317: Hey, Don't Steal My Content!

Five Minute Tech News

Universal and the Steve Jobs movie, Sony gets hacked, Super Smash Bros sales, Stitcher and Podcast One's content, Google Fiber hits Austin, and Matthew McConaughey is Randall Flagg.

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• Universal Picks Up Steve Jobs Movie
  Less than a week after Sony Pictures put the high-profile Steve Jobs movie into turnaround, Universal Pictures has stepped up and adopted the project. A deal has been reached to bring the film about the Apple co-founder — which Danny Boyle is to direct from a script by Aaron Sorkin — to Universal, a studio spokesman confirmed on Monday. According to sources, the project had been shopped with a price tag of more than $30 million. Michael Fassbender is attached to star in the film.
• Super Smash Bros. becomes fastest-selling Wii U game in US - CNET
  Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the latest game launch from Nintendo for its newest console, is off to a fast start. During the three-day period of November 21st through the 23rd, Nintendo sold 490,000 physical and digital units of Super Smash Bros. Wii U in the U.S., the company announced Tuesday. That makes it the fastest-selling Wii U game ever in the U.S. market, outselling Mario Kart 8.
• Hack at Sony Pictures shuts computer system - LA Times
  Sony Pictures Entertainment suffered a widespread hack that rendered the film studio's computer systems useless. Employees of the Culver City-based studio who tried to log on to their work computers Monday were greeted with an ominous warning. An image of a sneering red skeleton appeared on the screen under "Hacked By #GOP," reportedly short for "Guardians of Peace," and a list of threats. Then the system went dark. Staff from coast to coast couldn't log on to computers or access email, bringing the workday to a crawl. They were reduced to using old-fashioned pen and paper to complete assignments and taking calls on landline telephones. "We even fired up our fax machine," one person said. Does Sony still make fax machines?
• Google Fiber's gigabit-Internet service in Austin priced at $70 per month | PCWorld
  Google Fiber is coming to Austin. Google will offer a basic version of its broadband service for no monthly charge when it launches soon in Austin, Texas, with the 1Gbps service priced at $70 per month.The basic plan will provide download speeds of up to 5 Mbps and upload speeds of 1Mbps, according to Google, which announced its pricing plans Monday and said consumers in some neighborhoods will be able to sign up next month. Customers will pay a one-time “construction” fee of $300, but there will be no monthly charges after that. Can't wait to sign up.
• Stitcher Radio told to “stop stealing our shows” by claimed rights owner Podcast One | 9to5Mac
  The popular podcast app Stitcher Radio has been accused of stealing content from Podcast One, which claims to have the exclusive rights to some of the content streamed by the app. Podcast One has cited a long list of shows it says Stitcher has no right to use, including Adam Carolla, Clark Howard, Dan Patrick, Carcast, The Dr. Drew Podcast, Rich Eisen and Yahoo! Sports Radio. Podcast One CEO Norm Pattiz said that Stitcher had ignored requests to cease streaming its content. Podcast One says that it is also urging consumers to use its own app for the podcasts it owns, and is calling on advertisers not to support Stitcher Radio.
• Matthew McConaughey to take The Stand for Stephen King adaptation | Film | The Guardian
  Matthew McConaughey is tipped to take the role of villainous Randall Flagg in The Stand, a Hollywood franchise based on the 1978 Stephen King novel. The Stand will be released as four standalone pictures directed by Josh Boone. And I thought The Hobbit trilogy was stretched out.