In this video from the Associated Press, stars of the new J. J. Abrams film, “Star Trek Into Darkness” discuss the film and the experience of making it at its gala premiere in London. Fans of the British TV series “Sherlock” will be excited to see this interview with…
Watch “Rectify” premiere tonight
The producers of “Breaking Bad” bring you a new series on Sundance Channel. Watch a preview below … Read More
Watch “Rectify” premiere this Monday
The producers of “Breaking Bad” bring you a new series on Sundance Channel. Watch a preview below … Read More
“Mad Men” returns on Sunday
The award-winning series “Mad Men” returns this Sunday. Watch the season premiere on AMC and check out a quick preview here:Continue Reading… … Read More
Game of Thrones Pirates Break BitTorrent Swarm Record
As expected, the new season premiere of Game of Thrones has generated quite a bit of activity on various BitTorrent sites.
Hundreds and thousands of downloaders went out to grab a copy of the show, breaking the record for the largest BitTorrent swarm ever in the process.
A few hours after the first torrent of the show was uploaded the OpenBitTorrent tracker reported that 163,088 people where sharing one single torrent. 110,303 were sharing a complete copy of that particular torrent while 52,786 were still downloading.
These are mind boggling numbers that we’ve never seen before.
Previously the record for the largest BitTorrent swarm belonged to the season premiere of the TV-show “Heroes” with 144,663 peers.
Counting all the different releases it’s estimated that the latest Game of Thrones episode has been downloaded over a million times already. Considering the above there is little doubt that Game of Thrones will once again be crowned the most downloaded TV-show of the year.
So who are these people, and why are they pirating Game of Thrones?
One of the reasons cited for the popularity among pirates is the international delay in airing. Outside the U.S. fans of the show sometimes have to wait a while before they can see the latest episode. HBO is trying to close these release gaps as best it can, but for some fans a few hours is already too much.
Delays are just part of the problem though. The fact that the show is only available to those who pay for an HBO subscription doesn’t help either. This explains why many people from the U.S. prefer to use BitTorrent.
To get an indication of where these Game of Thrones fans can be found we took a closer look at their download locations.
The U.S. comes out on top, followed by the UK and Australia. The number three spot for Australia is impressive and with a population of just over 22 million people it has the highest piracy rate. Looking at other cities we see that most downloads come from London, before Paris and Sydney.
But according to HBO, piracy isn’t killing the show, quite the contrary.
While HBO would prefer it if everyone paid for Game of Thrones, their programming president Michael Lombardo doesn’t fear piracy. He sees it as a compliment and doesn’t believe it negatively impacts DVD-sales.
It’s a win-win apparently.
Spring 2013
#
Country
%
City
%
torrentfreak.com
1
United States
12.9%
London
4.3%
2
United Kingdom
11.5%
Paris
3.2%
3
Australia
9.9%
Sydney
3.0%
4
Canada
7.4%
Melbourne
3.0%
5
France
4.4%
Amsterdam
2.2%
6
The Netherlands
4.2%
Athens
1.8%
7
Spain
3.2%
Stockholm
1.6%
8
Sweden
3.0%
Madrid
1.6%
9
Philippines
2.6%
Perth
1.5%
10
Norway
2.5%
Singapore
1.3%
Source: Game of Thrones Pirates Break BitTorrent Swarm Record
Aurora cinema shooting: Judge approves ‘truth serum’ interrogation
James Holmes, 25, a former neuroscience PHD student, is accusedof killing 12 people and injuring 70 others during a shootingrampage during a ‘Batman’ movie premiere at a cinema in Aurora,Colorado, last July.Holmes faces a total of 166 different counts relating to theshootings.His defense lawyers have indicated that he may plead not guiltyby reason of insanity, and is expected to enter a plea on Tuesday.If he does enter an insanity plea, the judge has ruled that he mayhave to undergo an interview under the influence of drugs –dubbed a‘truth serum’ – in order to evaluate his mental state.The process is designed to lower a patient’s inhibition, and isdecades old. Judge William Blair Sylvester has also ruled that hemay be given a lie detector test.After Holmes has entered his plea, prosecutors will be given 60days to announce whether they will seek the death sentence. If theydo seek the death penalty following a not guilty by reasons ofinsanity plea, then legal complications are likely to develop, asthe defense will have to submit incriminating evidence to proveHolmes’s insanity.This evidence may then be later used against him by theprosecution, which under US law would breach his constitutionalright not to incriminate himself.“Was he suffering from a mental disease or defect thatrendered him incapable from distinguishing right from wrong? If thedefense had to prove that, that would be one thing, but here inColorado the prosecution has to disprove it. To prove sanity beyonda reasonable doubt with James Holmes could be tough,” CraigSilverman, deputy district attorney for Denver, told Sky News.Colorado is unusual in putting the burden of proof on theprosecution when a plea of insanity has been entered.Silverman added that he was expecting the case to be beset bydelays: “Delay is the natural ally of any death penaltydefendant. The longer the case drags out the longer the client isassured to stay alive.”The case is one of the worst in US history in terms of thenumber of people killed. Like similar mass shootings that haveoccurred in America in recent years, it has prompted a debate aboutUS gun laws. Politicians in Colorado have introduced newrestrictions on gun ownership, while national efforts at guncontrol appear to have stalled.On Monday, a package put together by Colorado Democrats wentthrough the state senate. They include a limit on thekind of high-capacity magazine Holmes is accused of using in theshooting, expanded background checks, and a new ban on owning a gunfor people facing charges of domestic violence.While the measures have not yet been enacted, the house is underDemocratic control and will likely approve the proposals. … Read More
Steven Spielberg to head Cannes jury this year
PARIS (AP) — France’s Cannes Film Festival says it has finally snagged Steven Spielberg to serve as president of the award jury.Gilles Jacob, the festival’s president, recounted how he had been trying to get the award-winning director to head the jury for years – but the American was always working. Finally, this year, Spielberg got in touch.”When this year I was told `E.T., phone home,’ I understood and immediately replied: `At last!’” Jacob said in a statement posted on the festival’s website Thursday.Spielberg, who was nominated but didn’t win the directing Oscar for his biopic “Lincoln” this week, takes the reins from Italian Nanni Moretti. The 66th Cannes festival takes place in the glamorous French Mediterranean resort from May 15 to 26.Spielberg’s presence will likely give more of an American flavor this year to the Cannes festival, a mélange of intellectual international cinema and Hollywood glamour. Jury presidents in the festival’s seven-decade history have included such figures as Tennessee Williams, Ingrid Bergman, Roman Polanski and Francis Ford Coppola.Spielberg has had several films show at Cannes, and “E.T.” had its world premiere there in 1982. His first film, “Sugarland Express,” won best screenplay at Cannes in 1974.Continue Reading… … Read More
