video

If the pirate community is any judge of movies, Michael Moore's Sicko is sure to be a hit.

On the day that the documentary about the health care industry is scheduled to debut, unauthorized copies continue to flitter across the Web. Illegal downloading of the film began gathering steam last week when copies appeared at The PirateBay, YouTube and Google Video.

What started with just a few hundred people a week ago, has mushroomed into the tens of thousands. A review of torrent search engines Mininova, TorrentReactor.net, The PirateBay, Isohunt and Torrentz on Friday showed that thousands of … Read more

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Brock Pierce, the CEO of Affinity Media, which used to own IGE, one of the world's largest marketer of the virtual goods and currencies of games like World of Warcraft, EverQuest and others, is looking tired.

Earlier this year, Affinity sold IGE, but it still has a hand deep in the market for virtual weapons, currencies and the like.

For years, Brock's companies, which in many ways have created--or at least perfected--the booming secondary market for the virtual worlds of those games, have been seen as all-powerful entities that almost laugh in the face of … Read more

The crew at Download Music is always on the prowl for great new music--we do the heavy lifting so you don't have to--and as usual we've dug up some cool and groovy stuff to get you through the weekend and beyond. For starters, we've got a brand new track from R&B hero Jill Scott; a couple of laid-back French-pop-styled songs from Dean & Britta, former members of Galaxie 500 and Luna; and the first pop album from hot electronic DJ and techno artist Matthew Dear.

You can catch quick reviews and song samples from each … Read more

You know those gamers--they spend hours on end hulled in smelly dark rooms with controllers in hand, ignoring social norms like sitting down for meals and showering once in awhile. Perhaps they're a little too into gaming.

But if a group of prominent doctors has their way, those gamers might end up diagnosed with video game addiction, a psychiatric disorder the American Medical Association will consider for official classification at its annual policy meeting beginning this weekend, according to several press accounts.

Given the overlap between bloggers and gamers, it's no surprise that the blogosphere is up in … Read more

The longest iPhone commercial you'll ever see is available on Apple's Web site.

The company on Friday posted a 20-minute guided tour of the device that is one of the most exhaustive looks yet at that iPhone thing you might have heard about. A really nice, enthusiastic man wearing a black shirt (no, not that one) takes you through the various features of the iPhone, including making phone calls, listening to music, sending e-mail, browsing the Web, and using applications like Google Maps.

Alas, the technical details we've all been waiting for are not to be found. … Read more

It's a well-documented phenomenon: the rise of Web video has fueled a trend of 'bite-size entertainment.' Wired magazine devoted an entire cover story (actually, a set of mini cover stories) to it in its March '07 issue. The attention-deficient Web's appetite for small clips and short blog entries has gotten to the point where MySpace.com has actually condensed classic TV episodes into "minisodes" for its members.

But the latest viral video craze makes those three- to five-minute minisodes seem like Titanic. This is the "Dramatic Chipmunk," a 5-second clip of a chubby rodent … Read more

Hillary Clinton's spoof of The Sopranos finale, posted widely on YouTube, seems to be generating the buzz her campaign sought. But aside from some banner ads, YouTube doesn't really provide commercial interruptions, nor does it encourage users to use videos for marketing purposes.

Meanwhile, several start-up sites are serving up video classifieds, letting you upload homemade commercials to show off what you might normally put out on eBay, Craigslist, or at a yard sale.

The free Real People Real Stuff has been described grandly as the "YouTube & Craigslist love child" and a "Web 3.… Read more

There's a new Web site called Real People Real Stuff where anyone can post a classified video. As expected, there are plenty of bad-quality clips and boring infomercial-type stuff, selling real estate, cars and even Shih Tzu puppies. But there are also some hidden gems.

For instance, some guy in Alexandria, Va., wrote a song about his company's "Dog Guard" invisible pet fence. "We keep your hound aroundddd. We keep your hound aroundddd," he croons as he strums his guitar.

In another charming and informative video, a Canadian woman illustrates the "lack of … Read more

If you happen to be in New York today and are a fan of old video game memorabilia, then you'd better get down to Sotheby's pronto.

That's because the auction house is selling off a huge collection of vintage Atari marketing materials.

According to Gizmodo, there are "135 large file folders stuffed full of original sketches, early designs and proofs of games" like Dig Dug, Asteroids, Pong and others.

But apparently, the price is steep: somewhere in the $150,000 to $250,000 range.