Speakers in the News »

11/23/05
BRAM COHEN

Bram Cohen

The Motion Picture Association of America hopes that yesterday's groundbreaking agreement with a popular file-sharing program will help stem the flow of pirated movies on the Internet. Quoted in an Associated Press story, BitTorrent founder and 2005 SXSW Interactive Festival feature speaker Bram Cohen comments: "BitTorrent Inc. discourages the use of its technology for distributing films without a license to do so As such, we are pleased to work with the film industry to remove unauthorized content from bittorrent.com's search engine." According to this AP report, yesterday's announcement also marks another step in BitTorrent's continued rise to mainstream legitimacy, "The agreement means bittorrent.com will comply with procedures outlined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Cohen's site will not prevent links to illegal files from being posted. But after a studio complains about the file, BitTorrent will notify the offending computer owner and remove the link from its search engine. The agreement represents the latest effort by the entertainment industry to discourage illegal Internet downloads. It also demonstrates Cohen's sensitivity toward Hollywood's piracy problems, making him potentially more attractive to studios for future deals related to movie downloads."

09:12am CST | +

11/22/05
PONZI INDHARASOPHANG

Think that you have got relationship problems? Then consider the woes of Ponzi Indharasophang (pictured above) and Chris Pirillo who have taken the details of their current spat into the blogosphere. Writes Ponzi: "Chris stinks, I don't just mean that literally - although I do mean it literally at times. He is the only person on the planet that can go to Maui stay in a 4.5 star resort have his whole trip planned from beginning to end for him and still complain- nonstop. It's day five and I need to vent. Since I'm completely alone on the island with the complainer I've decided to share with my fellow bloggers anyone else who may decide to drop by my little space on the 'net. Here's a taste of what I've heard while I've been here." Responds Chris: "Since Ponzi took off the gloves, I should likely sit back and let her roll over me without offering a bit of personal perspective on the situation. Being stupid, I'm actually going to claim that I have every right to my personal feelings and expressions. This, in any kind of relationship, is a bold move by the male." Is this a real fight -- or is it all just one big, frightening publicity stunt? Can they work out their troubles in the court of online opinion? Hear more from this couple, who are both scheduled to lend their insights to the "Bloggers in Love: Intimacy, Technology and Mask-Making" panel at the 2006 SXSW Interactive Festival.

10:09am CST | +

11/21/05
ZE FRANK

Web designer / performance artist / humorist / Internet rabble rouser Ze Frank is the genius behind Frog Review, a site where two talking frogs evaluate the usability of popular websites. The target for November is Ticketmaster, which the amphibious pair lambast for its poor allocation of information. Frank spoke on the "Blogging Without Borders" panel at the 2005 SXSW Interactive Festival.