thelump.net

This Week in Lumps
#23 [23/10 - 29/10]

· No surprises here ladies and gentleman. After 2 weeks of negotiating, Microsoft has paid $240m (£117m) for a mere 1.6% stake in Facebook that values the massively popular social-networking web 2.0 site at $15 billion (£7.3billion). This story was commented on back in week 19, where I mentioned that Wall Street Journal was expecting the bid to be around the $300-500 million mark for 5%. It’s a figure that completely dwarfs the $1.65 billion that Google paid for the online video sharing site YouTube last year. We can all debateuntil the cows come home if Facebook is really worth that amount, the fact is, Mircosoft has got the deal it’s been after from ages.

As part of the deal, Microsoft will sell internet ads for Facebook outside the United States, adding to the fact that they already provide banner advertising and links on the US site. So, why does Microsoft think Facebook is worth $15 billion? According to a BBC article, here are 15 plausible reasons….

* The network has gone viral in the last 12 months, with more than 50 million users worldwide and a user base that is growing faster than great rival MySpace. According to Facebook, it adds 200,000 new users each day.
* The average user spends 3.5 hours a month on Facebook – more than the average user on rival MySpace – which is increasingly attractive to advertisers.
* Facebook is the current Web 2.0 darling – popular with ordinary users and “tech heads” alike.
* US research reveals that Facebook users come from wealthier homes and are more likely to attend college than MySpace users – increasing that attraction for advertisers.
* Microsoft’s investment makes them a serious player in the growing market of “social advertising”. Social network profiles are full of personal data that users voluntarily hand over, which is very useful for targeting adverts.
* Sixty percent of Facebook users are outside of the US – so Microsoft’s investment buys access to a global audience quickly and simply.
* Facebook is the new web: The decision to open up the network to outside developers turned Facebook into a destination for many uses, like messaging, photos and video. Of course, as Facebook is on the web it could never really be the new web.
* Every major content firm with an online presence is either working on a Facebook application or has already launched one – from Google to the BBC.
* According to a report, 233 million hours of work are lost each month in the UK due to staff looking at social networks. Advertisers can now target people when at their desks.
* The openness of Facebook is attracting a wealth of talented developers who can launch their applications to millions of users quickly.
* Facebook messaging is the new e-mail. Everyone feels stressed from a deluge of e-mail from unwanted people and companies. But Facebook messages are always from friends.
* Facebook’s “status updates” have become the easiest way to let friends know what you are doing and how you are feeling at any given moment.
* Facebook thrives on playful applications such as Pirates, Zombies, Super Wall and Top Friends, which have made the network a place to play as well as communicate.
* Facebook is the acceptable face of blogging – you can reflect your life and personality online without being seen as a “blogger”, which often carries a geeky stigma.
* Facebook is worth $15bn only because Microsoft says so. The value of Facebook is based on a 1.6% share of the firm being worth the $240m Microsoft paid for it. Microsoft and Google were in a bidding war for a slice of the firm and both companies have large pockets. This was not just business, this was personal, according to some analysts.

The first two points in that list is what everyone needs to focus on, to make sense of this deal. With this piece of business now in place, it cements Facebook as being greater than Myspace, in many more ways than just value. Everyone and their auntie knows how successful MySpace has been so far in the 21st Century, now Facebook is set to be even bigger, and even better, avoiding the pot-holes that slowed down MySpace, and steamrolling Microsoft into a force big enough to (possibly) take on Google. The last point is also a good one to remember, these figures are solely based on what Microsfot values Facebook at, not what other companies may have in the past. So should Google be worried? Times Online journalist Elizabeth Judge seems to think so too:

Microsoft’s aims are clear: the move marks the latest stage of a grand plan to transform itself into a web advertising powerhouse, giving Google a run for its money. As the web’s hottest property, with an audience of close to 50 million active users, Facebook, it believes, could play a central role in helping it to achieve that aim.

Facebook is expected to attract as many as 300 million users worldwide within the next few years. With this knowledge in mind, Microsoft may have just struck the deal of the decade. Only time will tell.

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· It may not happen to all of us, but most of us know someone who knows someone who won a large amount of money, either on the lottery or on a bingo night out. Described by many as ‘life changing’, any type of figure between £50,000 and a cool £1 million is going to improve your life more than you ever think it could. So what if, after your big win, your friends decide to ‘cash-in’ on a verbal agreement you had made prior to your big jackpot. Would you split your winnings evenly, honouring your agreement and bond, or would you slam the door in their face, and spent it all yourself? Such a predicament fell in the hands of Tania Burnett recently, and she had no problems in coming to her decision.

When Tania, a 25 year old single mum, won the house prize of £153 the Gala Bingo club in Plymouth, decided to enter herself into the National draw, eventually picking up a huge £101,211. The two friends she was with: Stacey Wilson, 24, and Abigail Stacey, 26, delighted as they may have been, politely reminded her of a previous verbal agreement between the friends that any amount of money over £10 won by any of the three would be shared equally. Magnanimous Tania was having none of it. She split the previous amount of £153 equally, at a curry house after the event, but refused to cough up the 2/3rds of her main winnings. Her friends, obviously not happy at this, started legal proceedings – paid for by the taxpayer – and earlier this week after a two and a half year ‘legal mess’ it was decided that Tania was cleared to keep the money herself, as the verbal agreement, or as the Judge put it ‘casual conversation’ was not a binding contract. Tania is no longer on speaking terms with her ex-friends, adding:

“All the money’s gone anyway. I’ve spent the lot on my kids and my house. If I’m honest, I wish I hadn’t won it at all. It’s been far too much hassle.”

Unemployed mother-of-one Miss Wilson was also very eclectic with her words, also:

“Tania never shares and she’s being rubbish.”

Yeah, like, totally blud, innit?

So, as hard as it may seem, try to put yourself in the position of both sides of this story. Do you keep your mates close to your heart, and agree that previous financial agreements between you should be kept? Or do you see your friends for who they truly are; green eyed, money grabbing fools? If the shoe was on the other foot, however, how would you react? If you and your best mates went to Bingo all the time, and would always split small winnings, how would you react when you were told to ‘get stuffed’ after a win with a few more zeros appeared? Would you have the cheek to demand some of it? Would you go as far as calling the lawyers in? Would you accept fate that your friend won, and you didn’t?

It’s a tough one, the moral of the story seems to be the route that young Tania has taken. She argues that no such agreement was ever made, as she ‘just knew’ that disagreements would occur, such as this one. Ultimately, she has lost two of her friends because of this, realising that this whole ordeal of Judges, Courts and legal costs was brought upon by friends suffering from a hideous bout of jealousy and greed: wanting what the next person has got, and trying by any means to get some of it. This, of course, is an easy conclusion to come to when you are not faced with this situation face on. Depending on how close you consider some of your friends to be, how much out of a £100,000 winnings would you share with them? Where would you draw the line, friends from school, friends in the workplace?

Personally, depending on the amount won, I’m sure some of my closest friends would be treated here and there, but as above, I’d never agree any kind of ‘verbal contract’, purely to avoid the above situation. Hell, I’d just like to win anything before I can decide who gets what.

~

· OiNK.cd, the popular ‘invite only’ file-sharing website dubbed ‘the pink palace’ is no longer operational, and has had its various Dutch-based servers removed and destroyed by combined efforts of the British and Dutch police force. 24-year-old Alan Ellis, understood to be the sites owner and main administrator, was arrested at his home in Middlesbrough, Teeside last week on conspiracy to defraud and infringement of copyright law. Joining Mr. Ellis’ flat, several properties in Amsterdam were raided as part of an organised investigation into the website. Cleveland Police revealed a day later that Mr. Ellis had been released on bail pending forensic examination of seized computer equipment and further inquiries.

The site was shut down in a joint effort by Interpol, the IFPI, and the BPI, as well as a handful of other organizations in an investigation codenamed Operation Ark Royal. Jeremy Banks, head of the IFPI’s Internet Anti-Piracy Unit, has stated that OiNK was central to the illegal distribution of pre-release music, leaking more than 60 major album releases in 2007 alone.

This isn’t the only time this year that OiNK has been in the headlines. In July, the tracker, which was born in May 2004, was forced to change its name from OiNK.me.uk to OiNK.cd due to ‘legal’ issues with their domain registrar.

OiNK is rumored to have close to 200,000 donation-paying users signed up to access the site’s vast music catalogue (although I stress this was not needed to obtain membership, and the music, therefore not a money-making scheme), leaked promo copies often finding their way on to the site months prior to release. This could, at any time, include up to thousands of torrents with over a million peers, obviously making it much more popular than other torrent sites.

As of October 27th, the website’s index was replaced with an image of syrup and waffles. clicking on the link takes you to a Google search page of helpful links to fill the OiNK shaped-hole in your life. Speaking of which, keep your ears close to the ground for BOiNK.cd, a replacement created and run by illegal torrent overlords The Pirate Bay. Popular torrent website TorrentFreak posted:

BOiNK will be a little different from OiNK. For instance, the tracker will be public and it will start out with a lot less torrents than OiNK had when it was raided. The success of BOiNK will mainly depend on the former OiNK community, who will be asked to upload their old OiNK torrents.

The most important thing about BOiNK is perhaps the message it sends out to the IFPI and the BPI: It shows that that if you stop one tracker, others will pop up days after. It is a hydra. Call it a slap in the face if you want.

The misrepresentation of the facts created by the ignorant media aside, this sadly was inevitable. On the flip side, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and replacements will be created and within 6-10 months, will be just as strong as OiNK was. Even OiNK themselves from beyond the grave are showing you how to find them. This doesn’t replace the fact that it will be sadly, sadly missed. RIP OiNK.

~~~

That was the week in lumps, a week in which: Microsoft announced the ‘Xbox 360 Arcade’ is replacing the Core package, a wrong example of how to cash in on your childs fame came to light, watch out for greedy, fat squirrels in your garden, Gran Turismo 5 will feature the Top Gear race track, and if you dont see them by 2009, you will never ever ever see them. Surprised me, I thought he was dead.

So the curtains are drawn on another week of gossip and banter, which should keep the pregnant pauses away for another 7 days. To conclude, here’s a phrase I never thought I’d say: Lesbian worms.

ttfn
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