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Prix du film éducatif, scientifique ou d’entreprise at Annecy 2011

If ratified by the European Parliament, ACTA would set strict international standards for intellectual property law, and create a new governing body to oversee the enforcement of those laws, which would target counterfeit goods, generic medicine, and copyright-protected digital goods, like music, film and television shows. Without Germany’s support, the ratification of ACTA becomes far less likely.

Spearheaded by the US and Japan, ACTA first drew ire around the world due to the intense secrecy that surrounded the treaty. The text of the agreement was negotiated outside standard international bodies, like the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, and the World Intellectual Property Organization. This allowed governments involved in the negotiations to bypass the scrutiny of the public.

Once the text of ACTA was made public last month, opposition to the agreement exploded. Protests erupted across countries in Europe. Kader Arif, a member of the European Parliament who was tasked with overseeing the final stages of ACTA’s passage, resigned in opposition to the treaty.

Were ACTA to be ratified, it would require countries to create intellectual property laws that mimic — or exceed — US copyright regulations, which are far more strict than what most countries currently have in place. Criminal penalties for infringement would be increased under ACTA, and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) would be encourage to conspire with rights holders to create penalties for copyright infringers. It would do all this without also requiring countries to adopt consumer protection laws, or other safety valves, like fair use or public domain policies. ACTA critics say the harsh regulations could stifle free speech, and hamper online innovation.

In addition, ACTA would empower border officials to confiscate any goods they believe may be in violation of copyright law, and allow private copyright holders to request the seizure, and even destruction, of allegedly infringing goods. This is particularly problematic for the distribution of generic drugs — many of which are not in violation of copyright law — such as HIV medication en route to developing nations that are in dire need of such drugs.

While ACTA would not specifically change US copyright law, it could prevent Congress from making US intellectual property regulations less severe without the risk of jeopardizing trade relations with other countries. The White House asserts that this would not be the case, since President Obama deemed ACTA an “executive agreement” — not a treaty — which means the US can ignore the agreement if necessary. (The “executive agreement” designation also meant ACTA did not have to be ratified by the Senate, thus allowing its contents to remain secret — a move some in Congress say was unconstitutional.) Unfortunately, most other countries do consider ACTA a treaty, so the White House’s argument on the matter may be moot.

ACTA will be voted on for ratification by the European Parliament in June. All 27 EU countries must sign the treaty for it to be ratified.

To learn more about the controversy surrounding ACTA, see here, here, and here. To read the final text of ACTA, click here.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

Either Quaid suffered a schizoid embolism due to a bad memory implant, or he was actually Hauser, a secret agent sent to Earth by Cohaagen with the Quaid identity installed over his own so even he wouldn’t know who he was. People are trying to kill him left and right, but by the end of it he got the girl, rescued the rebels, and saved Mars.

It was awesome.

Fast forward to 2009. Carolco no longer existed, Schwqarzenegger was now Governor of the State of California, and Columbia Pictures decided they wanted to retell (recall?) this story once more. They hired Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium, Ultraviolet) to write the script for the remake, going back to the source material… Philip K. Dick’s short story They Remember It For You Wholesale.

While Stephen King stories tend to suck as movies, because King’s talents lay in making you picture the scary stuff in your head and it’s usually far, far scarier than what ends up on the movie screen, Philip K Dick short stories tend to make pretty good to jaw droppingly fantastic sci-fi movies. Films that have been based on his work include:

Blade Runner (1982) – “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”
Screamers (1995) – “Second Variety”
Total Recall (1990) – “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”
Confessions d’un Barjo (French, 1992) – “Confessions of a Crap Artist”
Impostor (2001) – “Impostor”
Minority Report (2002) – “The Minority Report”
Paycheck (December 25, 2003) – “Paycheck”
A Scanner Darkly (July 7, 2006) – “A Scanner Darkly”
Next (April 27, 2007) – “The Golden Man”

Okay, some of them are amazing films and some are… films. Which are which is a matter of personal taste. The man wrote a lot of stories that got turned into movies, is what I’m saying.

Where was I? Oh yeah.

On January 9, 2011, it was confirmed that Colin Farrell will be starring in the remake and Bryan Cranston will play the villain, with production starting in Toronto, Canada on May 15. According to producer Neal Moritz, this version of the film will be closer to Philip K. Dick’s original story. He went on to say that the film will not be shot in 3D, adding: “we decided that it would be too much.” Kate Beckinsale will play the role of double agent Lori (played by Sharon Stone in the original film) while John Cho is set to play McClane, the smooth-talking rep for the memory company. Ethan Hawke will have a cameo in the film, allegedly.

Okay, so it’s a remake with a new cast. Not unheard of. But did you notice the bit about “closer to the original material”?

Much of the plot of the first film centred around Quaid “Get[ting] his ass to Mars” and helping the rebels fight against Cohaagen, king of his own planet (really, it’s less schlocky than it sounds. Well, more fun than it sounds). Was he the savior of the people? Was he secretly Hauser, sent by Cohaagen to infiltrate the rebels? Or was he actually Quaid, some poor guy being lobotomized back on Earth? His realities are blurred, yet each one is plausable; this film predated Inception by more than a decade but has the same “is it all a dream?” quality, dropping enough clues that arguments continue to this day over what really happened.

The new film is part remake, part reboot. Here is the official synopsis from Sony Pictures (Columbia’s owners):

Welcome to Rekall, the company that can turn your dreams into real memories. For a factory worker named Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), even though he’s got a beautiful wife (Kate Beckinsale) who he loves, the mind-trip sounds like the perfect vacation from his frustrating life – real memories of life as a super-spy might be just what he needs. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, Quaid becomes a hunted man. Finding himself on the run from the police – controlled by Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston), the leader of the free world – Quaid teams up with a rebel fighter (Jessica Biel) to find the head of the underground resistance (Bill Nighy) and stop Cohaagen. The line between fantasy and reality gets blurred and the fate of his world hangs in the balance as Quaid discovers his true identity, his true love, and his true fate.

Basically the same thing – but no mention of Mars. Or Johnny Cabs. Just plenty of Earthbound action. But there is, according to Producer Neil Moritz, a “a great twist” in the plot that was neither in Dick’s source material nor the original movie.

Verhoeven’s version, like many movies adapted from PKD’s works, had existential themes woven into the plot, they took a back seat to rippling muscles, gratuitous violence, and the cheesy one-liners that 80′s action movies were famous for. Verhoeven is no stranger to films with philosophical elements (his recent film Black Books has a Jewish woman risking her life and sleeping with the SS who killed her family to help an anti-semitic Dutch resistance group – and then things get weird). But when he satirized action movie violence and 80s excess with his over-the-top Robocop, American audiences didn’t get the joke. They ate it up and asked for more. More than two decades later the new team is banking on a more sophisticated audience, it seems, with Wimmer claiming the new script focuses more on the mind-bending existentialism.

Director Len Wiseman shared his thoughts on the project at Comic-Con:

After I read the script I wrote a list out of the things that I remembered from when I was 15 of Total Recall before I went and rewatched Total Recall again, just to see what actually stuck with me. And those were things I want to pay homage to.

He also stressed that his version would place more emphasis on “grittiness and realism” and have “a more serious tone.”

Kate Beckinsdale, also at Comic-Con, commented on her work in the new film:

“It’s going really great, and everyone’s very excited about it. I suppose the thing is, Sharon Stone’s interpretation of Lori [in the 1990 'Total Recall'] is safe because my character is more… It is Lori, but it’s an amalgamation of Lori and Richter. So I guess one of the differences about our movie as opposed to their movie is in that period of time they needed her to have a right hand man. I am the right hand man and Lori at the same time. So it’s a little bit more of an amalgamation of a couple of parts… And then for me there was a lot of… I mean, I’m beating everyone up. Fighting with Colin [Farrell], fighting with Jessica [Biel]. The fight with Jessica is going to be great. I like the fact that it’s a proper fight. It’s not two girls, and one of them, the shoulder is ripped off, and the bra comes out. It’s not like one of those stupid girl fights. It’s a proper fight.”

To sum it up; Columbia is mixing elements from a successful author’s writings with a successful action flick, taking out some elements (Mars), replacing it with more philosophy, and adding pretty-but-experienced actors.

Wiseman does promise, though, that the three breasted whore stays in the picture.

After much deliberation, the producers of House M.D. have decided that this season of the show, the 8th, should be the last.  By April this year they will have completed 177 episodes, which is about 175 more than anyone expected back in 2004.

The decision to end the show now, or ever, is a painful one, as it risks putting asunder hundreds of close friendships that have developed over the last eight years – but also because the show itself has been a source of great pride to everyone involved.

Since it began, House has aspired to offer a coherent and satisfying world in which everlasting human questions of ethics and emotion, logic and truth, could be examined, played out, and occasionally answered.  This sounds like fancy talk, but it really isn’t.  House has, in its time, intrigued audiences around the world in vast numbers, and has shown that there is a strong appetite for television drama that relies on more than prettiness or gun play.

But now that time is drawing to a close.  The producers have always imagined House as an enigmatic creature;  he should never be the last one to leave the party.  How much better to disappear before the music stops, while there is still some promise and mystique in the air.

The producers can never sufficiently express their gratitude to the hundreds of dedicated artists and technicians who have given so generously of their energy and talent to make House the show it has been – and perhaps will continue to be for some time, on one cable network or another.

The makers of House would also like to thank Fox Broadcasting and Universal Television for supporting the show with patience, imagination and large quantities of good taste.  The Studio-As-Evil-Adversary is one of the many clichés that House has managed to avoid, and for that the cast and crew are deeply grateful.

Lastly, the audience: some have come and some have gone, obviously. This is to be expected in the life of any show. But over the course of the last eight years, the producers of House have felt immensely honored to be the subject of such close attention by an intelligent, discriminating, humane and thoughtful – not to mention numerous – audience. Even the show’s detractors have been flattering in their way. Making the show has felt like a lively and passionate discussion about as many different subjects as could possibly be raised in 177 hours. The devotion and generosity of our viewers has been marvelous to behold.

So, finally, everyone at House will bid farewell to the audience and to each other with more than a few tears, but also with a deep feeling of gratitude for the grand adventure they have been privileged to enjoy for the last eight years.  If the show lives on somewhere, with somebody, as a fond memory, then that is a precious feat, of which we will always be proud.

Everybody Lies.

STATEMENT FROM KEVIN REILLY, PRESIDENT, ENTERTAINMENT, FOX BROADCASTING COMPANY:

While it’s with much regret, and a lump in our throats, we respect the decision Hugh, David and Katie have made.  A true original, on the page and amazingly brought to life by Hugh Laurie, there is only one Dr. House.  For eight seasons, the entire HOUSE team has given us – and fans around the world – some of the most compelling characters and affecting stories ever seen on television.  They have been creatively tenacious and collaborative throughout this incredible run, and they are amongst the most superior talents in the business.  For all the above, we wholeheartedly thank them, and the fans who have supported the show.

While the video draws immediate comparisons to The Sand Pit which focused on New York City, the overview of San Francisco is still a much different landscape.

The video was created by Shukhrat Pardaev of MINIMUS DESIGN and features music by Machete Avenue.

STR / AFP/ Getty Images

The US government says that Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom masterminded a vast file sharing conspiracy that swindled the entertainment industry out of millions by letting users illegally download movies and songs.

By putting Dotcom behind bars, the feds didn’t just end Megaupload though, once one of the most visited sites on the Web. By ending the operation, authorities have also pulled the plug on an endeavor that was scheduled to launch later this year that could have legitimately disrupted Hollywood by letting users download songs — and rewarding the artists with compensation unheard of in the industry.

The project was already launched last year during a trial and Dotcom, born Kim Schmitz, said in December that it was met with overwhelming success. It was called Megabox, and Dotcom was intending on making it available to the public in 2012. The site would expand on Megaupload’s file sharing service, but allow users to legally download songs, some for free, while still allowing the artists to collect compensation. It was going to be a partnership between Megaupload execs and others in the online industry, including Amazon — but it was also going to be a big thorn on the side of record labels.

The subject of allegations involving copyright infringement and illegal file sharing, Megaupload was already an opponent of the industry. Universal Music Group, the largest record company in America, had attacked Megaupload before last week’s raid of Dotcom’s New Zealand mansion and others had opposed the site as well. New revelations about Megabox suggest that it could be more than just a coincidence that the file sharing mogul was about to unleash some serious competition that would reward the musicians that are regularly raped of royalties.

“UMG knows that we are going to compete with them via our own music venture called Megabox.com, a site that will soon allow artists to sell their creations directly to consumers while allowing artists to keep 90 percent of earnings,”Dotcom told the website Torrentfreak this past December.

Letting the artist make money? It seems to make a lot of sense but is a preposterous idea within the industry. According to research conducted by the Information Is Beautiful website, a song sold on Apple’s iTunes platform usually returns a cut of around 63 percent to the label; from there, the average musician only collects 15 percent of that figure. To say that Megabox would be a godsend to struggling artists is an understatement then, but it also could have majorly crippled the labels.

Read more here: http://rt.com/usa/news/megabox-industry-megaupload-dotcom-803/

Surprisingly Mr. Dwicky says he believes him and that he wants to help him out. He later reveals to a colleague that this is just a ruse to get Dib to trust him.

They trick Zim into thinking aliens are coming to meet him in the woods to give him super weapons but after a while of waiting, Mr. Dwicky reveals he doesn’t really believe Dib. At that point some real aliens turn up and offer to take Mr. Dwicky with them. As he loved aliens as a child he jumps at the chance and Dib is left behind with nobody else believing him.

Original air date: 22 July 2006

To stop it from acting so hostile to him he downloads his own personality into the ship. This does not go as planned because the ship then starts to believe that it is Dib.

Zim discovers what Dib has done and reminds the ship that it is Irken technology and must do what Zim says. Zim commands the ship to throw Dib into the city sewage plant but the ship remembers that it is Dib, and throws Zim across town.

The ship is so depressed that it is “Dib” that it deletes its personality.

Guest star: Olivia D’Abo

Original air date: 15 July 2006

The girl loves all the attention and won’t let anyone simply pull her out.

Dib manages to persuade the president to use a digging machine to dig under the girl to get her out. He suggests this because then Zim’s base will be discovered.

Zim finally decides that enough is enough and simply pulls the girl out of the hole.

The mosque’s new Imam, Amaar Rashid arrives from the big city to smooth things over, but his easy charm and progressive ways do little to convince the locals that Muslims aren’t simply a bunch of terrorists.

A handshake deal between the new Imam and Reverend Magee ensures that Mercy’s Muslims are here to stay.