The Richardson Media Report

Consumer Watchdog, a privacy advocacy group, is running a 15-second spot on a 540-square foot digital display in Times Square to promote a longer video the group made highlighting what it perceives to be Google's intrusions on privacy. Both the 15-second spot and the longer video feature a ghoulish caricature of Eric Schmidt driving an ice cream truck, offering "free ice cream" to children.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 3:42 pm

Facebook has reportedly shut off access to its friend search feature for subscribers to Apple's newly introduced Ping social music service. The social networking apparently giant did this by denying Ping access to its application programming interfaces, AllThingsD reported.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 2:17 pm

For a growing number of businesses, maintaining fail-safe website availability is a matter of business-critical importance, and not just for the e-commerce industry. Certainly for the e-tail trade, website downtime equates to lost business, but beyond the online sales realm, Web availability is paramount for organizations of all sorts and sizes.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 7:00 am

Like it not, we live in the Information Age. As such, we're almost always researching something. Which means we're almost always looking for some place to stash our research where we can find it again. Papers will give you that place on the iPad. Papers is a vertical app targeted at scientific and academic researchers, but it can be valuable to anyone doing any kind of research.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 7:00 am

Toshiba has announced its own entrant into the tablet market with the Folio 100, which will run on the Android 2.2 operating system. Sporting a screen just over 10 inches, the device will be larger than other early competitors to Apple's iPad tablet computer, such as the Dell Streak. The Folio will debut in late October in Europe as a standalone device with WiFi capability.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 7:00 am

Microsoft has released the code for its latest mobile operating system to manufacturers. That means U.S. consumers should be able to purchase smartphones running Windows Phone 7 during the upcoming holiday shopping season, while European consumers could have those new devices in their hands as early as next month. The question now is how many consumers actually will want a new Windows-based smartphone?

Posted on 2 September 2010 | 3:30 pm

Apple put a charge in its iPod line Wednesday, but it remains a holdout in the "all you can ear" music subscription market. Apple revamped its flagship player, the iPod touch, so it's now essentially an iPhone without the phone. It also brought buttons back to the iPod shuffle and a touchscreen to the iPod nano.

Posted on 2 September 2010 | 10:51 am

Samsung has unveiled its much-discussed Galaxy Tab Android-powered tablet at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Germany. The device runs Android 2.2, has a seven-inch display, and focuses on connectivity and entertainment. It also enables video conferencing and can be used as a mobile phone.

Posted on 2 September 2010 | 9:55 am

"What is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations?" That's the question Alice asks at the beginning of Lewis Carroll's classic adventure. Perhaps Mr. Carroll knew more than he realized. 3D Movies. Multitouch screens. iPads. Everywhere you look, consumers increasingly demand more of an "experience" when engaging with their content, be it a book, a movie or their computers.

Posted on 2 September 2010 | 7:00 am

Despite the best hopes of many of us in the community, the man suing Sony over the removal of the "other OS" feature from its PS3 has apparently lost his case. The bad news is that the man won't get the money he had requested to compensate for an upgrade to his newly crippled PS3; the good news is that he reportedly wasn't forced to pay Sony's legal bill to boot.

Posted on 2 September 2010 | 7:00 am

The RIAA may have given up on lawsuits targeting P2P users, but other companies have stepped into their shoes. There are many ways to detect P2P users and collect evidence of their behaviors for use in lawsuits. The simplest way needs nothing more than a BitTorrent client.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 4:05 pm

With over 10 million customers, Netflix is a huge player in the online DVD rental business in the United States. Aside from sending out DVDs by mail, customers can also stream movies directly to a wide variety of devices. Despite these services, there are still plenty of people who cancel their accounts. Just for the record, Netflix wants to know through a survey if they are perhaps 'pirates'.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 8:10 am

Earlier this year BitTorrent Inc. promised they would release a Linux client this summer, and today they are one step closer to achieving that goal. The company just released uTorrent Server for Linux, a daemonizable 32-bit binary of the uTorrent core, suited to those familiar with running programs from the command line. A full Linux client is expected to follow in the coming weeks.

Posted on 2 September 2010 | 1:04 pm

A large scale cyber attack which took down cable, telephone, cellular and satellite networks in Washington for around 15 minutes has been blamed on a female Russian hacker. According to the show Covert Affairs, she is a member of Piratbyrån, the founding group behind The Pirate Bay. The group are somewhat unsuccessfully trying to play down any real-life link to the supposedly fictional claims.

Posted on 2 September 2010 | 6:14 am

Increasingly, game companies are using peer-to-peer powered solutions to deliver games and updates to their customers. While the use of P2P technology could be beneficial for publishers, consumers, and the image of file-sharing in general, the use of P2P by game companies still lacks transparency, privacy and control. A newly published best practices outline aims to change this.

Posted on 1 September 2010 | 2:41 pm

For those keen to avoid raping and pillaging music from the nearest torrent site, a one-stop shop where unlimited DRM-free music can be bought for next to nothing must be a great attraction. Zaptunes, a new site advertising just that, has been making headlines this week. Trouble is, everything about it is a scam.

Posted on 1 September 2010 | 8:49 am

Just three days after filmmaker Simon Klose started a fundraiser to complete his upcoming Pirate Bay documentary, the seed funding goal of $25,000 has already been reached. The Pirate audience has been extremely generous, with a full 27 days left the counter currently sits at $28,099.

Posted on 31 August 2010 | 9:39 am

There are tens of thousands of people out there receiving letters from lawyers which demand payments to make potential copyright infringement lawsuits go away. Those wrongfully accused have been fighting back in a number of ways, and not without success. Now a team of lawyers is offering to coordinate a group action, with the aim of gathering compensation for victims through harassment claims.

Posted on 31 August 2010 | 5:11 am

Nicely timed at the start of the new college year, a new BitTorrent site dedicated to sharing knowledge in the form of textbooks has surfaced. Torrent My Book - a project run by two college students - aims to become the world’s largest BitTorrent index of textbooks, following in the footsteps of the late TextBookTorrents.

Posted on 30 August 2010 | 12:32 pm

Another day, another anti-piracy campaign. This one, from the MPA and AFACT-backed Intellectual Property Awareness Foundation, is trying a slightly different approach. Instead of accusing people outright of being movie and TV show pirates, it cuts them some slack and treats them like children instead. It seems that some people just don't know they are pirates.

Posted on 30 August 2010 | 5:32 am

AP - A lawyer for Taylor Lautner says the "Twilight" star has settled a lawsuit with an RV dealership he claims didn't deliver a $300,000 coach in time for a movie shoot.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 9:06 pm

AP - A federal judge declared a mistrial Friday after jurors told him deliberations had grown hostile in the marriage fraud case of Mexican-born actress Fernanda Romero and her husband.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 8:16 pm

Reuters - After her foray into historical costumers with "Marie Antoinette," Sofia Coppola makes a happy return to "Lost in Translation" territory in the cut-back charmer "Somewhere," which illuminates the emptiness of a movie star's life in Los Angeles through close observation and gentle irony.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 4:53 pm

Reuters - Actor Chris Klein, who starred in the "American Pie" movies, pleaded no contest to drunken driving and will serve four years probation stemming from his arrest in June, court officials said on Friday.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 4:44 pm

Playbill -

Samuel A. Taylor's romantic comedy Sabrina Fair, better known as the Audrey Hepburn film "Sabrina," will get a fresh twist at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, Oct. 1-24. The title role of a chauffeur's daughter — who is the object of affection from two rich brothers — will be played by black actress Susan Heyward.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 4:12 pm

AP - John Woo built his reputation with stylish Hong Kong action thrillers, then moved to Hollywood where he directed such big-budget blockbusters as "Mission Impossible II."

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 1:10 pm

AP - Kara DioGuardi is following Ellen DeGeneres and Simon Cowell out the door at "American Idol."

Posted on 4 September 2010 | 1:39 am

Reuters - For all the innovations Apple has brought to the market through the years, it's also a pretty good follower.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 9:11 pm

Reuters - At a time when economic woes and immigration crackdowns are hurting the Latin music touring business, big, showy productions would seem to be a thing of the past.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 8:18 pm

Reuters - After more than seven decades in the business, seminal act Banda el Recodo remains one of the top-selling groups in the genre of brass-based Mexican music. Founded in 1938 by Cruz Lizarraga, the band has continued to thrive through the years thanks to Lizarraga's two sons, Joel and Alfonso, who have adapted the traditional banda format to multiple musical styles and contemporary arrangements.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 8:18 pm

Reuters - At a recent media showcase in London, KT Tunstall offered an unusual description of the songs from her forthcoming third album: "Like Eddie Cochran working with Leftfield," she told the assembled press.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 8:10 pm

Reuters - The Capitol release bowed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, thanks to first-week sales of 192,000 units in the United States, the ninth-best debut week so far this year, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 8:09 pm

Reuters - After her foray into historical costumers with "Marie Antoinette," Sofia Coppola makes a happy return to "Lost in Translation" territory in the cut-back charmer "Somewhere," which illuminates the emptiness of a movie star's life in Los Angeles through close observation and gentle irony.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 4:53 pm

Reuters - Don't be fooled by the first two singles and the candy-covered "California Gurls" video:

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 4:51 pm

Reuters - Most of Ascanio Celestini's theater productions consist of him sitting in a chair, captivating audiences with monologues that combine great wit, historical commentary and genuine despair over a range of social injustices.

Posted on 2 September 2010 | 11:00 pm

Reuters - Sure to excite curiosity thanks to the reputation of director Julian Schnabel ("The Diving Bell and the Butterfly") and its controversial topicality, "Miral" dramatically but unevenly explores the lives of four Palestinian women during the years of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Posted on 2 September 2010 | 10:35 pm

Reuters - Want to experience the worst sort of theater without the bother or expense of heading to New York? Take in the new indie film "Clear Blue Tuesday," a 9/11-themed musical -- that's not a typo -- representing the sort of egregious fatuousness and self-indulgence that is all too endemic to off-Broadway stages.

Posted on 2 September 2010 | 10:35 pm

AP - Capsule reviews of films opening this week:

Posted on 2 September 2010 | 3:18 pm

AP - Kara DioGuardi is following Ellen DeGeneres and Simon Cowell out the door at "American Idol."

Posted on 4 September 2010 | 1:39 am

AP - A federal appeals court has found Eminem's former production company is entitled to more money from downloads of the rapper's songs and ringtones.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 10:53 pm

Reuters - A man accused of breaking into the home of celebrity socialite Paris Hilton armed with knives pleaded not guilty on Friday to a charge of attempted burglary, officials said.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 6:31 pm

AP - A witness in the Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy trial recanted statements Friday that he saw defendant Howard K. Stern give the celebrity model excessive drugs.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 6:12 pm

AP - A man accused of showing up at Paris Hilton's house wielding two knives has pleaded not guilty to attempted felony burglary.

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 5:46 pm

AFP - Veteran Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo accepted a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice film festival on Friday, dedicating the honour to his "dear mother".

Posted on 3 September 2010 | 4:47 pm