3 Count: Pirate Par-tay!

Jonathan BaileyAugust 31, 2009

2 minutes read

Got any suggestions for the 3 Count. Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Media Cos.’ Best Customers: Those Who Steal Their Content

Recently, Vuze, the makers of a popular Bittorrent app, hired Frank N. Magid Associates, a marketing research firm, to find out how its users habits compare to those on the general Web.

The results were interesting. The report found that Vuze users spent an average of 34% more on movie visits and DVD purchases and spent 24% more on movie rentals. Vuze users were also more likely to own HDTVs, HD movie players and next-generation video game consoles.

Though I’m not sure saying that your own users “steal content” is a good marketing strategy, the results of the study are interesting.

2: The Pirate Party is Coming to Canada

Next up, The Pirate Party is more than halfway through the process to become an officially recognized party in Canada. This follows on the heels of similar parties in Europe, New Zealand and Australia. The Swedish Pirate Party, the original, recently won 7% in the EU Parliament election and secured a seat in the body. Other Pirate Parties have had much more limited success.

Running on a platform of copyright, patent and privacy reform, The party needs only 250 signatures to be able to accept donations and run on ballots, something that seems to be very likely.

3: A spirited defense of the Google Book Search settlement

Finally today, we have some more support for Google in its Google Book Search product, which has digitized millions of books already. Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay offered a defense of the project and of the settlement, which pays the publishers and authors for in-copyright books but out-of-print books that are scanned and included, as well as splitting ad revenue with them.

Lindsay points out that two oft he most vocal opponents, Yahoo! and Microsoft, both began their own book scanning projects but pulled out of the field. He also says that only Google has the ability and the will to take on this particular project and that the scanning of books is for the common good in the US.

The project, along with its settlement, faces stiff challenges both from authors, many of which are opposed to the deal, and other companies, who claim antitrust violations.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.