Pirate Bay ban lifted in Netherlands as blocking torrent sites ruled ‘ineffective’
A Dutch court of appeal has overturned a court-ordered block of the infamous Pirate Bay torrent site by internet service providers (ISPs), labelling the practice as “ineffective”.
The block prevented internet users in the Netherlands from accessing the Pirate Bay site directly via a browser.
Two Dutch internet providers, Ziggo and XS4All, took the case to the court of appeals in The Hague. The court reversed the blocking order allowing internet users access to the Pirate Bay without having to resort to the use of proxy servers and other methods circumventing the blockade.
“Victory for the free internet!” proclaimed Niels Huijbregts, spokesman for XS4All in a blog post. “We are very pleased that the court ruled in favour of the freedom of information, protecting a fundamental right of all Dutch citizens.”
Yahoo's shares slide 5% as fourth-quarter revenue declines
Yahoo reported $1.26bn revenue, a 6% decrease from 2012
Dip comes after announcement of drop in display advertising
Yahoo became the latest tech firm to disappoint Wall Street on Tuesday when its share price fell after announcing a drop in display advertising.
The company’s shares fell 5% in after-hours trading as it released its latest quarterly results and a forecast for the coming quarter that fell below analysts’ expectations.
Yahoo reported revenue of $1.26bn for the fourth quarter of 2013, a 6% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2012. Display advertising revenue was $553m for the fourth quarter of 2013, a 6% decrease compared with $591m for the fourth quarter of 2012. Profits rose to $348.2m up from $272.3m a year earlier. Yahoo said it expected current-quarter net income of between $130m-$170m, well below forecasts.
Nintendo denies plans for Mario games on smartphones
Executives take large pay cuts as profits sink and Wii U misses sales targets by 69%
Nintendo has denied reports that it will release “mini-games” for smartphones and tablets as its profits fell 30% since April last year.
Instead, top Nintendo executives’ salaries will be cut for five months starting in February as they take responsibility for the poor performance. The compnay's president, Satoru Iwata, will take a 50% pay cut, while the legendary game designer and the father of Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto, took a 30% cut.
Eve Online virtual war 'costs $300,000' in damage
A missed bill payment has led to the destruction of an estimated $300,000-worth (£181,000) of virtual spaceships in the game Eve Online.
Eve Online's more than 500,000 members can buy spaceships using an in-game currency sold for real-world money.
More than 100 Titan ships were destroyed in a battle after one member of a team missed a payment to protect an area of the online world.
It was the biggest battle of its kind in the game's 10-year history.
Facebook 'rant' on school holiday costs sparks campaign
With about 250 friends on Facebook, Paul Cookson did not expect a "rant" he posted to have much impact.
He wrote that he was "sick to death" of being "ripped off" by companies which put up holiday prices outside school term time.
A few friends agreed, and followed his request to "share this post if you have also had enough".
It soon went viral, and more than 143,000 people have shared it so far.
Supporters also began signing an online petition calling for government action and this has now gone far beyond the 100,000 signatures needed for a possible debate in Parliament.
Angry Birds website hacked after NSA-GCHQ leaks
Video game developer Rovio has confirmed that hackers defaced its Angry Birds site with an image entitled Spying Birds, featuring an NSA logo.
The attack followed the publication of leaks that indicated the US spy agency and its British counterpart GCHQ had obtained data released by at least one of the Finnish firm's games.
The company said it did not "collaborate or collude" with any government spy agency.
It added it had quickly fixed its site.
"The defacement was caught in minutes and corrected immediately," said marketing manager Saara Bergstrom.
"The end user data was in no risk at any point. Due to how the internet name resolution works, for most areas it was not visible at all, but some areas take time for the correct information to be updated.
Washington Post, CNN and Time websites hit by pro-Assad hackers
Websites belonging to the Washington Post, CNN, and Time magazine have been attacked by supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Some links on the sites redirected readers to the website of the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA).
The breach was the result of a security failure at a firm which provides a link recommendation service that all three sites used.
Outbrain said its staff had fallen victim to a spoof email.
The SEA has hit several media companies in recent months, most frequently by hijacking their social media accounts
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