Fed up with ICANN, Pirate Bay cofounder floats P2P DNS system

By Iljitsch van Beijnum

Peter Sunde of Pirate Bay fame has had it with ICANN. Now that the US government is ordering the Internet governance body to remove domain names of copyright infringers from the global DNS, Sunde has sounded a call to arms to create a new Domain Name System to help pirates remain masters of their domain. The new DNS would forego a centralized root—too attractive a target for meddling governments—and use peer-to-peer technology instead.

In recent years, the Pirate Bay has successfully applied this strategy by turning off its widely used BitTorrent tracker. With BitTorrent, users share files directly between them, without the need to store the file on a central server. Hence the term peer-to-peer. However, the coordination of who downloads what from whom was originally still a function performed by a central server. Eventually, the Pirate Bay started to see their tracker that coordinated millions of (mostly) illegal downloads every day as a liability. So they got rid of it, telling people to use a peer-to-peer system to coordinate the downloads, too. This of course rendered useless all old BitTorrent client applications that didn't support the new Dynamic Hash Tables (DHT) mechanism. But the need to download is a strong one, so people upgraded or moved to other trackers that are still in operation.

If executed successfully, the effort to create a peer-to-peer based DNS would be a boon for websites hosting content off-shore that is illegal in countries that have influence over ICANN—most notably, the US. This includes sites that may or may not be considered to facilitate illegal downloading, such as torrent search engines, but also sites that host illegal content themselves. And Wikileaks could conceivably find itself included in the crosshairs of the US government.

There are a number of obstacles standing in the way of P2P DNS. First of all, today Google has a huge array of enormous DNS servers to serve up all the *.google.* domains, while I have an aging Pentium 4 box running DNS and mail for just me. In a new system, people looking for Google may hit my server—as well as the other way around, of course. So I'll have to invest in a bigger server. With a peer-to-peer system, people also have to depend on the kindness of strangers: random people around the Net have to send people in your direction. This is hard to make secure, and it's much slower than the existing DNS.

But the biggest problem of all is the ownership of domain names. In a DHT, information is found through hashes of the desired object. With file sharing, this is a hash over the file to be shared. If two people want to share the same file, you actually want to find them both, and download pieces from both of them—that way, the download goes faster. But with the DNS, things work much better if a domain name only maps to a single destination. On a brainstorm page, some solutions are discussed. One idea is an Internet Relay Chat-like fix, where it's necessary to hold on to a domain name like holding on to a name and operator rights on the distributed chat network.

Today, ICANN and the TLDs decide who gets which domain. The Pirate Bay proposes to replace them with an algorithm, one that would reside in the P2P DNS software. The stakes are high: even a small fraction of the traffic of a popular site, or even just an interesting search term, can be worth a lot of money. It's hard to imagine that with such high stakes there wouldn't be any abuse of such an open system, or at the very least, widely diverging points of view of what's best.

There have been many—be it non-peer-to-peer—alternative/complimentary DNS hierarchies in the past, going back to 1995-1997 with AlterNIC. None of them ever gained mainstream acceptance, even though anyone can easily point their DNS settings towards the alternate nameservers without losing compatibility with the regular DNS.

'Watchmen' Video from Gelfbury

Freakin hilarious. These guys are talented. The videos just get funnier and funnier.

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Finale

Warcraft movie pushed aside - Report

The World of Warcraft franchise has been a hot-ticket item for news this week. On Monday Blizzard Entertainment nailed down a December release date for the game’s third expansion, Cataclysm. And yesterday the publisher announced that the World of Warcraft subscriber base has climbed to a new high of 12 million. Now, franchise fans are getting some not so great news.

According to a Deadline report, the film set in the Warcraft universe won’t be released any time soon. When confirmed director Sam Raimi dropped out of his directorial position on Spider-Man 4, many expected that would free up time for him to work on the Warcraft film. However, according to the report, that’s not the case, and the director is instead working on Disney’s Wizard of Oz reboot.

Announced at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo, the Warcraft project remains largely under wraps. Chief details known about the project include Raimi’s involvement and that Legendary Pictures, the production company behind The Dark Knight and the in-development Gears of War film, landed the project. Warner Bros. is slated to distribute.

The most recent mention of the flick came Raimi mouth in June. He said the film was moving forward, but its script still needed attention.

"We're still working on the story," Raimi said in June. "We have a 40-page document that needs a lot more work…we're finding the characters and through the characters we're finding the story…we're trying to create realistic characters that can live in the world of Warcraft, as though you were in the game itself."

In October 2009, Raimi revealed that Saving Private Ryan and The Patriot screenwriter Robert Rodat was on board with the project. The Internet Movie Database is listing the film as arriving in 2012, but no official date has been released by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, the companies distributing and producing the film.

Raimi is the director of the multibillion-dollar-grossing Spider-Man films and the horror cult classics Evil Dead and Army of Darkness. His most recent effort was the recent Drag Me to Hell, a horror thriller that won critical acclaim despite a PG-13 rating and so-so box-office returns. The Warcraft film will be produced by Atlas Entertainment's Charles "Chuck" Roven, Legendary Pictures' Thomas Tull, and Raimi producing partner Joshua Donen. Blizzard Entertainment's senior vice president of creative development Chris Metzen will coproduce.

HDCP 'master key' supposedly released, unlocks HDTV copy protection permanently

Just as the MPAA is preparing to offer movies to customers at home while they're still in theaters by limiting playback to DRM-protected digital outputs only, the HDCP protocol they rely on may have been cracked wide open. All devices that support HDCP, like Blu-ray players, set-top boxes and displays with HDMI inputs, have their own set of keys to encrypt and decrypt protected data and if keys for a particular device are compromised, they can be revoked by content released in the future which will then refuse to play. Now, posts have been floating around on Twitter about a supposed "master key" which renders that protection unusable since it allows anyone to create their own source and sink keys.

Who discovered this and by what technique isn't immediately clear, but as early as 2001 security researcher Niels Ferguson proposed that it could be easily revealed by knowing the keys of less than 50 different devices. Hardware HDCP rippers like the HDfury2 and DVIMAGIC have been around for a while and various AACS cracks easily allow rips of Blu-ray discs but if this information is what it claims to be, then the DRM genie could be permanently out of the bag allowing perfect high definition copies of anything as long as the current connector standards are around. While it's unlikely your average user would flash their capture device with a brand new key and get to copying uncompressed HD audio and video, keeping those early releases off of the torrents in bit perfect quality could go from difficult to impossible.

10 Movie Stars Who got Ripped for Their Role

In the movies, it’s not enough for an actor or actress to act tough. They have to look like they can take on murderous robots, deliver punishing haymakers, or jump across rooftops. But there are some effects that just can’t be faked with CGI.

All of the actors on this list spent time in the gym, pumping iron and counting their calories, in order to better portray characters who have to look like they’re at the very pinnacle of physical perfection.

Jake Gyllenhaal, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

In order to pull this off, he had to run, squat, and sweat for months in order to transform his build from lithe to beefy. According to trainer Simon Waterson, a former Royal Marine, Gyllenhaal was made to run on a horserace track wearing a 20 pound coat in order to mimic what it would be like running in the desert with armor on.

Credit: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time [Blu-ray]

Gerard Butler, 300 (2006)

It wasn’t just star Butler who seriously buffed up for this ultra-violent comic book adaptation – it was almost the entire cast. In order to build abs of steel, a specialized crossfit workout was invented that consisted of 300 daily reps of pain for eight to 10 weeks.

Credit: 300: The Complete Experience [Blu-ray]

Angela Basset, What’s Love Got To Do With It (1993)

How did Bassett get those sculpted biceps in her intense and athletic performance as Tina Turner? According to an interview in Essence Magazine, Basset lifted weights for two hours a day, six says a week.

Credit: What’s Love Got To Do With It [DVD]

Ryan Reynolds, Blade: Trinity (2004)

This funny guy made the transition to action star in this movie by adding 22-pounds of muscle and reducing his body fat to a slim 3%.

Credit: Blade Trinity [Unrated Version]

Robert DeNiro, Cape Fear (1991)

As the diabolical Max Cady, Robert DeNiro got himself tattooed with vegetable dyes, paid for dental work to make his teeth look damaged, and worked out constantly before and during the shoot, bring his body fat down to 3%.

Credit: Cape Fear [10th Anniversary Edition]

Linda Hamilton, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

The best part of Linda Hamilton’s follow-up performance as Sarah Connor is the story her body tells: in the movie Terminator, she was an ordinary woman. In the sequel, she can pump a shotgun with one hand. Months of judo, weight training, and a former Israeli commando trainer helped.

Credit: Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Skynet Edition [Blu-ray]

Ed Norton, American History X (1998)

How did Ed Norton go from scrawny geek to Neo-Nazi Hulk? A high-protein diet helped, but mainly, it was chest presses, pull-ups, and a whole lot of personal discipline.

Credit: American History X [Blu-ray]

Nic Cage, Ghost Rider (2007)

Nic Cage is a comic book fan, and he wanted to look lean and muscular like a comic book character. He worked out four or five hours a day in order to have the body of an avenging spirit who’s head is a skull on fire.

Credit: Ghost Rider [Blu-ray]

Kenneth Branagh, Mary Shelley'sFrankenstein (1994)

Being regarded by some as one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of his generation didn’t stop Branagh from wanting to take his shirt off and flex some Hollywood muscles for his underrated, and often unintentionally hilarious, turn as doomed genius Dr. Frankenstein.

Credit: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein [Blu-ray]

Tom Hardy, Bronson (2008)

You know Tom Hardy as the "Forger" in this summer’s hit Inception. You probably wouldn’t recognize him in Bronson playing Charles Bronson, a lifelong prisoner who specialized in bare-knuckle brawling. Hardy bulked up and trained with a US Marine who he used as a “walking gym,” according to an interview with AskMen.com.

Credit: Bronson [Blu-ray]

The Economics of Star Wars

Via: Personal Loans

9 Reasons The Expendables Was A Huge Disappointment

courtesy of premiere.com

1. The blood was computer generated. There should be refunds because of this. Class action lawsuits. A movie like this demands skin-crawlingly realistic jugular spurts of hot blood. While we’re on the topic – there could have been more jagged bone splinters tearing through flesh and the Foley artist could have gone the extra mile and come up with more than one sound for knuckles smashing skulls. The same wet, meaty thud got boring.

2. This wasn’t a serious action movie. The Expendables should have been the Unforgiven of 80’s action movies... a tough, brutal movie about killers in their twilight. It should have been meaner, grittier, and more violent than the originals that served as inspiration. Unfortunately, The Expendables didn’t really take itself seriously, and so why would audiences?

3. There are no women in the world of The Expendables, save for exactly one Madonna and one whore. Well, Mickey Rourke briefly shows up with a floozy in tow. But their romance is short-lived, because, man, the heart is the most dangerous kind of fragmentation grenade, dig? Our heroes spend most of their time getting tattooed, riding motorcycles, and sharing their inner-most feelings, like it’s a Machoholics Anonymous meeting.

4. The plastic surgery was unnerving. Seriously. Eyelids looked like they were sponsored by Samsonite and Maybelline. The movie could have been renamed The Real Houswives of the Apocalypse.

5. One “Jet Li” is short joke is one two many. He’s not a Chinese leprechaun. Actually, Jet Li is probably the most fit and naturally badass of all the featured meatballs.

6. The lead characters banter like The Golden Girls. These supposed death dealers didn’t bust each other’s balls as much as mischievously goose them.

7. There wasn’t enough Terry Crews. This guy puts the “awww, yeah,” in “awesome.” Crews’ character was bursting with berserker joy, and brought plenty of charisma and fearsomeness to an otherwise tidy table. Automatic shotgun? Check. Monogrammed straight razor? Check? At one point in the movie, Crews serves as a human mortar. He lights the movie up like his smile is full of napalm. But there’s not enough.

8. Is classic rock really the music of mercenaries? Heavy Metal, yeah. Ride of the Valkyries for old times sake? Radio silence? You’re on a mission to kill, not a tailgate party.

9. There is no blaze of glory. Our heroes don’t go out shooting. Hell, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid die with honor, and those two guys are pretty. How do The Expendables finish off their suicide mission to defeat a dictator? (INSERT SPOILER ALERT) By hanging out at the frat house, drinking beers and giggling like schoolgirls made out of concrete and ham. They might as well have ended the movie with this:

Chatroulette: The Last Exorcism

Netflix Streaming Gets A Nearly Billion Dollar Boost

Netflix streaming via your Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and iPad will get a big boost next month. The internet streaming movie service has struck a deal to bring movies like Iron Man 2 and Star Trek to your consoles.

As part of a $900 million USD deal, Netflix will be permitted to stream movies from film studios Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM. Netflix's deal is part of an arrangement with Epix, the premium cable TV channel launched by those three studios. Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM movies will be available for streaming to Netflix subscribers 90 days after they premiere on Epix.

The latest batch of Hollywood fueled fun will come to your consoles and other Netflix streaming-ready devices starting September 1, when Epix movies begin to roll out.

If you haven't already signed up for Netflix or have been to lazy to get those streaming discs for your PS3 or Wii, this might be a good time!

Netflix to stream Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM movies [AP/Google News]

Take a Break and Watch This: 'Thor' Comic-Con Trailer Leaked

Take a Break and Watch This: 'Sucker Punch' Teaser Trailer

Calvin and Hobbes: Inception

'Burn Notice' Prequel Movie Announced

courtesy of HollywoodReporter.com

A "Burn Notice" prequel movie announcement starring fan-favorite Bruce Campbell was big news at the USA series panel, which kicked things off on the television side at Comic-Con on Thursday in Ballroom 20.

The prequel will be an action-adventure story set before the start of "Burn Notice" that follows Sam on a mission in Latin America. USA and Fox TV Studios will partner on the production, with filming likely to take place in Latin America between "Burn Notice" Seasons 4 and 5.

Moderated by Chris Vance, who played the evil Gilroy on the sexy spy series, the panel, which included Campbell, series creator Matt Nix, exec producer Alfredo Barrios and multihyphenate Tim Matheson, might as well have been the Bruce Campbell show as he continued his streak from last year of paying audience members who complimented him.

On a serious note, Nix and Barrios shared that what the writers put in the script is often played out in the writers room first.

"We roleplay a fair amount in the room," Barrios shared. "And Matt's a master of accents [It was there that] Gilroy became a guy with a British accent."

"We can't really, can you darling?," Nix said in an English accent when discussing how one can or cannot tell when a Brit is gay, ribbing Vance a little in the process.

"If we can act it out in the room, then we can write it," Nix said.

This season, with the addition of series regular Coby Bell, there will be many "more episodes where Sam and Fiona are taking the lead [on the case]," Nix said.

Campbell jumped in, revealing a future dilemma Fiona (played by Gabrielle Anwar) would find herself this year.

"There is an episode where Fiona gets kidnapped," Campbell said. "Never kidnap Fiona. She's a little shit!"

'Mortal Kombat Rebirth' footage gets over here

courtesy of joystick.com



Just under eight minutes of something related to Mortal Kombat has been posted on YouTube. The video features Jax -- sans cybernetic arms -- grilling a mysterious perp in a police station. Through some (laborious) exposition, he describes new humanized (and gross) versions of Reptile and Baraka, along with Johnny Cage and a young, beardless Shang Tsung.

At first glance, one might assume it's footage from the new, possibly derailed Mortal Kombat movie. Another possibility, given the video's proximity to E3 and its introductory nature, is that this is a tease for the next Mortal Kombat game. Furthermore, the name of the newly created YouTube account is MortalKombatRebirth, which sounds like a perfectly suitable title for a new entry in the series. A third and altogether frightening possibility: This is all a prelude to a new movie / game tie-in.

We know Warner Bros. is interested in the franchise, so it's safe to assume something is on the horizon. We've contacted WBIE for more info. One way or another, it seems likely we'll hear more by next week.

Update: Latino Review claims that it's a test video directed by Kevin Tancharoen, and offers a near-complete list of the featured cast.

Update 2: Actress Jeri Ryan, seen in the short playing Sonya Blade, offered further comment about the project on Twitter. "It's not a game trailer," Ryan said. "Actually was made for the director to sell WB on his vision for a reimagined MK film." She said she had "No idea yet what WB's reaction to it was."

[Via Kotaku]

Mass Effect: The Movie is Really Happening

courtesy of kotaku

BioWare's epic sci-fi role playing game is on its way to a theater near you, with Legendary Pictures—the studio banking on the notion that video game movies will be a Big Deal—reportedly picking up the film rights.

According to The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision Blog, Legendary has set events in motion that may ultimately bring Commander Shepard and his merry Mass Effect co-stars to the silver screen. Screenwriter Mark Protosevich, whose credits include The Cell, I Am Legend and Thor, is "in talks" to adapt the game.

Mass Effect was optioned in 2008 by ex-Marvel producer Avi Arad. Legendary has plenty of other video game fare in the works, with World of Warcraft and Gears of War flicks trying to get off the ground.

Seems BioWare wasn't blowing smoke when it said Hollywood was "very interested" in the Mass Effect franchise. Whether Mass Effect will ultimately reach celluloid is up to the movie gods.

Your Mass Effect dream casting suggestions are welcome in the comments.

'Mass Effect' video game on way to movie screen (exclusive) [Heat Vision Blog]

Happy 'Twilight' Ending

The REAL Twilight Movie (or the way it should be)

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Akira Live-Action Movie Still in the Works!

courtesy of io9.com

Forget what you've previously heard: The live-action movie version of Akira is still happening and, if nothing else, it's probably going to have a great script.

Collider is reporting that the silence surrounding the movie has been the result of waiting for Children of Men and Iron Man screenwriters Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby to complete the script, and that the project is still considered a "high priority" with a potential 2011 release date if the script is approved. Here's hoping that rumored star Joseph Gordon-Levitt won't be too busy with GI Joe sequels.

'I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell' Trailer

This movie 'I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell' looks like it will be funny. The beginning of this video shows a clip from the movie and then they interview the guy who wrote the screenplay. He is just a regular 20 something year old guy who started writing a blog about himself and his friends going out, picking up girls, and getting drunk. (This is his best story if you're interested.) He ended up writing a book and now has made a movie about it. Wonder why none of us thought of doing that? Anyway, it looks like it's going to be a classic. *video below*

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