NelsonG

Cracker Barrel has become the first sponsor to cut bait with "Duck Dynasty" ... but not entirely.The Southern-themed food chain reacted to Phil Robertson's anti-gay comments by removing "selected products which we were concerned might offend some… [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/21/duck-dynasty-cracker-barrel-phil-robertson-boycott/]View the full article[/url]

[img]http://torrentfreak.com/images/redtube.jpg[/img]Threatening letters from copyright trolls usually take pretty much the same format – “You’ve downloaded or shared our content using BitTorrent networks and for that we will take you to court. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. For the payment of a few hundred to a few thousand dollars or euros, we can make this all go away.” Earlier this month, however, there was a new twist to this awful business. Many thousands of individuals began [url="http://torrentfreak.com/panic-as-thousands-receive-fines-for-streaming-redtube-videos-131210/"]receiving letters[/url] from German lawfirm U & C acting on behalf of a Swiss company called The Archive AG. Their claim was that letter recipients had watched several adult titles on the hugely popular adult streaming site RedTube. Just to put things into perspective, that’s like watching a clip on YouTube and someone coming along with a demand that you pay them cash – a very worrying development indeed. Wilde Beuger Solmecke, a law firm that specializes in defending Internet users from the threats of copyright trolls, has been working hard on the case and estimates that around 30,000 people have received these demands. All along the lawfirm has insisted that there is no legal basis for the threats and now, quite amazingly, the court that has been dealing with the case has admitted there may have been a major screw up. After receiving at least 50 full complaints, the Cologne Regional Court has been reexamining the entire process and now, [url="http://www.wbs-law.de/abmahnung-filesharing/abmahnkanzleien/abmahnung-u-c-rechtsanwaelte/spektakulaere-wende-im-redtubefall-landgericht-koeln-sieht-im-streaming-keine-urheberrechtsverletzung-49376/"]according[/url] to lawyer Christian Solmecke, the Court has made a “spectacular” turnaround. “Apparently, some of the judges who issued the information decisions now – after knowing the complete situation – have changed their mind (or for the first time formed a complete opinion) and decided that streaming is no longer illegal,” Solmecke explains. If that is indeed the case, the Court should never have granted The Archive AG’s request to obtain the real-life identities of the RedTube visitors, not least since they had broken no laws. Solmecke says if the Court stands by its ‘new’ interpretation of relevant copyright law (private copying and temporary acts of copying) then visitors to streaming sites should be able to relax once more. “There are many indications that the judges believe streaming – whether from a legitimate or an unlawful platform – should always regarded as lawful,” Solmecke says. “For those concerned, the application of this standard would have the advantage that they will not have to worry about the legality of a platform in the future. We have held this legal opinion for a long time.” The Cologne Regional Court’s decision will be welcomed by all letter recipients but for the Court’s next move we shall have to wait until at least January. The hope is that all 30,000 individuals won’t have to pay a penny and that copyright troll heads will roll. Definitely one to watch. Source: [url="http://torrentfreak.com"]TorrentFreak[/url], for the latest info on [url="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/"]copyright[/url], [url="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/"]file-sharing[/url] and [url="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-that-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2013-edition-130302/"]VPN services[/url]. [url="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=hZ1asGVyEfI:-3YVc9x7SiU:yIl2AUoC8zA"][img]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA[/img]</img>[/url] [url="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=hZ1asGVyEfI:-3YVc9x7SiU:D7DqB2pKExk"][img]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=hZ1asGVyEfI:-3YVc9x7SiU:D7DqB2pKExk[/img]</img>[/url][img]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/hZ1asGVyEfI[/img] [url=http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hZ1asGVyEfI/]View the full article[/url]

Phil Robertson disrespected gay employees at A&E ... and THAT'S why he was sacked from "Duck Dynasty" ... sources connected with the network tell TMZ.We're told A&E CEO Nancy Dubuc felt she could not in good conscience ask gay… [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/21/a-and-e-duck-dynasty-gay-gq-phil-robertson/]View the full article[/url]

Rough week for the "Duck Dynasty" ducklings ... A&E's taking a lot of heat for sacking Phil Robertson. So we gotta ask ... [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/21/stars-and-scars-you-be-the-judge/]View the full article[/url]

Steve Harvey tried to pressure his ex-wife into making a mea clupa ... that she lied when she claimed he brutally beat their son ... so she claims.Steve Harvey's lawyer wrote a letter for Mary Harvey to sign -- obtained by TMZ -- in… [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/21/steve-harvey-mary-child-abuse-letter/]View the full article[/url]

Chris Brown better not pull any stunts when he leaves lockdown rehab this weekend to attend a charity event ... because TMZ has learned, if he so much as steps out of line ... the rehab facility will kick him out for good.TMZ broke the story ... CB… [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/21/chris-brown-rehab-charity-trip-tight-leash/]View the full article[/url]

The Rhett Walker Band is worried a full blown riot may break out this weekend at their concert in Ohio ... and it's all because one of the guys from "Duck Dynasty" will be there. John Godwin from "DD" is scheduled to make an appearance… [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/21/duck-dynasty-rhett-walker-band-riot-concert-angry/]View the full article[/url]

Steve Harvey was accused by his ex-wife and 11-year-old son of brutally beating the boy ... but Harvey's rep tells TMZ the comedian has been cleared.A judge found Mary Harvey in contempt Thursday and sent her to jail for leaking sealed… [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/20/steve-harvey-investigated-for-child-abuse/]View the full article[/url]

The war is over ... Tom Cruise has settled his epic $50 million libel suit against a magazine publisher that accused him of abandoning his daughter Suri ... and part of the settlement included a carefully-worded apology.The terms of the settlement… [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/20/tom-cruise-life-and-style-settlement-libel-lawsuit-suri/]View the full article[/url]

With his new album Victim Of A Modern Age now available for purchase, Jamall Bufford follows up with a video for "Nineteen." Watch above. [url=http://rapfix.mtv.com/2013/12/20/watch-jamall-buffords-nineteen-video/]View the full article[/url]

By Sowmya Krishnamurthy Mike Will Made It was undoubtedly one of rap's most prolific producers in 2013. Now, the man behind hits for Miley Cyrus, 2 Chainz and Rihanna has signed a deal with Interscope Records for his Eardrumma imprint. "Label Deal | Interscope Records at brunch. Salute to my manager @fakeworksince1978 and Jimmy Iovine#EardrumaRecords is official." Mike shared on Instagram, along with a photo of himself looking at what appears to be a contract. The deal has been in the works for a while but his publicist shared with HipHopDX that it was only made official yesterday. Mike Will spoke to Complex about his aspirations for his own record label earlier this year. "I just feel like it was time to take things to the next level and help those who helped me," he said. "I feel like I’m in a good position right now and I can expand a lot of my ideas. I can’t make it all come from me, I can’t continue to be my manager, my everything. I can’t do all that anymore. Eardrumma was already a successful company, but it’s time to make it into a real company, to have a staff, and to [help] those on who always helped me. I want to help them, bless them, and build my company." [url=http://rapfix.mtv.com/2013/12/20/mike-will-made-it-inks-deal-with-interscope-records/]View the full article[/url]

By Sowmya Krishnamurthy Missed what happened with your favorite sports team this year? Rapper Skillz breaks down who won and who made headlines in his "The Year in Sports 2013" freestyle for ESPN. In it, the rapper talks about the 2013 Super Bowl black-out in New Orleans, Kobe Bryant's injury and shouted out Jay Z's Roc Nation Sports agency. Skillz also references the Boston Celtics breaking up (Damn Rondo!) as well as the "Catfish" scandal with football player Manti Te'o. Skillz, known for his 1996 From Where??? album, has made a career out of these rap-ups. Since 2002, he's used bars to summarize the year in review, both entertaining and perfect for the person who lived under a rock all year long. In last year's version, the rapper surprisingly spit that he was done with his synopsis flows. "I’m wrapping up these ‘Rap Ups’ ya’ll, it’s been 10 years/ I’m gracefully gon’ bow out, but still write them hits,” he raps. 2012's "Rap Up" was featured on Skillz's most recent album Thoughts Become Things. As long as there's something to rap about, it seems that Skillz will keep wrapping them up for us. [url=http://rapfix.mtv.com/2013/12/20/skillz-raps-up-2013-year-in-sports-for-espn/]View the full article[/url]

Demi Lovato is furious at the producers of "X Factor," grousing that she was blindsided by a skit that mocked her addiction ... TMZ has learned.Mario Lopez introduced a skit which showed clips of Demi drinking what looked like booze, acting annoying… [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/20/demi-lovato-x-factor-simon-cowell-drinking-annoying-juice/]View the full article[/url]

Baron Davis was spotted hanging with Khloe Kardashian during a holiday shopping trip. Are the Kardashian chicks addicted to athletes ... or the other way around?Plus, that Trent Richardson sex tape we told you about might not ever see the light of… [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/20/tmz-sports-khloe-kardashian-lamar-odom-baron-davis-terry-bradshaw-duck-dynasty-trent-richardson-chris-weidman-eminem-super-bowl-rafael-nadal-babe-ruth/]View the full article[/url]

If you asked yourself "Where was the publicist?" when "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson went off on gays during his big interview with GQ magazine ... TMZ now has the answer ... the publicist was not there!Sources very familiar with the situation… [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/20/duck-dynasty-publicist-gq-interview-phil-robertson-homophobic-antigay/]View the full article[/url]

During a run-through of his loopy, lusty song &ldquo;Lost,&rdquo; Chicago MC Chance the Rapper got a little lost himself. He fell off the stage at Club Nokia.[img]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PopHiss/~4/msIJQnxt3ys[/img] [url=http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/PopHiss/~3/msIJQnxt3ys/la-et-ms-live-review-chance-the-rapper-club-nokia-20131220,0,3727640.story]View the full article[/url]

Shaunie O'Neal claims Shaq is full of BS when he says he was always opposed to doing a reality show with their kids ... and says she has it in black and white ... he's lying.Shaunie filed unsigned contracts and correspondence with the court --… [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/20/shaquille-oneal-shaunie-reality-tv-show-court-fight/]View the full article[/url]

[url="http://torrentfreak.com/images/matrix-ascii-small.jpg"][img]http://torrentfreak.com/images/matrix-ascii-small.jpg[/img][/url]A decade ago the Internet looked vastly different from how it does today. Torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay and Torrentz were only a few months old, while Facebook and YouTube didn’t even exist. Back then BitTorrent was a relatively unknown technology that, for the first time in history, allowed users to share large videos with groups of people all over the world. One of the torrents that gained quite a bit of traction in the early days is an [url="http://onyx.chattanoogastate.edu/~jack/matrix/"]ASCII version[/url] of The Matrix. This piece of fan art is a re-coded version of the original movie in green text on a black background, resulting in a rather unique viewing experience. Thanks to BitTorrent, the creator of The Matrix ASCII was able to share his work with thousands of people. Exactly 10 years ago today on December 20, 2003, the torrent for this release was created. A few weeks later the torrent file was first shared online, along with an ASCII DVD cover and insert. In the months and years that followed thousands of copies of the film were downloaded worldwide, and even today it is still being shared by a dozen people every day. To the best of our knowledge, this means that The Matrix ASCII is the oldest torrent that’s still being actively shared. [b]The.Matrix-ASCII screencap[/b] [img]http://torrentfreak.com/images/matrix-ascii-large.jpg[/img] Perhaps worried that Hollywood wouldn’t appreciate the effort, the DVD file comes with a small disclaimer. “This work is a parody. As such I do not believe that this DVD has any possibility of competing with the original in any market. It is not for sale,” the disclaimer reads. Prospective downloaders have very little to worry about though, as Warner Bros. is not known to go after this type of fan-art that’s created for non-commercial use. The people who’ve downloaded a copy of The Matrix thus far responded mostly positively after watching the ASCII movie. That is, those who knew what to expect. “This is absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! EASILY one of the coolest things I’ve EVER seen! Where’d you get the notion to do something like this!?!?!?!” one person noted in a comment highlighted on [url="http://onyx.chattanoogastate.edu/~jack/matrix/"]The Matrix ASCII website[/url]. Others, who assumed that they had downloaded a copy of the original Matrix movie, were less happy with the ASCII version. “Dude, tell me what to do with this Matrix ASCII, cause the picture is all green n stuff, can’t even see what’s going on. And, its in 4 VOB files, but why?” was the response of an unhappy downloader. All in all it’s safe to say that The Matrix ASCII has become a fine piece of Internet history. The tale of its survival in itself has now become a reason for people to download it as a collectors’ item. The question is, however, will it survive another decade? Source: [url="http://torrentfreak.com"]TorrentFreak[/url], for the latest info on [url="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/"]copyright[/url], [url="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/"]file-sharing[/url] and [url="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-that-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2013-edition-130302/"]VPN services[/url]. [url="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=6yVWDIGd3eM:LLtordAieLs:yIl2AUoC8zA"][img]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA[/img]</img>[/url] [url="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=6yVWDIGd3eM:LLtordAieLs:D7DqB2pKExk"][img]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=6yVWDIGd3eM:LLtordAieLs:D7DqB2pKExk[/img]</img>[/url][img]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/6yVWDIGd3eM[/img] [url=http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/6yVWDIGd3eM/]View the full article[/url]

Balls -- noun -- 14-pound clackers that gives one the courage to say you're about to WRITE THE GREATEST CHRISTMAS SONG OF ALL TIME. See: Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Check out the clip. [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/20/trans-siberian-orchestra-christmas-song/]View the full article[/url]

By Sowmya Krishnamurthy Are they or aren't they? The rumors that Drake is dating Zoe Kravitz continue to heat up, thanks to a new photo posted on the rapper's Instagram account. "This f---king guy," Drake captioned in a photo of himself with the gorgeous Zoe. The two poked fun at Drake's many memes in the flicks. Drake and Zoe have been seen hanging out quite a bit. Recently, the daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet was spotted hanging out with Drizzy in his tour bus following a Would You Like A Tour? stop. Several blogs and sites began to wonder if the two were more than just friends. "Could Drake have a new lady in his life? The rapper was spotted packing on the #PDA with Zoe Kravitz while the two were in Toronto," tweeted ET Canada not too long ago. Possibly, but Drake's love for Zoe has been years in the making. “Zoë Kravitz is like one of my favorite people in the world," Drake gushed to Fader TV in 2011. Awww. Zoe was recently seen in "X-Men: First Class." The socialite and musician also famously starred in Jay Z's 2008 music video for "I Know." She occasionally dabbles in music, so perhaps an OVO/Zoe collabo may be coming up soon. [url=http://rapfix.mtv.com/2013/12/20/drake-and-zoe-kravitz-dating-rumors-heat-up/]View the full article[/url]

A&E will continue to profit off Phil Robertson and his family during Christmas week -- despite the fact that they benched Phil for his recent anti-gay comments -- because the network will be airing SEVERAL huge "Duck Dynasty" marathons.DD is… [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/20/a-and-e-duck-dynasty-christmas-marathon-phil-robertson/]View the full article[/url]

Albert Heath's 'Tootie's Tempo' and Craig Taborn Trio's 'Chants' are among the best jazz albums of 2013.<br/><br/>In this time when news is disseminated ever more quickly, we asked our critics to list the best of culture in 2013 in tweet form:[img]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PopHiss/~4/Z6m7ZLdxbDM[/img] [url=http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/PopHiss/~3/Z6m7ZLdxbDM/la-et-ms-chris-barton-best-jazz-albums-2013-list,0,2990311.story]View the full article[/url]

Notes on the Year: Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky' connects the present and the past with a nod to the future, mixing Pharrell's groovy falsetto with the clean guitar strum of Chic's Niles Rodgers.<br/><br/>Had Steve Jobs commissioned a song, it would have felt like Daft Punk's "Get Lucky." Modern but ageless. Sleek, streamlined, memorable and futuristic.[img]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PopHiss/~4/dGIKEoW6mYU[/img] [url=http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/PopHiss/~3/dGIKEoW6mYU/la-et-ms-daft-punk-roberts-essay-20131222,0,2064771.story]View the full article[/url]

Daft Punk, Earl Sweatshirt, North Mississippi Allstars, Brandy Clark, Queens of the Stone Age, Arcade Fire, Laura Marling, more.<br/><br/>In this time when news is disseminated ever more quickly, we asked our critics to list the best of culture in 2013 in tweet form:[img]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PopHiss/~4/jXYZgtRJ2d0[/img] [url=http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/PopHiss/~3/jXYZgtRJ2d0/la-et-ms-randall-roberts-best-albums-2013-list,0,7754967.story]View the full article[/url]

Clint Eastwood thinks his soon-to-be ex-wife should fend for herself ... because he's asking a judge to DENY her any spousal support. Clint filed legal docs in the divorce case triggered by Dina Eastwood. He's trying early on to shut down her… [url=http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/20/clint-eastwood-divorce-dina-separation-support-custody/]View the full article[/url]