I’ll just go back to pirating my content: That was the response some of our readers had after hearing about Fox’s plans to restrict online access to full episodes of its shows to viewers that can either authenticate themselves as Dish Network subscribers or pay for Hulu Plus. The question is: How many users will authenticate, how many will wait eight days for content to become freely available and how many will go back to BitTorrent once the changes go into effect in mid-August?

We’ll have to wait for the actual switch-over to the authentication system for any hard data, but here’s a clue to how much is at stake for Fox: The official launch of Hulu in early 2008 reduced the number of US-based viewers who got their Fox shows from BitTorrent by up to a third for some of the more popular shows on the network, according to data from TorrentFreak.

TorrentFreak has been tracking weekly BitTorrent file sharing trends for years, and its editor Ernesto told me today via IM that the number of U.S.-based downloaders of the Fox show Prison Break decreased by 36 percent from October 2007 to October 2008. The Simpsons saw a slightly less dramatic decrease of 23 percent, and the number of people downloading Family Guy from the U.S. was only down 10 percent in the same time period.

Why’s there such a discrepancy between shows? Ernesto explained that the amount of piracy between shows can be influenced by a number of different factors, including the genre, viewership demographics and the time slot they air during.

However, few doubt that there will be a direct impact on piracy. “It’s like flipping a switch,” said Eric Garland from the Los Angeles-based media measurement company BigChampagne during a phone call today, adding that he has seen “immediate and direct correlations” between the availability of online content on sites like Hulu and piracy.

Of course,  the world of television has changed a lot since 2008. Content is now available through a wider variety of sources, with people using more DVRs and cable VOD systems offering more content than in the past. TV Everywhere could just be seen as another alternative, and its proponents might argue that Fox viewers will still be able to access the content as long as they’re authenticating themselves as a subscriber of a participating pay TV provider.

However, Garland thinks that piracy is still a viable alternative for many, just because it’s easier that jumping through authentication hoops. “We have still not made the process effortless enough,” he told me, comparing authentication to issues the music industry faced with DRM a few years ago and arguing that DRM eventually ended up punishing honest customers the most while not really preventing piracy. “People don’t like to be inconvenienced when they are playing by the rules.” In other words: People might just go for BitTorrent or unlicensed streaming sites and watch content ad-free if they feel like they’re forced to jump through unnecessary hoops to watch an ad-supported episode of a TV show online.

Pirate picture courtesy of Flickr user Juliana Coutinho.

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It’s no secret the Japanese have a penchant for vending machines (even though there are – contrary to popular belief – no machines selling panties in this country). Now Hitachi made one step forward by developing a machine that doesn’t need to be fed with coins or bills anymore. Your finger will be enough.

Hitachi combined its proprietary finger vein biometric authentication system with a conventional vending machine, which makes it possible for registered users to buy beverages via their credit cards. The company also incorporated a digital signage system so that buyers will get to see personalized ads or other information on an LCD screen.

Hitachi is unsure whether the prototype it developed will ever be commercialized. Hitachi personnel, however, will have the chance to try the new vending machine out inside selected company buildings by the end of this year.

Via MSN News [JP]

I have to be honest. I didn’t think much of the TV Everywhere plans laid out by Comcast and Time Warner last month, but the service sure has my attention now. Soon – like in a few weeks – 5,000 beta testers will be able to watch TBS, TNT, Stars, HBO, and Cinemax content on Fancast.com or Comcast.net along with the content already available from ABC, NBC, FX, and more. Eventually, the plan is to open the service up to all subscribers of Comcast and Time Warner for “no additional cost.”

We still have questions about the authentication system and if the service will have an open API that will allow developers to build it into streaming software PlayOn or Boxee. Those details will probably drop later, but if Comcast can continue to add premium content online from the big names, they might be onto something. Now, how about Showtime for some Californication and Weeds action.

Computerworld calls this market changing but I’m not so sure. Here’s the skinny: when you buy an app from the Windows Marketplace for WinMo you can share that app with four people you know. You can also get a full refund within 24 hours of purchase. You can also run the apps on up to five of your own devices if you don’t want to share.

This move is supposed to help the Marketplace grow at a healthy clip an ensure that folks don’t go suffer too much when they download a fart app for WinMo 6.5 that doesn’t live up to expectations. It should also reduce piracy:

Microsoft will use its LiveID authentication system for tracking. “It will be very hard for the casual, semi-casual or semi-pro user to pirate apps,” Bouie said.

Yeah, right.