TorrentFreak: In fact, the study also found that Internet users treat these services as a preview, a kind of “try before you buy.”

This, the survey claims, leads pirate site users to buy more DVDs, visit the cinema more often and on average spend more than their ‘honest’ counterparts at the box office.

“The users often buy a ticket to the expensive weekend-days,” the report notes.

In the past similar studies have revealed that the same is true for music. People who pirate a lot of music buy significantly more music than those who don’t.

Obviously it would be of great interest to see the report in full, but it appears that is not going to be possible. According to an anonymous GfK source quoted by Telepolis, the findings of the study proved so unpleasant to the company that commissioned the survey that it has now been locked away “in the poison cupboard.”

1. believe the law on political litter doesn’t apply to them; or
2. are unaware of the law, despite massive media coverage this week.

In either case, are these the kind of people you want representing you?

John Mulvihill, Labour Litterer

John Mulvihill, Labour Litterer

Coin Operated Doorbell

BoingBoing

Julian Assange’s personal life is not a factor here, and not just because the timing of the Swedish arrest warrant and Interpol red notice are so incredibly coincidental. Wikileaks is just an intermediary, it isn’t leaking anything, it’s just channeling it. It hasn’t broken any laws, and the likes of PayPal’s assertions that Wikileaks “encourage[s], promote[s], facilitate[s] or instruct[s] others to engage in illegal activity” is a blatant cover-up for their own engagement with – probably actually illegal – government pressure.

What’s truly sad about this nonsense is that leakers feel more comfortable sending this info to Wikileaks and not the mainstream media. If the media got their fingers out of their holes – or rather their publishers stopped cutting costs at the expense of their core business – perhaps Wikileaks would be moot, and Assange wouldn’t have to do their job for them.

Long story short: Yay Charleton for deciding in favour of UPC. Boo Charleton for parroting makey-uppey numbers for “piracy”. Boo Charleton for essentially suggesting that Gov.ie enact legislation to allow the labels to skip proper due process. That’s two boos to one yay, you lose Charleton.

Now, lest you accuse me of negativity, and point out that it’s easy to criticise, let me give you my positive suggestion.

It isn’t based on marketing, positioning, flim-flammery, three-card-trickery or trying to persuade the world that we’re honest when the world knows full well what a bunch of gobshites we are. Â It isn’t based on wishful thinking, it doesn’t use the sort of nonsense phrases like world-beating that for years we relied on to delude ourselves.

It’s simple. Â I suggest investing in ethics.

I suggest re-educating our entire population, from the youngest pre-schooler to the grimmest old businessman, and including the public service and politicians, explaining precisely what integrity means. Â I suggest teaching our entire population that marketing, promotion, sales, PR and international glad-handing are of no use whatsoever if the thing you’re trying to sell has no substance.

If we don’t take this seriously, we’re doomed to repeat the current economic disaster over and over again, each generation with its own Bertie Ahern, its own Seanie Fitzpatrick, its own Fingers Fingleton, and all the other assorted, integrity-free panhandlers and parasites who have soiled the reputation of this country and sold us down the Swanee for their own, ignorant, self-serving enrichment.

Forget about Eamon Ryan’s smart economy.

Let’s put all our effort into creating the Honest Economy.

BreakingNews.ie: A new national website dedicated to promoting Ireland as an ideal place for business, tourism, culture and education is set to come on stream next year.

My company can get a starter website with content management up in an hour, why can’t Gov.ie do the same thing and build it out as needs be. We’re kinda in trouble now, you know?

I’d love to know who’s going to be implementing this, and at what cost. A big player no doubt, offshored, for a ridiculous price that will overrun. Presumably they’ll be hand-crafting each pixel out of pixie dust.