Publishers, music labels, movie studios and ships near the Suez Canal all have one thing in common: they hate pirates. What if there was a quantitative linkbetween higher sales and piracy, would the piracy haters ease their stance (except, perhaps the ships near the Suez)? One childrens book seems set to prove that piracy can more »

What’s the most common phrase heard around the Gadgetell newsroom? Is it “I love tablets?”,or “that’s dope!” or “iPad!”? Answer: none of them, it’s “they are on crack.” This week we take a look back at the things that made us chuckle in the tech world. Assembled here are companies whose moves are so strange, more »

Raise your hand if you remember the Spore SecuROM fiasco. The community backlash, and the resulting huge amount of pirated copies of the game that became available. You’d think that somebody would try to create a form of copy protection that both copyright holders and consumers can be okay with. Apparently the people at CD Digital Card didn’t get that message.

CD Digital Card is trying to bring 2 Geeks In A Lab’s Global Garde copy protection to mass market. Apparently the code is small (only about 250 to 500 KB), takes only five minutes to install, and is supposed to be invisible to consumers. According to the press release it’s currently hailed as “the holy grail of anti-piracy and copy protection.” In other words: the bane of those who simply want to access the content that they paid for, or those who want to pirate it.

Getting the newest games console has always been hard, and the Nintendo Wii is no exception with ‘Out of stock’ signs adorning many games hardware outlets. In addition to unrelenting demand, would be buyers are facing constraints from an unlikely source. If you can’t get a Nintendo product this year: blame Somalian pirates.

Not content stealing folks using Torrents, but sword in mouth, eye-patched, rum-swilling pirates. Thought today’s crews cary RPGs and fast boats to seize your electronics as their booty.

Find out why the increase in pirating means no Wiis for many.

Disney movies, independent films, anime and Bollywood flicks have something in common – starting soon, you’ll be able to download them directly to your TiVo. TiVo has struck deals with Disney, CinemaNow and Jaman.com to get new downloadable content to TiVo boxes everywhere.

The content will be rolled out over the next couple of weeks. Stuff from Jaman.com, like indy films, anime, and Bollywood flicks, will be available today. CinemaNow brings the Disney content and that won’t be available until next week. More information, including pricing, after the break.