Sharing | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Thu, 15 Sep 2016 10:31:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Sharing | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 TorrentHound becomes third big site to shutdown in 2016 https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/torrenthound-becomes-third-big-site-to-shutdown-in-2016/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/torrenthound-becomes-third-big-site-to-shutdown-in-2016/#comments Thu, 15 Sep 2016 10:31:08 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=306184 2016 has not been a good year for torrent sites. On top of losing mainstream sharing traction to streaming sites and services, three of the top 10 torrent sites in the world have shut down. Following along with KickassTorrens and Torrentz, TorrentHound has now announced a sudden end to its operation. TorrentHound has been around …

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2016 has not been a good year for torrent sites. On top of losing mainstream sharing traction to streaming sites and services, three of the top 10 torrent sites in the world have shut down. Following along with KickassTorrens and Torrentz, TorrentHound has now announced a sudden end to its operation.

TorrentHound has been around since 2007, so was not only one of the largest, but one of the longest operating too. While it never quite reached the heady heights of those with mainstream crossover, like The Pirate Bay or KickAssTorrents, that's hardly a bad thing for an entity that is easier to run if you stay below radar.

That's not to say it stayed anonymous forever though. As TorrentFreak points out, TorrentHound, like many other torrent sites, was targeted with takedown attempts, blocks in various countries and numerous threats of legal action.

torrenthound

Source: Fossybites

In its announcement of closure, TorrentHound admins released a statement simply saying “finito.” Visiting the website now sees a tombstone of sorts, proclaiming “TorrentHound.com – ca. 2007 to 2016.” It also provides a list of what it describes as “not terrible places left for torrents,” linking users to The Pirate Bay, ExtraTorrent and a number of other alternatives.

It also links to this video, poking a little fun at its fanbase:

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqRPOEa3P44′]

There is no given reason for this shutdown, though the serious legal ramifications facing KickassTorrent's alleged founder after his arrest seems the most likely. It's all fun and games running a torrent site until there's a chance you could really go to jail for a long time.

While there seems to be no indication that TorrentHound was facing any immediate threat of legal action or criminal charges, you can understand it if the creators finally decided it wasn't worth the risk any more.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Have you guys found it any harder to find your favourite (legal) torrents with all of these sites shutting down?

 

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Dropbox patents peer to peer file-sharing system https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/dropbox-patents-peer-to-peer-file-sharing-system/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/dropbox-patents-peer-to-peer-file-sharing-system/#respond Mon, 04 Jan 2016 11:27:19 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=279483 File locker website Dropbox has patented a new type of sharing technology that would allow its users to use peer to peer networking to share their Dropbox files and folders with one another without sending them through the company's servers. Although ostensibly for backup purposes, this system could also make Dropbox much less legally liable …

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File locker website Dropbox has patented a new type of sharing technology that would allow its users to use peer to peer networking to share their Dropbox files and folders with one another without sending them through the company's servers. Although ostensibly for backup purposes, this system could also make Dropbox much less legally liable for any content shared that was copyright protected.

“Peer-to-peer distributed sharing of the content items in such an online content management system can eliminate bottlenecks, thereby increasing the speed at which the content items can be shared among the individuals,” Dropbox explained (via TorrentFreak).

It went on to detail how the system could allow for users to back up pictures, media and other files to multiple devices simultaneously, which cuts out multiple uploads and downloads to and from the individual pieces of hardware. It should be a faster service too, since various seeds can be used to send the files to the different systems, rather than just the one source.

dropbox

To prevent problems that arise from this system when multiple people are trying to edit the same file, each one will come complete with their own cryptographic key to prevent mismatches.

The most important part of this though isn't that Dropbox now has this technology, but that in acquiring the patent for it, it should be able to stop competitors using a similar system. It seems a little underhanded since Bittorrent Sync has offered something similar for some time already, but it will be interesting to see how other file locker services respond to this news.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Do you use a service like Dropbox? I'll throw a few files on Mega now and again myself. 

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Netflix may one day be run using WebTorrent technology https://www.kitguru.net/professional/development/jon-martindale/netflix-may-one-day-be-run-using-webtorrent-technology/ https://www.kitguru.net/professional/development/jon-martindale/netflix-may-one-day-be-run-using-webtorrent-technology/#comments Mon, 14 Dec 2015 12:06:45 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=278125 Netflix and other streaming services like it are crowning achievements of modern web standards and technology; able to stream pedabytes of data to consumers around the world, simultaneously and (mostly) without difficulty. However it faces the same problems as other large online entities, colossal web-traffic bills and the inerrant security issues of a centralised location. …

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Netflix and other streaming services like it are crowning achievements of modern web standards and technology; able to stream pedabytes of data to consumers around the world, simultaneously and (mostly) without difficulty. However it faces the same problems as other large online entities, colossal web-traffic bills and the inerrant security issues of a centralised location. WebTorrent could fix that.

WebTorrent is a technology being developed by Stanford University graduate Feross Aboukhadijeh and it works by utilising BitTorrent's dispersed computing model, with standard internet browsing. Instead of a central host delivering all of the files to every visitor, each visitor takes on a portion of the site and helps disperse it, thereby making a site faster and more robust against attack with every visitor.

“WebTorrent is the first torrent client built for the web,” Feross said in a chat with TorrentFreak. “It’s written completely in JavaScript – the language of the web – and uses WebRTC for true peer-to-peer transport. No browser plugin, extension, or installation is required”

webtorrent

This is a technology that could really help larger online entities, especially those that stream a lot of data – like Netflix. As it stands, peak hours can slow these services down, but with WebTorrent, larger numbers of users just means more uploaders, which should result in a faster service for everyone, as more and more people connect.

It could even be made more local, with those on the same ISP able to stream or share content with one another without it leaving the network, corralling and managing network traffic in a much more useful manner than it is currently.

And the technology already works. A quick visit to the WebTorrent homepage has a break down of how it can work with a live demonstration of video streaming via a peer-focused network. Netflix is also actively looking into the technology and has even advertised a job position with it named in the description. This is something it will be trialling in the future.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It will be interesting to see what copyright lobby groups think of website content being ‘shared' among streamers to aid proliferation.

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Snapchat daily video views reach six billion https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/snapchat-daily-video-views-reach-six-billion/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/snapchat-daily-video-views-reach-six-billion/#respond Mon, 09 Nov 2015 09:11:41 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=274585 Snapchat is one of the biggest social communication platforms of the past few years and is still growing at an unprecedented rate. As of right now, its users are sending videos that between them all are watched more than six billion times per day. While these numbers haven't been officially announced, if true, they put …

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Snapchat is one of the biggest social communication platforms of the past few years and is still growing at an unprecedented rate. As of right now, its users are sending videos that between them all are watched more than six billion times per day. While these numbers haven't been officially announced, if true, they put Snapchat very close behind social giant Facebook, which itself recently reported that it had around eight billion daily views of videos on its platform.

The Snapchat numbers are said by FT to come from sources that are “close to the company,” however Snapchat itself did confirm them when questioned (we're told) even though it made no official statement about them. These numbers are important for the app-based sharing platform as much as they are for competitors like Facebook, as video-based, web-advertising is going to be a huge growth market over the next few years according to many analysts.

The people saying that include Mark Zuckberg too,who along with stating Facebook's growth in daily video views – from four billion earlier this year, to eight billion today – believes it could be the social network's biggest revenue growth sector. With that in mind, it's no surprise that Facebook recently announced its own dedicated video site, designed to compete directly with the likes of industry giant Youtube.

snapchatteam
Snapchat recently took part in the female-centric #ILookLikeAnEngineer social trend. Source: Snapchat/Twitter

While that may have more of an entertainment focus though, Snapchat is doing a good job in cornering the social interaction video market, especially among smartphone users – of which 100 per cent of its audience are. In comparison, Facebook video views are split between mobile handsets and desktop/laptop users.

It is however worth bearing in mind that Snapchat videos are often the shortest and sometimes not even viewed fully. Facebook likewise counts a view as a video being watched for just three seconds. Youtube has moved away from such metrics in recent years, preferring to target longer form content and helping promote those that produce content that encourages viewers to watch more afterwards as well.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Are you part of the Snapchat generation? Or are you more old school and use something else to keep in touch with friends and family?

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Xbox One streaming to Windows 10 now live for everyone https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/console-desktop-pc/jon-martindale/xbox-one-streaming-to-windows-10-now-live-for-everyone/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/console-desktop-pc/jon-martindale/xbox-one-streaming-to-windows-10-now-live-for-everyone/#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2015 07:38:09 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=259721 One of the more interesting features Microsoft announced for Windows 10 earlier this year was the streaming of Xbox One games to the platform. While initially only available for a select few, the feature has now been rolled out to anyone using the preview build of the new OS on a desktop, laptop or tablet. …

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One of the more interesting features Microsoft announced for Windows 10 earlier this year was the streaming of Xbox One games to the platform. While initially only available for a select few, the feature has now been rolled out to anyone using the preview build of the new OS on a desktop, laptop or tablet.

To enable the feature, Xbox One users need to head into the settings-preferences menu, and tick the box that reads “Allow game streaming to other devices.” Whatever device is set to be used for streaming to, it will also need to have the latest version of the Xbox app installed on it. Once done, users simply select “Connect” and then Add a device, from the menu in the application.

From there you can play games to your heart's content without sitting in front of the console itself. For full tips have a look at Microsoft's blog post on the matter.

xboxoneapp

This streaming feature isn't the only update coming to the Windows 10 Xbox app though. Microsoft has also officially added party chat, a My Games feature which automatically searches out official Windows 10 store games, as well as older titles not purchased through there. That way you can play all of them through the Xbox app, and have the launchers all in one place.

Profiles and Xbox Avatars have also been integrated with the new OS too, giving players the ability to customise how they look to other gamers. They can even use the photo taking feature to use their Avatar's posing or facial expressions as a gamer pic.

And on top of all that, the Xbox sharing system has also been brought over, meaning that from within the streaming game on Windows 10, players can still record screenshots and footage of their actions through the Xbox One.

Windows 10 officially launches on the 29th July, starting with Windows Insiders and will then roll out to everyone else.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The ability to continue playing games even if someone else wants to use the main TV was one of the better features on the Wii U. Good to see the other consoles adding that feature too. 

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Grooveshark could be forced to pay $700 million + in damages https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/grooveshark-could-be-forced-to-pay-700-million-in-damages/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/grooveshark-could-be-forced-to-pay-700-million-in-damages/#comments Tue, 28 Apr 2015 11:08:28 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=246973 Streaming music service Grooveshark has its future in the hands of a single ruling this week, where a New York based judge will determine whether it needs to pay damages on some of the thousands of copyright protected tracks that have appeared illegitimately on its platform over the past few years. If the ruling goes …

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Streaming music service Grooveshark has its future in the hands of a single ruling this week, where a New York based judge will determine whether it needs to pay damages on some of the thousands of copyright protected tracks that have appeared illegitimately on its platform over the past few years. If the ruling goes against it, Grooveshark could be forced to pay out almost three quarters of a billion dollars to record labels.

Since Grooveshark allows for the uploading of music by its users, there is always the potential for copyright infringement, much like there is on copious other sites like Youtube and similar. While Grooveshark, like its competitors, does have takedown tools and a procedure for removal which it describes as stringent, detractors claim that songs and music removed are often added again almost immediately.

While the site has won a court case before, beating efforts by the Universal Music Group to stop it providing pre-1972 recordings of certain songs to users, the future doesn't look quite so bright this time around. It stands accused of staff members uploading over 150,000 copyright protected tracks in order to seed the platform's popularity.

grooveshark

Evidence to suggest this is true, includes an email from Grooveshark co-founder Josh Greenberg, which said to staff members: “Please share as much music as possible from outside the office, and leave your computers on whenever you can,” he said. “This initial content is what will help to get our network started—it’s very important that we all help out!”

While it may not be found guilty of all track uploads, TorrentFreak has it that in an early pre-hearing ruling, a judge suggested Grooveshark was liable for copyright violations on nearly 5,000 tracks (including 1,944 uploads), which would potentially mean a damages fine of $736 million.

Grooveshark lawyers will attempt to argue that it has been diligent in removing copyright infringing tracks and the fact that it previously approached many record labels in an attempt to license content legitimately.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: If this ruling goes through as expected, this could very well be the end of Grooveshark. Do any of you guys use the service currently?

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Rapidshare will close. No longer feels like sharing https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/online/brendan-morgan/rapidshare-will-close-no-longer-feels-like-sharing/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/online/brendan-morgan/rapidshare-will-close-no-longer-feels-like-sharing/#comments Tue, 10 Feb 2015 22:13:31 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=235018 Filesharing sites tend to have pretty short lives, with most popular sites being forced to call it a day after a few years at most. Rapidshare has been though its share of ups and downs, but it has been around for a long time now, since it was first founded in 2002 almost 13 years ago. Now …

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Filesharing sites tend to have pretty short lives, with most popular sites being forced to call it a day after a few years at most. Rapidshare has been though its share of ups and downs, but it has been around for a long time now, since it was first founded in 2002 almost 13 years ago. Now it's time as one of the top file hosting and sharing sites is coming to an end, with the Swiss company shutting down on the 31st of March, 2015

In 2009 it claimed to be hosting over 10 petabytes of files uploaded by users to its servers, while we don't know how much that has changed recently, this closure will definitely result in a lot of dead links to older content that the site hosted. Previously counted as one of the top 50 most used sites on the internet, Rapidshare has fallen a long way since then, now languishing at an Alexa rank of 5,006.
RapidshareHQ
It seems that the rise of several other large file sharing sites such as Megaupload and now Mega in the last few years have hit the company pretty hard. In February 2014 it gave 23 out of 24 employees a choice to quit or be fired and has been running for the last year with only one employee, who was there to answer phones and deal with any paid account issues.

It has also been at the center of several court cases over the years, with various copyright holders taking action against it. As recently as 2013 it also tried to reinvent itself as a business cloud storage services provider, but it seems that this has not given it the profit that it needs to survive.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: While it is sad to see a well-known site close up shop and delete petabytes of files, it seems that this has been coming for a long time. Have you used Rapidshare at all over the years or are you fond of another file sharing site?

Source: ArsTechnica
Photo source: Wikimedia – Schulerst

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Pirate Bay’s official raid response https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/pirate-bays-official-raid-response/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/pirate-bays-official-raid-response/#comments Tue, 16 Dec 2014 10:54:13 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=226576 The downing of the torrent search site The Pirate Bay last week, was a watershed moment in online file sharing. As with the takedowns of other infamous internet sites it spawned dismay from fans, was heralded as a breakthrough in copyright protection by the lobby groups and became an opportunity for scam artists to try …

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The downing of the torrent search site The Pirate Bay last week, was a watershed moment in online file sharing. As with the takedowns of other infamous internet sites it spawned dismay from fans, was heralded as a breakthrough in copyright protection by the lobby groups and became an opportunity for scam artists to try and take advantage of the file sharing vacuum it created. However it's also led to innovation, like the fall of Napster that spawned its initial creation. Now though we have an official comment from the people behind the site on what's been going on and what their plans for the future are – in short, they're far from certain.

We were not that surprised by the raid. That is something that is a part of this game. We couldn't care less really,” Mr 10100100000 informed told TorrentFreak. However he did say that it had given the team behind the site a well earned break. While they aren't the original founders of TPB, the site has only been down for a few days here and there in its ten year+ operation.

phoenix
Metaphor. 

The indifference at the raid suggests nothing of value was lost, though it's clearly not as simple as plugging in a front-end server somewhere else. The admins seem to be taking the opportunity to see if TPB is really needed in today's landscape of file trading.

“Will we reboot? We don’t know yet. But if and when we do, it’ll be with a bang,” Mr 10100100000 said.

The “problem,” for lack of a better word with The Pirate Bay, is that while iconic, it is quite antiquated. The site itself, though effective, is simple and lacks many features that more updated and contemporary torrent sites have implemented.

In recent days however copies of TPB have appeared online, some scams, some not. While the admins of the real site urge people to be careful of those looking to rip them off, they said that the copycats were just a more independent version of the proxies that have served to get people around government pushed ISP blocks.

“Overall, we'd love to see a thousand Pirate Bays,” MR 1010010000000 said. “If [Pirate Bay’s] code wouldn’t be so s****y we would make it public for everyone to use, so that everyone could start their own bay.”

Whether The Pirate Bay every emerges phoenix like from the ashes or not, it's certainly had a big impact on how the internet and the world views sharing. The admins for now just want people to keep the spirit of Kopimi alive.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Would you guys like to see TPB make a triumphant return? Or is it time for another site to take up the mantle of world's most hated torrent site?

Image source: Guillaume Phoenix

 

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PopJam will work like Instagram, but for kids https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/apps-software/jon-martindale/popjam-will-work-like-instagram-but-for-kids/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/apps-software/jon-martindale/popjam-will-work-like-instagram-but-for-kids/#respond Tue, 08 Jul 2014 08:36:22 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=202071 Picture sharing is obviously a big thing these days, with more mobile apps to do it than you can shake a stick at, but never has one been designed specifically for children. That's what PopJam is and while with recent BBC presenter scandals fresh in our minds it might sound like a horror story waiting …

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Picture sharing is obviously a big thing these days, with more mobile apps to do it than you can shake a stick at, but never has one been designed specifically for children. That's what PopJam is and while with recent BBC presenter scandals fresh in our minds it might sound like a horror story waiting to happen, is it a good way to move kids away from more adult orientated services?

PopJam will allow children to share pictures with one another, but will also encourage creativity. Along with the ability to show their friends what their dumb dog just did, users will be shown informative cartoon images by professionals. As the Telegraph reports, Russian model Natalia Vodianova will teach the kids about philanthropy, while Decoded will show them the basics of programming and Jamie Oliver may even get in on the action to discuss the merits of healthy eating.

“Kids love to create, share and show-off,” said Michael Acton Smith, chief executive of developer Mind Candy, which is most well known for it virtual pet platform, Moshi Monsters. “We love the idea of empowering kids with digital tools and then seeing what they come up with.”

popjam

However, Mind Candy is taking safety of the children very seriously. It claims that children will be discouraged from sharing pictures of themselves, unless covered in digital stickers and that a team of moderators will keep an eye on what's being shared at all times.

With over 80 million users on Moshi Monsters too, Mind Candy will have no difficulty marketing its new venture. However the company said that for now at least, it has no plans of monetising the new service. However in the future it may introduce a premium subscription based system.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Do you guys think a service like this is asking for trouble? Or is it a good idea to encourage children to share images in their own space? 

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Facebook launches ‘Nearby Friends’ real time location sharing https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/matthew-wilson/facebook-launches-nearby-friends-real-time-location-sharing/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/matthew-wilson/facebook-launches-nearby-friends-real-time-location-sharing/#respond Fri, 18 Apr 2014 08:23:32 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=187992 Facebook has begun rolling out a new ‘Nearby Friends' feature that shares your real time location data with friends so that you can see how far away you are from each other. The feature is strictly opt-in but that probably won't stop the privacy concious becoming concerned. The feature is rolling out in the US …

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Facebook has begun rolling out a new ‘Nearby Friends' feature that shares your real time location data with friends so that you can see how far away you are from each other. The feature is strictly opt-in but that probably won't stop the privacy concious becoming concerned.

The feature is rolling out in the US first on both Android and IOS, Facebook is hoping this new feature will connect people in real life as well as online. Nearby Friends was built by the same team that built the Glancee location sharing app, Facebook acquired the developer back in 2012, which is led by Andrea Vaccari who told Tech Crunch that “the idea is to make it really easy to discover when someone is around you, and meet up and spend time together.”

nearby-friends-press-1

Nearby Friends is strictly opt-in, so you don't even have to worry about it unless you actually want it and its only available to those who are over 18. That said, so many people lie about their age on website accounts that there probably will be some under 18's using it. The app will only give your friends an approximation of where you are rather than your exact location so specific details won't show up unless you purposefully share that information with that person.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The feature seems quite unnecessary, surely if someone wanted to hang out with a friend or let them know where they were, then they would just tell them? What do you guys think? Is this feature useful or a step too far?

Source: Tech Crunch

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Steam users can now share games https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/steam-users-can-now-share-games/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/steam-users-can-now-share-games/#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2014 10:33:30 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=180033 Valve finally opened up Steam's family sharing feature to all users this weekend, gamers can now give up to five accounts access to their libraries on ten separate devices. However, it's not as simple as typing in a Steam username and giving them access, you will have to log on to each device you want …

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Valve finally opened up Steam's family sharing feature to all users this weekend, gamers can now give up to five accounts access to their libraries on ten separate devices. However, it's not as simple as typing in a Steam username and giving them access, you will have to log on to each device you want to authorise and then, when the next user logs in, they will have access to your library.

Not all games will have sharing enabled, any game with third party DRM such as Uplay or the now defunct Games for Windows Live service, will not work. You can't single out specific games to share either, entire libraries will be available across users and only one person can play a game at a time. That said, as the account holder you will always have access to your games, launching a game somebody else is already playing will kick them out. Steam achievements and save progress won't be affected as each allowed user will have their own save files and achievements tied to their accounts.

Steam Sharing

As far as DLC goes, as long as the person you're sharing games with doesn't own the base game already then they can access the DLC, otherwise they will have to buy it for their own account.

KitGuru Says: Valve posted a big FAQ answering all of the basic questions, so if there's anything that wasn't covered that you would like to know, you can check there. This sharing feature, while still limited, allows us PC gamers to finally share games again, something we've not been able to do for a long time. Are you guys going to start sharing games? Is there anything you would change about the way the new feature works?

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Dotcom’s Baboom will pay you for browsing the internet https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/dotcoms-baboom-will-pay-you-for-browsing-the-internet/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/dotcoms-baboom-will-pay-you-for-browsing-the-internet/#respond Thu, 27 Feb 2014 11:35:06 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=179520 Kim Dotcom's upcoming music streaming service, Baboom, if it takes off, will become a hot new competitor for the likes of Spotify, Youtube and other prominent music streamers. But beyond the musical side of things, Dotcom is also looking to release a tool that could help you earn money just by using the internet. It …

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Kim Dotcom's upcoming music streaming service, Baboom, if it takes off, will become a hot new competitor for the likes of Spotify, Youtube and other prominent music streamers. But beyond the musical side of things, Dotcom is also looking to release a tool that could help you earn money just by using the internet.

It sounds like one of those schemes that were far more common back in the day. The likes of Netbux or similar, offering you money for searches, and referral fees and all sorts of ponzi like ways to get you to use their service and make them money while bringing in a pittance for yourself. But Dotcom's system, termed the Megakey, is based around leveraging already existing advert space.

megakey
The Megakey was something Dotcom implemented years ago, but as an advert remover rather than a replacer

“Let's just assume you use iTunes, and you can download all the TV series and your movies from iTunes,” he said during an interview with Complex. “If Apple would now tell you— if you install this little tool and it takes thirty seconds, it does not really do anything on your computer, we value your privacy, everything that the software knows about you happens in the form an algorithm without us telling us who you are or any details about, it's just kind of what your surfing behaviour is in a very abstract kind of way so that we can tag it better, we would never have any detailed information about your surfing history of anything. If Apple would tell you [to] install this little snippet now on your computer and you can access all these movies and TV series for free, why would not you install that?”

It would work by replacing adverts on sites you visit, with Mega's own sponsored adverts and then giving you a share of the clicks and impressions generated by the scheme. Dotcom goes on to suggest that people will potentially forget that they have the software installed and suddenly find themselves with over $100 in Baboom credit a few months down the line. Dotcom even describes the system as a way of getting back at major sites that benefit from piracy without paying artists:

“The whole system where these ad dollars are funded from are actually from the big players, who already benefit from piracy in a big way. When we talk about changing ads, it’s primarily going to happen on large search engines, on the top ten Internet sites of the world, [who] all make a killing with the piracy that is going on on their sites and are not really paying the artist a fair share. So, morally, it’s also ideal. It’s kind of a tax on these big Internet players that are now making a lot of money with stuff that is infringing. ”

KitGuru Says: What do you guys think of this? I'm wary of anything that will stealthily record my actions on my computer, but then Dotcom is unlikely to be in league with any of the organisations that have been responsible for tracking us before, so would it be ok? As nice as Baboom credit would be, I don't think I'd be an early adopter of the Megakey. 

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US judge destroys future of mass Piracy lawsuits https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/us-judge-destroys-future-of-mass-piracy-lawsuits/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/us-judge-destroys-future-of-mass-piracy-lawsuits/#respond Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:10:42 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=175371 One of the most distasteful elements of the copyright lobbyist vs piracy conflict over the past few years, has been the former group targeting individual file sharers with enormous lawsuits that try to force them into bankruptcy by demanding huge payouts per movie uploaded/downloaded. These got even worse when companies used mass legal action to …

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One of the most distasteful elements of the copyright lobbyist vs piracy conflict over the past few years, has been the former group targeting individual file sharers with enormous lawsuits that try to force them into bankruptcy by demanding huge payouts per movie uploaded/downloaded. These got even worse when companies used mass legal action to target these individuals in huge groups, often using blackmail to try and get them to pay hundreds of pounds to have the problem go away. That's about to get a lot harder.

Thanks to the ruling of a single federal judge in Iowa, USA, copyright holders may now find it impossible to bring mass lawsuits to bear in piracy cases, as she effectively made it illegal to do so by ruling that since there was no way to prove the pirates shared files among one another, they deserved to be trialled separately. This makes any sort of legal action far more costly for copyright holders and lobbyists and therefore far less lucrative.

This is an instance of legislating behind the bench and while not always something that effectively comes into law, it can at the very least be used by defence lawyers in the future as a reason for throwing a case out or defending clients by citing previous judgements.

hurtlocker
The Hurt locker producers famously sued thousands of their fans

It was only possible in the past because the copyright groups claimed that pirates worked in collusion, downloading the same file and then uploading it to the same group. The judge ruled that since there was no way to prove that, there was no way to try them together.

Citing the case of one particular independent film being pirated, the judge showed that those that downloaded the movie one month, were very unlikely to have still been uploading it several months later when others downloaded, making the link between them tenuous, if not non-existent. But she went on to say that even if they shared the files on the same day, there was no guarantee they shared them with one another.

“Any ‘pieces’ of the work copied or uploaded by any individual Doe may have gone to any other Doe, but may instead have gone to any of the potentially thousands of others who participated in a given swarm and are not in this case,” the judge added (via TorrentFreak).

This is the second bit of positive news for file sharers in the past few days. Earlier this week a Dutch court ruled that the country's top ISPs should not be forced to block sites as it infringed on the rights of entrepreneurship.

KitGuru Says: This is great news, as it will make it much harder for copyright holders to bring massive lawsuits against what are essentially (ex) fans. 

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Xbox Live terms will ask users to share data with partners https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/xbox-live-terms-will-ask-users-to-share-data-with-partners/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/xbox-live-terms-will-ask-users-to-share-data-with-partners/#respond Tue, 29 Oct 2013 11:46:21 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=159650 Microsoft has announced its new terms of use policy forcing users to agree to let Microsoft share your personal data with the company's partners. Don't worry though, it's committed to keeping your account secure – when did that ever go wrong for a gaming company? Microsoft wants users to be responsible for account data in …

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Microsoft has announced its new terms of use policy forcing users to agree to let Microsoft share your personal data with the company's partners. Don't worry though, it's committed to keeping your account secure – when did that ever go wrong for a gaming company?

Microsoft wants users to be responsible for account data in the interest of account security, the new terms of use reads:

“Now asks all users to commit to keeping their contact information up to date. Protecting your account from unauthorised access and fraud is a top priority for us. It helps keep Xbox Live safer and more secure for everyone.”

Protecting yourself from unauthorised access is already a given; the next part of the terms of use covers the information Microsoft will share with partnering services such as Netflix:

“If you choose to link this account with your Xbox Live account, we confirm key data points across the accounts by sharing data such as your name, address, email address and date of birth with the partner.”

xboxlive

If you plan on using Netflix or any other service, Microsoft and the partnering company will check your information matches up. To sign up for one of these services your most likely going to be giving it the same personal information that you used to sign up for Xbox Live. For those who do worry about their information, Microsoft's privacy statement says you can opt out of data sharing although we don't know how long it will stay that way.

KitGuru Says: As long as it's just the same basic signing up information you would use for any service being shared and we don't start getting spam mail to sign up for services we don't want, this isn't much of a problem. For the data conscious- remember you can opt out of it,  just sit back and enjoy your Xbox. 

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Steam could let you lend games to your friends https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/steam-could-let-you-lend-games-to-your-friends/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/steam-could-let-you-lend-games-to-your-friends/#comments Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:50:45 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=139221 If you're one of the few out there that thinks the Xbox One is great, or you're one of the larger group that aren't fans, you have to admit, the ability to share and lend games with your Xbox “family” is a pretty cool feature. Fortunately, it seems Valve did so too and it looks …

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If you're one of the few out there that thinks the Xbox One is great, or you're one of the larger group that aren't fans, you have to admit, the ability to share and lend games with your Xbox “family” is a pretty cool feature. Fortunately, it seems Valve did so too and it looks likely that it will let Steam users do the same before long.

A short section of code was spotted in the latest Steam beta release discussing a “shared game library,” which looks to allow other Steam users to use your games, but only when you're not playing them and only one player per game. If you attempt to play a title that your friend is playing, you'll get a message saying that it's in use, but a message is sent to them letting them know you want to play and they should quit – because it is yours after all.

sharing
Sharing is caring guys

The three lines of code that have gotten people excited are:

  • “SteamUI_JoinDialog_SharedLicense_Title” “Shared game library”
  • “SteamUI_JoinDialog_SharedLicenseLocked_OwnerText” “Just so you know, your games are currently in use by %borrower%. Playing now will send %borrower% a notice that it's time to quit.”
  • “SteamUI_JoinDialog_SharedLicenseLocked_BorrowerText” “This shared game is currently unavailable. Please try again later or buy this game for your own library.”

This would be somewhat of an interesting turnaround for Valve, as it previously announced that it would not allow trading of games, in the wake of the the EU court case last year, that saw a judge declare all digital software downloads resellable, as long as the initial copy was destroyed. This isn't going quite as far as allowing the resale of titles, but it does open up people's libraries which would allow for some impressive demoing of a game to friends.

KitGuru Says: If this is indeed going to be implemented, I bet it makes better inroads into piracy than any DRM every invented.

[Cheers Kotaku]

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PS4 sharing can be turned off by developers https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/ps4-sharing-can-be-turned-off-by-developers/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/ps4-sharing-can-be-turned-off-by-developers/#respond Mon, 06 May 2013 19:00:36 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=133937 One of the biggest features showcased by Sony during its PS4 unveiling earlier this year, was the share button. It's on the controllers themselves and lets you instantly share footage of your gameplay with the world. This could be pre-recorded action, live let's-plays, or just a simple linkup with friends for hints. However it now …

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One of the biggest features showcased by Sony during its PS4 unveiling earlier this year, was the share button. It's on the controllers themselves and lets you instantly share footage of your gameplay with the world. This could be pre-recorded action, live let's-plays, or just a simple linkup with friends for hints. However it now turns out that developers will be able to opt out of the sharing mechanic, by disabling the button in their games.

This announcement came from the mouth of Sony Worldwide Studios head, Shuhei Yoshida while speaking with 4Gamer (via CVG). He said that the reason it would be an opt out system for developers, was so that certain sections of the game weren't out there for everyone to see. Of course this idea seems to gloss over the fact that people have been sharing gaming video for years now by ripping straight from the video stream. Stopping them sharing in the easier manner will just make them revert to the harder one.

share
Sony is hoping the new sharing features increase the sociable aspects of gaming

He also spoke about the reasoning behind implementing the sharing feature, saying that it came from his love of the game Dark Souls.

KitGuru Says: It makes sense to hand over developmental control of all facets of a console, giving the developer as many tools to work with as they can. However if anyone tries to block certain parts of a game from being shared, the internet will just take it as a challenge.

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Filesonic, Wupload disappear after fall from grace https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/filesonic-wupload-disappear-after-fall-from-grace/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/filesonic-wupload-disappear-after-fall-from-grace/#comments Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:06:17 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=106674 Two websites that were once among the top file locker websites in the world, have disappeared offline, marking the end of a steep downwards decline in user numbers and market influence. Filesonic and Wupload, two sister sites were at the top of their game in the earliest days of 2012, seeing a temporary increase in activity following …

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Two websites that were once among the top file locker websites in the world, have disappeared offline, marking the end of a steep downwards decline in user numbers and market influence.

Filesonic and Wupload, two sister sites were at the top of their game in the earliest days of 2012, seeing a temporary increase in activity following the seizure and closure of Megaupload.com, one of their rivals. However, soon after, and likely in response to Mega's takedown and the arrest of its owner, Kim Dotcom, Filesonic announced that it would no longer allow third party sharing and that it planned to shut down its reward scheme. Wupload similarly closed down its affiliate scheme in late 2011 and in April this year became a backup site, where only files that users had personally uploaded, could be downloaded from it.

This led to nose dives in traffic, as the alexa ranking histories of both site's show. While Alexa is hardly a gospel traffic tracking service, it does provide a rough idea of what happened.

File Lockers
Both sites took an obvious hit after they announced the cessation of sharing services

And now it looks like the final death knell has come, with both sites disappearing.

Some have pointed the finger at organisations like the MPAA and RIAA for scaring the owners of these sites into submission, while others have said with a centralised structure like those employed by file lockers, they were doomed from the start. Others still have been angered at the lack of contact from the owners of these sites. In one blog comment, a user suggested that ultimately, Filesonic and Wupload took their user's money and ran.

KitGuru Says: What do you guys think? Should Filesonic and Wupload at least let fans of the original services know what's going on? Or are they just legitimately protecting themselves from what would undoubtedly be further legal threads and action from copyright lobbyists?

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