Torrent.ru, the Russian-based torrent indexing site that serves 4 million users, has had its domain name suspended today, effectively taking down the site at its current location.

The large indexer, which has over 1 million active torrents, had the domain name suspended by RU-Center, the nation's largest registrar and web-host.

According to Andrey Vorobiev, Director of Public Relations (via TorrentFreak), "the domain was blocked on the orders of the Investigative Division of the regional prosecutor's office in Chertanovskaya, Moscow, but could not disclose the reasons."

For now, the site is back up at Rutracker.org, but it remains unseen whether that new domain will be taken down by the authorities as well.

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According to Mashable, CBS looks to be on the verge of dropping the price of their TV episodes on iTunes from $1.99 to $0.99, with CEO Les Moonves saying specifically that "there are certain shows that will be sold on Apple for 99 cents."

Although many networks price down older content, MediaMemo says that the context of the quote shows CBS is "planning on changing its pricing structure on more than a one-off basis."

If the move does take place, rivals like NBC and Fox will likely be forced to drop their prices as well for TV shows. At under a dollar, consumers will be more willing to purchase the content, but it is unclear what kind of hit margins will take for the content holders.

Their is no deal set in stone yet, but Apple and CBS are currently in negotiations.

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Google has started its own YouTube channel to "explain" Google Voice, all of its features, and how they work.

Watch all 10 videos in the series here: http://www.youtube.com/googlevoice

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According to a new research report from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), about 9.78 million pirated games were downloaded in December, although the trade group says its numbers are skewed, to the lower side.

Only 200 of the most popular games were part of the survey, and downloads were only counted from P2P services and torrent trackers. One-click hosts such as Megaupload and Hotfile were not included.

"These figures under-represent the true magnitude of online game piracy," says the ESA, via GI.biz. "They address only downloads of a small selection of ESA member titles. And while they account for illegal downloads that occur over select P2P platforms, they do not account for downloads that occur from 'cyberlockers' or 'one-click' hosting sites, which continue to account for high volumes of infringing downloads."

Somewhat surprisingly, the heaviest pirates "by volume" came from Italy and Spain, with China a distant 5th.

"ESA's reporting demonstrates a strong correlation between countries that lack sufficient protections for technological protection measures and countries where online piracy levels for entertainment software are high," said the trade group.

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Entertainment Weekly has reported that a young couple got married on Valentine's Day, at an Apple Store, with, you guessed it, the priest dressed as CEO Steve Jobs.

Says EW: "The happy couple is Josh and Ting Li, who confirm to EW that this was their real wedding. They first bonded over a mutual fascination with all things clickwheel, Josh says. "We got to know each other because Ting was looking to buy an iPod…and I managed to strike up a conversation that way." Romance blossomed for the two iLovebirds. "I used to joke that the Apple Store is my church because I am not religious, and I loved everything Apple," Josh adds. "Ting then came up with the idea of having the wedding there." They haven't decided yet where to have a reception, but I hear Cupertino is lovely this time of year.
I think this renegade Apple store wedding trumps the Halo wedding, but can it top that Star Wars wedding? What about a Katamari Damancy wedding?"

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According to a new report from MediaMemo, content providers are eager to bring the popular TV and movie streaming service Hulu to the Apple iPad, but the normally free service will become a paid subscription service if it does get exported to the tablet.

Hulu has been long said to be exploring subscription plans, as a way to bring the site a healthier profit.

The first problem for Hulu on the iPad would be Apple's lack of Flash support. Although the partners behind Hulu are looking to create an Apple-friendly version of the site, that seems to be in early development still. It is "unlikely" that any version of Hulu will be available for the iPad launch in late March.

We will keep you updated.

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Nearly a third of all Netflix subscribers with broadband internet connections stream video to their TVs using the company's Watch Instantly service according to a new report from TDG.

That figure includes 24.6% who use both their computer and TV for Netflix streaming and 7.2% who watch exclusively on a TV. Another 30.7% only use their computer.

Even though the remaining 37.5% don't use the service at all, the majority are at least familiar with it.

The increasing number of viewers streaming video to TVs is a reflection of the company's long term thinking. In fact Netflix has taken a smart approach to the streaming business from the very beginning, when it was little more than a novelty.

Perhaps the most important detail of their strategy has been the understanding that some things are worth more when you give them away.

That's not to say streaming video has no value. But its value hasn't been in producing a unique revenue stream. Instead they've used it to promote their DVD by mail business and help them continue to increase their subscriber base.

The decision not to charge extra for streaming has allowed them to make other good decisions, such as avoiding overpriced content deals.

The number and variety of titles available initially through Watch Instantly was extremely limited. There were no big hit movies or TV shows when the service debuted in 2007.

Had they been charging extra to use the service that would probably have been the kiss of death. But they weren't. As a result, anything they offered was a bonus.

Some might argue that Netflix streaming isn't really free since you still need a subscription, but the price hasn't changed with the addition of Watch Instantly. In fact the limits on most lower priced plans were lifted last year. It would be hard to argue their plans would be any cheaper without it, which in practical terms makes it free.

Netflix has continually focused on deals that make sense financially. By avoiding prohibitively expensive hits and focusing on whatever titles are being offered at a more reasonable price they've been able to avoid accompanying price hikes that would surely drive away many customers.

All this free streaming has produced another, equally valuable commodity - viewers who want to stream movies to their televisions. And just as with the video itself, they understand this is a commodity which is more valuable when given away.

By working first with set-top vendor Roku, and later with more traditional consumer electronics vendors they made their subscriptions even more valuable. Eventually they even released an API so developers could create computer-based clients of their own.

Rather than complaining that others are making money from their product, they have continued to concentrate on growing their customer base, and at the same time retool their business for the future.

Eventually DVD and Blu-ray as viable products will go the way of the record album and video tape. Rather than making their service less valuable, this will simply shift the value to yet another commodity - the painless user experience of all the embedded Netflix hardware clients.

Even now, anything you can stream from Netflix is also be available for free from sources like P2P networks. What distinguishes Watch Instantly is that it's a better experience for the user, which is something people will pay for.

By embracing technology advances, and the economic realities that come with them, they've continued to expand existing revenue streams without sacrificing the future.

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Apple has doubled the previous cap imposed on iPhone owners when trying to download applications via AT&T 3G.

Until today, users could download apps with a limit of 10MB in size, with any larger downloads having to be done via Wi-Fi. Users can now download apps up to 20MB in size.

Although criticized, the caps are imposed to help AT&T save bandwidth on an already overworked network.

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After nearly a year's worth of work, the new version of AfterDawn's backend and layout is almost ready for the prime time. Still some minor bugs need to be fixed, a few mysterious issues need to be addressed, etc. but it is almost ready (we'd say 99% done) and you can test it now.

So, please visit AfterDawn "v4" at:

http://www.v4.afterdawn.com/

or click here to view this news article in the new layout.

Let us know your thoughts. Post your comments to this news article or use our feedback form to contact us directly. I must also mention that the site wont function properly if you're using IE6, Netscape 3.x, Mosaic or any other browser that is almost a decade old. Furthermore, many sections of the site utilize -- to very small degree, I must say -- JavaScript, so it is recommended to have it turned on in your browser's settings.

Here are some of the most notable changes:

• Complete redesign of the AfterDawn backend
• The page loads should be much quicker
• Completely new look and feel to the site
• The layout is now fixed to a width of 990 pixels. We feel this helps in keeping the content much easier to read.
• Line height of the text has been increased - again to make the content more readable.
• Comment and write without signing up
• You can post news comments, write hardware and software reviews and write to forums without first signing up - new account can be created when you write new content
• Some sections of the site allow comments to be written anonymously as well
• New way to navigate, more distinction between sections
• You now move between different site sections (news, downloads, forums etc.) using the links at the top of the page.
• Navigation within a section is done using tabs and drop-down menus
• New section to the site - Tech support
• Got a small question that's eating you up, but you just don't feel like starting a new forum thread for it? Tech support is the place to go
• Easily ask (and answer) all sorts of questions related to computers and other technology

Please note that the site is still beta -- report us all the bugs, typos, translation errors (in case you see something in some other language other than English..) and 404s. Furthermore, the beta site runs on one server as opposed to current site's server cluster setup, so it is bound to be slower than the current "v3" version until it finally goes live.

Known problems relate mostly to "my" section and to Product comparison section's prices.

-Petteri Pyyny, webmaster
AfterDawn.com

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According to a lawsuit filed recently in US District Court, administrators at Lower Merion School District in Rosemont, PA used the webcam on a school issued laptop to illegally spy on a student. School officials are accused of violating federal wiretapping laws, as well as the student's civil rights.

The laptop is one of more than 2,000 issued to district high school students in order to give them access to school resources at all times. Each of the laptops is equipped with remote access software for locating the computers and secretly activating the onboard webcam in case they're stolen.

But that's not all it was used for according to the parents of Blake Robbins. They say their son was disciplined late last year for "improper behavior" based on a picture taken secretly by someone at the school who was monitoring him remotely.

Rather than admitting improper activities of their own, the school district appears to be going into full denial mode.

They posted a statement on their website stating "This feature has only been used for the limited purpose of locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop. The District has not used the tracking feature or web cam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever."

If that's the case, the obvious question is how the Assistant Principal at Robbins' school got a picture from his webcam, when the laptop apparently hadn't been reported stolen.

Any decision reached in this case could have far reaching implications considering the growing number of schools providing laptops to their students. These programs are very important, especially for poorer students who don't normally have the access to technology required for learning essential skills to succeed both in school, and later in the job market.

Giving students good reason not to use computers is counterproductive to say the least.

The school district's announcement said "The District is dedicated to protecting and promoting student privacy. The laptops do contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops. This feature has been deactivated effective today."

It also indicated the district would not reactivate it without first notifying all students and families in writing.

That's not likely to be a consolation for students who no doubt feel personally violated, and will almost certainly not be using their laptops' webcams in the future, even for legitimate school activities.

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