Microsoft Partners with Controversial “Bully”

Microsoft Corp. is using its search engine, Bing, to promote an upcoming film via a television and social media campaign. This isn’t entirely unusual; the company has done this before with Hugh Jackman’s “Real Steel.” But this time around, the movie isn’t about boxing robots – it’s about bullying.

“Bully” has received its fair share of controversy over the past few months due to the MPAA’s rating system. The documentary, which covers the issue of teenage bullying, has received an “R” rating due to explicit language. Since this rating would prevent teens under the age of 17 from seeing the film (and since this is the demographic that could stand to benefit from the movie’s message the most), the web has exploded with complaints over the rating and petitions to lower “Bully” to PG-13.

In response to the “R” rating, independent studio distributor Weinstein Co. is releasing “Bully” without an MPAA rating.

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Weekly Digital News Roundup: March 26 – 30

Yahoo Announces “Do Not Track” Tool

  • Yahoo recently announced the implementation of a “do not track” tool on its global network, which includes Right Media and Interclick properties.
  • “With this new feature, Yahoo! continues its leadership in privacy innovation while continuing to create the free online services consumers demand that are made possible through advertising,” Yahoo wrote in a release. The tool will be accessible by early summer and will “provide a simple step for consumers to express their ad targeting preferences” to Yahoo.
  • “Do not track” tools have received some heated discussion recently. Both the White House and the FTC say they’re looking to work with the ad industry to implement voluntary options for consumers who don’t want to participate in third-party data collection.

The Pirate Bay Looks Skyward

Swedish BitTorrent site, The Pirate Bay, is looking skyward with robot-drone-server-T-850 hybrids. Sort of. While the actual idea being suggested by the magnet link site should be taken with a mega-grain of salt, it’s still enough science fiction to provoke some lunchtime consideration.

The website has long provoked the ire of the authorities due to numerous acts of copyright infringement; TPB connects global users with music and movie files, which is great if you want to watch some pirated episodes of Dexter, but not so great if you actually own the rights to the show.

From their blog:

With the development of GPS controlled drones, far-reaching cheap radio equipment and tiny new computers like the Raspberry Pi, we’re going to experiment with sending out some small drones that will float some kilometers up in the air. This way our machines will have to be shut down with aeroplanes in order to shut down the system. A real act of war.

Essentially, The Pirate Bay is considering (or joking, given that April 1st is right around the corner) the usage of airborne drones in order to elude law enforcement raids. They can’t be raided if they’re operating over international waters, right?

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