revenue
Record labels keep blaming P2P, but it’s a hard sell
In response to a new survey suggesting that P2P file-swapping might not be harming music sales , music’s international trade group IFPI today put out a statement. “The net effect of illegal file-sharing in the UK and elsewhere has been to reduce legitimate sales,” IFPI asserts . “This is why spending on recorded music has fallen every year since illegal file-sharing began to become widespread.” In other words, P2P file-sharing is the main cause of the revenue decline and the (very real) job losses in the recorded music business.
Continue reading »Canadian taxman eyes eBay sellers
Some Canadians who’ve been selling online but haven’t told The Taxman may soon find themselves in a spot of bother if they don’t soon declare themselves. High-volume sellers on eBay, “may find themselves being audited by the Canada Revenue Agency beginning this fall,” says the Financial Post , going on: “Jean-Pierre Blackburn, the Revenue Minister, said yesterday anyone who has sold products on the website could avoid audits, fines and penalties by voluntarily coming forward and declaring the revenue to the agency.” The Federal Court of Canada ordered eBay to release information on its 2004 and 2005 PowerSellers, effective November 7, 2008, says the story, continuing: “John Wonfor, national director of tax for BDO Dunwoody LLP, said the CRA is concerned only with professional e-commerce practioners, not individuals who may infrequently sell items such as used sofas just to get rid of them, usually at a loss. ‘You don’t have to pay tax on a loss and you can’t deduct it because it’s personal-use property, so it’s a non-event’.” There are five levels of PowerSellers, with the top ones transacting US$150,000 a month, Wonfor says in the story, adding: “So there’s substantial stuff going on” Follow p2pnet on Twitter .
Continue reading »Cyber Criminals Industrialize to Increase Effectiveness
SAN FRANCISCO — Cybercriminals have become industrialized to increase their effectiveness. They are increasingly using encryption to cover their tracks and prevent forensic investigators from recovering evidence, according to Joe Stewart, security researcher for SecureWorks. Stewart, speaking at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco Wednesday, said the criminals are using virtual private networks to siphon stolen information from hacked companies so the stream of exiting data often goes undetected by the victim.
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