May 5, 2008
Tattle-tale hackers seek to copyright malware
IT World Canada
Sharky writes about hackers who seek permission before malware is distributed.
“Symantec researchers say they’ve stumbled across a ‘licence agreement’ written in Russian that says anyone who distributes a piece of malware without the hacker’s permission will be penalized – by telling companies like Symantec! ‘We know they can’t actually enforce it, and they probably wouldn’t try,’ a Symantec guy said. ‘What’s funny is they put more effort into their EULA (end-user license agreement) than traditional software companies might.’”
Obscene iTunes profit margins finally win Hollywood’s heart
Valleywag
Jackson West reports on Steve Jobs’ latest movie downloads success.
“Steve Jobs has finally wooed all the major studios, including Fox, Warner Bros., Sony, Paramount and Universal, to sell movie downloads on the day DVDs are released. As Defamer points out: Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes cited a 60%-70% profit margin during a VOD trial for Warner Bros. films on cable – more than twice the return on Time Warner DVD rentals.”
Grand Theft Auto IV delivers deft satire of street life
Wired
Clive Thompson tests out Rockstar Games’ latest Grand Theft Auto veideo game release, installment IV, and sees what the hype is all about.
“The attention to street-culture detail (in Grand Theft Auto IV) is obsessive, practically Sistine. Each street corner is a piece of randomly generated theater: Primly dressed art students wander around with portfolio cases, homeless crack addicts mutter to themselves as they brush past hipster dudes toting Starbuckian sleeves of coffee. Like all the in-game voice acting, the ambient dialogue is both superbly acted and super weird.”
