Game of Thrones Breaks Piracy Records (and That May Be Good); ComicBookResources.com, 6/14/13

Anna Pinkert, ComicBookResources.com; Game of Thrones Breaks Piracy Records (and That May Be Good) : "It turns out that in a single 24-hour period, 1 million people pirated the Season 3 finale of Game of Thrones using BitTorrent. So, it looks like the Red Wedding didn’t turn everyone off to the show. But what does it say about the new-media landscape that so many people are willing, able and eager to pirate episodes to get their Westeros fix? Game of Thrones is the second-most popular series that HBO has ever broadcast (after The Sopranos), but it is the most-pirated show on television today. The cable channel has worked to create zeitgeist-y, must-see content that commands a premium fee; HBO costs an additional $20 a month on top of regular cable in my area. It previously considered offering HBO Go, its online streaming service, without requiring a subscription to the cable service, but executives aren’t in a rush to make any changes. Of course, why would they be? Game of Thrones DVD sales are high, and the number of people watching the show on television is increasing (the third season was its high-rated yet, a rare feat for a serialized drama)."

‘Avatar’ Commandeers Film Piracy Record; New York Times, 1/6/10

Dave Itzkoff, New York Times; ‘Avatar’ Commandeers Film Piracy Record:

"As “Avatar” knocks down box office records, the film has hit another, less estimable milestone: it has become the fastest-pirated movie, according to one tracking firm’s figures. The Times of London reported that “Avatar,” starring Zoë Saldana, right, was illegally downloaded 500,000 times in the first two days of its release and 980,000 times in the first week, citing figures from the Web site TorrentFreak.com, which tracks usage of the file-sharing tool BitTorrent. In the days leading up to the film’s release last month, its director, James Cameron, seemed confident that the 3-D effects would essentially make it immune to piracy, telling The Times of London, “You can pirate a 3-D movie, but you can’t pirate it in 3-D, so you can’t bottle that 3-D experience.” But the TorrentFreak.com numbers seem to tell a different story: “Avatar” was illegally downloaded far more often than its closest competitor, the “Twilight” sequel “New Moon,” which was downloaded 610,000 times in its first week of release. Still, 20th Century Fox, which released “Avatar,” seemed unconcerned that piracy would hurt box office grosses, which last weekend surpassed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. “Bootleg copies are unlikely to have much impact,” a studio spokesman told The Times of London. “Seeing the movie in 3-D in a cinema offers an experience that cannot be replicated.”"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/movies/06arts-AVATARCOMMAN_BRF.html

Court jails Pirate Bay founders; Via BBC News, 4/17/09

Via BBC News; Court jails Pirate Bay founders:

"Speaking on Swedish Radio, assistant judge Klarius explained how the court reached its findings.

The court first tried whether there was any question of breach of copyright by the file-sharing application and that has been proved, that the offence was committed.

"The court then moved on to look at those who acted as a team to operate the Pirate Bay file-sharing service, and the court found that they knew that material which was protected by copyright but continued to operate the service," he said."...

Rickard Falkvinge, leader of The Pirate Party - which is trying to reform laws around copyright and patents in the digital age - told the BBC that the verdict was "a gross injustice".

"This wasn't a criminal trial, it was a political trial. It is just gross beyond description that you can jail four people for providing infrastructure.

"There is a lot of anger in Sweden right now. File-sharing is an institution here and while I can't encourage people to break copyright law, I'm not following it and I don't agree with it.

"Today's events make file-sharing a hot political issue and we're going to take this to the European Parliament."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8003799.stm

File-Sharing Site Violated Copyright, Court Says; The New York Times, 4/17/09

The New York Times; File-Sharing Site Violated Copyright, Court Says:

A court in Sweden on Friday convicted four men linked to the notorious Internet file-sharing service The Pirate Bay of violating copyright law, handing the music and movie industries a high-profile victory in their campaign to curb online piracy...

Mark Mulligan, an analyst at Forrester Research, said the decision Friday would not result in a “meaningful” decrease in piracy. Internet users are turning to new ways to share music, including streaming and messaging services, which are harder for copyright owners and enforcement officials to detect than downloads.

But he said the ruling was “good p.r.” for the music and movie industries.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/world/europe/18copy.html

The Pirate Bay on the politics of copyright, Globe and Mail, 4/17/09

Via Globe and Mail; The Pirate Bay on the politics of copyright:

"Earlier Friday morning a Swedish judge found four men connected with the popular file sharing site The Pirate Bay guilty of contributing to copyright violations.

Already online observers are calling the decsision a monumental shift in the battle over copyright protection.

The landmark decision has each of the four men facing a year in jail and collective fines of $3.6-million (U.S.).

The Pirate Bay is a sort of underground Google for downloadable media files, where users can seach for and look up music, movies and tv shows to download using a file sharing technology known as BitTorrent. The music and movie industries say that most of the files the Pirate Bay links to infringe on copyrights and have made the site Enemy No. 1 in their fight against piracy.
Pirate Bay has more than 22 million users worldwide on an average day, its tracking system has been accessed more than 4 billion times and some experts believe that the site accounts for as much as two thirds of the world's torrent files. "

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090417.wgtpiratebaypodcast0417/BNStory/Technology/home

Wolverine Film Leaked on the Internet, ComicBookResources.com, 4/1/09

Via ComicBookResources.com: Wolverine Film Leaked on the Internet:

"Word spread last night over Twitter and other social networking sites that "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," the hotly anticipated 20th Century Fox film based on Marvel Comics' X-Men characters, had been leaked to the internet for illegal dissemination. Directed by Gavin Hood and starring Hugh Jackman, the film is not due to be released until May 1.

As of this writing, a DVD-quality workprint version of the film is available on numerous file-sharing websites, with hundreds of thousands of users illegally downloading the various BitTorrent files. This version of the film is missing completed special effects shots and most likely other material that will be in the final version of the film, but as a consequence of the leak, early, spoiler-filled reviews have been posted across the Web.

Naturally, security questions are at the top of everyone's list. Who leaked the film, and how?"

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20635