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Court rules hash analysis is a Fourth Amendment "search"

Ars Technica Front Page - Wed, 2008-10-29 12:46

A federal court has ruled that sophisticated hash value analysis of a hard drive counts as a "search" under the Fourth Amendment, but legal experts expect an appeal.

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Gaming performs better for Sony as it ekes out a profit

Ars Technica Front Page - Wed, 2008-10-29 12:09

The sprawling electronics and media giant gets hit by poor exchange rates and financial problems, but that didn't prevent a couple of its divisions from showing signs of life.

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Camcording in movie theater results in 21-month sentence

Ars Technica Front Page - Wed, 2008-10-29 11:17

A man who pleaded guilty to recording at least two movies in a theater with his camcorder has been sentenced to 21 months in prison—and may be linked to more than 100 other illegal films. The sentence comes as the movie industry lobbies for tougher laws, even though the current ones apparently are working just fine.

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RIAA defendant enlists Harvard Law prof, students

Ars Technica Front Page - Wed, 2008-10-29 10:43

Another file-sharing case is moving to trial, but the defendant has recently picked up some powerful allies: a Harvard Law prof and his class of students. Together, they argue that the entire underpinnings of the RIAA campaign are flawed and unconstitutional.

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Linkedin's new application platform takes your résumé social

Ars Technica Front Page - Wed, 2008-10-29 10:12

The days of bullet points, résumés, and cover letters have been replaced by collaborative file-sharing widgets and dynamic trip planners. LinkedIn would like to welcome you to your new, more social, professional résumé.

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Falling in and out of love with you: Ars reviews Fallout 3

Ars Technica Front Page - Wed, 2008-10-29 09:30

Fallout 3 suffers from morbidly high expectations, but after 50 hours we can say with some authority that both fans and first-timers will be very happy with what has been accomplished.

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Rockers refuse to throw the horns for white space broadband

Ars Technica Front Page - Wed, 2008-10-29 08:16

What do The Bangles and Rob Zombie have in common? They've signed a petition that opposes unlicensed white space devices. Meanwhile Dell and Google tell the FCC to vote yes on white space on November 4.

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Quantum key distribution meets the real world, fails

Ars Technica Front Page - Wed, 2008-10-29 07:43

Canadian researchers demonstrate that it's possible to successfully hack a commercial quantum key distribution system. The efficacy of the attack is a real threat to quantum key distribution.

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The Avatars have landed: exploring the New Xbox Experience

Ars Technica Front Page - Wed, 2008-10-29 07:13

The Xbox 360 will get an entirely new interface this November. Ars takes a detailed look at the "New Xbox Experience" and goes right to the source to get your questions about it answered.

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Ex-Kazaaer wants to turn pirates into paying customers

Ars Technica Front Page - Tue, 2008-10-28 21:17

Former KaZaA heavyweight Kevin Bermeister has allied with his former music-business enemy and plans to launch a new service that would present would-be pirates with legal alternatives when they attempt to download content. The software is ready for trial deployment, but no word yet on whether it can navigate the minefield of Big Content licensing.

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Studio makes Redbox an offer it can't refuse, Redbox sues

Ars Technica Front Page - Tue, 2008-10-28 20:10

Universal Studios is facing a lawsuit from DVD rental kiosk company Redbox over a predatory revenue sharing agreement. Universal has threatened to cut off Redbox's suppliers if the rental company refuses to stop selling used movies and give the film company 40 percent of its revenue.

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A decade of the DMCA: keep the Safe Harbor, ditch the rest

Ars Technica Front Page - Tue, 2008-10-28 19:05

Ten years after the passage of the DMCA, and the consequences of the law have become clear: safe harbor provisions have been good, anticircumvention provisions bad, and all of it leaves companies, consumers, and even presidential candidates victims of spurious abuse.

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LittleBigPlanet: great game with religion and server issues

Ars Technica Front Page - Tue, 2008-10-28 18:00

LittleBigPlanet has been delayed for a week and has only now seen release, but don't let that scare you away: this is an already-amazing game that will only get better with time.

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Understanding Windows Live Essentials in Windows 7

Ars Technica Front Page - Tue, 2008-10-28 15:35

In Windows 7, many previously bundled apps will be separate, as part of the Windows Live brand and Microsoft is positioning Windows Live as a key part of its Windows experience. Ars reports from PDC where Microsoft outlined what looks to be a compelling Windows Live strategy.

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Microsoft Office will float to the cloud with Office Web

Ars Technica Front Page - Tue, 2008-10-28 13:17

With the upcoming release of Office 14, Microsoft today announced Office Web, a suite of five core Office components that will float up into the clouds.

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MTV smacks YouTube, posts almost every music video ever

Ars Technica Front Page - Tue, 2008-10-28 12:28

Wasn't it YouTube that wanted to host "every music video ever created" back in 2006? Unfortunately that hasn't happened, and now the Viacom-owned MTV has swooped in to post more than 16,000 music videos to its site with more being uploaded every day. Ouch.

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Online giants unveil new code of conduct for Net censorship

Ars Technica Front Page - Tue, 2008-10-28 11:21

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others have finally unveiled a new code of conduct governing how they should conduct business with totalitarian regimes.

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Zimbra targets .edu with new hosted collaboration suite

Ars Technica Front Page - Tue, 2008-10-28 10:34

Zimbra has a base of 30,000 customers employing its e-mail and collaboration software for over 20 million users. A new hosted option that runs on Yahoo's new data centers and targeted, at least initially, at the education market should only help to expand that base.

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First look at Windows 7's User Interface

Ars Technica Front Page - Tue, 2008-10-28 09:59

Microsoft has given us a first glimpse as Windows 7. The taskbar has changed significantly, and there are a number of other changes we have screenshots of.

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Google settles with book publishers, becomes bookseller

Ars Technica Front Page - Tue, 2008-10-28 09:47

Google announces a $125 million deal that settles a lawsuit with publishers that had sued it over its book search. Not only does it put the search feature in the clear, but it may see Google become a major retailer of out-of-print books.

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