Why does Mandelson favour the Analogue Economy over the Digital?; Guardian, 11/26/09

Cory Doctorow, Guardian; Why does Mandelson favour the Analogue Economy over the Digital?:

Britons' love for filesharing is here to stay – and Peter Mandelson had better get used to it

"There's a lot to hate about Peter Mandelson's controversial Digital Economy Bill, but there's one provision that perfectly captures the absolute, reality-denying absurdity of the whole enterprise. That titbit is the provision that holds the Bill's most drastic measures in reserve, only to be used if Britain's illegal filesharing doesn't drop off by 70% within a year of the main part of the Bill coming into force.

The idea that, at some time in the future, the volume of unauthorised copying will somehow drop off at all (let alone by an astounding 70%), is, frankly, barking. For that to happen, Britain's general capacity for copying would have to decline faster than the increase in the British desire to make unauthorised copies.

Where does Britain's capacity to copy spring from?

First, from the increase in the speed of computers: faster computers can copy faster and better."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/nov/26/digital-economy-file-sharing-mandelson

Vivendi head calls for 'three-strikes' rule to tackle UK filesharers; Guardian, 10/27/09

Mark Sweney, Guardian; Vivendi head calls for 'three-strikes' rule to tackle UK filesharers:

Jean-Bernard Levy tells the C&binet [sic] Forum that UK should follow France's lead by cutting off internet access for persistent illegal downloaders

"Jean-Bernard Levy, the chief executive of Vivendi, the French owner of the world's largest record company, Universal Music, said the UK government needs to bring in a "three-strikes" policy that would ultimately cut off persistent illegal filesharers.

Levy, speaking at the UK government's Creativity & Business International Network conference (C&binet) today on the issues facing the creative industries as they move to digital production and distribution, said that while it was too soon to gauge the results of the introduction of the "three-strikes" policy in France, it was a necessary step to protect content owners.

"Britain should be more in favour of developing the media industries and even if France is ahead in legislation it should be obvious [that the UK should] be doing something like three strikes," he added.

Levy said Vivendi, despite owning one of France's largest internet service providers (ISPs), telecoms operator SFR, was convinced the tough legislative strategy would not harm internet use. He added that he expected no real reduction in legal web traffic.

"ISPs should be in favour of legislation," he argued, because a lot of the massive investment to increase broadband capacity was going into supplying bandwidth used by illegal net users...

Gail Rebuck, the chief executive of publisher Random House, told the C&binet conference today that the fact that more than 70 illegal filesharing websites were online within 24 hours of the launch of bestselling author Dan Brown's new novel, The Lost Symbol, showed the urgency with which the government must crack down on digital piracy. This number has since jumped to more than 170 unauthorised websites capitalising on the novel, she added.

Rebuck said measures with strong legal backing needed to be introduced to curb digital copyright abuse. She said: "From where I sit, protecting our copyright is the single most important thing we can debate here. We must protect our authors' work."

"I'm very much for the carrot and stick approach," she added, referring to the need for a combination of promoting the benefits of legal content downloading alongside measures such as letters warning persistent filesharers they are breaking the law.

"As a content owner, I am all for the ultimate sanction," she said, indicating support for measures such as cutting off the worst infringers. "Surely the response is not to say goodbye to copyright.""

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/27/vivendi-file-sharing-levy

Dutch court orders Pirate Bay to remove links; Sydney Morning Herald, 10/23/09

Sydney Morning Herald; Dutch court orders Pirate Bay to remove links:

"The three founders -- Frederik Neij, Peter Sunde and Gottfrid Svartholmmen -- and a fourth defendant were found guilty on April 17 by a Swedish court of having promoted copyright infringement through their filesharing site.

They were sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay 30 million kronor (2.72 million euros, 3.56 million US dollars) to the movie and recording industry.

They are currently appealing the verdict.

The verdict against them did not concern the website itself, which continues to function.

Founded in 2003, The Pirate Bay makes it possible to skirt copyright fees and share music, film and computer game files using bit torrent technology, or peer-to-peer links offered on the site.

None of the material can be found on The Pirate Bay server itself.

The Pirate Bay claims to have some 22 million users worldwide."

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/dutch-court-orders-pirate-bay-to-remove-links-20091023-hbne.html

France Approves Wide Crackdown on Net Piracy; New York Times, 10/23/09

Eric Pfanner, New York Times; France Approves Wide Crackdown on Net Piracy:

"France thrust itself into the vanguard of the global battle against digital piracy on Thursday, approving a plan to deny Internet access to people who illegally copy music and movies.

The country’s highest constitutional court approved a so-called three-strikes law after rejecting the key portions of an earlier version last spring. Supporters say they hope that France, by imposing the toughest measures yet in the battle against copyright theft, will set a precedent for other countries to follow.

Britain appears set to introduce similar legislation next month.

“France is acting as a spearhead,” said David El Sayegh, director general of the Syndicat National de l’Édition Phonographique, the French music industry association. “Piracy is not just a French problem, it is a global problem.”

Critics of the legislation call the sanctions draconian and say they will be ineffective in curbing file-sharing, or in converting pirates into customers of legitimate digital media businesses. They argue that disconnecting Internet accounts is unfair because of the increasing importance of the Web as a venue for commerce and political expression.

“It is a very sad day for Internet freedom in France,” said Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesman for La Quadrature du Net, a group that had campaigned against the law. He said opponents of the law would seek new ways to subvert it.

The law creates a new agency that will send out warning letters to people accused of copying music, movies or other media content illegally via the Internet. Those who ignore a second warning and copy files illegally a third time could face yearlong suspensions of their Internet access, as well as fines.

Mr. El Sayegh said that members of the agency would be appointed in November and that the first letters could go out as soon as January. Suspensions could occur as soon as the middle of next year, he added.

The court reviewed the proposal because of a challenge by the opposition Socialist Party following parliamentary approval in September. The reversal is a big victory for President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose wife, Carla Bruni, a singer and model, had championed the measure.

The main difference between the initial proposal blocked by the constitutional court and the version approved Thursday is that a judge, rather than the new agency itself, will be required to sign off on any account suspensions. Without that protection, the court had said, the law would have violated free-speech protections.

Campaigners against the plan complained that even the new version will deny the accused the right to due process because the procedures will follow a fast-track procedure similar to that employed for traffic violations.

Approval of the law in France comes as the European Parliament, which last spring sought to enshrine Internet access as a fundamental human right, potentially blocking any government-imposed cutoffs, appears to be softening its opposition to such penalties. New provisions included in a proposed telecommunications law would permit account suspensions, analysts say.

Across Europe, policy makers have been wary about embracing “three strikes” solutions. Critics say disconnecting people’s Internet access is inconsistent with many governments’ stated objective of increasing broadband penetration.

But Britain, which had consistently ruled out account suspensions, reversed course last month, saying that it would consider such measures as a last resort in the battle against file-sharing."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/technology/23net.html?scp=9&sq=copyright&st=cse

Net pirates face three-strikes rule; Sydney Morning Herald, 7/16/09

Ashe Moses via Sydney Morning Herald; Net pirates face three-strikes rule:

"People who are caught repeatedly downloading movies, music and TV shows illegally would have their internet disconnected under legislative changes being considered by the [Australian]Federal Government.

The movie and music industries have been pushing ISPs to implement this "three-strikes" scheme voluntarily for years but talks have stalled...

The three-strikes scheme has been proposed in both France and New Zealand, but both countries dropped the proposal after a public backlash.

This week both France and New Zealand reintroduced new, modified three-strikes proposals with enhanced judicial oversight.

Britain is also reportedly considering three-strikes legislation, and the British Government outlined a goal of reducing unlawful file sharing by 70-80 per cent by 2011 in its Digital Britain report, released last month."

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/net-pirates-face-threestrikes-rule-20090716-dm9s.html?page=1

Music Labels Win $2 Million in Web Case; New York Times, 6/18/09

Bloomberg News via New York Times: Music Labels Win $2 Million in Web Case:

"The Universal Music Group, owned by Vivendi, and other record labels were awarded $1.92 million on Thursday in the retrial of a Minnesota woman accused of swapping music over the Kazaa Internet service.

The federal jury in Minneapolis said the woman, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, 32, of Brainerd, should pay $80,000 for each of the 24 songs that were posted on the site so others could download them.

The first time the case went to trial, in 2007, a jury awarded $9,250 a song, or $222,000."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/business/media/19music.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=jammie%20thomas&st=cse

Thomas retrial begins Monday: what to expect; Ars Technica, 6/14/09

Nate Anderson via Ars Technica; Thomas retrial begins Monday: what to expect:

Monday morning, the federal file-sharing trial of Jammie Thomas-Rasset begins, and Ars will be there with gavel-to-gavel coverage. Here's what you need to know to keep up:

"Last time around, the case took three days to hear; this time, the lawyers estimate that it will take five. If the retrial is anything like the first go-round, we should get a verdict quickly, though whether a jury will award the RIAA nearly $10,000 in damages per song again remains to be seen.

Whatever the verdict, [defense attorney Kiwi] Camara has already announced his intent to take on the recording industry's entire legal campaign. Along with Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson, Camara tells Ars that he plans to file a class-action lawsuit against the recording industry later this summer."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/thomas-retrial-begins-monday-what-to-expect.ars

Share a File, Lose Your Laptop?; PC World, 5/14/09

Bill Snyder via PC World; Share a File, Lose Your Laptop?:

"Called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), the new plan would see the United States, Canada, members of the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, and Switzerland form an international coalition against copyright infringement. What's making groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation especially nervous is the veil of secrecy around the negotiations. In fact, it took some well-placed leaks and a Freedom of Information Act request to find out the most basic details of the plan."

http://www.pcworld.com/article/164889/share_a_file_lose_your_laptop.html

Wolverine': Experts Weigh In On Effects Of Leak; MTV.com, 5//4/09

Via MTV.com; 'Wolverine': Experts Weigh In On Effects Of Leak: 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' nabbed $90 million at the box office, but that doesn't mean online piracy is harmless:

"The general public, however, seemed to have less exposure to the leak. "I think what really helped 'Wolverine' overcome the piracy issue [was] the people who went out to see it were probably more casual moviegoers than just the comic people," said Edward Douglas of movie site ComingSoon.net. "Which is why 'Wolverine' ended up opening so much bigger than 'Watchmen,' " which made $55 million during its debut weekend in March. Douglas added that a lower running time and a PG-13 benefited "Wolverine" too...

Will the remarkable $90 million opening for "Wolverine," despite its illegal online exposure, have other studio execs breathing a sigh of relief? Don't count on it, Poland said.

"If the 'Wolverine' leak is only the beginning, then the film industry has a major, major problem," he said. "Anomalies are always given too much attention, but when anything becomes standard, it has a very different impact.""

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1610564/story.jhtml

In digital age, can movie piracy be stopped?; CNN.com Technology, 5/2/09

Via CNN.com Technology: In digital age, can movie piracy be stopped?:

"Greg Sandoval, who covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News, said that in the digital age, thieves can gain access to near-perfect advance copies of films on DVD that have greater potential to undermine a movie's box-office prospects.

And even studios' attempts at safeguarding their products against piracy, such as by encoding DVDs with digital watermarks that allow authorities to trace individual copies, aren't enough, Sandoval said.

He said tech-savvy thieves have figured out how to strip such watermarks from DVDs.

"When you're talking about digital content ... it's impossible to lock it down completely" from theft, Sandoval said. "These hackers are very creative. Sometimes, they're one step ahead of the security experts."...

John Malcolm, director of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association of America, said digital piracy can take many forms, including peer-to-peer file sharing and streaming.

Malcolm said the association is conducting a lot of outreach to universities and Internet service providers to help them address piracy that occurs over their systems.

The issue is global, Malcolm said, as evidenced by pending litigation in France that would shut down Internet accounts of illegal downloaders."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/05/01/wolverine.movie.piracy/index.html

Judge Bars the Internet From the Courtroom in a File-Sharing Case; Chronicle of Higher Education, The Wired Campus, 4/17/09

Chronicle of Higher Education, The Wired Campus: Judge Bars the Internet From the Courtroom in a File-Sharing Case:

"Charles Nesson, a Harvard Law School professor, had asked to Webcast a court hearing in the case against his client Joel Tenenbaum, a graduate student at Boston University whom Sony BMG Music Entertainment sued for copyright infringement. The presiding federal judge, Nancy Gertner, approved the request in January. But the recording industry, fearing that the hearing in U.S. District Court in Boston would become a circus, appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Today, that court barred the Webcast, which was to be recorded by the Courtroom View Network and carried gavel to gavel by Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Judicial rules close federal courtrooms in Massachusetts to all forms of broadcasting, including Webcasting, Judge Bruce M. Selya wrote in the ruling."

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3720&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

RIAA pulls out of John Doe cases involving college students, Ars Technica, 1/19/09

Via Ars Technica, RIAA pulls out of John Doe cases involving college students:

"With these and other cases being wrapped up, there are only a couple of high-profile remnants of the industry's war against P2P users left on the agenda. One is the scheduled retrial of Jammie Thomas later this year; the other is the case against Joel Tenenbaum, who is being represented by Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson and a host of students. The RIAA feels confident about the evidence it has in the Thomas case and its chances for a victory in a second trial, but whether it has the stomach to actually go through with it remains to be seen. The Tenenbaum case is shaping up to be another PR nightmare with the RIAA, as Nesson recently convinced the presiding judge to stream the court proceedings online, a decision the RIAA is anxious to see overturned."

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090119-riaa-pulls-out-of-john-doe-cases-involving-college-students.html

Music firms want royalties from hotels and prisons, London Times, 12/28/08

Via London Times: Music firms want royalties from hotels and prisons, Recording industry to fight Ireland’s copyright exemption in court as sales decline:

"MUSIC corporations are taking the [Irish] government to court for giving hotels and prisons an exemption from royalties when they pipe songs into bedrooms and cells.

The case is a further sign of record companies’ determination to open up new revenue streams as profits from CD sales decline sharply due to internet downloads. "

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article5404364.ece

Target of RIAA lawsuit says music piracy case has been an ordeal, Computer World, 12/19/08

Via Computer World: Target of RIAA lawsuit says music piracy case has been an ordeal, College student Joel Tenenbaum claims trade group wanted to make an example of him:

"Tenenbaum said that although online piracy is a problem, the larger issue lies with what he characterized as the music industry's continued insistence on seeing the Internet as a threat instead of as a tool that can transform the manner in which music is consumed.

"I don't think anybody thinks artists shouldn't be rewarded for their work," Tenenbaum said. But there are other ways to do so on the Net that the music industry has stubbornly refused to consider, he added."

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9124118&intsrc=hm_list

No ISP Filtering Under New RIAA Copyright Strategy, Via Wired.com, 12/19/08

Via Wired.com: No ISP Filtering Under New RIAA Copyright Strategy:

"The Recording Industry Association of America on Friday announced a new strategy in its quest to curtail online copyright infringement — a plan that for now requires no filtering from internet service providers...

Under the new proposal, instead of filing lawsuits against individuals its investigators detect sharing music online, the RIAA will send notices to ISPs pointing out the offending parties' IP addresses. The ISPs, in turn, will notify (.pdf) the alleged offender in the United States by snail-mail or e-mail of the alleged violations. Violators could lose internet access after three or more alleged violations, said Cara Duckworth, an RIAA spokeswoman. (The details are still being hashed out, but Duckworth said a procedure would be put in place to administratively challenge violations.)"

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/12/no-isp-filterin.html

Porn bill for couple who can't download, London Guardian, 11/29/08

Via London Guardian [Caution, some graphic language in linked article]: Porn bill for couple who can't download, Innocent people are getting letters from lawyers claiming they should pay for films they've never seen:

"He questions the amount demanded and methods used to identify computers alleged to have downloaded material. He believes the sum demanded is out of all proportion to the alleged injury. "In one case, Davenport Lyons wanted £500 for a £20 game. The alleged file-sharing would have cost only about £50 - the rest is legal costs.""

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/nov/28/internet-porn-bill-mistake