‘Game of Thrones’ Most Pirated Show For Third Straight Year; ComicBookResources.com, 12/29/14

TJ Dietsch, ComicBookResources.com; ‘Game of Thrones’ Most Pirated Show For Third Straight Year:

"Game of Thrones is the reigning champion, emerging as the most pirated television series for the third consecutive year. Not only does the HBO fantasy drama top TorrentFreak‘s 2014 list, but the estimated 8.1 million downloads rank higher than the 7.6 million legal viewers."

Grooveshark employees are guilty of copyright infringement, judge rules; Guardian, 9/30/14

Samuel Gibbs, Guardian; Grooveshark employees are guilty of copyright infringement, judge rules:

"Griesa pointed to an internal memo sent in 2007 where Greenberg asked employees to “please share as much music as possible from outside the office” to help the service get off the ground.

“By overtly instructing its employees to upload as many files as possible to Grooveshark as a condition of their employment, Escape engaged in purposeful conduct with a manifest intent to foster copyright infringement via the Grooveshark service,” Griesa wrote.

Griesa gave the parties 21 days to reach agreement to stop further infringement.

“Escape respectfully disagrees with the court’s decision, and is currently assessing its next steps, including the possibility of an appeal,” John Rosenberg, a partner at Rosenberg & Giger representing the defendants told Reuters.

The ruling opens the door to a multimillion-pound damages suit from the record labels, who are keen to see the service shut down, calling it a “linear descendant” of file sharing services Grokster, LimeWire and Napster all of whom have been shutdown over copyright infringement."

The Biggest Filer of Copyright Lawsuits? This Erotica Web Site; New Yorker, 5/15/14

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Studios hit Megaupload with copyright-infringement lawsuit; Los Angeles Times, 4/7/14

Richard Verrier, Los Angeles Times; Studios hit Megaupload with copyright-infringement lawsuit:

"Hollywood studios are turning the screws on Kim Dotcom, founder of the once infamous piracy website Megaupload.

Several major U.S. studios on Monday filed a lawsuit against Kim Dotcom (a.k.a. Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor) and others associated with Megaupload, alleging that they encouraged and profited from massive copyright infringement of movies and television shows before they were indicted on federal criminal charges and Megaupload was shut down."

Canadian court ruling in Teksavvy file sharing case a blow to copyright trolls: Geist; Toronto Star, 2/21/14

Michael Geist, Toronto Star; Canadian court ruling in Teksavvy file sharing case a blow to copyright trolls: Geist: "The outbreak of copyright trolling cases in the United States and Britain in recent years has sparked considerable anger from courts, Internet providers, and subscribers. These cases, which typically involve sending thousands of legal letters alleging copyright infringement and demanding thousands of dollars to settle, rely on ill-informed and frightened subscribers, who would rather pay the settlement than fight in court.

Canada was largely spared these cases until 2012, when Voltage Pictures, a U.S. film company, filed a lawsuit demanding that TekSavvy, a leading independent Internet provider, disclose the names and addresses of thousands of its subscribers who it claimed infringement its copyright. TekSavvy did not formally oppose the request, but it did ensure that its subscribers were informed about the lawsuit and it supported an intervention from the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, a technology law clinic, that brought the privacy and copyright trolling concerns to the court’s attention (I sit on the CIPPIC advisory board).

The federal court issued its much-anticipated decision on Thursday, granting Voltage’s request for the subscriber names, but adding numerous safeguards designed to discourage copyright trolling lawsuits in Canada...

The big remaining question is whether copyright trolls will now view Canada as hostile territory."

Joel Tenenbaum's $675,000 Music Downloading Fine Upheld; Associated Press via HuffingtonPost.com, 6/25/13

Associated Press via HuffingtonPost.com; Joel Tenenbaum's $675,000 Music Downloading Fine Upheld: "A $675,000 verdict against a former Boston University student who illegally downloaded and shared songs on the Internet has been upheld. A jury ordered Providence, R.I., resident Joel Tenenbaum to pay $22,500 for each of 30 songs after the Recording Industry Association of America sued him on behalf of four record labels."

Cambodia arrests Pirate Bay co-founder; Yahoo News, 9/3/12

Sopheng Cheang, Yahoo News; Cambodia arrests Pirate Bay co-founder:

"A co-founder of popular file sharing website The Pirate Bay was arrested in Cambodia at the request of Sweden, where he faces a one-year prison term for violating copyright laws, authorities said Monday.

Cambodian authorities arrested Gottfrid Svartholm Warg on Thursday at a home he had rented in the capital, Phnom Penh, said national police spokesman Kirth Chantharith."

Kim Dotcom: I'll extradite myself to US if they give my money back; Guardian, 7/11/12

Toby Manhire, Guardian; Kim Dotcom: I'll extradite myself to US if they give my money back:

"The German-born New Zealand resident's remarks, in an email interview with the Guardian, follow Tuesday's announcement that his extradition hearing, scheduled to begin in less than a month, has been put back until April next year.

On Wednesday morning Dotcom laid down the gauntlet to the US department of justice, offering to travel to the US under his own steam and faces charges – with conditions. "Hey DOJ," Dotcom said on his Twitter account, "we will go to the US. No need for extradition. We want bail, funds unfrozen for lawyers and living expenses.""

Fears copyright trade agreement could criminalise the internet; Sydney Morning Herald, 11/10/09

Ari Sharp, Sydney Morning Herald; Fears copyright trade agreement could criminalise the internet:

"INTERNET companies warn that a secretive trade agreement being negotiated could lead to new criminal charges as part of a global effort to protect copyright and thwart piracy.

Australia is among more than a dozen countries that for more than two years have been formulating the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which seeks to put pressure on internet service providers to take greater responsibility for cracking down on copyright breaches.

There has been little information about the progress of negotiations - a sixth round concluded last week in South Korea - prompting speculation there would be sweeping changes introduced to protect copyright holders by imposing penalties on users and internet service providers...

While Australia already has some of the strongest copyright protection laws in the world, the Internet Industry Association's chief executive, Peter Coroneos, said he had concerns over the potential consequences.

''There are many internet users that might be in a very grey area in terms of their own behaviour for want of alternatives they would prefer to have,'' he said, referring in particular to people illegally downloading music and movies...

The next round of negotiations will be in Mexico in January."

http://www.smh.com.au/national/fears-copyright-trade-agreement-could-criminalise-the-internet-20091109-i5gk.html

MI5, an ISP lawsuit and an e-petition: More opposition to piracy cut-off plans; ZDNet, 10/30/09

Zack Whittaker, ZDNet; MI5, an ISP lawsuit and an e-petition: More opposition to piracy cut-off plans:

"There has been more controversy this week with a major Internet service provider, a petition set up to harness the power of democracy, but also the British Security Service, MI5, all opposing the cut-off laws which are being pushed through by a key figure in the British government’s cabinet."

http://blogs.zdnet.com/igeneration/?p=3187&tag=post-3168;col2

Med students hoist P2P Jolly Roger to get access to papers; TechDirt, 10/29/09

John Timmer, Ars Technica; Med students hoist P2P Jolly Roger to get access to papers:

Med students hoist P2P Jolly Roger to get access to papers

"The ease with which information can be spread through the Internet has exacerbated tensions among those who pay for, conduct, and publish scientific research. Many journals still require subscription or per-article payments for access to the research they publish, which often leaves the public, who funds a significant percentage of the research, on the wrong side of a pay wall. So far, however, there's been little evidence that the public has been interested enough in research to engage in the sort of widespread file-sharing that plague other content industries. But a new study suggests that may just be because nobody's looked very carefully.

The study, which was spotted by TechDirt, appears in an open-access journal, so anyone can read its entire contents. It describes the sharing of over 5,000 research papers on a site frequented by medical professionals, and the formal community rules that governed the exchange.

During the six months in 2008 that the author tracked the activity on the site, which was a discussion board focused on medical fields, it had over 125,000 registered users. Anyone could start an account, but many of the fora were focused on specific issues, such as those faced by nurses and residents. In addition to those, however, there was a section called the Electronic Library that contained a forum called "Databases & Journals—Requests and Enquiries."

Up to three times a day, users were allowed to submit a request for a published research article, accompanied by a link to the free abstract hosted at the journal's website. Other users would then download the full article and host it somewhere, providing a link in the discussion. If everything was set up properly, the site would track the number of downloads.

Over the course of six months, over 6,500 articles were requested, and over 80 percent of those requests were successfully filled."

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/10/med-students-hoist-p2p-jolly-roger-to-get-access-to-papers.ars

TalkTalk threatens legal action over Mandelson's filesharing plan; Guardian, 10/29/09

Mark Sweney, Guardian; TalkTalk threatens legal action over Mandelson's filesharing plan:

Carphone Warehouse-owned internet service provider attacks plans to cut off connections of persistent filesharers

"TalkTalk, the second largest internet service provider in the UK, has threatened to launch legal action if business secretary Peter Mandelson follows through with his plan to cut off persistent illegal filesharers' internet connections.

Carphone Warehouse-owned TalkTalk, which has more than 4 million ISP customers and owns the Tiscali and AOL brands, claimed the government's plan was based on filesharers being "guilty until proven innocent" and constituted an infringement of human rights.

"The approach is based on the principle of 'guilty until proven innocent' and substitutes proper judicial process for a kangaroo court," said Andrew Heaney, the executive director of strategy and regulation at TalkTalk. "We know this approach will lead to wrongful accusations."

The government plans to look at increased action against illegal downloaders, including potentially suspending the accounts of persistent offenders, from July 2011 if a 70% reduction in online piracy is not achieved by sending warning letters. Customers will have the right to appeal if they are targeted and their connection subjected to technical measures.

"If the government moves to stage two, we would consider that extra-judicial technical measures, and would look to appeal the decision [to the courts] because it infringes human rights," Heaney said. "TalkTalk will continue to resist any attempts to make it impose technical measures on its customers unless directed to do so by a court or recognised tribunal."

BT, the largest ISP in the UK, said it "remains concerned" about some of the government's proposals and is "interested to hear whether or not customers will have some form of fair legal hearing before their broadband supplier is required to take any action against them"."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/29/talktalk-threatens-legal-action-mandelson

Costs would exceed savings on Mandelson plan, ISPs say - and streaming companies not eager either; Guardian, 10/28/09

Charles Arthur, Guardian; Costs would exceed savings on Mandelson plan, ISPs say - and streaming companies not eager either:

Implementing "three strikes" rule would weigh down ISPs while bringing music industry no benefit - and streaming companies unhappy

"Lord Mandelson's proposals to cut off "persistent" file sharers do not make financial sense, according to estimates of its cost put forward by those who would have to implement it.

British Telecom and Carphone Warehouse estimate that running the enforcement system would cost about £2 per broadband line per month - a total of £24 per broadband line per year. With 17.6m broadband connections in the UK as of September, means it would cost £420m annually to run a system to defeat a problem the music industry complains costs it £200m per year.
Lord Mandelson said that "ISPs and rights-holders will share the costs, on the basis of a flat fee that will allow both sides to budget and plan."

If the costs of running the system are equally shared between rights-holders and ISPs, that means that ISPs will have to push up bills for the majority of law-abiding customers who do not download illegally, while the rights-holders spend as much as they claim they are losing.
Reactions from the music and music streaming industry to Lord Mandelson's reasserted determination to cut off "persistent" file-sharers has not been positive either."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/oct/28/costs-piracy-filesharing-mandelson

Labour's plans to block filesharers take shape; Guardian, 10/28/09

Jack Schofield, Guardian; Labour's plans to block filesharers take shape:

"The government has proposed a complicated and expensive system of letters, independent bodies and First Tier Tribunals as a way to stop the sharing of copyright content, but it seems unlikely to work

"Lord Mandelson has "warned internet users today that the days of 'consequence-free' illegal filesharing are over," according to my colleague Mark Sweney. This will no doubt give most of the large copyright owners a warm glow, but whether it will make any practical difference is another matter. I suspect it won't.

The government plan has two stages....In stage 1, a "rights holder" is going to identify the IP address of an illegal uploader by "phishing" on a file-sharing site, then get the ISP to send that user a warning letter. After sending more than one warning, the rights-holder takes legal action.
In stage 2, the ISP takes "technical measures" against the "serious infringer", who can then appeal to "an independent body established by Ofcom". (These "technical measures" may include the not-very-technical suspension of the user's account.) If that appeal is unsuccessful, the "serous infringer" can appeal to a "First Tier Tribunal", following which the "technical measures" are either re-implemented or dropped.

It sounds like an expensive and extremely bureaucratic plan where the cost of implementation will be far higher than the cost of the content. Mandy's thinking is presumably that making a public example of a small number of "serous infringers" will discourage others. It should certainly discourage peer-to-peer file-sharing, at least among those smart enough to realise that if they are downloading something, they are probably uploading it as well."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/oct/28/mandelson-blocking-filesharing

UK Law Enforcement Tells UK Gov't: Please Don't Kick File Sharers Offline; TechDirt, 10/27/09

Mike Masnick, TechDirt; UK Law Enforcement Tells UK Gov't: Please Don't Kick File Sharers Offline:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091027/0254326689.shtml

Universities Struggling To Deal With Law Requiring Them To Fight File Sharing; TechDirt, 6/19/09

Mike Masnick via TechDirt; Universities Struggling To Deal With Law Requiring Them To Fight File Sharing:

"Well, the MPAA put out a report claiming that 44% of "losses" from file sharing came from college campuses. Of course, the number (like so many out of entertainment industry lobbyists) was entirely made up. In fact, it was so ridiculous that even the MPAA came out and publicly admitted the numbers were bogus and apologized! "

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090618/0337155278.shtml

Music-Pirate Mom Shown No Love By Jury To Tune Of $1.9 M; NPR's Two Way Blog, 6/19/09

Frank James via NPR's Two Way Blog; Music-Pirate Mom Shown No Love By Jury To Tune Of $1.9 M:

""The only thing worse than losing a copyright-infringement lawsuit that ends with a $122,000 [sic; $222,000] judgment against you is getting a retrial only to end up with a eye-popping $1.9 million judgment against you...

The Associated Press gives us this paragraph explaining why we should care:

This case was the only one of more than 30,000 similar lawsuits to make it all the way to trial. The vast majority of people targeted by the music industry had settled for about $3,500 each. The recording industry has said it stopped filing such lawsuits last August and is instead now working with Internet service providers to fight the worst offenders."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/06/musicpirate_mom_shown_no_love.html

Big music file-sharing penalties getting tuned out; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 6/20/09

Michael Fuoco via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Big music file-sharing penalties getting tuned out:

"Moreover, it may soon be legal for P2P file-sharing. Major record labels are discussing the possibility of a new entity called Choruss in which blanket licenses would be granted to universities and someday residential ISPs for a fee that would authorize the music swapping.

As for now, the Recording Industry Association of America, the trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry, is dealing with commercial, residential and university ISPs, informing them when one of their users is illegally file sharing, said RIAA spokeswoman Cara Duckworth. The ISPs then inform the violators and take escalating action, which usually first involves cease-and-desist letters and can escalate to loss of service...

According to market research company NPD Group, legal downloading of digital music has now surpassed illegal file-sharing. Legal downloading has risen from 16 to 22 percent of Internet users while P2P downloading has decreased from 19 to 18 percent during that same period.

Fred von Lohmann, senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit group for consumer digital consumer rights, said RIAA may have lost more than it won in the trial when it comes to public relations.

"If you read between the lines, the recording industry is a little chagrined. They're not celebrating, saying this is what she deserved," he said. "They're sensitive this is an outrageous amount. Even people who are otherwise on their side wouldn't disagree. In some ways, this assists critics of the recording industry."

That's why something like Choruss is a much better approach than punishment in dealing reasonably with file sharing on the Internet, he said. Under the plan being discussed, universities would pay into a fund that would allow their students to "file share to their hearts content," Mr. von Lohmann said. "It's a future-looking piece. It takes policing out of this."

He said that in talking to college students, they all said they wouldn't mind paying $5 more a month in student activities fees for such a service.

"It's not that people won't pay but you can't create a system in which it is harder for them to pay than to do a free thing. At $5 a month, it will feel free to them."

Ms. Duckworth said Choruss is "an innovative way to deal with college online piracy, an interesting concept that is being shopped to different schools. All the major record labels are on board in discussing this, trying to figure out what works best."

She said the RIAA is realistic it will never completely stop illegal online sharing "because we know it's going to happen. We know there are going to be individuals who think music and content should be free.

"What we want to do is to deter casual file sharers, people who wouldn't do this all the time, and direct them to go in the right direction."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09171/978771-84.stm