New Battle.net Privacy Settings, September 30, 2010

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It`s really easy!

Halo: Reach has been available unofficially online for some time with Microsoft “aggressively investigating the leak” with plans to “hand out bans to anyone caught playing the game pre-release”, said Kotaku last month.

“So where does that leave folks who can’t resist the lure of early Halo: Reach?” – asks the story, adding, “Even if you have every intention of picking up a retail copy, we’d suggest you wait, lest Microsoft come after you.”

What’s the problem? Well, with all those free copies out there no one will want to buy the real deal. Right?

Remember how 20th Century Fux “was screaming about online leaks of an unfinished workprint of X-Men Origins: Wolverine a month before its official release date?” – said p2pnet last spring, going on >>>

Not long after, it was followed by what was presumably the finished version, an event completely ignored by the lamescream media.

Why all the fuss?

Fux: ‘No one will want to see it when it’s already been on the P2P nets.’ [sob, sob]

However, it hasn’t made a blind bit of difference.

In fact, it’s, “howling its way to the top of the box office with an opening day gross of $35 million,” says EW.com.

Now history is repeating itself, except this time it’s Halo: Reach that’s raking it in, ‘pirates’ notwithstanding.

It’s generated “$200 million in sales in its first 24 hours in the U.S. and Europe”, Microsoft announced, says PC Magazine.

$200 million in sales in its first 24 hours !!!

Thats make it the “biggest entertainment launch of 2010 in the U.S., according to Microsoft, says the story, adding:

” ‘Halo: Reach’ is the biggest game Microsoft has ever released, and its launch has already surpassed every game, movie, and entertainment launch this year,’ Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, said in a statement.”

But has Microsoft thanked all the early promoters, labelled ‘pirates’?

No need to answer that.

Follow p2pnet on Twitter.

Kotaku – Microsoft Is Ready To Ban Halo: Reach Pirates, August 25, 2010

p2pnet – Never mind online leaks, Wolverine a hit, May 2, 2010
unfinished workprint – X-Men: Origins – workprint online, April 2, 2009
finished version – Finished `X-Men: Origins` now online, April 26, 2009
EW.com – ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ grosses $35 million Friday night, May 2, 2009
PC Magazine – ‘Halo: Reach’ Takes in $200M in First 24 Hours, September 165, 2010

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It`s really easy!

Zynga’s YoVille for kids is described by Fa$ebook as a “world where you can buy new clothes for your player, purchase items for your apartment, go to work, and meet new friends”.

“It’s also a place where kids can pretend to get drunk and where they can be picked up by sexual predators”, said my daughter, Emma.

Owned by Mark Pincus, Zynga is said by VentureBeat to be worth $3 billion.

That’s because its stupid, really stupid, games have sucked in millions of people, a significant, very frightening,  number of them children.

Google likes it, Fa$ebook loves it — it’s signed a five-year ‘partnership’ with it — and the New York Times promotes it shamelessly.

But it’s nasty. And so, apparently, is Zynga CEO and founder Mark Pincus.

According to the San Francisco Weekly, “I don’t fucking want innovation,” an ex-employee recalls Pincus saying. “You’re not smarter than your competitor. Just copy what they do and do it until you get their numbers.”

It goes on, “The former employee, who requested anonymity in order to speak candidly about his experience at Zynga, said this wasn’t just bluster. Indeed, interviews conducted by SF Weekly with several former Zynga workers indicate that the practice of stealing other companies’ game ideas — and then using Zynga’s market clout to crowd out the games’ originators — was business as usual.”

And “I would venture to say it is one of the most evil places I’ve run into, from a culture perspective and in its business approach”, states the ex-empoyee.

“I’ve tried my best to make sure that friends don’t let friends work at Zynga.”

‘Zynga’s games look cretinous’

“At a time when traditional ‘console’ videogames — the kind bought in a store and played on a computer or entertainment system such as a Sony PlayStation — aspire to be classified as works of art, it might seem odd that such confections as FarmVille enjoy widespread attention and financial success”, says the story, going on:

“In 2007, for example, publisher 2K Games released a spellbinding console game, Bioshock, in which players make difficult ethical decisions in an underwater city-state founded on the libertarian ideals of Ayn Rand.

“Next to such immersing products, Zynga’s games look cretinous.”

They look cretinous by any standard.

Gameplay in FarmVille, FishVille, or Café World is based almost exclusively on what social-game designers call a ‘compulsion loop’,” says the San Francisco Weekly, continuing >>>

Players perform basic tasks — clicking on crops to harvest them, clicking on stoves in restaurants, clicking on fish to feed them — earn fake money, enhance their farm or restaurant or aquarium, and repeat. In Zynga’s hands, the art of snaring users with such gimmickry has become, quite literally, a science: Pincus told Time magazine last year that Zynga employs a behavioral psychologist.

As players advance, they are often given chances to act as unpaid advertising agents. The games repeatedly prompt users to post messages about their progress on Facebook, where friends are deluged with unwanted gifts or requests for neighborly “help.” Oddly enough, these “social” games have no real social aspects beyond asking friends for virtual goods or spamming them with images of fish and eggplants.

But, like Fa$ebook and Gargle, it’s here to stay, cretinous or not.

‘Zynga does not give a rats a**’

Last year, “I’m getting all kinds of  Fa$ebook and Twitter messages to join various peoples’ Mafia families”, I said, going on:

“For me, there’s nothing amusing about the Mafia and there’s no way I’d join anything which bases itself on a deeply evil gang which depends for its existence on extortion and terror.”

And Zynga does not give a rats a** after injecting a spyware cookie into the game,’ says i_hate_zyng’s Reddit post, suggesting:

“ ‘Upvote and let the others know how a company can screw up your security for personal monetary gains’!”

And, “Hi, My Name Is Mike And I Was A FishVille Addict,” I quoted TechCrunch’s Mike as saying, going on >>>

Social gaming addiction is a real problem. It may be a somewhat funny problem, but it’s still a problem. And it’s no wonder that kids without access to credit cards are taking all these sketchy offers to get game currency. They’re hooked.

“Arrington is a very wealthy lawyer who’s old enough to look after himself”, I noted, adding:

“But what about the kids?”

Stay tuned.

Jon Newton - p2pnet

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pretend to get drunk – Is Zynga’s YoVille OK for kids?, March 17, 2009
five-year ‘partnership’ – Facebook, Zynga, 5-year partnership, May 19, 2010
promotes it shamelessly – New York Times touts Zynga PR puff piece, June 9, 2010
VentureBeat - FarmVille, Mafia Wars maker Zynga is worth $3 billion, says trading site SharesPost, February 18, 2010
nasty – Dear Alex: Thanks for your post on YoVille, June 12, 2010
San Francisco Weekly – FarmVillains, September 8, 2010
deeply evil gang – Zynga Mafia Wars spyware, December 5, 2009
does not give a rats a** – Zynga cookies vs EU Telecoms Reform, December 7, 2009

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

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Apple, the largest distributor, “is bypassing millions of dollars in fees, as classification fees range from $470 to $2040 for computer games, costing the government revenue”, it says, going on:

“More than 220,000 applications are available in Australia for download. At a conservative estimate, one-third of them are games, suggesting compliance costs would be in the millions.”

The news comes amid “debate on internet and video game censorship” and the issue “will be raised at a separate meeting of state ministers overseeing classification in November”, although most attention will focus on minister of home affairs Brendan O’Connor’s expected announcement, if he and Labor are re-elected, “on whether the Australian National Classification Scheme should include an R 18+ classification for computer games”, says the story, continuing:

“It is a legal requirement that films, computer games and some publications be classified before sale, but a loophole, or lack of awareness, means apps are being sold for use on smartphones such as the Apple iPhone without any censorship or guidance for users and parents.”

Simon Goodrich, president of the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association, is quoted as saying “It’s one of a number of emerging issues that are coming out as the industry develops” and a “stricter compliance regime is likely to shake the mobile download market”.

Costs will “likely be passed on to developers who will either raise prices or opt out of distributing uncommercial games”, adds The Australian.

(Cheers, Filip)

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The Australian – Apps and games to face censor, says ALP, August 16, 2010

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In what the BCLC is trying to spin as a “data crossover“, the accounts of well over 100 punters were wide open to other players “who were also online at the time”, it admits.

But this isn’t the first mess that’s landed squarely on the BCLC’s doorstep.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) hit the crown corporation with a $670,000 fine for allegedly misfiling more than 1,000 reports of $10,000 transactions at its offline casinos.

Now “money laundering” and “terrorist financing” have been thrown into the equation.

“B.C.’s Liberals are suckling so greedily at the teats of their gambling cash cow that they’re helping criminals destroy our communities”, writes Ethan Baron in The Province.

A November FINTRAC report found 20% of “money laundering and terrorist financing cases uncovered in Canada in 2008-09 occurred in casinos”, says the story, going on >>>

All 112 cases involved money laundering, with five of them linked to “terrorist-activity financing and/or threats to the security of Canada,” the report says. Half of the cases involved laundering of drug-trade profits, and a fifth of them were conducted by organized criminals, including biker gangs, street gangs and “traditional” international criminal gangs.

“In nearly 70 per cent of casino cases, money launderers used cash from crime to buy chips, which, after ‘minimal play,’ they turned in for a casino cheque”, says The Province, adding:

“This results in providing an air of legitimacy as to the source of the funds,” the report says.

Meanwhile, BCLC vice-president Kevin Gass has tried to rotate the debacle as “good news”.

“Due to tremendous interest and traffic associated with the launch of casino games on PlayNow.com on July 15th, BCLC servers experienced load issues causing what is technically referred to as a ‘data crossover’,” said a BCLC puff piece.

Now, “It was tremendous customer response — that’s the good news” Gass told Jonathan Fowlie in the Vancouver Sun.

“There was tremendous traffic and that seemed to cause a technical problem … That should not have happened but it did.”

Stay tuned.

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data crossover – Giant BC government gaming screw-up, July 21, 2010
The Province – Lax BCLC reporting lets criminals flourish, July 21, 2010
Vancouver Sun – Five days late, the truth about a security breach emerges, July 21, 2010

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Answer: Unbelievable spin for an unbelievable BC government screw-up.

Years ago First Nations discovered casinos were a great way to make sure fools and their money were soon parted, and gambling joints started springing up on reserves in Canada and the US.

It didn’t take long for local administrations figure out there was money to be made and next up were online casinos, with the provincial government in British Columbia the latest to authorise an official gaming website.

In BC, however, all has not gone well.

A ‘crossover’ occurred. In other words, some online gamblers happily discovered they were plugged directly into the accounts of other online gamblers.

DON’T PANIC! panicked the BCLC, the Crown corporation which “offers socially responsible gambling entertainment while generating income that benefits all British Columbians” and which is in charge of the site.

On the site >>>

PlayNow.com is Currently Unavailable

We are experiencing technical difficulties and are working to correct the matter.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause you.

If you have not been contacted by BCLC, your account has not been impacted.

If you require more assistance, please contact Consumer Services at consumerservices@bclc.com or 1-866-815-0222.

Thank you for your patience.

Explains the BCLC in a huff’n'puff >>>

Due to tremendous interest and traffic associated with the launch of casino games on PlayNow.com on July 15th, BCLC servers experienced load issues causing what is technically referred to as a “data crossover”.

A data crossover occurs when one player logged into a website account is accidentally switched into another player’s account while they are playing. This situation applied to 134 of the thousands of PlayNow.com accounts logged in.

These 134 accounts could have been inadvertently accessed by any one of up to 105 players who were also online at the time. BCLC’s assessment concludes that 12 of these 134 accounts had a measure of sensitive personal information viewed by another player. All impacted players have been contacted.

Upon learning of this situation, BCLC took immediate action to shut down PlayNow.com, enabling a full assessment to occur. BCLC’s assessment, verified by third party security experts, shows no evidence of external interference or “hacking”.

BCLC treats this matter with utmost seriousness.

Stay tuned.

(Thanks, everyone on-and offline)

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July, 2010

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Players who want to post on WoW, Diablo and the upcoming Starcraft II forums will have to log in using Blizzard’s Real ID system, “which will display their real full names next to every post they make”, says the EFF’s Eva Galperin on Deep Links.

“These changes will not be retroactive, meaning that the thousands of existing posts on the online discussion forums will not be affected”, she says, also noting:

“Parental controls will allow parents to prevent minors who have signed up for Real ID on the game from posting to the forums, if they so choose.

“Why is Blizzard taking such an unprecedented step? Unpleasantness.”

Says a p2pnet Reader’s Write, “With the recent RealID crap, just look here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrN76L2177s

“Yes, you can! quit the World of Warcraft too!”

Stay tuned.

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Blizzard’s Real ID system – Will Blizzard forums become ghost towns?, July 9, 2010
Deep Links – New Blizzard Forum Policy Will Require Posters to Use Real Names, July 8, 2010

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“This is getting the kids used to it to make it seem normal”, suggested a p2pnet Reader’s Write.

Could that be?

True or not, also affected are Diablo and the upcoming Starcraft II, as Eva Galperin (right) points out on the EFF’s Deep Links, going on >>>

In the upcoming weeks and months, players who want to post to these boards will have to log in using Blizzard’s Real ID system, which will display their real full names next to every post they make. These changes will not be retroactive, meaning that the thousands of existing posts on the online discussion forums will not be affected. Parental controls will allow parents to prevent minors who have signed up for Real ID on the game from posting to the forums, if they so choose.

Why is Blizzard taking such an unprecedented step? Unpleasantness. “The forums have…earned a reputation as a place where flame wars, trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild,” writes Naethera, a Blizzard employee who will soon be posting under her own full name. “Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment [and] promote constructive conversations.”

Blizzard appears to have subscribed to the colorful Greater Internet F***wad Theory, which posits that perfectly normal people, when faced with an audience and total anonymity, can become flaming jerks. Internet forums from BoingBoing, Slashdot, Reddit, to newspaper websites, and Yahoo! Finance Message boards have used various techniques — from active moderation by humans to community rating tools and algorithms — to cope with the low signal-to-noise ratio that can result when large numbers of people communicate anonymously on the internet. Some methods have been more successful than others, but innovation in this realm continues to develop. None of these sites has gone so far as to try eliminating anonymity entirely.

Many forum posters do not share Blizzard’s certainty that the forums will be improved by the mandatory use of real names. They cite concerns about privacy and safety as compelling reasons not to link their real names to posts on a forum. Some forum posters feel betrayed, as if their community has been yanked out from under them.

To assume — as Blizzard seems to have assumed — that anonymity enables only “ugly speech” is the product of a failed imagination. Anonymous speech has always been an integral part of free speech because it enables individuals to speak up and speak out when they otherwise may find reason to hide or self-censor. Behind the veil of anonymity, individuals are more free to surface honest observations, unheard complaints, unpopular opinions — incidentally, all healthy contributions to an evolving gaming community.

Blizzard is completely within its legal rights to set rules, standards, and regulations for its forum, but only time will determine whether or not they are making the right choice.

But “Will flame wars substantially decrease as a result of enforced de-anonymization of posters?” – Galperin asks, adding:

“If Blizzard claims success, will other forums follow suit? Will the use of real names lead to the harassment of posters elsewhere online or in the real world? Will it chill speech? Will Blizzard’s forums become a ghost town as players migrate elsewhere to discuss their games? For now, the only way to find is out is keep watching as this experiment unfolds.”

Stay tuned.

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p2pnet – Anonymity dies on WoW, July 8, 2010
Deep Links – New Blizzard Forum Policy Will Require Posters to Use Real Names, July 8, 2010

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As the finals approach, tempers flare and all caution is thrown to the wind.

And vuvuzelas, the didgeridoo-like noise-makers which’ve seriously marred the matches throughout, have more than a little to do with it.

Ask Nels van Toor

The 44-year-old worker on a temporary contract “lost his job at Haarlem railway company Nedtrain for cutting a colleague’s vuvuzela in half”, Dutch News has the Haarlems Dagblad reporting.

“At one point someone was blowing on three of them at the same time”, van Toor told the paper, says the story, going on, “The further the Dutch progresses, the worse it gets.”

The climax came yesterday “when his workmates attached a vuvuzela to a compressed air pump”, states Dutch News, quoting van Toor as declaring:

“It is vuvuzela terror.”

When he sawed the offending instrument in two, he was “ordered to report to the boss and sacked on the spot”.

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didgeridoo-like noise-makers – FIFA, the vuvuzela and The Badger, June 16, 2010
Dutch News – Man sacked after breaking colleague’s vuvuzela: media, July 8, 2010

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Real ID, Blizzard’s new system, will force gamers to post under their real first and last names, says news.com.au.

People playing Starcraft II, slated for release on July 27, will be the first to be unmasked.

WoW has more than 11.5 million subscribers who pay monthly fees to play the game worldwide, says the story, going on >>>

Other games are to follow, in a move that is being seen as a strong sign that online anonymity is falling out of favour with many companies.

The upcoming change has upset many gamers who prize anonymity and don’t necessarily want their gamer personas associated with their real identities.

Blizzard “hopes that making people use their real names will cut down on nasty behavior in the forums and create a more positive environment”, saysthe story, adding, “Players will have the option — but not a requirement– to display the name of their main game character alongside their real name.”

Blizzard’s decision a “bit of a sad day” in the world of gaming,the story has Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, stating, adding:

“Part of the fun of the online gaming would was the sense that you could construct a character different form who you were in the real world.”

(Cheers, Filip)

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news.com.au – Starcraft II gamers forced to use real names in Blizzard forums, July 8, 2010

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