June 29th, 2009 by admin

Torna Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett con una nuova avventura di Petra Delicado, ispettore di polizia a Barcellona, dura e umana al tempo stesso come il suo nome ossimoro suggerisce.
Stavolta è nel Silenzio dei Chiostri che si consuma l’efferato omicidio: un convento di clausura che è come un mondo a parte, chiuso nella sua ovatta e nella sua struttura monarchica.

Titolo: Il silenzio dei chiostri
Autore: Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett
Editore: Sellerio
Anno di pubblicazione: 2009
Traduttore: M. Nicola
Pagine: 527

Trama in sintesi:
Un frate viene trovato cadavere, e allo stesso tempo un cadavere di frate, vecchio di secoli, viene trafugato misteriosamente.
Petra arriva a quell’omicidio preceduta dalla sua fama. La madre superiora (un satrapo in quella specie di feudo che è il convento) la manda infatti a chiamare in via informale, sperando nella sua discrezione oltre che nella sua bravura. Ma nel mondo reale non è possibile indagare in punta di piedi su un omicidio, e così il convento deve suo malgrado socchiudere la sua porta al mondo esterno, e permettere alla polizia di Barcellona di entrare con le sue leggi e le sue procedure.
Il romanzo si svolge su tre linee direttrici principali. La prima è l’indagine vera e propria, la ricerca dell’omicida e della mummia trafugata che in certi momenti riflette echi di Dan Brown e dei peggiori romanzi a sfondo storico, con digressioni e ricostruzioni di scontri e battaglie che sono la parte senz’altro più fangosa di tutto il romanzo. La seconda è il rapporto tra Petra e le suore, ben esemplificate dalla madre superiora Guillermina. Il contrasto è evidente: non solo la dicotomia clausura-mondo libero, ma ancora di più quello tra Petra, donna indipendente, progressista ed emancipata, e il simbolo del suo esatto contrario. O almeno così sembra, perchè nel corso del confronto tra le due donne, saranno più i punti di contatto ad emergere, che non le differenze: sono entrambe due capi, entrambe hanno guadagnato la propria autorità con il rispetto più che con i gradi, entrambe indulgono ai vizi e dunque mostrano le loro debolezze, cosa che al dunque le rende umane. Una idea nemmeno troppo originale sviluppata in maniera un po’ artificiosa. Il gioco dell’autrice è scoperto sin dai primi incontri, anzi di più, persino urlato. Non passa incontro tra Petra e Guillermina senza che la prima senta il bisogno di informarci quanto le piaccia la seconda, con una ripetività che alla fine risulta veramente di maniera.
Il terzo segmento è infine quello più legato alla cosiddetta trama orizzontale della serie dell’ispettore Delicado. Nell’ultimo libro avevamo lasciato Petra impalmata da quello che è il suo terzo marito, l’architetto di nome Marcos; ora la ritroviamo alle prese con le gioie e i dolori del suo nuovo menage coniugale. Tre figliastri e un marito (fin troppo paziente) da gestire, il lavoro da poliziotto che si mette sempre in mezzo tra lei e la serenità, le sue turbe da donna single che tornano a galla spingendola a preferire qualche birra con il suo fedele Garzòn piuttosto che una cena nel focolare domestico.
Questi in sintesi gli ingredienti. Il silenzio dei chiostri è come sempre assistito da una scrittura agile e allo stesso tempo accurata, ma la penna della Bartlett a volte risulta un po’ appesantita. Troppe inutili digressioni, e non solo storiche (naturalmente “de gustibus”, ma se compro un romanzo di Valerio Massimo Manfredi almeno so cosa aspettarmi), quanto del tipo personale. Le già citate schermaglie con madre Guillermina, le riflessioni sulla sua vita coniugale e su quanto sia difficile fare il poliziotto e tenersi allo stesso tempo una vita normale, a lungo andare prendono un po’ il sapore di riciclato.
Nulla che comprometta la lettura, naturalmente. Ma asciugare il romanzo di un centinaio di pagine l’avrebbe agevolata di molto.

Cristiano Idini

Il silenzio dei chiostri, di Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett: acquistalo su IBS!

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June 29th, 2009 by admin

Some people might remember Nexicon from the Getamnesty site we mentioned in the past, or perhaps as the Youtube copyright cops. The company has a history as a cigarette retailer but went on to hunt pirates after they were sued for selling smokes to minors and failing to report their sales to the tax office.

After its transformation into a pirate tracking outfit Nexicon launched its Getamnesty program which offers copyright holders a chance to turn piracy into profit. They cleverly circumvent privacy protection laws by using ISPs to forward settlement requests for various copyright holders to alleged infringers. One of their most successful partner programs is the Payartists website which is a misleading name to say the least.

The money collected through Payartists is not going to any artists at all. The only artist they collect ’settlements’ for on the site is Frank Zappa, and he passed away in 1993. All the settlement money collected now goes to The Zappa Family Trust which is headed by Zappa’s widow.

Most recently a new Nexicon franchise emerged, as the ‘Video Protection Alliance’ (VPA) has teamed up with several porn studios to track down and force settlements from alleged copyright infringers. The methods they use are very similar to Getamnesty and Payartists and are designed to get cash payments from illicit file-sharers without even having to first find out who they are.

The process is simple. Their software monitors BitTorrent swarms and other filesharing networks and records the IP-addresses of those people who share the work of their clients. It then automatically sends an email to the ISP linked to the IP-address with a request to forward it to the associated customer.

Thus far, this is very similar to the warning letters that the movie and music studios have been sending out for years. However, there is one big difference. The emails sent out by Nexicon to alleged infringers contain veiled threats of legal action if they don’t choose to settle within 10 days.

In their email they write that “it may be beneficial to settle this matter without the need of costly and time-consuming litigation.”

If you don’t settle they are “prepared to pursue every available remedy including damages, recovery of attorney’s fees, costs and any and all other claims that may be available to it in a lawsuit filed against you.” To make it even more scary, they point out that ISPs might cut your Internet connection if you don’t comply.

In the FAQ on the VPA website it is noted that consulting a lawyers is an option, but it would be a rather silly thing to do since it will cost more than the settlement itself. “It is likely that the cost incurred to retain a lawyer will exceed the settlement amount offered.”

Indeed, the settlements are rather cheap compared to the fine that was handed out to Jammie Thomas recently. The settlement offer for an adult movie is close to the retail price of a DVD and for a single Frank Zappa track you’ll pay $10. In comparison, Jammie Thomas was ordered to pay $80,000 per song.

However, because of these low fees and the use of threatening language we cannot help mentioning the word ‘extortion’ once more. Even if they handle with the best intentions they should adjust their tracking software to be more accurate. We confirmed at least one case where they sent a settlement offer to the wrong person, and we’re pretty sure that this is not the only mistake they’ve made.

Still, even people wrongfully accused of sharing [insert obscene porn title here] may be inclined to pay a few bucks rather than risk being taken to court. The threats are worrying enough for some people to pay for an offense they didn’t commit. But there might be an even easier way out.

Unsurprisingly, very little happens when the threats are ignored. A Manhattan College employee dealing with DMCA notices wrote recently. “We have not passed the settlement info on to the students linked with the allegedly infringing IP address and have not had any follow up notices from them.”

This aside, we are not aware of any legal action taken by any of Nexicon’s partners to back up their threats. To the best of our knowledge they don’t even have a proper license to act as private investigators which is a felony in several US states and renders the ‘evidence’ they have in their spreadsheets useless.

Our advice, if you get a settlement offer from one of Nexicon’s partners please forward it to your spam folder - after forwarding it to us first of course.

Post from: TorrentFreak

June 29th, 2009 by admin

More than two years have passed since The Pirate Bay team first announced that they were working on a video streaming site. However, as with most of their projects it can take a while before the public can catch a glimpse of what they are working on.

The Video Bay - as the project is named - opened up to the public with a very early test version a few weeks ago. Initially, users were able to browse though the videos but this has been disabled now. What is left is an announcement that the site will be launched somewhere in the future.

“This site will be an experimental playground and as such subjected to both live and drunk (en)coding, so please don’t bug us too much if the site ain’t working properly,” it currently reads on the site’s main page.

How long it will take before the site will be opened up to the public is unknown. Pirate Bay’s TiAMO told TorrentFreak that there is still a lot of work to do behind the scenes. The encoder is not finished yet and the design is also a work in progress.

Pirate Bay Spokesman Peter Sunde agreed that it might take a while before the site goes live and told us that “it will be done when it’s done, in the future, in like a year or five.”

The Video Bay aims to implement some of the latest technologies including HTML 5 features such as the video and audio tags as well as the embedding of ogg/theora video and audio formats. However, it will not use p2p technology to stream the videos.

In time the site has the potential to become a major player in the video streaming area, similar to what BayIMG is for image hosting. A no-nonsense video sharing site where users can share whatever they want - uncensored. Hollywood will be delighted.

Update: Two preview clips are now available at the main page. Those who want to try out need a web browser that supports the HTML 5 tags such as the latest Firefox Beta or Safari 4.

Post from: TorrentFreak

June 29th, 2009 by admin

Since 2005, Brazilian senator Eduardo Azeredo has been proposing new ‘cybercrimes’ legislation. Unlike some European proposals, the Brazilian one isn’t limited to dealing with copyright issues alone, but has expanded to include all “dangerous” online activities. Anyone creating a virus or simply sharing illicit files could be arrested and jailed for up to three years.

The International Free Software Forum (FISL) is an annual event sponsored by the Free Software Association taking place in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The event sees the coming together of researchers, social movements, entrepreneurs, hackers and free information advocates, this year including Peter Sunde, spokesman for The Pirate Bay.

At the event yesterday was a rather high-profile individual, Brazil’s President Lula. The President took the opportunity to publicly criticize the legislation supported by Senator Eduardo Azeredo.

“In our government it is prohibited to prohibit,” said the president during his speech at the event. “I consider this bill a form of censorship,” he added.

After meeting with others including Richard Stallman, President Lula noted that “..the Internet must continue free,” adding ”..the freedom is the source of the creativity”.

Also invited to the event was someone with perhaps an even higher profile in Internet-related issues than the president himself, The Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde. Not wanting to miss out on a great photo opportunity to boost his popularity, President Lula Peter Sunde posed with Peter Sunde President Lula.

Post from: TorrentFreak

June 27th, 2009 by admin

I finalisti del Barry Award 2009 sono stati resi noti qualche giorno fa. Il premio, istituito nel 1997 in memoria di Barry Gardner, come sempre sarà assegnato durante la Bouchercon, quest’anno ospitata a Indianapolis.
Nel categoria miglior romanzo, a contendersi la vittoria saranno:

Trigger City, di Sean Chercover
The draining lake, di Arnaldur Indridason
Envy the night, di Michael Koryta
Red Knife, di William Kent Krueger
The cruelest month, di Louise Penny
Dawn Patrol, di Don Winslow

Quasi tutti nomi habitué delle ultime edizioni premi letterari di maggior prestigio nel panorama mondiale.

Per i nominati nelle rimanenti categorie, invece, potete consultare il sito di Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine.

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June 27th, 2009 by admin

Dopo il successo del suo precedente romanzo, Sacrificio, con Il risveglio Sharon Bolton fa nuovamente capolino sugli scaffali delle librerie italiane. La trama del suo nuovo libro è la seguente

Clara Benning è veterinaria, capace, giovane e piena di entusiasmo per la sua professione, però è infelice a causa di un incidente che l’ha lasciata sfigurata da bambina, e l’ha resa incapace di vivere serenamente i rapporti umani. Accettare di aiutare la polizia, in un caso di un uomo apparentemente ucciso da un serpente, per lei è quindi difficile. Ma quando l’autopsia svela nel sangue tanto veleno che nessun rettile possiede, la gente inizia a temere antiche leggende di strani rit. La polizia si insospettisce riguardo una vecchia casa abbandonata, mentre la vita solitaria di Clara viene sconvolta da qualcuno che disposto a uccidere ancora per nascondere la verità…

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June 27th, 2009 by admin

Michael Jackson suffered a cardiac arrest on Thursday afternoon, which was likely caused by a Demerol overdose and ultimately led to his death.

There is no doubt that Jackson had a tremendous impact on several generations of musicians, and millions of people who grew up with his music. It is therefore no surprise to see that only hours after he was pronounced dead, his music is being sought by hundreds of thousands of people.

At the time of writing the three most active torrents in the music section on the largest torrent indexer, Mininova, are all compilations or discographies from the “King of Pop”. On top is a torrent listing 30 Michael Jackson albums, The Jackson 5 and The Jacksons, totaling 1.94 GB of music.

In common with social media sites, ‘Michael Jackson’ is one of the most sought after phrases on torrent sites too. The search cloud on Mininova is filled with Jackson-related searches from fans who want to complete their collection.

This renewed interest in Michael Jackson is not limited to just torrent sites though. On Amazon, Jackson’s work takes up the top 14 spots on the bestselling albums list. Currently the top 10 albums chart on iTunes is dominated by 7 Jackson albums. On eBay there is a similar boom with memorabilia being traded for ten times the prices of just two days ago.

It had been rumored by Michael Jackson biographer Ian Halperin that the ‘King of Pop’ had recorded as many as 100 unreleased tracks but was keeping them locked away. He claimed that upon Jackson’s death, the tracks would be made available to his three children as a personal legacy and to secure an inheritance.

With Jackson’s death the 100 songs could now become available, and considering his troubling financial situation it may not take very long before they become available to the public, in stores and on BitTorrent.

Post from: TorrentFreak

June 27th, 2009 by admin

There will be no retrial for The Pirate Bay, the Appeal Court decided today. According to the Court the judge was not biased based on the requirements of the European Convention, a decision that can’t be appealed.

However, Pirate Bay’s spokesman Peter Sunde says that they will not give up that easily. On his blog he writes, “When people think you’re down and out, that you’ve lost and have no way to win… that’s the perfect time to hit them harder than ever before.”

On Twitter Peter announces that their next step is to “file charges against Sweden for violation for Human Rights.”

In order to do so they will have take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, who will then conduct a review to see if the Swedish legal system did indeed violate the rights of the defendants in the Pirate Bay trial.

Peter also points out that Anders Eka, the judge responsible for reviewing the bias case, was biased himself. He is referring to his connection to The Stockholm Center for Commercial law, together with movie industry lawyers Monique Wasted and Peter Danowsky who represented the music industry in the Pirate Bay trial.

The appeal court was well aware of this connection, but said before that there was no reason to take Eka off the case.

“The group Anders Eka is a member of has no connection to copyright issues and the interests that are present in the case. I cannot see how this specific connection could lead to that Anders Eka isn’t suitable to try the question of bias,” Fredrik Wersäll, the president of the appeal court has said.

The exact nature of the charges against Sweden remain unclear. Peter Sunde was not available to comment but we guess it wont take long before we find out. Stay tuned for updates.

Post from: TorrentFreak

June 27th, 2009 by admin

A few days after the verdict in the Pirate Bay trial was made public, judge Tomas Norström was heavily criticized for his involvement with pro-copyright lobby groups. To everyone’s surprise, Norström never declared these activities before he took on the case.

Together with several of the lawyers who represented the movie and music industries, the judge was a member of the Swedish Association of copyright (SFU) and the Swedish Association for Protection of Industrial Property (SFIR). These engagements automatically make him a member of two major international pro-copyright organizations, ALAI and AIPPI.

Because of these connections the lawyers of the Pirate Bay defendants called for a retrial, arguing that the judge was not as objective as he should’ve been. One of the defendants, The Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde told TorrentFreak at the time: “In the best interest of the Swedish people’s trust in the system a retrial should be not only granted, but pushed for.”

Today, the Appeal Court ruled that Tomas Norström was not biased. Although he was indeed a member of organizations that preserve the interests of copyright holders, this has not influenced his judgment, the court ruled.

The Appeal Court argues that the judge’s membership in the copyright associations show an engagement in issues “that to a certain extent is in the interest of the rights holders”. The Appeal Court added that it must be taken into account that the rights of rights holders are recognized by Swedish law. “That a judge agrees with the principles that are fundamental to this law cannot in itself be a reason for bias,” the court said.

Nevertheless, the court criticized the judge for not being open about his engagement in the associations before the trial. If he had done so, the question of bias then could have been tried earlier, they said.

Jonas Nilsson, the lawyer of Pirate Bay co-founder Fredrik Neij, is not happy with the decision and he said in a response: “The judge has an obligation to inform the parties about circumstances that could be seen as bias. Since he didn’t do that, it’s a mishandled trial. I’m very critical about the appeal court’s reasoning.”

The Pirate Party’s EU parliamentarian Christian Engström is also surprised and angry with the decision: “It is all part of a pattern. It shows that the Swedish judicial system cannot be trusted in copyright cases anymore. The laws may be wrong as well, but in addition to them the courts can’t even use the laws in a correct way. I have been a lay judge for seven years and I have never seen such a bad case as the Pirate Bay case. And still the court sentenced to unbelievable punishments.”

Engström believes the appeal court’s verdict is positive for the Pirate Party. “This shows that the only way to win the fight is through politics. It’s a political issue and it will be settled in the national elections 2010,” he said.

The verdict in the Pirate Bay trial where the four defendants were sentenced to one year in prison and a combined fine of $3,620,000 will now be appealed through the normal route.

Post from: TorrentFreak

June 25th, 2009 by admin

Gli ultimi libri di John Grisham hanno scontentato molti lettori, con escursioni nel mainstream e nel non-fiction. Adesso il maestro del legal thriller torna al genere che ne ha decretato la fortuna con il nuovo romanzo, Il ricatto. Protagonista di questo libro è Kyle McAvoy, giovane avvocato di York, un ragazzo di grandi speranze ma con un segreto nel proprio passato. Degli sconosciuti lo avvicinano affermando di avere le prove che durante gli anni del college è stato coinvolto in uno stupro: gli uomini si muovono per conto di un committente che ha forti interessi in una causa riguardante un bombardiere commissionato dal Pentagono. Kyle dovrà accettare di lavorare a New York, nello studio legale più importante del mondo per passare ai ricattatori notizie top secret… Cosa sceglierà di fare il giovane Kyle? Si piegherà al ricatto o si ribellerà per ritrovare anche la propria etica?

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