60 Year Old Swedish Man Gets Sentenced To 'Conditional' Two Years In Jail For File Sharing

While yesterday we wrote about how a Swedish court acquitted a 15-year-old for file sharing some movies, today a court gave a 60-year-old man two years of conditional jail time along with a pretty large fine. The "conditional" jailtime appears to be like a form of probation, where if he meets certain criteria, he might never spend time in actual jail, but it's still quite a sentence.

As Rick Falkvinge notes in the link above, even if this guy never sets foot in jail, the Swedish court has now established a ridiculous precedent for what file sharing can get you in terms of jailtime. Copyright issues like this should, at most, be a civil issue, rather than a criminal one, and it seems like a very dangerous move by Swedish law enforcement to start trying to sentence people to jail over something done so widely. When the punishment does not match at all with the real "harm" of the crime, people respect the law even less. I'm sure the supporters of such a move think that this will help with "education." There's almost no evidence to support that. Ridiculously punitive punishment does not do anything to stop infringement.

Instead, it seems likely that a ridiculous ruling like this merely helps undermine the respect that citizens give to copyright law.

Earlier today we compared a discussion on whether or not the punishment fit the crime for copyright infringement in France. Falkvinge provides a similar set of info for Sweden. This guy was sentenced to two years and a big fine. What other verdicts have come out recently in Sweden?

• Severe negligent homicide, six months.
• Rape, one year and four months.
• Sexual abuse of a child, ten months.
• Armed robbery with a firearm, one year and nine months.
• Homicide by strangling, six months.
• Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, ten months.

When you make the punishment way out of line with the crime, you're not doing yourselves any favors. You just make people respect the law even less...

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Microsoft?s Windows 8 wins in HP?s surrender of webOS but will users support Windows tablets?

Reprinted, in part, from my post on Google+. (Lots of comments over there). HP announced today that it is withdrawing the TouchPad from the market, which calls into question the future of webOS. First, so far Dieter Bohn has the best article on how HP failed that I’ve seen so far. The photo I put [...]

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CNBC: Facebook to launch music service on September 22

The headline's about all we know at the moment, but CNBC is now confidently reporting that Facebook is set to launch a music service of some sort on September 22nd, which conveniently lines up with the company's F8 developer conference. Could that service also include a dash of Spotify? Maybe some Vibes? We'll be there to find out.

[Thanks, Adam]

CNBC: Facebook to launch music service on September 22 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Openwave sues Apple and RIM for patent infringement

Add one more to the tally of patent lawsuits involving Apple and RIM. This time it's Openwave Systems using the license-by-litigation technique, and it's alleging that multiple devices infringe five of its patents on mobile internet -- including offline email access, cloud computing, and secure server access. The company claims that Apple's iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4, the iPod Touch, both iPads, plus RIM's Blackberry Curve 9930 and the PlayBook all infringe its IP. Apparently, Openwave initially took the pacifist route to persuade Cupertino and Waterloo to pay up, but when its overtures were ignored, it decided upon more aggressive tactics. As others before it, Openwave wants to fight a two front war in the ITC and federal court, but we'll have to wait and see if the ITC elects to take up the cause. Armchair attorneys can get a gander at all the juicy details at the source below.

Openwave sues Apple and RIM for patent infringement originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PayNearMe Expands Their Payment Infrastructure For More ?Unbanked? Payments [News]

PayNearMe is a pretty revolutionary service that has been around for some time, and they are expanding their payment services a little further, now offering the ability to pay with cash for online purchases, money transfers and even utility bills. For people who are unable to get a credit card and do not have a bank account this opens up a whole new way to be able to safely shop online.

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Windows 8 App Store images leaked?

Windows 8 images continue to leak onto the Internet, despite Microsoft's wallpaper-based pleas to those with access to the early releases. Today's installment courtesy CNBeta shows the upcoming Windows App Store, which will likely feature prominently in Windows 8.

We've got our doubts about the authenticity of the image. In addition to showing several of the built-in games which already ship with Windows, Opera is listed -- and a competing browser seems like an odd inclusion this early on. Of course, with the browser ballot still in place in the EU for quite some time, Microsoft would probably need to include rivals like Opera and Firefox to stay out of trouble. We're also not sure why Clickgamer is shown beneath Angry Birds instead of Rovio -- the game's actual publisher.

It's still early, of course, so it's entirely possible that the Windows App Store image is genuine but merely using placeholder images and text for now. Anyone else thinking Windows Marketplace might be a more logical name? You know, to keep things consistent with Windows Phone and keep Apple's legal eagles at bay.

Windows 8 App Store images leaked? originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rising biomass demand could drive land grabs

Report calls for more public scrutiny into global biomass expansion plans, saying some of the world's poorest countries could see their livelihoods and food security undermined.

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Blood Biomarker Is Linked with Death

Those with higher levels of a particular molecule were found to be more likely to die of heart disease or cancer in the next dozen years.

Older people who had higher than normal levels of a molecule that helps regulate inflammation in their blood were more likely to die within the next 12 years, according to a study of nearly 2,000 people in Sweden.

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Shanda Reports Second Quarter 2011 Unaudited Results

SHANGHAI, Aug. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited (NasdaqGS: SNDA), or Shanda, a leading interactive entertainment media company in China, today announced its unaudited consolidated financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011.
Second...

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?Respect Explorer?s Heritage?

When photos started circulating yesterday of the new interface for Windows Explorer in Windows 8, I was sure they were a joke. Surely, this was an Onion mock-up. Or maybe they were from some Apple fan making fun of Microsoft's design aesthetic in which more is quite often... more. I mean, there's no way that this is something Microsoft could actually release ? let alone in 2012, right? Wrong. As Windows chief�Steven Sinofsky and Windows management team member Alex Simons�detail in length on the Building Windows 8 blog, these screenshots are very real. And not only that, the entire Windows team has clearly done exhaustive research and put extensive time into this feature. That's exactly why they're crowing on their blog. The entire post screams: "look how much homework we did!"

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Microsoft loses ground in mobile as Google Android continues to soar (John Cook/GeekWire)

John Cook / GeekWire:
Microsoft loses ground in mobile as Google Android continues to soar  —  The latest comScore report on mobile market share doesn't paint a very good picture for Microsoft.  The software company, which is touting its new Windows Phone 7 operating system, actually saw its share …

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Social Contacts App Twezr Shuts Down, Company Pivots To Photo-Sharing (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Social Contacts App Twezr Shuts Down, Company Pivots To Photo-Sharing  —  So long, Twezr, it's been fun.  The mobile social contacts application Twezr is being shut down after having a fairly well-received launch back in November 2010.  The app, for those unaware, was based on a great idea: it was a social address book.

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Apple pushes new OS X, iCloud, iPhoto builds to developers

Apple has dropped new builds in the mix to developers for OS X, including Lion 10.7.2, and new updates for iCloud and iPhoto. These are of course developer only builds that are designed for testing and usage before they had out to the public at large. The Lion build asks developers to look at the apps AirPort, AppKit, GraphicsDrivers, iCal, iChat, Mac App Store, Mail, Spotlight, and Time Machine, so that's where most of the updates will come from.

All of those builds are available to developers right now through the developer hub site.

Apple pushes new OS X, iCloud, iPhoto builds to developers originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Office Lessons from Africa

Highly efficient use of technology from Lagos to Nairobi reveals a less-is-more aesthetic.

Africa contains some of the poorest parts of the world. But that only makes some of the continent's e-commerce accomplishments all the more impressive—and worth studying by business owners everywhere.

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How many group messaging apps do we need? Samsung: one more

Samsung, the South Korean electronics giant unveiled ChatON today, a multi-media group messaging app that will debut in October on its own Bada OS and will also appear on other platforms such as iOS, Android and BlackBerry. It will compete in a very crowded market.

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iTunes Match goes live for iOS developers

Enrolled in the iOS developer program and interested in iTunes Match? Better point that browser towards Apple's dev portal, as Cupertino's just flipped the switch for its upcoming music laundering service. There you'll find iTunes 10.5 beta 6.1 with iTunes Match which'll let you sign up for a yearly $24.99 fee. Hopping on the bandwagon early has extra rewards too -- early birds get three months (on top of their yearly sub) for free. A tipster also provided us with a screencap (after the break) of his iPod touch running the current iOS beta, which now magically has a toggle for the service under the Music section of the Settings app. Taking the plunge? Let us know how you fare in the comments.

[Thanks, Matt]

Continue reading iTunes Match goes live for iOS developers

iTunes Match goes live for iOS developers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Adobe Unveils PDF Creation App for iOS

Today, MacStories has discovered that Adobe released a new iOS app called "CreatePDF". "CreatePDF" is a $9.99 universal app allowing users to easily create PDFs on their iPhones or iPads.

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When you were young: The future is better with a smart phone [infographic]

We were sitting around the podcast studio recently talking about phones (of course), and we started reminiscing of a simpler time. Or was it? Things we use our Windows Phones for today, seem so business as usual. But looking back to how we used to get these same things done before, sometimes seems pretty ridiculous! We took a quick moment to knock out this little snapshot looking at 1991 vs. 2011. What would you add?

(Click on the infographic below to learn more.)

Via Column Five for Windows Phone

Like infographics? So do we.

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HTC Droid Incredible Official Android 2.3 Gingerbread Update Leaks

The final Gingerbread build for the Verizon's HTC Droid Incredible has leaked online. The download link and the change log can be found in the post.

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Crackers Over the Keyboard Day Shortbread

Eight is Enough

1. I can't believe it: The Razer Blade might not just be the future
   of PC gaming—it may be the future of PCs - Kotaku
2. JPR: The overall CG market will exceed $100 billion in 2014
3. Engadget HD's HDHomeRun Prime CableCard tuner hands-on
4. New York Post on $99 tablets: Price is right
5. Engadget's exclusive: HTC Holiday for AT&T in
   the wild— 4G LTE, 1.2GHz, 4.5" qHD display
6. Eurogamer interviews Valve's Gabe Newell
7. Joystiq's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive preview: Ready, set
8. Armchair General previews Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad

Read more...

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Irene takes out some East Coast cellphone service (AP)

AP - Wireless networks fell quiet Sunday in some coastal areas of North Carolina and southern Virginia, but calls were going through in most areas affected by Tropical Storm Irene, the Federal Communications Commission said.

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Samsung Unveils The ChatON Messenger

Samsung recently launched the new ChatOn messaging service. It allows you to communicate instantly with any mobile phone and share text, pictures, calendar, contacts and videos instantly with your friends.

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Apple vs. Samsung: next round today

Oz Federal Court readies blue, red corners

The next round of Apple vs. Samsung in Australia is due to take place this morning (August 29), Sydney time, with a directions hearing before Justice Bennett of the Federal Court of Australia at 9.15am.?

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Exclusive: HTC Holiday for AT&T in the wild -- 4G LTE, 1.2GHz, 4.5-inch qHD display

Looks like AT&T's fall lineup will include at least one slab of irresistible. The so-called HTC Holiday is indeed real, and it'll soon be gracing Ma Bell's airwaves -- and not just the HSPA+ ones, either. We've confirmed that the Holiday will be amongst the first handsets to launch in AT&T's LTE markets, bringing with it a rather gargantuan frame, a 4.5-inch qHD touchpanel, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of memory, an 8 megapixel rear camera (with flash), 1.3 megapixel front-facing shooter, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0 and a foursome of capacitive touch buttons below the panel. Software wise, it'll ship with Android 2.3.4 and HTC Sense 3.0, and while we haven't been able to nail it down with 100 percent certainty, there's a better-than-average chance it'll go by "Waikiki" upon launch -- if "Holiday" doesn't work out, that is. We'll be bringing you more as it arrives; for now, cut loose in the gallery below!

Gallery: HTC Holiday for AT&T in the wild (screenshots and photos)

Exclusive: HTC Holiday for AT&T in the wild -- 4G LTE, 1.2GHz, 4.5-inch qHD display originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Steve Jobs biography updated to included resignation details

The official Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson is reportedly being updated to include details on Steve's resignation. According to Simon & Schuster, the update will not affect publication deadlines, and the book is still scheduled to hit shelves on November 21.

A Simon & Schuster spokeswoman told PCMag that Isaacson speaks with Jobs regularly, and the two are currently collaborating on the final chapter. This will be the first authorized biography of Jobs to be published. Its title and release date have changed several times. Most recently, the release was moved from March 6, 2012 to the current November 21.

Pre-orders have begun on Amazon. I've placed mine.

Steve Jobs biography updated to included resignation details originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A PEEK OFF-CAMPUS Tropical diseases infect powerless

By Jingyun Fan

NEWS EDITOR

Every year, 13 diseases that affect a fifth of the world?s population are responsible for the loss of 56.6 million disability-adjusted life years and 534,000 deaths. But because these diseases only afflict the world?s most impoverished and powerless people, the international community has forgotten about them.

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Skype 5.3 for Windows released, improves mobile video call quality

Version 5.3 of Skype for Windows has just been released, with the main emphasis of the new release being improved call quality, and the quality of video received by mobile Skype users. Presumably one party of the video call must be using Skype for Windows 5.3, though.

Beyond improved call quality, not much has changed. You can now see your friends' presence icons when contact cards are collapsed, and the topic editing button is now always visible on the conversation header. For a complete list of changes, hit up the Skype Garage blog.

Download Skype 5.3 for Windows

Skype 5.3 for Windows released, improves mobile video call quality originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AMD finally manages to snare a CEO: Lenovo man Read

Here's your crown, sceptre, orb ... chalice

AMD has announced that its new CEO will be Rory P Read, who was most recently president and COO at Lenovo Group.?

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Google Latitude check-in deals now available across the US

Recently, Google has been busy beefing up Latitude to make it more competitive with other location apps -- and more fun to use. Location history was added recently, iOS users can post check-ins via Latitude, and now Google has begun rolling out location-based deals which are tied to the service.

If you're in the U.S., you can now score local savings at participating merchants by checking in with Latitude. Google will also be offering "status deals," which users can unlock by visiting a particular merchant on a regular basis. Mashable notes three status levels: regular, VIP, and guru -- though partners can apparently customize those titles if they choose.

Right now deals are available from merchants like American Eagle Outfitters, Arby's, Finish Line, Macy's, Quiznos, and RadioShack.

Google Latitude check-in deals now available across the US originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 08:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cool Websites and Tools [August 27th 2011]

Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. Most of the listed websites are FREE or come with a decent free account option. If you want to have similar cool websites round-ups delivered to your email daily email subscribe here....

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Stack Overflow DevDays is Back!

Stack Overflow DevDays, the universe's best conference series for coders, is back, and it's bigger than ever!

Here's the idea behind DevDays. You're a developer. You'd love to learn all the latest hot new technologies. Things like DVCS, HTML 5, Node.js, CSS3, Hadoop, etc. The stuff the cool kids are all talking about on the playground while you're stuck in the basement somewhere grinding away on Java Enterprise Visual Basic.

The idea behind DevDays is a fast, high-bandwidth, fire hose tutorial on at least ten interesting concepts. We'll assume that you're a developer, you know what a loop is, but each tutorial starts at the ground level and gives you a whirlwind tour through a technology by showing you actual code. Every presenter launches an editor and writes code from scratch and shows you what it does. There are almost no prepared PowerPoint slides with ten bullet items each containing 10 words explaining the ROI benefits of some new technology. There are not even any PowerPoint slides with cats and pandas doing hilarious things, such as this one:

Yes, DevDays contains precisely NO funny pictures of cats. We might have Jon Skeet with a sock puppet, though:

(That was Jon Skeet and Tony the Pony from London DevDays 2009.)

What we have instead is some great presenters from the community who will write code and compile code and explain it all while you watch, and you'll come away knowing enough about each new technology to know what it's good for, what it's not so good at, how to do the basics, and how to learn more. Bottom line: it's the best possible way to spend two days and learn as much as you would learn in two years of reading Twitter.

We have FOUR, yes FOUR different DevDays conferences coming up this fall. Each one is its own production, and they're all going to be spectacular. If you came to DevDays last time, prepare to get blown away. This time everything is DOUBLE. Two days instead of one. Better food and coffee. Better locations. Bigger screens to make it easier to follow along. Lots of social activities. And, for the first time ever, we'll be visiting one city in Australia (shown at right), for an antipodean increase of infinity percent.

Anyway, registration is now open. The schedule is:

• October 12-13 San Francisco
• October 25-26 Sydney
• November 14-15 London
• December 15-16 Washington, DC

There are two! special! bonuses! you should know about before you choose a city:

1. In San Francisco, the day after the conference (October 14), Server Fault is holding a one-day High Scalability conference. You may want to go to both for a full three days of amazing amazingness... if you think your heart can handle the excitement.
2. In Washington, the day before the conference (December 14), we're have a big open source hackathon. The entire Stack Exchange dev team will be on hand and it'll be a lot of fun.

So, go, sign up now. You can save $100 using discount code JOELONSOFTWARE.

Need to hire a really great programmer? Want a job that doesn't drive you crazy? Visit the Joel on Software Job Board: Great software jobs, great people.

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Apple is working on a television for 2012, sources say (Dylan Tweney/VentureBeat)

Dylan Tweney / VentureBeat:
Apple is working on a television for 2012, sources say  —  Apple is almost certainly working on a digital television based on its iOS operating system, according to multiple sources in Silicon Valley.  —  An Apple-based television makes sense in light of Apple's continued expansion …

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