Showing posts with label copyright piracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label copyright piracy. Show all posts

Friday, February 13, 2015

Estonian Man Pleads Guilty in Megaupload Piracy Case; Associated Press via New York Times, 2/13/15

Associated Press via New York Times; Estonian Man Pleads Guilty in Megaupload Piracy Case:
"An Estonian man who worked as a computer programmer for the now-defunct file-sharing website Megaupload has pleaded guilty in what prosecutors say was a massive copyright-piracy scheme run through the site.
Andrus Nomm, 36, pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, to conspiracy to commit copyright infringement. He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Prosecutors say Megaupload was used to illegally download millions of songs and movies in one of the biggest copyright cases in history.
Nomm was one of seven men indicted in the case three years ago and the first to be brought to the U.S. to face charges."

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Bluebeard as a Geek: Plundering in High-Tech: On ‘Halt and Catch Fire,’ It’s Imitation vs. Invention; New York Times, 5/30/14

Alessandra Stanley, New York Times; Bluebeard as a Geek: Plundering in High-Tech: On ‘Halt and Catch Fire,’ It’s Imitation vs. Invention:
"There are absolutists who still believe that everything on the Internet should be free and see themselves as partisans, not parasites. Their motto might as well be “intellectual property is theft.”
Some of those true believers may enjoy a new AMC drama, “Halt and Catch Fire,” which begins on Sunday and is set in Texas in the early 1980s, when PCs were still in their infancy, and IBM dominated the industry.
But it’s an odd show for most viewers to accept at face value. And not just because it’s hard to construct thrilling action sequences out of microchips, floppy disks and coffee breaks. In today’s era of high-tech billionaires and the cult of the start-up, this series goes back in time to glorify imitation, not innovation...
Even the title is so abstruse that an explanation is spelled out in block print at the beginning:
“HALT AND CATCH FIRE (HCF): An early computer command that sent the machine into a race condition, forcing all instructions to compete for superiority at once. Control of the computer could not be regained.”...
Buccaneering on the high seas, the kind that involves daggers, planks and rum, is romantic partly because it remains safely in the past. Copyright piracy, on the other hand, may be too close for comfort."

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Wikipedia founder hails extradition deal with US and calls for law reform; Guardian, 11/28/12

Lizzy Davies, James Ball, Owen Bowcott, Guardian; Wikipedia founder hails extradition deal with US and calls for law reform: "Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has called for a review of Anglo-US extradition arrangements after a legal agreement struck by Sheffield Hallam student Richard O'Dwyer to avoid extradition to America on copyright charges. Wales, who launched a campaign with the Guardian against O'Dwyer's extradition that garnered more than 250,000 signatures, welcomed a settlement announced in the high court on Wednesday morning, and called for reform to prevent similar cases in future... O'Dwyer faced up to 10 years in prison in the US over copyright charges relating a website he set up, TVShack.net, which allowed users to share links to free places to watch TV and movies."

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Indonesia is Asia copyright pirate centre: survey; Sydney Morning Herald, 8/25/10

Sydney Morning Herald; Indonesia is Asia copyright pirate centre: survey:

"Indonesia has the worst record when it comes to protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) in Asia and Singapore the best, a survey of expatriate business people showed Wednesday...

"Of the emerging Asian countries, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines are all poorly rated not only for their low level of IPR protection but also for such criteria as physical infrastructure, bureaucratic inefficiency and labour limitations," PERC said.

China also came under strong scrutiny because of the sheer size of its economy and the presence of large companies "capable of using pirated technology to compete in foreign markets," said PERC."

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/indonesia-is-asia-copyright-pirate-centre-survey-20100825-13rzi.html

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

US says copyright piracy in China still 'high'; Sydney Morning Herald, 12/23/09

P. Parameswaran; Sydney Morning Herald; US says copyright piracy in China still 'high':

"Copyright piracy in China remains at "unacceptably high levels," causing "serious harm" to American businesses, the top US trade official said in an annual report to US Congress.

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in the mandatory report on China's compliance with its World Trade Organization accession obligations that Beijing was not taking adequate steps to enforce intellectual property rights laws.

He said enforcement of China's copyright protection "remains a significant challenge."

The report cited other "priority" trade issues such as industrial policies, trading rights and distribution services, agriculture and services, but indicated piracy is a key issue where China has made little progress.

"Despite repeated anti-piracy campaigns in China and an increasing number of civil IPR (intellectual property rights) cases in Chinese courts, counterfeiting and piracy remain at unacceptably high levels and continue to cause serious harm to US businesses across many sectors of the economy," the 121-page report said.

The US copyright industries estimate that losses in 2008 due to piracy were about 3.5 billion US dollars for the music recording and software industries alone, it said.

"These figures indicate little or no overall improvement over the previous year."

China is among nations in the annual intellectual property rights blacklist of the US Trade Representative's office.

China acceded to the World Trade Organization eight years ago. The terms of its accession called for China to implement numerous specific commitments over time.

All of China's key commitments should have been phased in three years ago."

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/us-says-copyright-piracy-in-china-still-high-20091223-lctx.html

Friday, October 30, 2009

David Lammy calls for pan-European approach to copyright protection; Guardian, 10/27/09

Mark Sweney, Guardian; David Lammy calls for pan-European approach to copyright protection:

Intellectual property minister tells C&binet Forum delegates that progress on copyright piracy cannot be made without a 'European consensus'

"David Lammy, the intellectual property minister, has today warned that the UK cannot solve the problem of copyright piracy without the support of other European governments.

Lammy, speaking at the government's digital creative industries conference C&binet, said the UK has been stymied in its efforts to strengthen the enforcement of copyright because it is a "minority" player on the European stage.

"Some people tell me that content is national, they tell me the solutions lie in my backyard [but] this is not right, content is international," he added.

"Solutions lie internationally. For us, solutions lie in Europe. The UK must continue to encourage and support wider innovation and improve access to copyright works. But we can do relatively little domestically. A great deal of policy making is harmonised at European level and progress simply can't be made without a European consensus," Lammy said.

"The UK often finds itself in the minority in Europe when it comes to copyright issues. I want to see the UK play a greater role in influencing European action."

He added that while models needed to be developed to make legitimate content attractive to all, consumers needed to understand they had to pay to make the system work.

"If the world wants to continue to enjoy works that are protected by copyright, then the world must be a paying customer," he said. "Consumers have built a digital culture based on access, even if it cuts across the law. I want a world where rights holders will be paid for their efforts. For me, the balance must always tilt strongly in favour of freedom. But freedom to access material is not the same thing as access for free."

Lammy added that the current copyright system was out of step with the digital age and that government and businesses had "sleepwalked" into the piracy situation.

"The mechanisms by which copyright operates can be too complex. I don't want to see copyright, in the UK, or anywhere in the world, lagging so far behind technology that it loses relevance," he said. "I don't want to see a regime based on arbitrary rules. It must ensure that it allows limited copying for personal use of lawfully obtained material. I want to see this made possible rather than discouraged."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/27/david-lammy-copyright-piracy-europe

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Canada deserves spot on U.S. naughty list due to lax copyright laws; Canadian Press, 10/22/09

Canadian Press; Canada deserves spot on U.S. naughty list due to lax copyright laws:

"The new U.S. ambassador won't apologize for his country's decision to scold Canada for its lax copyright laws by placing it on a priority watch list.

David Jacobson says Canada may be America's closest friend and neighbour, but that shouldn't exempt it from respecting copyright laws that protect artists, entertainers, authors and software developers.

He suggests stronger legislation would be mutually beneficial as it will encourage innovation in both countries.

Jacobson made the comments at a Montreal conference on Canada-U.S. relations.

Wendy Noss of the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association says Canada sticks out in a bad way on this naughty list which includes countries like China, Algeria, Pakistan and Russia.
She says Canada has failed for more than a decade to amend copyright laws to deal with the digital age, leaving creative industries at a loss when it comes to fighting piracy."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hKHhpEtc-DndLRhdv6OVaN8zupJw

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Nigeria: Can NCC's New Copyright Enforcement Tactics Tame Piracy?, allAfrica.com, 3/18/09

Via allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Can NCC's New Copyright Enforcement Tactics Tame Piracy?:

"FOR the past twenty years, the Nigerian Copyright Commission, NCC, has been on the crusade of ridding the economy of the scourge of piracy.

The cankerworm which piracy turned out to be in the fabrics of the economies of musical, film producers and book publishers among other intellectual property owners is on daily basis producing serious headache.""

http://allafrica.com/stories/200903180202.html