http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/piracy http://io9.com/tag/piracy

What's the difference between movies that people will pay to rent, and movies that people will risk the wrath of the MPAA to pirate? Apparently, it's all in the genre. Download-obsessed site Torrent Freak researched popular downloads by looking at public BitTorrent trackers. They found that the most popularly-shared movies were science fiction, followed by comedy and action. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5851962&view=rss&microfeed=true

Blackbeard, who is almost certainly history's most infamous pirate, is a figure shrouded in myths and wild rumors. Now archaeological excavations into his sunken flagship is revealing that the historical Blackbeard was far scarier than any legend ever could be. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5811109&view=rss&microfeed=true

Marauding pirates could soon find themselves up against a new long-range laser weapon, designed to leave them blinded, bewildered and all at sea. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5728888&view=rss&microfeed=true Over at the Telegraph, Adrian Hon points out the obvious: it's much easier than ever to download masses of e-books for free, and e-books are easier to read than ever, thanks to the iPad and Kindle. Book piracy is only just starting to take off, and publishers may have to respond by slashing e-book prices. [Telegraph] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5668972&view=rss&microfeed=true

Does filming a movie being filmed violate copyright? A man who passed by the set of Transformers 3 found his Youtube footage of the shoot removed for copyright violation after Paramount Studios complained. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5540140&view=rss&microfeed=true

The terrors of the East African seas have moved onto dry land with a variety of investments meant to move their ill-gotten gains into more legitimate areas. The Somali pirates' most popular pursuit? Kenyan real estate. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5440267&view=rss&microfeed=true

When every crop has to be licensed from patent owners like Monsanto, only those practiced in the art of pirate agriculture will have reasonably-priced food. This gorgeous series of photographs from Mendocino's pot harvest might be a glimpse of that future. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5397526&view=rss&microfeed=true Five million people downloaded copies of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie since it opened in theaters, and it's not even on DVD yet. Paramount cites that fact in its filing with the FCC's taskforce to create a National Broadband Plan. Easy access to broadband has made movie piracy easier than ever before, and sites like Google and Bing are participating, Paramount charges. So any plan to expand access to broadband has to include some mechanism for preventing piracy, possibly including some kind of "deep packet drones." [Ars Technica] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5396671&view=rss&microfeed=true

In the future your iPhone will be a fake, and that's a good thing. Nokia researcher Jan Chipchase took these photos to go with a fascinating story about "superfakes" - the best mobiles of the future. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5351578&view=rss&microfeed=true

If you want to see all the endings to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, you'll have to travel around the country, watching it in different theaters. Or you could just wait for the DVD. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5229949&view=rss&microfeed=true

Whoever leaked a workprint of X-Men Origins: Wolverine online did Fox a favor. Maybe the bad buzz from this brain-dead (and incomplete) print will spur the studio to make some last-minute fixes. Spoilers definitely ahead... More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5195183&view=rss&microfeed=true

Want to know where you're most likely to have your ship hijacked by pirates this year? Now you can, with the help of the International Maritime Bureau's "live piracy map," a Google map mashup that gives you quick, real-time details on all the acts of piracy taking place on the Earth's high seas. Just drill down by using the zoom slider, and click on a flag to see what kind of crime took place. All are labeled with the type of ship, as well as whether the pirates successfully hijacked it or merely boarded. Certain areas, like this one off the coast of East Africa, are pirate paradises. The seas around Singapore and Malaysia are also packed with pirates. Clearly the future bodes well for sea-going pirates, and for pirate-lovers who want to track their dastardly deeds. Live Piracy Map [via BLDG BLOG] Images via Live Piracy Map. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5094734&view=rss&microfeed=true

NBC earns the distinction of having their show Heroes being the most pirated television show across the Web. Good for them, because it means people really want to see this thing. It's not like sites are putting together pirate DVDs of Heroes episodes and selling them willy-nilly on street corners. Well, at least here in Los Angeles they're not. I checked. One of the reasons that Heroes (and other NBC shows) shot to the top of this list is that NBC decided to sever their relationship with iTunes last year, meaning you couldn't zap these over to your iPod at $1.99 a pop. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=340161&view=rss&microfeed=true