Just now, Glenn said:

Oh and just wait until VPNs are made illegal (and before you say 'never' , remember this is the same government that's trying to ban strong E2E crypto) because it stops the snooping on you ..... no, I mean terrorists .... no child ... hang on, what's the current reason for wanting to ban what is essentially maths?

 

this is turning into a technology thread  But that is fairly scare mongering with VPN.  The numbers of home users running VPN's will be fairly insignificant.  The numbers of businesses running VPN as a necessity to connect offices and to clients is immense.  They might make stupid off the cuff comments about it but that will just show up their complete lack of understanding of the technology.

Online VPN "Services" could be targeted however.

Just now, Glenn said:

I'm not entirely sure of the legality of receiving a stream myself. I know the Kodi sellers used to tout an EU rule designed to protect journalists from prosecution for viewing something on a website that is publicly accessible. Quite how this works when it's a non-journalist for obvious reasons of infringing copyright, I don't know.

I am also aware of the lack of prosecutions for downloading/streaming (rather than broadcasting / selling).

However, I can see where this is heading. The government is already expecting ISPs to provide logs of traffic on request. Getting away with it at the moment is trivial, but one day, in the not too  distant future, there will be a massive crackdown on people streaming dodgy content because the rights holders have power and influence over the government 

 

I still believe it will take too much time and effort to go after any individual downloading or streaming.  As you say, there is a distinct lack of prosecutions, more scare mongering than anything else.  They have always tended to go after those seeking to earn money from activities like sellers.

Behind the scenes though, they have managed to bring in new technologies that can interrupt or take down streams based on algorithms.  I can only see that technology getting better and easier to target.  So I think illegal streaming will just get harder to do.  Whether they can stop that over VPN, is yet to be seen.

Just now, den said:

I'm not an expert in any of this, I'm just forwarding links to a few developments. Biddy, Glen et al know more than me.

According to reports, under the Digital Economy Act "Anyone caught streaming TV shows, films and sports events illegally using websites, torrents and Kodi add-ons could technically face a decade behind bars."

So now it is a criminal offence no matter what device you use it on.  My only bug bear is the focusing on Kodi when in truth it is streaming on any device.

Just to add, I haven't technically got a problem with that legislation where a legal alternative is available in the territory.  It's hardly fair however when, for example the EFL deal is not legally available to us in the UK.  Therefore we have to break the law to be able to watch something anyone else in the world can.

It really pisses me off the poor reporting over "kodi" being illegal and people using it will face jail.  No, people selling media streamers with Kodi installed with plugins pre-loaded are illegal.  The same streams can be found and played on PC's, tablets, phones etc.  Should we now start saying they are all illegal too and streaming on them will send you to jail?

The Scorpio is just evolution from the XBONE, just like the PS4 Pro is still just a more powerful PS4 under the hood.  Makes a lot of sense to me.  I certainly won't be upgrading from my PS4 or XBONE S but I guess they all have a place in the market.

I've just watched it on the train into London and quite liked it. No wonder it's now stretched to a barmy 5 hours though. It takes them that long to walk down the ridiculously long ramp to the ring. Plus add on the extra 5 minutes it took Goldberg to actually get to the ring.

The Orton/Wyatt match was poor I agree. Wyatt was all over Orton suddenly RKO and he's down. Poor, poor.

Went to watch Logan on Thursday night. Excellent film,  very story driven which is a great. It was probably about 15 minutes too long for me but overall I enjoyed the whole film.

2 hours ago, Mike E said:

La La Land has been roundly criticised for having a white guy being the 'jazz traditionalist', when traditional jazz is 'black music'.

You just know that of it was a black actor instead of Ryan Gosling, it'd be 'lazy casting based on racial stereotype' though.

Either way, it's still a shite film which is way over-hyped.

La La Land - most over-hyped crap since The Blair Witch Project.

I just wish I had time to play my massive back log of steam games I've got. GTA V still has hardly been touched. I'll wait until Doom is on a Steam sale for £5

Watched Eddie the eagle last night,wasn't expecting much but an easy watch and some parts I found quite funny

Is it essentially Cool Runnings on skis? Just curious, not a bad thing if so as I love Cool Runnings.

George RR Martin must despair at what they've turned his life's work into.

he despairs, rolling in all that cash.

I had no idea, great find EIT.

I'd say Matt Smith is possibly the most famous lad to come from Blackburn/Darwen simply because of the world wide showing of Dr Who, the shows massive in the states and puts his profile probably higher than anyone else, rivaled possibly by Ian Mcshane who starred in Dallas in the mid 80's and has gone on to have a very good career. Sadly every time I've heard Ian interviewed he claims to be from Manchester, well Ian you went to Bangor Street school thats not in Manchester!

Matt Smith was born and raised in Northampton I believe. His only connection to Blackburn was his grandad or something who live in Darwen and supported Rovers.

Not sure how this list has been compiled on IMDB but some names I didn't know on there

http://www.imdb.com/search/name?birth_place=Blackburn,%20Lancashire,%20England,%20UK

Surprised Russell Harty is below people I've never heard of.

I can't believe no one is talking about this amazing masterpiece in the making http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/wwe/news/a785478/surfs-up-2-announced-and-itll-have-a-wrestlemania-twist/

I watched Pixels the other night with VERY low expectations as I thought the adverts looked rubbish and the reviews have been terrible. Got to say, it wasn't THAT bad. Not great but it passed the time.

The end was utter tosh! (but the rest of the film was awesome). Go and see the tanks (the Tiger and the "hero" Sherman) at Bovington tank museum.

Watched Robot Overlords last night which is a strange British Sci-Fi film. It was OK, nothing special. Sir Ben Kingsley dialling it in for no real reason I can fathom and Gillian Anderson looking as hot as ever. Wouldn't watch it again.

Also finally watched Age of Ultron which I found far more enjoyable than the reviews were making out. Granted I just enjoy this genre so I was probably always going to enjoy it.

Finally finished Interstellar tonight - Meh. And I thought I'd completed the top 50 of the IMDB list but no, people have voted Inside Out up there and I haven't see that yet.

Also watched American Sniper and thought it was much better than I thought it would be.

Praise be.

Just managed to download Episodes IV to VI WITHOUT Lucas's annoying add ons. Exactly the way they were released

If anyone wants the details inbox me.

This is the version you need http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Harmys-STAR-WARS-Despecialized-Edition-HD-V25-MKV-IS-OUT-NOW/topic/12713/

Tried watching Interstellar last night but my "copy" failed with 30 minutes to go. Can't say it's over exciting so far and what is it with the crap A.I. robots? I think the original Marvin from the BBC Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was almost on a par!

I really enjoyed The Family too.

Watched Chappie the other day and quite liked that also. I'm going through a bad streak of actually enjoying films!

I'll get Batman when its £5 on a Steam sale. This is assuming is ever gets re-released for the PC!

http://www.carthrottle.com/post/hammond-and-may-to-reject-4m-bbc-deal-in-favour-of-joining-clarkson-at-netflix/

:tu:

I would that too. What an absolute waste of BBC license payers money that would have been. And they wonder why so many people want to stop paying! Yes, I am a miserable fart. Loved Top Gear about 5 series ago. Now its just the same s#!t every week.

The bit you don't see is the cyclist gets up, brushes himself off and walks home. The car driver goes home to phone his insurance company to repair the big dent in the back of the car and is faced with a £200 excess bill.

you are both as bad as each other but surprisingly neither of you appear to be able to see that, hence the continued argument.