PC Laptop Notebook Comments (0)
South Korea today launched its first rocket into orbit, carrying an observation satellite, raising hopes of becoming yet another powerful Asian space nation. However, the satellite launch failed, dampening hopes of South Korea entering the Asian space race.
The two-stage KSLV-I rocket was supposed to launch into orbit carrying a South Korean-made satellite that was to study the oceans and Earth’s atmosphere.
The country, which has launched 11 satellites in 17 years from overseas launch sites, originally planned to launch on July 30, but the launch was delayed several times related to technical issues. The launch was delayed last week because of “an unspecified problem,” and it turns out not all technical issues were fixed.
In 2001, South Korea agreed to an international agreement that limits the full range of all ballistic missile launches, but a loophole may provide a method for the country to easily transition to a ballistic missile launch.
South Korea continues to expand its cruise missile program, and wants to renegotiate terms of its 2001 agreement that caps its ballistic missile range. Space observers note South Korea has matured its space program in a more open, transparent manner than North Korea, China and other space nations.
North Korea, a fierce rival and military adversary, watched the rocket launch closely, as there is a concern it could be a disguised test for possible space-based missile launches. Even though the satellite launch wasn’t successful, North Korea may still be upset about the launch.
North Korea launched its first rocket in May, a move that caused the country to undergo sanctions from the United Kingdom. The government faced international pressure from the U.S., South Korea, Japan, and several western nations, who said NK’s rocket launch was a coverup to test future military-based missile launches. North Korea’s multistage rocket is powerful enough to reportedly reach the west coast of the U.S.
Japan, China and India also have seen recent success with their space programs, with some space experts predicting China to be the next country to launch a manned mission to the moon. Each nation has plans for both manned and unmanned missions to the moon, as Japan plans to launch a moon probe by 2020.
admin @ August 25, 2009
PC Laptop Notebook Comments (0)
Many times the good things in life just don’t last. That may yet be the case with The Pirate Bay. For years internet users worldwide used the site to get their music, TV, and movie fix. Some of the torrents were legal, others were orphaned works (technically illegal to share), and still others were blatant examples of infringement. But all these torrents had one thing in common — they brought people across the world together through enjoyable experiences.
However, yesterday the legal woes of the world’s largest torrent site forced it to temporarily go offline, signalling a potential end to those happy times. The site’s legal crisis first began when Swedish courts found the site’s admins guilty of copyright infringement and ordered them jailed and fined over $3.6M USD.
The site was purchased by Sweden’s Global Gaming Factory, which made a bid to make the site legit under a rather nebulous plan. Now it appears that bid — and the site — may be in jeopardy thanks to the aggressive legal action of copyright protection organizations.
The MPAA, RIAA, and IFPI sued the ISP that provided service to The Pirate Bay’s ISP and won. That ISP was ordered on Monday by a Swedish court to take down the site or face daily fines of $70,000 USD. The site was quickly taken down Monday, only to pop back up after a few hours, only to be taken down yet again.
The site owners, who are currently appealing the original judgement, write, “The good people at the MAFIAA decided to sue. Not TPB [The Pirate Bay], not the owners of TPB. Not even TPBs ISP. They decided to sue TPBs ISPs ISP. And you know what? They won. They made a court believe their #lies and they made them force the ISPs ISP to shut down access to TPB.”
“The MAFIAA has spent millions of dollars and endless amounts of time to get this ban in order. Our guess is that they also bribed a bit to get it since it violates so many laws not only in Sweden but also in the EU, not to mention violations against human rights. And what do they have to show for it? [Three] hours of partial downtime.”
The Pirate Bay admins refer to the MPAA, RIAA, and IFPI, collectively, as MAFIAA due to the organizations’ reputation for resorting to at times thuggish legal tactics. Whatever name you know these organizations as, it is clear that they’re on a roll, with massive jury verdicts over U.S. citizens Jammie Rassett-Thomas and Joel Tenenbaum, and securing an order to takedown of the world’s largest torrent site.
However, The Pirate Bay admins remain defiant and determined. As of this morning the site was back online, with no apparent service interruptions. The admins are now offering a new T-Shirt for sale on the home page mocking the copyright protection organizations. The shirt reads, “I spent months of time and millions of dollars to close down The Pirate Bay and all I’ll get is this beautiful t-shirt!”
Further, the true impact of the takedown and other potential future takedowns may be minimized by the spread of a recently released, easily accessible, archive of the entire site, including all its torrents, written in SQLite3.
admin @ August 25, 2009